He'd never forget what Naasir had said to him when Dmitri yelled that he didn't intend to bury another child and that Naasir needed to have a care for his life.

“Am I a person, Dmitri? Will you be sad if I die?”

Hardened and cruel though he’d become, the innocent question had shaken him. “Yes,” he’d said, as honest in his answer as Naasir had been in his question. “You are a person. You are Naasir. I’ll lose a piece of me if you die and it’s a piece I’ll never get back.”

Naasir had stared at him for a long time before coming over to hug him. “Okay, Dmitri. I’m sorry. I didn't know I was a person before.

Nalini Singh