This may be too late since the deadline is the 24th, and I am uncertain whether that means it had to be posted on the 23rd, or if it could still be posted on the 24th, but this is my attempt.
Ziellmas Eve, 1943
The war was hard on everyone. While the fighting itself was taking place in far off lands, and the danger from dying from the war itself was nonexistent here in Rynmere, the hardships were felt all the same. People were taken in raids and had been for the past two arcs now. Thousands of people were praying to anyone who might listen that family members, friends, and loved ones might be returned to them safe and sound, but few truly believed that their prayers were being heard. There were no Immortals left to listen...if they had even even existed at all. Still, it was the only thing that they could do, and doing something had to be better than doing nothing to help those that had been stolen away from them.
The men, and even some of the women had gone off to fight, and to try and rescue those who had been taken. It was a noble effort, and Ari'sora had a deep respect for those who had the skill to fight, and the bravery to try. She was not one of those people...in either respect. It was a good thing that those who could go did go...but it meant that there were fewer people here to do the jobs that needed to be done. Food had been left to rot in the fields during both harvests even though the plantings that had happened before were light ones. The elderly and the children who had been left to tend the farms were simply not up to the work required to run them, and the volunteers from the towns and cities who had offered...or had been ordered to help were often less than useless to those who actually knew what they were doing but weren't strong enough to handle it themselves.
Some adults refused to take orders from a child even if said child knew far more than they ever would about the task that needed to be done. Others were resentful of being ordered to work at menial labor they felt was beneath them, and refused to do it outright, or did a poor job at best. Others were too stupid to remember orders well, and needed constant supervision for even the simplest of tasks. And there were even some who tried to steal the fruit of the farms for themselves. Ari'sora had seen all of this with her own eyes as she had done the best she could to help where she could. She was no farmer, but she could follow orders well, and she could be trusted to do well enough as long as someone was able to show her what she needed to do. If it was a simple task, she could learn to do it quickly, and to do it well with just a little teaching.
The result of it all was a shortage of food. And most of what was available went to the rich. After all...as long as the royals, their families, and those who ran in their circles ate well, did it matter if anyone else did? Not to them, it didn't. At least not unless the people who were starving were of use to them in some way. So most went hungry while a few ate like...well...kings.
Food wasn't the only shortage. If the tools you needed to do your job were to break, it was a fair bet that you weren't going to be able to find people who were willing or able to fix them for a price that you would be able to afford. Likewise, if you ran out of the raw materials you needed to do your job, there was no guarantee that you were going to be able to buy what you needed at the quantities that you needed even of you could afford to do so.
And the worst of the hardships were felt by those who needed help the most. Ari'sora saw it all because for most of her life, she had been one of the countless many who had to struggle simply to survive. She worked at odd jobs whenever she could find them, never daring to ask for more than the tiny bit of money she was promised for a job well done. Even that was never truly certain as an employer in a bad mood at the end of the trial could simply say the job wasn't done to their satisfaction no matter how well it had been done, and the promised payment could be denied. The poorest of the poor had no defense should their employer turn them away with less than the promised pay, or even with none at all.
Being half Avriel as she was, and the proof of her parentage too obvious to deny, she was allowed to live in Rynmere because she was the daughter of a slave of a once wealthy merchant. He had offered her mother to a wealthy customer to seal the deal on lucrative deal and she had been the result. But soon after she had been born, the merchant had gone bankrupt. No one had wanted to buy a weak slave with a half Avriel infant in tow, so her mother had been thrown into the streets to make her way as best she could. In the confusion Ari'sora had never been marked as a slave, but Ari'sora was never quite certain whether that was a good thing or not. The life of a slave could be a good one, or a horrible one...but a slave was at least given enough to survive so that they could be useful to their master.
By the time Ari'sora was five arcs old, she had been alone. Anything she had she earned. Pride had kept her from stealing from others...pride, and the fear of the trouble she'd be in if she was caught. But while she had gone hungry and cold more often than a successful thief might have, her choices had given her the reputation of someone who could be trusted, and the extra jobs that had come her way had been enough to keep her alive long enough to reach adulthood. She had even managed to scrape and save up enough to buy herself a small house where she made candles and soaps to sell. It didn't provide much, but it was enough to survive. In that, the hardships of the war were little different than the ones than the ones she had known all her life.
But soaps and candles were necessities, not luxuries. And since she charged less than many others in her business, she sold enough to get by even if she was nothing more than the barely tolerated half bird freak to most. Her fellow business people hated her for pricing her goods less than theirs, but she did so in the hopes that the poorest of the poor could have a bit of heat and light to get them through the coldest seasons.
When she had a little extra to spare, she helped the orphaned children. Not too far from where she lived, a middle aged woman had opened her home to as many children as she could provide room and food for. She also fed the street children who were willing to trust her enough to approach her for a meal even if she could not offer them all a home. From what Ari'sora could see, this war was hurting the children the most. So she did what she could to help them whenever she could.
