CHAPTER 43
I organised with Dragus and Matitus to distract Silas so I can go see if people would be interested in donating blood for a blood bank.
I knew with Silas loitering around, they would feel obligated to do as I asked and I really want to build trust with our people, let them decide for themselves without the pressures of the three Dragon Kings standing over them and intimidating them.
We go door to door knocking and stopping in at all the shops we walk by.
The store owners said they would let people know and send them to the castle.
Aldrin also thinks it is a good idea and spoke to a few people he knew to help move fridges and freezers to one of the greenhouses.
Not ideal but would do until we had a proper facility.
Victor and two apprentices are on hand to take blood donations if anyone was willing to help provide blood.
Walking up to the brick building, I find people willingly helping and volunteering their time.
A few kids in their late teens are painting the outside of the building.
A few elderly people are actually helping in the gardens with some of the children, pulling weeds out and cleaning off the concrete stairs.
“Do all these people work here?” I ask, turning to Marian. She shakes her head.
“No, a lot are volunteers that wanted to help, a lot of people didn’t know how to help them but now that the Dragon Kings have organised food and shelter, they want to make it homely for them, a safe place for them to be kids,” Marian answers.
“They have been fixing up the two homeless centers too,” Dakari adds behind me.
A lot of people who noticed him recognized him as Dragon, yet they don’t fear him like they do the Dragon Kings, probably because of his charismatic, happy-go-lucky attitude.
I also notice that he is often willing to pitch in and help.
Just yesterday, I caught him helping haul firewood in with the stable hand.
As I enter the orphanage, the first person I notice is Lilith, who is playing checkers on the step with another girl. She beams up at me, her blonde locks have been cut, she has a bob cut which really suits her, making her look like a porcelain doll.
“Hey Lilith,” I say as she jumps off the step and runs toward me, wrapping her arms around me. The little girl with her has red hair and freckles. She looks delicate and a little scared but happy to see new faces.
“This is Millie, my friend and this is Elora,” she tells Millie.
“Hi Millie,” I say as I wave. She shyly hides behind Lilith though, I can see the curious look in her eyes as she stares between Dakari and myself.
“Do you know where Patricia is Lilith?” Marian asks her.
Lilith points to the stairs, and Marian leads the way as I follow her, curious to meet the woman who has been watching over the children.
What I am not prepared for is her age. There are eight bunk beds in the bedroom, lined against the walls, each separated by a chest of draws for the children to share.
A girl about the age of 17 with dark curly hair to her shoulders is sitting on the end of one of the beds with three little boys no older than three and a little girl. She looks up when we enter, a smile lighting up her face as her brown eyes scan over us.
“Abbie didn’t come?” she asks, looking behind us. Marian shakes her head.
“Not today she isn’t feeling well,” Marian answers, making me look at Dakari, who has found a spot on the ceiling that suddenly became fascinating, nudging him.
“My lips are sealed,” he states.
“You knocked her up didn’t you?” I whisper to him so no one could hear. He places his fingers to his lips pretending to lock them and throw away the key. I roll my eyes at him before turning to Patricia who is talking to Marian.
“We could really use some more fabric; a lot of the kids’ clothes are too small, and we haven’t got enough towels and blankets,” I overhear her telling Marian.
“Anything you need just tell us, don’t ask. Tell us,” I tell her, trying to encourage her to say what they really need and not pick what they can and can’t go without.
“Write out a list, I will send Dakari back to pick it up later, anything you need, that the kids need. No request is too big, okay, we will make it work. Do you look after all these children by yourself?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “No, there are five of us and we take shifts, but I am here all the time,” she answers.
“I will find more people and I will speak to the Kings about organizing an income for those working here. You can’t be expected to do all this for free.”
“Really we don’t mind, we are just happy to have somewhere warm to sleep and food to eat,” she says, but I wave her off.
“No, it’s not good enough. I will speak to them, and we will organize some form of payment or allowances. How is the food situation?” I ask her.
“Fine now that we have the Fae and Abigail growing crops constantly, the castle cooks have been bringing meals down every day mainly soups and stews because there are so many mouths to feed, the main issue is formula we have had some babies come in over the last couple of days, their parents dropping them off, knowing there is food here, a lot of them using this place as a last resort,” she answers.
The thought of parents feeling there is no hope but to give their kids over to strangers for the sake of them not being able to provide for them saddened me.
“Do you know their parents?”
She nods. “Yes they stop by every day, there simply isn’t enough beds or enough work for them to provide for their kids,” she says.
“Find them, make room for them. I will organize something, we need workers in the greenhouses. When you see them send them to the castle, assure them they are not in trouble. I will find work for them so they can keep their children. We will also have to organize some sort of childcare arrangements for those parents who are working,” I tell Marian who nods her head in agreement.
“There is an old school down the end of the street that hasn’t been used in forever but it could make a good childcare center and school.
It just needs a clean-up; the building is solid and has working plumbing,” Patricia answers.
This girl strikes me as incredibly smart, the sort of smarts you only get from living the way we have, with experience on finding ways to survive and knowing the city of the back of your hand.
“Okay, I wonder if some of the older generation would be willing to help teach,” I say to myself.
