Rain came down in thick sheets, turning the cobble roads into rivers as they snaked down between buildings before eventually settling into the mud of the trough district of Ostlen. 

The gray haze shrouded the city almost entirely, the only thing visible anywhere, no matter the street, being the faint flickering of orange candlelight from windows or storefronts the owners were unable to leave.

Most everyone who had been caught out in the sudden storm had already made their way inside to save themselves from the worsening weather, save for the select few who couldn’t afford not to work, or those who were physically incapable of going inside. 

Elisayra was of the latter category. 

At the age of six years old, she was unwelcome in any bar, tavern, inn, or brothel. She could always attempt to return to the orphanage, though it was arguably safer for her on the streets. 

At least in the shadows cast between alleys she was invisible enough to avoid the beatings that would have found her within the walls of that awful “home””. 

She wasn’t quite used to it, living on the streets, not that any child could ever truly be used to something like that, but she had managed herself for the better part of the winter season which was much harsher than anything spring could throw at her. Or so she had hopped. 

Now, resting her back against the cold stone exterior wall of a tavern, trying to suck up the residual warmth from the fireplace on the opposite side, she tried her best not to give in to the temptation of returning to the orphanage. 

Maybe a few beatings were worth a roof and dry clothes and a meal. She was beat for many things, some she understood and others she did not. 

They didn’t feed them much, only enough to keep her alive really. Portions were given to the children during specific times of the day, and while she had heard that they were supposed to give everyone an equal share, the truth of the matter was they gave the beautiful children the most, the ones who were likely to be taken in by some kind stranger. Meanwhile, children like Elisayra, half breeds, the dreck, the scum at the bottom of the barrel were left with very little. 

She was grateful at first. Some food, even only a little bit, was better than starving to death. She made sure to do her best to thank the priest that fed them at every meal. She would smile at the man even if he didn’t smile back, and she would make extra effort to be kind to the man so that hopefully he could understand how thankful she was to be there. 

It wasn’t long after that first encounter that the beatings started. She was shocked at first, she didn’t know how to react when she offered her thanks to the priest in passing to her chores. She put on her best smile and told him, “thank you sir!” with as much gratitude as she could manage. 

The next thing Elisayra knew, she was stumbling to the ground with the sensation of fire on her cheek. 

She was so stunned in fact, she couldn’t stand back up, let alone muster the words to ask what had just happened to her. 

He continued to hit her then. Pulling her up by her shirt, so she was forced to face the young man, the priest. He slapped her again and again and again until she begged him for forgiveness, begging him to stop. 

He didn’t. Not until one of the ladies of the house passed by the halls and told the priest he was needed elsewhere. 

She didn’t return to the hall to eat the next day, for the fear of seeing the priest made her stomach turn in circles. 

Elisayra had tried her best not to eat at all. Perhaps the fact that she was eating was the cause of the beating? Perhaps her thanking him was in fact some great insult? Perhaps what she had been saying really, was “Thank you for feeding me instead of feeding the other children more,” and it was that that angered the man. 

That must be it, she had thought. She had seen the way the priest would watch the other children with far more compassion and adoration. Surely then if she simply didn’t eat their food she could avoid being hit. 

She wanted the priest to like her. She had liked him after all. 

After a while though, her stomach would rumble and rumble and rumble all night. It was loud, loud enough to earn her her second beating. 

The other children, some the same age as herself though many were much older, couldn’t stand the sounds her body made as it yearned for sustenance, so they fed her themselves, even though she didn’t want it. 

She had woken up with her body being held by the others as they poured some strange chunky something into her mouth, while one of the boys held it open to force her to eat it. 

It was the most disgusting thing she had ever had in her life. She had thrown it up almost instantly, but the children kept holding her so she couldn't turn away to get it out. 

They only stopped and let her go once she started choking loudly, which made the priest incredibly angry with her for waking the others and eating food when it wasn’t the proper time. 

She was brought down the hall to the confessional room, where the priest stuck his fingers down Elisayra's throat until every last drop of what the other children had forced into her mouth had come out. Once she was done, the priest struck her again, and again, and again, before finally stopping to tell her to clean the mess she had made. 

Elisayra took it for as long as she could bear, which was only a year. 

The night she ran away, she thought it would be better to live on her own, to try and survive by herself. Perhaps not everyone would hate her, and she would be lucky enough to find a kind stranger to take her in and help her. 

What a fool she was… 

Elisayra pressed her back harder into the stone, silently  begging the patrons inside the tavern to add another log to the fire so that she wouldn’t be so cold…

Spinning a small paring knife between her fingers, she held the blade out into the rain, and used the hem of her shirt to try and clean the rusty piece of metal. 

She rubbed at the build up until she could see the faintest hint of her own reflection in the tool.

She was an idiot for running away. She was quick to learn that everyone hated half elves. Everyone. It wasn’t some passive dislike either. No, bugs had more respect than she did. 

“Toads eat spiders, spiders eat flies, flies do you the favor of warning you where the shit is, and shit can grow crops. Half breeds? They just take up space. The most useful thing you will ever do in your life is die, so your corpse can be used as fertilizer” 

Those were the words of Elisayra's first ever friend. Or rather, the only person she ever considered a friend. 

