2019 Advent Challenge

Princess Ethereal peeled back the little cardboard window of her advent calendar, smiling slightly when she found a snowman-shaped chocolate inside. Her parents thought her childish for still having an advent calendar, but they never tried to stop her. They knew she enjoyed it. Besides, she couldn't help thinking of those little chocolates as an unbreakable Christmas tradition.

Outside, it was freezing cold, threatening snow. Speculum City was known for its harsh winters, and this year was shaping up to go exactly like all the other winters before it.

Ethereal got dressed quickly and went downstairs to join her mother and two sisters in the breakfast hall. Katie, her youngest sister, was happily eating porridge sprinkled with nutmeg. Her middle sister, Lumer, was slowly chewing her way through a stack of marmalade-covered croissants.

'Good morning, Ethereal,' said her mother, Queen Nox, greeting her with a smile. Ethereal sat down and immediately reached for the basket of croissants, selecting one and buttering it with delicate motions.

It was unusual for them to chat over the breakfast table, and today was no different. However, after finishing her food, Ethereal looked up and carefully met her mother's gaze. She needed to say something, and she was almost certain that it wouldn't go down well.

'Mum,' she said, 'I have something special planned for Christmas this year.'

'Oh? What's that?' The lightness of Nox's voice belied the tension underneath. She knew that her daughter's impulsive ideas were rarely very... safe.

'Well... lately I've spent a lot of time thinking about all those citizens down in the Low City. Most of them are too poor to afford Christmas presents, food, or even a tree to decorate. I can't bear the thought of so many people suffering while the rest of us enjoy Christmas in luxury, so I intend to do something about it.'

Nox let out a barely-audible sigh.

'Ethereal,' she said carefully, 'I know how you feel about this, but you can't expect me to just let you, the Crown Princess, go off running through the Low City alone and without protection. It's far too dangerous. Besides, how exactly are you planning to help all those people? You may be the ruler-in-waiting, but even you can't magically make everyone wealthy.'

Ethereal lifted her chin proudly, determined not to be beaten down.

'I'll take food from the royal kitchens and distribute it among the citizens. And I'll buy presents for all the children who would otherwise go without.' Her voice took on a pleading note. 'You have to let me do this. I won't go alone; I'll have Adder to protect me. He won't let anything bad happen.'

Nox wouldn't meet her gaze, but Ethereal could tell her mother's fortitude was starting to waver. Though overprotective at times, Nox trusted her daughter, and she trusted Adder to keep her safe.

'...All right,' she said at last. 'I suppose there's really nothing I can do to stop you. You'll find a way to sneak out of the castle even if I say no. But please be sensible. Stay with Adder and don't let yourself get out of his sight for even a moment.'

Ethereal hardly heard any of this. 'Thank you!' she exclaimed, restraining the urge to hug her mother fiercely. She jumped up from the breakfast table. 'I'm going to start getting ready now. I need to gather up all of the food, and gifts, and I need to tell Adder about this...'

And without a backwards glance, she rushed out of the room, leaving her mother and sisters to gaze after her in wonder.

---

'You couldn't have chosen a warmer night to do this, Princess?'

'Shush, Adder.'

Ethereal stretched out her wings, letting the breeze carry her down into a desolate town square. Her paws thumped onto the freezing concrete, and she winced slightly. Adder's complaints weren't unreasonable. The temperature was currently hovering somewhere around negative five degrees Celsius.

Still, she sustained herself with the reminder of just why they had ventured out into the cold tonight.

With a slightly lighter thump, Adder landed beside her. He was wearing a harness that had a large leather sack attached to it, filled to the brim with colourfully wrapped presents. Most of them were actually wrapped quite badly – Ethereal had been pressed for time – but she suspected the recipients wouldn't mind.

'Where first?' the grey dragon asked.

She gazed up and down the eerily deserted square. There was a fountain in the middle, but the water was frozen over, glistening brightly in the moonlight. Branching off from the square were several narrow, dark streets. Looking at them made her feel uneasy, but she reassured herself with the knowledge that not all of the people living here were thugs and criminals. Adder had come from this town, and although he had once been a criminal, he was a good person. She knew that.

'Over there,' she said, choosing the street directly in front of her.

Adder nodded and fell into step beside her, assuming his usual role as her bodyguard. She could sense the change in the way his expression became focused and his movements grew stealthy, creeping along as though he was trying to become her shadow. Despite his size, he almost blended into the monochrome scenery around him.

Her breath misted in front of her nose as she trudged along. The cold was almost enough to make her regret doing this at all, but the thought of all the starving, poor people living here – who would never even get to celebrate Christmas – made her certain that she was doing the right thing.

Finally, they arrived at the first occupied house. Ethereal shifted into human form, walked up to the door, and hesitated. 'Are you sure they're not going to mind?' she whispered. I have a right to be afraid, she thought. Some of the people living around here ARE violent criminals.

Adder rolled his eyes. 'I've known these people for years, Princess. They're one of the most decent families in this part of the neighbourhood.'

Not entirely reassured, she lifted her fist and knocked on the door. Several long moments passed before it opened, revealing a very dark, grimy hallway and a middle-aged man standing in the threshold. He had thinning brown hair and a well-kept beard.

'Yes?' he said, with a healthy amount of caution.

