March 8^th. Velorice City. Rainy midnight. A woman in black robes walks to the doorstep of Holy St. Lithe’s cathedral and puts a basket with something wrapped in it on the stoop. She knocks on the church’s door and leaves quickly into the night with a few other women in robes. Only moments later, two nuns open the door, one with hazel eyes and caramel skin, the other with light green eyes and pale skin, and a few inches shorter than the other. Both were dressed in all white nun attire. They looked around the vicinity, but could only see the darkness and rain outside. One of the nuns then looks down to see the basket on the stoop.

“Sister Deborah! Look at this.” The shorter nun speaks.

She kneels near the basket and opens to see a sleeping baby wrapped in a blanket.

“What is it, Theresa?” The other nun, Deborah, asks.

“It’s a baby!” She replies. “Someone must have dropped it off here.”

“Well don’t just stand there. Pick the child up and let’s get back inside. It’s cold out here and I don’t want to get sick.”

As Deborah requested, Theresa picks the basket up with the baby in it, and the two head inside the church with Deborah closing the door.

.   .

Inside the orphanage side of the church in the foyer, Theresa sets the basket on a table near the front door while Deborah walks from the foyer to upstairs to find someone on the second floor while Theresa tends to the infant.

“Okay.” She speaks to herself. “Let’s get a good look at the little one.”

She then takes out the wrapped baby from the basket and unwraps the infant discovering its gender to be a boy.

“Oh. A newborn baby boy! Dear Maker! Let’s wrap you back up.”

Theresa wraps the baby back up and holds him in her arms in order to keep the baby warm, and waits for Deborah to come back.

.   .

As Deborah was upstairs on the second floor in the middle of a hallway, she finds a door and knocks on it. Moments later, the door opens revealing a tired looking middle-aged man with black hair and a bit of grey with tired blue eyes with fair skin wearing a long white sleeve nightgown, and was a foot taller than Deborah.

“Sister Deborah.” The man speaks in a sleepily calm voice. “What is the matter that you must wake me at this hour?”

“Father Dustine.” She speaks. “Something came onto our doorstep. Someone left a child, a baby here. Sister Theresa is with the infant right now.”

The man looks at her bewildered and nods. “Okay. I’ll be right down.”

As the man closes his door, Deborah walks back downstairs to check on Theresa who was holding the still sleeping infant.

“Has it woken up yet?” She asks.

“No.” Theresa replies. “The little boy is still asleep. What is Father Nyris doing?”

“He’s going to come downstairs soon.”

Deborah walks over to Theresa to have a better look at the baby. “Oh, he is such a small, plump little one. Is he not?” She asks dotingly.

Even though Theresa agreed with Deborah, she sighs out of annoyance about the situation.

“What is the matter, Theresa?” Deborah asks worriedly.

“My Lord.” Theresa sneers. “Who would want to abandon such a precious baby? A newborn no less?”

Hearing Theresa’s distress, Deborah understands her plight on the issue and sighs.

“Theresa,” She starts. “I don’t know. Perhaps someone knew they couldn’t take care of him and dropped him off here. We humans are very complex and imperfect beings with troubles that come in some way, shape or form. That’s how The Maker made us.”

“I suppose… I never hear any kind of issue with the vampires nor the wolfen.”

“Vampires and wolfen aren’t any better, either! They have their problems as well, even the King has problems of his own. None of us are perfect except The Maker himself. That’s why it’s our job to try to make the world a much better place. One person at a time under his will.”

Even though Theresa slightly disagreed with Deborah’s answer, she nods her head in agreement to her statement because of the probability. Moments later, the priest of Holy St. Lithe, Nyris Dustine, walks downstairs dressed in a white silk robe over his nightgown, and walks up to Deborah and Theresa who was holding the baby to get a closer look.

“A newborn.” He comments. “May I hold this child?”

As Theresa gives Nyris the baby, he looks closely at the infant’s features. He sees the child has fair skin and jet-black hair. The child then slowly wakes up and looks at Nyris with its light brown eyes and begins cooing, making Nyris smile.

“A content talker I see.” He comments.

“I’m surprised the infant woke up. I thought he would stay asleep.” Theresa speaks.

“He? This child is a boy?”

“Yes, sir.”

