eachdraidh | video - unseelie locked;

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[ It's evening, about nine or ten or so, which means it's the bed time of the children and the children should be asleep. At least now, Alice can finally take a break, plopping herself down. ]

Hello. I suppose I should introduce myself for those who don't know me -- my name is Alice Liddell of the Unseelie court, and I've been here for almost two years now, next month. Forgive me, I haven't slept well in a few weeks, so my thoughts may be a bit scattered.

[ God, she's forgotten how awkward this is. Alice clears her throat, cupping her hands in her lap. ]

Currently, I oversee a small orphanage in Aghmor, with six children underneath my care. Each of them come from Dorchadas, a few of them have lost fathers in the siege. One girl has lost an arm due to- well. I won't get into that. Anyway, there are more orphaned children and I am unfortunately very limited in my resources. In Whitechapel, London, I was the only caregiver to 18 children, so when I created this orphanage, it was my intent to take a small number, so that I wouldn't be overwhelmed.

What is on the coast is frightening the natives here in Ahgmor; while I do have volunteers, I want to expand what I do. The six children are an oddity here, aside from their traumas -- they know how to read, write, and possess a basic knowledge of arithmetic. In addition, they're learning skills to help them grow as adults and set an example to other children. I've worked very hard to ensure that they recover, mentally and physically.

I want to continue doing this, I want to teach more children, I want to continue what my father would have done. I understand what is coming and what lies on the coast. May this be a reminder to use what we have to stop the Void and save each and every life and world. An absolution--something that will spare everything, though, I can't think of that now, I still have to think about the simplest things, for the sake of these children.

I want to ask my fellow travelers to help spread aid once again. I may be force to move once again, to pick up what I made and chose a location further out of harm's way. Should I find more like-minded individuals outside of the natives I've grown to know or Erik Lehnsherr, I hope to grow another establishment in which children can learn and have a safe haven.

[ She's normally not this meek; Alice eventually sighs into her hands, as the exhaustion mounts on her. ]

Anyway- I should also mention I would not be opposed to additional help. If anything, I could use a few days to myself, half of it to catch up on sleep.

[ That was such a stupid choice on her part, she'll admit to that much. ]

Well, they're all in bed. Hopefully.

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Alice, in the name of the Middluns, I'm not talking about giving children knives so they can fight each other when they get frustrated. I may have no interest in ever mothering them, but even I know better than that.

I know. But you did say that they would find other means to hit each other, no? I was agreeing, especially if two of them are siblings.

Though, what do you really want, Katsa? Did you want to help them?

Of course I want to help them, as you do, though I think we've very different ideas of what that means. You want to parent them. I want to teach the ones who wish to learn self defense, for when even you cannot be there to shield them.

I'm not a mother.

[ She acts like one and she's very ignorant to the fact. Eventually, maybe, after some time, the children may even see her as a mother figure. ]

If you want to protect them, then there can be other ways. They're still too young for any of that. Maybe other skill sets -- none of that, not now.

You haven't given birth to them, no.

[ That's about as much as Katsa will agree with her. She makes a noise of frustration, deep in the back of her throat, and doesn't know how to communicate why it means so much to her to give them the tools to their own protection. ]

How old is the oldest among them, Alice, and how young the smallest?

The youngest is five years old and has a limp to her walk. The oldest is ten.

[ She knows what this means, and Alice adds-- ]

You can contribute to their safety by other means.

[ Ten—the age Bitterblue had been when Katsa had found her huddling in a trunk and clutching a knife too big for her for dear life. Of course, Bitterblue had been a circumstance all her own. But other girls that age had come too, once Katsa had offered lessons in Bitterblue City. ]

Of course, and I'll be happy to do it. But some of them may also wish to contribute to their own safety, even if they'll never have to—as I hope they don't.

Then see to it that they don't have to. That is what being an adult entails, to see to it that terrible things never happen to a child.

I do not disagree. But it also means not being foolish and recognizing the situation you're in, finding it better that someone has a skill they never have to use than being caught in a situation wishing they could do something but being unable.