Shad hadn’t been on the streets long, but when a young girl came up to her and asked to play she of course was ecstatic. 

The games the young girl played were strange. She wanted Elisayra to borrow things from her other friends. She wanted to borrow small things at first, like vegetables at the market or small toys. Then she wanted to play games that involved taking pieces of jewelry, or bags of coins. 

The girl wasn’t kind really, but she wasn’t nearly as cruel which was nice to be around for Elisayra. She was good at these games too. People rarely paid attention to her enough to notice she had gone and taken something. She thought she had made a real friend. 

The two would play together nearly every day for a couple of months. Even though Elisayra was a half elf and this girl was a middle born human, she didn’t seem to mind. Sometimes the girl would tease Elisayra but it wasn’t ever too bad. Sometimes she would forget her but that was alright, because most people forget her, it was normal. 

For the first time in her little life Elisayra had thought things were going to be better, she assumed she had made a real friend, assumed she understood this girl. Assumed she was nice.

The illusion shattered when Elisayra approached her friend while she was with some other girls. All of them were much older than she was then. Elisayra tried to run up and hug her friend, but the girl kicked her in the stomach and sent her to the ground. 

“That things your friend?” one of the girls had sneered, spitting at Elisayra as she lay in the mud. 

“It? No way! She's a half elf…” 

After that is when she told Elisayra the best thing she could do was die… 

Elisayra didn’t want to die though. She wanted to live. She wanted to try and make friends, try and be useful to someone, try and prove that she wasn’t an “it”, she was Elisayra… 

Who would want to be friends with a half elf, she thought.

Who would ever give a half elf a chance? 

Elisayra brought the cold metal of the paring knife up to the side of her face. 

Gripping the tip of her pointed ear in one hand, she let the blade slice the skin of her ear, enough to feel the warm blood starting to drip down the back of her neck, and offer a warmth the stones at her back were unable to. 

She held the knife there for a time, breathing, thinking, trying not to cry. 

Maybe if no one knew she was a half elf, they wouldn’t hate her so much. Maybe if she could lie and say that she lost her ears to frostbite over the winter that it wouldn’t be so suspicious… 

“It ain't gonna work you know.” a voice said from the end of the alleyway, scaring Elisayra so badly she almost cut the ear off any way, but instead dropped her knife into the mud at her feet. 

“There are other ways to tell you’re half elf. Your eye color for one. Humans and full elves don’t get that kind of greenish blue, only half elves get it. Going to gouge out your eyes too?” the voice continued. 

It belonged to a young woman, only around the age of 11 or 12 Elisayra thought. She wore a cloak over her head and was so quiet Elisayra hadn’t even noticed her approach. 

“What can I do then?” Elisayra asked. 

“Make yourself useful to me, and maybe I can see about getting you out of the rain…” 

Elisayra's hands ached with pain, sending sharp spasms up her wrist and forearm, waking her from the dream. 

Shooting upright in her tent, she quickly pressed her hands between her thighs and closed them tight around the wrists, as if trying to cut off the blood flow to the hands themselves in an attempt to stop the pain. 

Wincing, whining, Elisayra sucked down a breath, only for it to get caught in her throat and come out as a whimper. 

“Mmmmmmmmmm!” she pressed her lips tight into a thin line, trying not to make a sound but unable to suppress it as her hand cramped around the fractured bones. 

Breaking, Elisayra let a single sob escape. Rocking back and forth she tried her hardest not to let the pain overcome her, not to let the hurt disturb anyone. She couldn’t wake them up, she couldn’t be a burden. She needed to bear it, bear it, bear it- 

Her tent flap opened then, but she couldn’t bring her eyes up to look to see who it was. 

Faint splashes of rain followed behind the new arrival, as their presence warmed the cold air of the tent. 

“That won't work.” A gentle voice offered, like a song, Nephinae's voice was warm and harmonious. 

“Here, let me help you.” the full elf offered, extending the palms of her own hands, waiting for Elisayra. 

Elisayra pulled her hands from between her legs, and placed the bandaged appendages into Nephinae's hands, as she did, the relief was almost instantaneous as the full elf whispered the incantations of her healing magic, generating a ball of warm light, as if she were holding a lantern. 

Elisayra’s rapid breathing slowed to a more even pace as the effects of Nephinae’s magic worked through the skin and muscle, tendon and bone of her hands. 

“Forgive me, for my healing abilities are far from anything substantial, the most I can offer now is temporary relief.” Nephinae apologized sincerely. 

Elisayra shook her head at that, “no no, please… I’m really sorry for waking you up.” she turned away slightly, not able to look the woman in the eyes. 

“Nonsense, it’s my duty to help those here.” Nephinae dismissed. 

Elisayra sat as the warmth of Nephinae’s magic whittled away at the aches, listening to the rain dribbling against the tent. 

“Nephinae, can I ask you something?” Elisayra asked after a moment. 

“Of course.” 

“Can you… sing me the song you sometimes sing to Alex?” Elisayra asked, her head still turned, embarrassed for having asked. 