Nyris looks back to the child with a quizzical look. “You haven’t a name. What shall we call you?”

A piece of paper slips out of the baby’s blanket which Deborah sees and picks it up, and sees it was folded. She unfolds it and sees a name written on the paper.

“What does it say, Deborah?” Theresa asks.

“James… Ruth.” Deborah reads the paper. “I guess this is supposed to be the child’s name.”

“James Ruth.” Nyris repeats. “That name fits this boy well. Your name is James. We will take care of you.”

He then looks to the nuns. “Sister Theresa, could you take him to the nursery?”

“Yes, sir.” She replies.

Nyris gives Theresa the baby, and she heads to the nursery where the other babies were. As she did so, Deborah looks at Nyris.

“So,” She starts. Who is going to be in charge of the baby?”

“We’ll talk about it when Theresa comes back.” Nyris replies.

Minutes later, Theresa comes back in the foyer meeting up with Nyris and Deborah.

“Okay.” Theresa speaks. “The boy went back to sleep the moment I laid him down. He must’ve already been fed before he got here.”

“Hmm, okay.” Nyris comments and looks at both of them. “Since you two are here now, I want you two to oversee James. I will be helping you as well with raising him, for he will need a father figure in his life. Even though he is only a newborn, I do see potential in the boy. There’s something about him that he has, but we’ll see what it is when he gets older. Any objections of taking care of him?”

“I second on taking care of the boy.” Deborah replies. “He’ll be taken care of just like the other children. I have no problem with it.”

“I second that, as well. No objections.” Theresa adds.

“And I also second the motion as well.” Nyris responds. “Then it’s settled. Now, let us three get some rest. I bid you both goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Father Nyris.” Deborah and Theresa respond.

The three go their separate ways to their rooms, Nyris walks back upstairs and into one of the hallways turning right, Deborah also walks upstairs and heading to a hallway turning left, and Theresa goes into a hallway near the stairs and opened a door leading to her room.

.   .   .   .   .

March 9^th. Cloudy afternoon. Nyris and Deborah were sweeping the floors and wiping the pews in the sanctuary while Theresa tended to the children on the orphanage side with the other nuns. Theresa hears a knock on the orphanage door and walks towards the door. She opens it to see a civilian sweating.

“Sister,” The man pants. “Is the father here?”

“Oh, yes.” Theresa answers. “Pray tell, what’s the matter?”

“Something happened last night that the king’s men had to go into the south part of the city! I must tell him!”

“Sure. Follow me.”

Theresa leads the man into the sanctuary causing Nyris and Deborah to stop what they were doing.

“Father,” Theresa speaks. “Mr. Osmund is here to speak to you.”

“Is it important that you need to tell me in private?” Nyris asks Osmund.

“No,” He answers. “The sisters can hear this as well. There were fires and ransacking happening in the desert and the south side of the city. Some refugees from the area came into the inn last night or were passing through going north.”

His news surprises the three.

“The king’s men attempted to pursue the hooligans in which they captured a few of them. Homes were destroyed, and people have been displaced, missing… and dead unfortunately.”

Hearing this disheartens the three causing them to do a cross gesture, but Theresa gets an epiphany about the newborn she and Deborah took in last night. Before she could say anything, they all hear crying on the orphanage side of the building, and one of the nuns walks into the sanctuary holding James in her arms.

“Sorry, Sister Theresa,” The nun speaks. “But this little one cannot be consoled by me.”

Theresa walks towards the fellow nun and takes James, who calms down in her arms. She then looks at Nyris and Deborah.

“I think that’s where this little one came from.” She speaks. “He probably came from the south part of the city, or from the Seran Desert. That might be the reason why he was sent to us.”

This theory intrigues Nyris as he looks at the infant. “I have a feeling that you could be right.”

He then looks at Osmund. “Does the king need me by any chance?”

“Yes.” He answers. “He is at the inn with some of the refugees, and he requests your presence at the castle.”

Nyris nods. “I’ll be there soon.”

Osmund bows in respect and leaves through the sanctuary doors. Nyris puts his broom to the side to walk toward Theresa and see baby James. He then starts to wonder.

“Poor boy…” He speaks. “Just to be orphaned because of one’s senseless urge to destroy…”