Ari'sora liked children. They didn't see her as the bird freak...or if they did, they never said it to her face. They liked her for the stories she had to tell them, and more importantly the candles she would give them to help them survive a bit longer. Like Felicia, the woman who had turned her home into an orphanage of sorts, Ari'sora would allow children to spend the night in her house. She couldn't always feed them or take care of them the way Felicia did, but she could offer them a corner to get in out of the cold. Some would even stay and learn her craft by trial. It allowed her to give some of the children hope for a future. She couldn't afford to pay them, but by teaching them what she knew, they were learning a skill that would help them to earn money of their own. It was all she could do, but doing something was better than doing nothing. And it helped her to feel wanted, and less alone in the world.
And on this Ziellmas Eve, she smiled as she made her way through the streets to Felicia's orphanage. She had a small pushcart filled with carefully wrapped presents for the street kids. Her presents were nothing more than the candles that she offered them freely whenever she could, but these candles were special ones. They were both thicker and longer than the ones she usually gave them. That meant that they would burn for longer. A rare few even had a bit of scent to them.
When the children saw her, some ran over with a smile and a happy cry of greeting to receive their present. Others slunk out of the shadows only to vanish quickly once more when they had received theirs. Still others helped the littlest of kids get their presents before taking their own. And they all showed their gratitude with their expressions, and sometimes a few words of thanks. It was all that Ari'sora needed or wanted in return. Her joy was in giving what she could to the children who came to her, not in anything they might give her in return. Even so, a few did give her presents of their own; little pebbles they had found that looked pretty, or unusual, or those that dared go down to the docks might bring her a pretty shell, or a piece of one. A few even just gave her a quick hug before darting back to what ever hiding place they might be using.
By the time she reached the orphanage, her pushcart was empty. Felicia simply helped her store it in her shed with a knowing smile. Ari'sora's presents for the children who lived at the orphanage were her stories, and a cheerful singalong after dinner. An evening of merriment to greet Saoire in the hopes of attracting her attention to the orphanage. Sometimes it worked, and the children were gifted with small presents by the strange being from the world of dreams. Other times it did not, but there were no hard feelings because they all knew that Saoire was just one person and that the country was a very big place for one woman to cover in a single night, even if that person was from the world of dreams. Either way, it was an evening of fun that they could all share, and a brief escape from their worries and fears for the future.
Dinner was a lively affair. There wasn't much food to go around, of course, and what little they did have was very simple fare. But the children were chattering excitedly about what they hoped to get from Saoire if she were to visit them tonight, and Ari'sora loved to listen to them. Felicia pretended to be resigned to the endless chatter, but Ari'sora could tell from the merriment in her bright blue eyes, and the small smile that graced her lips that the matron enjoyed listening to the children's innocent dreams just as much as she did.
Cleaning up afterwards was an easy matter to take care of with every child from the youngest to the oldest pitching in to help the adults as best they could. Then it was time for the fun to begin. Ari'sora always gave the children a choice between reading one of the few story books Felicia owned, or telling them one of her own stories. They always chose the latter. Sometimes Ari'sora told them one of a number of stories she had made up for them in the past. But on this Ziellmas Eve, as on every other since she had started helping at the orphanage, she made up a new one special for the holiday. These stories were special ones about Ziell himself, and of the countless ways that the old Immortal of peace might have managed to create the trial of peace and rest that was Ziellmas Trial.
After a few stories made up on the spot using some of the ideas the children themselves asked her about, they moved onto the singing. Some of the songs they sang were children's songs that were favorites of the orphans. Others were traditional Ziellmas songs. Once they had sang about half a dozen of each, the scent of warmth, spices, and juniper filled the air. As the door opened to reveal their most welcome visitor, Ari'sora and Felicia moved to the back of the now silent crowd so that the children could receive their presents. Gasps of joy, awe, and cries of thanks were offered by the children as each was given a small box by the beautiful woman who walked among them. Ari'sora was so caught up in watching them open them that she never even noticed Saoire approach her until she felt someone take her own hands and press something into them. When she looked down in startled confusion, she saw a brightly wrapped present that could only be a book.
"Ask Felicia to teach you how to read. If she cannot, her sister Nats is a good teacher, but you know that. She teaches the children here, after all."
Ari'sora nodded. She didn't know Nats well since the younger woman was painfully shy, and usually didn't approach her when she came, but she knew that the two sisters were very close, and that in exchange for room and board, Nats taught the orphans who lived here.
"If Felicia asks, Nats will teach you how to read. Essential things such as soaps and candles will earn you enough to get by, but everyone deserves a bit of beauty in life. Just about anything from seeds to pebbles to carved bits of wood to pine cones can be made into beads. This book will teach you how to do that. And if you become skilled enough at it, you might be able to earn some more for yourself. Think about what you will be able to do for the children you love so much then."
The words were spoken so quietly that Ari'sora doubted that anyone else could hear them, but they were spoken warmly, and she could tell that Saoire must have been smiling as she spoke. But when she had recovered enough to look up, the woman was gone. Even so, Saoire was well known for her wise words, and Ari'sora made herself a promise in that trill. She would do as Saoire had suggested before she left the orphanage that very night. And who knew? If she was able to learn how to read, and she did learn how to make beads...maybe she could save up enough money to help Felicia make her orphanage bigger as she so desperately wanted to do. That way more of the street kids who needed a safe place to call home could have one. And if others who liked children as much as they did saw what they were doing, they might be inspired to help the children of the streets in their own ways. If enough people decided to help, then maybe...just maybe one trial in the very distant future, no child need ever know the fear and suffering that the children of the streets knew now.