She could feel the redness begin to grow in her cheeks, to the point she turned and began to say… “I'm sorry, you don’t have to…” but found her voice trailing off as Nephinae let out a soft, soothing note. 

“Sleep, my darling - beneath the night, where rivers dance in silver light.

The stars above their secrets keep, as moonlight kisses tear-streaked cheeks. 

Rest, my love - in that moonlights embrace, where sorrow’s tide, and your pain I take. 

Close your eyes, dry your tears, and know that I am always near. 

I sing for you my lullaby, and carry your wishes to the sky. 

Each breath of mine holds a whispered plea, for your dream to mend - your pain made free. 

Sleep, my child - though it lingers still, for tonight's wish will be fulfilled. 

And as you rest, remember my song, for when you wake, the pain within shall be gone.”

The slow, melodic lullaby moves through the tent in still air, the only sound other than the rain and wind beyond. 

Elisayra rests her head between her legs, as tears fall from her eyes. 

“Forgive me… did you not like it?” Nephinae asks in a worried tone. 

“No… I loved it…” Elisayra sniffles. “I really loved it. It's just been hard, that's all.” 

“Would you like-” Nephinae opens her arms slightly, and finds Elisayra’s own arms wrapped around the elf's middle in an instant, the force of the sudden hug nearly sending Nephinae toppling over in the tent. 

Elisayra cries softly into the woman's shirt, basking in the warmth as Nephinae brings her arms to return the hug in kind. 

Elisayra doesn’t know how long she remained like that. Though it was long enough for the tears to dry. 

“Why are you so kind to me…” Elisayra eventually asks, breaking away from the hug. 

“Because you are my mistress's, and masters, companion of course.” 

“It’s more than that though, isn’t it? You are Alex’s servant in name, but aren’t you two also close? This…doing this for me isn’t what a servant would do. Not unless you were asked to.” 

Nephinae smiles softly at the half elf, an expression Elisayra wasn’t used to seeing on the woman. She always held an air of professionalism and regency. Seeing her smile like this reminded Elisayra that they were in fact the same age. 

“It’s what I would have wanted someone to do for me, when I was young.” Nephinae says softly. 

Elisayra almost begins to cry again at that. She wanted to comfort this woman the same way she had offered comfort to her, but Elisayra didn’t even know where to begin. 

This was the most open Nephinae had been with her, or anyone for that matter and it was only a single sentence. She couldn’t imagine the weight on this elf’s shoulders. 

“Is there anything I can do for you?” Elisayra asks, though it comes out as more of a plea.

Nephinae simply continues to smile while shaking her head gently side to side. 

“No, there is nothing. Thank you very kindly for the offer however. I sincerely appreciate the gesture.” 

“But I don't want it to just be a gesture! I… all of the time and effort you have put into healing my hands over these past few days on the road. The work you have done for Casper, the work you do for the camp! Cooking and cleaning, repairing, washing, magic everything! You do so much… and…” Elisayra's voice trails off for a moment before she finds it again. “I just want to repay you. I'm useless as I am right now. I'm a burden to everyone around me, I'm costing you so much of your time and energy and I so desperately want to return something, anything in kind!” 

Nephinae thinks then, before her smile widens slightly more. 

“I do have a request for you then.” she finally says. 

“Of course! Anything!” 

“I would like for you to befriend Alex more, you and Annabelle have grown closer and closer over time. She has taken a liking to you and you to her. I worry Alex is feeling lonely recently. She is a very social girl, she loves making friends but she worries she has nothing in common with either of you. Do you think you would be able to be her friend?” 

Elisayra blinks a few times at that. 

“If this is too much to ask of you-” 

“No no! It’s not too much, I just, I didn't think Alex would want to be my friend. We have traveled together for a while now but we haven’t really talked much, well other than that one time… but that was… anyway. I just don’t think a noble lady would want to associate with, well, a half elf…” 

Nephinae shakes her head at that. 

“Nonsense. Alex was raised in a household that did not conform to the notion of the race caste. They did not conform to many ideas of the kingdom which was one of many reasons they fell as they did. That is to say however, that Alex does not see you as less than, she was raised to see people based on the quality of their character. She would love to have you as a friend.” 

Elisayra gives the full elf’s words some thought, before eventually taking in a deep breath, and looking Nephinae in the eyes. 

“I will do my best to be her friend” she confirms in the most serious tone she can muster. 

“Thank you. That is all I ask you to do in return. If you can become Alex’s friend, it would make me incredibly happy.” Nephinae confirms.

“Then I will do everything in my power to be the best possible friend I can.” 

“I am very glad to hear you say that Elisayra.” Nephinae turns to begin to leave, but stops as Elisayra uses both of her hands to pinch the full elf’s shirt to keep her in the tent. 

“Oh, was there something more?” Nephinae asks, turning back around and sitting. 

“Do you think… you could sing to me some more so I can go back to sleep?” Elisayra asks, embarrassed. 

“Of course.” Nephinae smiles, and extends her hands for Elisayra. 

The half elf places her hands in the full elves, and closes her eyes as the lullaby begins once more in time with the magic Nephinae’s healing.