Julian is caught secretly eating meat while his parents dig roots and eat wild vegetables. They demand he hand it over, call him unfilial and say he still owes them despite being driven out. Corey mocks the kids; someone snarls, "touch my child again and see if I do not beat you to death!" A scuffle and a cry of pain follow. Then someone identifies the cloth wrapped around Julian as a lost embroidery worth 200 gold coins — the swaddling he was found in. That discovery creates leverage: meat can be obtained, but only for a single, unstated condition.