~A Faerie Tale~

The night was still young, but the tall Victorian buildings cast long shadows on the narrow alleys and winding cobblestone streets of London. Delicate frost decorated the window panes of every home and thin ice and slush made the roads slick and treacherous. Carts and carriages travelled cautiously in these freezing months.

It was the height of winter and whilst the upper end of town was emptier than ever in these chilly months, the slums of the old city were alive and functioning as if the weather had never turned from summer.
Barely visible through the gently falling snow, a small figure darted up Berthold Lane. A heavy cloak wrapped tightly about her thin frame. A carriage trundled past and the scrawny human leapt behind a stack of wooden crates, ducking their head beneath their hands and curling up as tight as was possible. Kalen was very amused.
So focused she is on remaining unseen by the world, that she fails to see anything else. The faerie warrior mused as he watched the tiny human creep out of the shadows once more. He had been trailing this woman for quite some time. Following her around the city in the impenetrable darkness. She seemed anxious... almost hysterical. Rushing around the city in the middle of the night, the way she was. She was lucky she hadn't been murdered.. or worse.

The figure scurried up the steps of the large bluestone building opposite Kaylen's hiding spot. It was a dreary, grey establishment. The kind of building that looks as though it hasn't been occupied in years, despite the yellow light that leaked from under the heavy wooden door. Written above the doorway in peeling white paint were the words.
Amoris Perditus Animae
Kalen grimaced. Love Lost Souls... He thought. How ironic.
Madame Lequell's Home for the Lost was an orpahange.

The woman rapped impatiently on the door with her bony fist. No answer. A few seconds later she knocked again, louder this time.
"Alrigh'! Alrigh'... I'm coming." The door swung open to reveal a dumpy woman wearing an apron and a white cap perched upon her mouse-brown hair. She glanced down at the woman in front of her and barely batted an eyelid.
" Yes, ma'am what can I do for you?" She asked briskly. She was perfectly indifferent, as if desperate young mothers deposited children on her doorstep every night. Then again...given the line of work she was in, that was most likely true.
For the first time since he'd been trailing her, Kalen got a look at the package he had been sent to keep an eye on. The skinny mother pulled a bundle out from under her cloak. A baby, wrapped in dirty linen and fast asleep despite the journey it had just undergone. The woman held the child tentatively, like it would turn on her at any moment, sprout fangs and attack.
"Very wise, girl..." The faeire warrior muttered under his breath. "Who knows what that thing could do."
"My child." The mother whispered, holding her bundle out away from her body. "Please. I can't take care of her. She needs to be away from me." The matron raised her brow incredulously at this.
"I'm sure, ma'am, that you are aware of the..." She paused searching for the right word. "... legality of your proposal?"
The young woman gasped aloud and clasped her hands together in a gesture of prayer.
"You have no idea! I- I need your help. She can't stay with me... she can't stay with me..." She trailed off, mumbling a string of incoherent words. The matron pursed her lips, considering this strange girl. She was out of her mind! Certainly not fit to raise a child. Perhaps fit enough for a madhouse however...
"Alright then." The larger woman finally agreed reluctantly. She reached out and relieved the frail mother of her burden, clutching the tiny bundle against her breast with a sturdy forearm.
"Of course we'll take her in. Does she have a name?"
A name? Of course! The one thing she hadn't considered. Margaret Burke racked her brain. Anything would do... it really didn't matter. But then again, it was her baby. Her little girl...
"Ellette." She murmured. She lingered for no more than a second before darting away into the shadows once more. Kalen didn't follow her. His job here was done. The child was safe. Ellette... Little Elf