His own mother had loved him, he knew that and she had done her best to care for him. She had often gone hungry so he could eat, she had altered his clothes with magic until they were rags and she had held him tight and sung him to sleep the nights they had both gone to bed hungry. She had protected him from his father for as long as she could, then she had patched him up when she could no longer protect him and then his wretched father had killed her.