I'm only offering to teach basic defense such as jamming a thumb into a man's eyeball enough to run away to the ones who even want to learn it, Alice. I've no plans to throw all your little ones into the midst of ten armored soldiers and frighten them to sleep at night.

I don't doubt that you wouldn't ever do such a thing.

[ But this can go into a lengthy conversation that some of the trauma she sees in them she had, too. Hyper vigilance and nightmares are never a good thing, they can evolve in something else. ]

Surely that's not the only thing you can do, Katsa. I'm sure you have other skills, too.

If you’d ever seen my needlework, you wouldn’t be so quick to say so.

[ She waves off the unspoken question lightly, but of course it’s true nonetheless. The Graced already have a skill. Survival is better than killing, when that’s what she thought hers was, but its uses are still very specific. ]

You shouldn't be too critical of that. Needlework takes time and practice; it is a difficult skill, after all.

But-

[ Alice taps her chin in thought. ]

What about other things? Hunting, caring for horses, or more. Something that would be a daily chore.

[ Katsa shrugs. ]

I can do those things. Although you might hear otherwise about how I care for my horses, but don’t believe it.

[ She may be making a joke that only she seems to understand the punchline, though her face doesn’t crack into obvious amusement. ]

Hunting, making fires. Anything that might help someone survive on their own.

[ Alice hums in thought. If it wasn't late at night, she would have beckoned Aithne over it. She's been toying with the idea, but. ]

Hunting is a necessity in these parts. Back where I came from, we didn't have to worry about such things. And I don't like fire, what I know is fairly minimal. Though those things, yes, they'll do.

[ To put Katsa at ease and even some of her older children. ]

The older ones can learn a a few things about hunting- ah, perhaps Aithne and Drest, maybe, they are my more adventurous ones. Una would be frightened of traveling without her older brother.

…I’ve not taught anyone hunting before.

[ Katsa says it with some surprise. She hadn’t thought about it. She hunts with bow and arrow, with knives and even her bare hands rather than traps, simply because she can. She wonders if Alice is thinking of hunting in the same way. ]

But I suppose I could try. And perhaps some things about where to find water or what plants to eat or not eat in the wild.

Whatever you would feel comfortable with.

[ Alice doesn't know much about hunting. She's never had to worry about that, she's relied on others. It's likely due to her dislike of hurting animals, despite knowing the need for hunting. She huffs, she knows it's potentially dangerous and maybe even a little traumatizing. ]

They may benefit from that.

[ It would help them learn and grow, she's sure. ]

I'll allow for that, that is a necessity in these worlds, if you're so inclined to teach the the two of them things.

Then I might as well try that. [ It can’t be too different from teaching a child how to turn a knife on an attacker, and Katsa has been doing a lot of different sorts of teaching lately. ] I’ll find some time to come to you and them soon, in order to share these skills.

[ Alice assumes it has to be easier than killing man, for sure. Some animals aren't as powerful as a man. That should be enough to calm Aithne and give Drest some confidence, however- ]

Whenever you do take them, You won't be going alone.

I could hardly teach anyone anything if I left without my pupils, wouldn't I?

[ ...She knows what Alice means. ]

Obviously.

[ Alice is hoping she knows what she means, otherwise she's going to continue acting like the overbearing mother that she is. ]

I want to make sure that they don't act too brash.

[ Katsa considers this. She has no interest in mothering the children, as she told Alice, but nor is she neglectful nor unaware of their safety. While she might have less to worry about on her own time, Katsa's not so clueless. She's formed a close bond with at least one child half her age before, and had to keep her alive on their own together for months.

But all that said, Katsa's experience with children is low outside her lessons with older Monsean girls. ]

...Do you know how to hunt, Alice? Or wish to learn something like tacking a horse or finding your way in a forest, if you'll be with us anyway?

I've never hunted before, no.

[ She's not too sure if she's thrilled with the idea, despite it being such a necessity in this world. ]

I know of tracking vaguely, it's come in handy before, so I suppose it wouldn't hurt.

Then it's settled. You'll learn as well so you can work on it with them while I'm not around, as I don't plan to stay any one place for long.

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