“We have a heap of elderly people who stop by, they mainly help with cleaning, but most are trained in different areas and have skills that could be helpful to learn and to teach us. I will ask around,” Patricia says, blowing me away yet again with how willing to help she is.
“You should start a committee, you seem to know what you’re doing more so than me and know a lot of people,” I tell her.
She blushes. “I wasn’t joking, we will eventually need to come up with some governing body, this place is going to take a lot of people to get this city going, and we need those with a voice and willing to speak up around here for the people.
A government is only as strong as the legs it stands on, without people there would be no one to govern, to fix this city we will need others to stand up and help.
A lot of trust has been lost over the decades and it’s about time we find ways to build it back up.
This kingdom once flourished under the Dragons it can again.
Something to think about if you’re interested, you are part of this kingdom and if you can run an orphanage with over a hundred kids, I would be interested to see exactly what you’re capable of, if given the opportunity to do something great,” I tell her.
She seems stunned, and I let her think about it as I turn to Dakari.
“We need to head back, can you come back and pick up the list tonight from Patricia?” he nods once.
“Dakari will be back to grab your supplies list and anything else you may want or need make sure you put it on the list. Also, anyone that wants to work here full-time take their names and we will start doing interviews just to be safe. I don’t want just anyone working with the children, only those that can be trusted. ”
“Yes ma’am,” Patricia says.
“Elora, not highness, not ma’am, we are the same.
I have been where you are, and the streets of this city will always be home to me.
I am not your superior you have seen as much as I have so, please call me by my name,” I tell her.
She nods and I give her a hug. She freezes momentarily before hugging me back.
We say our goodbyes and I promise to come back and see her in a couple of days to interview potential people to help her, a girl her age shouldn’t be expected to run this on her own.
Even though she said there were five of them, Marian assured me she mainly works here because the others have homes to go back to, while she takes on everything including rationing of food and clothes etc.
One girl looking after 105 children and still willing to take on more, she is truly remarkable.
The people of this city are really rallying together, and it is beginning to really show.
Walking toward the castle gates I notice a large line all the way to the road out the front. As I enter the towering gates, I walk toward the start of the line and find Victor taking people’s names.
“You did it Elora,” Victor states. I look along the line that is growing bigger. “At this rate we are going to have to start turning people away.”
“Are all these people here to donate blood?” I ask. Victor nods excitedly.
“Yes, and we will also have enough to stock the medical practise,” he says, making me look at him. “The underground one, which I have been meaning to ask the Kings about moving it above ground.”
“I thought that place shut down years ago?” I ask him.
“It did, Seamus has decided to open another, but hopefully above ground. He is getting too old to travel the tunnels,” Victor states.
Seamus was Victor’s older brother. The man is wheelchair bound but used to be a doctor.
I haven’t seen him in years and assumed he died.
It appears with everything going on in the city, people are really willing to step out of the shadows to improve things.
“I will tell Silas; you will have your practice Victor, tell Seamus I am happy to learn he is still alive,” I chuckle. Victor laughs.
“Fussy old fool, but with all the apprentices willing to learn medicine he has decided to come out of hiding and retirement to teach them,” Victor says.
Seamus is also in his seventies like Victor a little older and would be an asset to the city especially with Victor and his help, we could have some doctors in training which would be a great help.
I have been chatting away to Victor helping take people’s names when I feel arms wrap around my waist. “You are in some serious trouble,” I hear him growl below my ear. Silas’s warm breath moves across my neck.
“And why is that?” I ask him as Dragus moves me over and starts helping Victor write people’s names down and get their blood type, of those that actually knew theirs.
“Because you snuck out.”
“Seems like Dragus had you pretty distracted though,” I tell him, turning in his arms. Silas stares down at me before looking at all the crowd lined up.
“So many people,” he mutters under his breath.
“Yes, and I have been thinking, I want to start a committee, or board some governing body where everyone can have a say and pitch in.”
“Are you asking or telling me,” he says, a smile playing on his lips.
“Hmm… telling you. We have a lot of people here, people who are willing to help if you let them, a lot of people capable of doing good things for this city,” I say.
“Fine, but I will leave that for you to organize. I am doing something else. Whatever you need just see Matitus and Dakari,” Silas says.
“Why not Dragus?” I ask, wondering what he is going to be doing that is going to have him so willing to let me have control.
“I need Dragus. Also, we have come up with a plan for the Dragons. I will be going out tonight with a few Vampires to catch one,” he tells me. I feel fear bubble up in me, not liking the idea of him putting himself in danger yet I know we have no other choice.
“Hey Aldrin,” Silas calls, making me look over my shoulder to see Aldrin carrying a bag of medicinal herbs to the storage sheds behind the castle.
Aldrin stops when he hears his name being called.
His eyes dart to me before going to Silas who has taken off to speak to him.
I go to follow him when Dragus stops me.
“Leave him Lora, he means your friend no harm, just wants his help with something.”
I nod wondering what it is Silas would want with him.
Though, by the looks of their body language they seem to be having a discussion in which Aldrin seems quite interested.
They walk off, like old buddies. I shake my head at the strange situation not giving it much thought and turning back to help Dragus.