Banou soon take over the responsibility of the baby. She finds that she can actually still breast feed a child. Banou did not tell anyone of this and quietly feed the child when the baby is hungry. Mehmet's daughter never recover from the fever and pain. Banou watch her body being removed from the dweller, wrapped in blanket and taken away. Till today, she never know the name of the girl who brings misery to both of them. Instead she left her daughter behind.
The young lord is unhappy that Banou is bring up a baby in his dweller. So at night, Banou have no choice to bring it to Min Min who doesn't know what to do with babies. However she is wiling to take care of a child as she is an orphan too. Growing up without parents she is alike those children in the hawk camp. In the morning, Banou fetch the baby. She decide to name the child, Xin which means heart in Mandarin.
While taking care of the baby, Banou finds time to play with the other children in camp. As Banou is given more freedom compare to the rest of the captives, she spend her time making cut out for the children to play. Sometimes when the men are free, they will play a ball game with the children outside the camp. Banou join them with the baby. Laughing and playing. However at the night, Banou watch the sky alone and wonder how is her family back home in Great Tang and Her father, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. If it is all dream where she is now she hopes to wake up soon. Banou remember that her portrait is not complete yet. Her wedding gown was tailoring when she got kidnapped. Her father send her a pair of Egyptian leather shoes embodied with silk thread is in her room. The jewellery that the imperial family had send to her for the wedding. All of it, she will never wear them nor see them again. Most of all, Li Cheng is forever unreachable. Maybe she is not destine to marry a good man, she thinks quietly to herself. She must have done something wrong that is not favourable to god. She have to receive a punishment. Everyday Banou prays in the dweller quietly. She asked for forgiveness and ask for peaceful life ahead.
The snow soon comes into the land again. The baby girl is able to sit up and loves to play with the bubble that she created with her mouth. The young lord who dislike young children, one day find that the baby is rather interesting. Her big sparkling eyes attract his attention and the way she crawl to him whenever she see him, makes him feel that he is the most important person she wants to be with. Soon he allow her to stay in his dweller longer and longer hours. Eventually the little girl sleeps at night in the same dweller as he does. He watch how Banou and the baby girl play together. He finds it interesting. Some afternoon when he is free, he look for them to find them playing with the other children. He watch and hear the sound of the laughing children in a distance. He watch Banou teach them to write Chinese characters in the sand with a stick. She also teach them to speak Mandarin. An ideal pop into his mind, this is a good ideal. He needs those children to learn well enough. Later when they are big enough, they will be his best intelligence for him to mingle into Tang where he learns their secrets and able to take them down. He will gain more power in court and his clan will be more glorious than before. No one will look down the hawk anymore. The khan will be him, if he plan it out well enough.
The following days, a small dweller is built. It is given to the children a place to learn and play from the snow. Food and drinks are place inside for them. The young lord tells them to study well. The witchdoctor is unhappy. He urge that they are the children of this nation. So in the end, the lord commands that everyone to learn the basic language. This makes the men all dislike the witchdoctor. The men with the Han Chinese women will learn from those captives. They are to report to him daily in basic simple Mandarin conversation. Those who fail to do so will be punished.
Banou keeps herself busy with teaching the children what she remember. She make the class short and simple for she notice that they can't sit long. The little ones remind her of Li Xing who was learning how to walk. Now he should be fifteen years of age. He said he wanted to work in the Yemen to maintain law and order. By now his father should have gotten him a job in there. She begins to miss her son and hug those little ones when she miss him badly. Soon, the children who learn to speak Mandarin from her calls her 'mother'. Thus Banou becomes a mother of fourteen children in Hawk camp. In day time, they follow her instructs and goes wherever she goes. They all listen to her attentively.
One night, the young lord suddenly ask her if she would like to have a child of her own. Banou again remain silence and he try to read her face expression.
"I was thinking that since you like children and can take care of them. You should have a child of your own. I can give you that. He will be my successor."
Banou remain silence and sit at the edge of the bed without looking at him.
"I can have children with you only. However i still have to marry that two pesky princess. It will be another three years since they are still at a mourning period. Their father and brother is killed by Tang army. So weak... onces i marry them, their bear camp will integrate into mine. I will be having the biggest army within this national and no one can be above my military power!"
However Banou is not listening to the rest what he said. She only hear that they are defeated by the Tang army! Does it means that, they are near the border of this grassland?