'Hello, sir.' Ethereal was pretty sure the man didn't know who she was, and found herself grateful for it. 'We're handing out food and supplies to anyone in the area who needs them. It's part of a... a charity movement organised by Queen Nox, to give something back to the citizens. Would you like anything?'

The man eyed her. Then his gaze slid to Adder crouched behind her in dragon form. 'What's in that sack?' he asked, still cautious.

'Ah, well... we've also brought Christmas presents for the children in the area. If you have any children, then we'd love to offer them a present.'

She was beginning to suspect that the man didn't believe her and this whole effort was going to end up becoming horribly awkward. But then something happened that saved her from the embarrassment.

'Dad? Who are you talking to?' A small black-and-white dragon had just run up to the door, peering around the man's legs.

That must be his son, Ethereal thought. Shifter Dragons didn't gain the ability to shift into humans until they reached at least five years old.

The man attempted to push the little dragon backwards with his foot. 'Stay inside, Fen. We don't know who these people are.'

A low, amused chuckle came from behind Ethereal, and she jumped when Adder's head swung down to hover just above her shoulder. 'Come on, Derrik. You know who I am.'

The man's eyes widened as he took in the grey dragon's appearance, recognition suddenly creeping into his face.

'Adder! It's you! I thought, but I wasn't sure...'

'My friend here is telling the truth,' said Adder. 'We'd like to offer you some food and supplies. It's not fair that all the snooty high-ups get to celebrate Christmas and the good people down here don't.'

'Christmas?' squeaked Fen, evading his father's foot and jumping outside onto the freezing pavement. 'We'll get to have Christmas?'

Ethereal's heart went out to him. She had no idea whether he had ever celebrated Christmas before, but he obviously knew what it was. It was hard not to know, what with the decorations and festive songs filling Speculum City. It must be lonely, looking upon it all without being able to participate.

'Yes,' she said, kneeling down to put her eyes almost on a level with Fen's. 'Take whatever you want from that sack on Adder's back. There's lots of nice toys and games hidden inside those colourful packages.'

She watched as the little dragon immediately rushed over to Adder, who reluctantly lowered himself to his knees to allow Fen to climb up his side. Ethereal straightened up and pulled the smaller bag off her own back, opening it up and holding it out to Derrik. He gazed upon it with a look of utter disbelief on his face. The bag was full of fresh vegetables, chocolates and plastic-wrapped meat, enough to feed a family and have some to spare.

'Please take this,' she said, pushing the whole bag into Derrik's unresisting hands. 'I'll get more food to give to the other locals.'

He stared at the bag for a moment, then – quite calmly – carried it into the house and set it down. Then he returned, and practically threw himself at Ethereal in a hug that made her jump.

'Thank you,' he said, his words muffled as he pressed his face into her shoulder. 'Fen's never celebrated Christmas before; every year he goes on and on about it and I've never been able to give him what he deserves. Thank you.'

Ethereal patted him on the back and then gently pushed him away. 'We hope to do this again next year, too, so you'll never have to worry about Fen not having Christmas again.'

---

It was nearly ten minutes later, after Fen had chosen a present and both he and Derrik had thanked Ethereal profusely, that she and Adder found themselves flying back up to the castle. They were completely out of food and needed to pilfer more from the royal kitchens before heading out again.

'If everyone reacts the way they did, then I think we're going to be doing this all night,' Adder remarked as they landed in the castle gardens and shifted to human form.

'It doesn't matter,' Ethereal replied. And to her, it truly didn't. 'We're doing the best thing we can. I'll happily stay out all night if it means I can make the whole city happy. But you don't have to – you can go home and rest, if you prefer. I won't hold it against you.'

'Hmm... I'll stay. You need help carrying all this stuff anyway.'

A moment passed. Ethereal was gazing at the castle doors, ready to go inside, but hesitating.

'What, Princess?'

Without giving herself time to reconsider the logic of what she was about to do, she approached Adder and wrapped her arms around him.

'...Princess?'

'Thank you for agreeing to help me,' she said. 'Not just with this, but with... everything. Thank you for being my guard. Thank you for being my friend all these years when nobody else would even dare to approach me, thinking my royal status made me untouchable... I don't say it often enough. I would have undoubtedly had a lonely and boring life without you.'

She felt Adder's breath come out slowly, and sensed his surprise. Although they both knew how they felt about each other, their relationship was so often a completely silent one. It was rare for them to openly admit how much they cared for each other.

Is it time to admit something else? Ethereal thought. But just the idea of that was terrifying. Adder was her best friend... and even though she strongly suspected that he returned her feelings, she couldn't risk it. Her mother would have a fit she discovered that the Crown Princess was in love with a mere commoner, an ex-criminal from the bad parts of town.

However, she was beginning to care less what her mother thought. It was her life – her choices. She was old enough to decide for herself what she really wanted, and even the Queen of Speculum couldn't stop her.

'You know I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't want to, Princess,' said Adder. He wasn't embracing her, but nor was he moving away. 'The pay's great, but it's not nearly enough considering I work for the future queen. I stick around for other reasons.'

'I know.' It was almost painful; they were both on the very brink of admitting that they loved each other, yet neither of them were quite ready to take that final jump. If they said it, then they would never, ever be able to go back. If they kept silent, then they would be able to go on pretending.

Pretending to themselves, each other, or the rest of the world? Sometimes she just wasn't sure.

'Merry Christmas,' she murmured, holding him tighter as a gust of bitterly-cold wind whipped against them.