The winter Solstice is near. Already nobles began to flock the streets of the Fray. Of course they don't see the actual Fray. Instead they shop in the small part of the marketplace known as the Veil because it attempts to cover the horrors of the Fray. The Veil is a wonderful place. Giant malls and shopping plazas. Shiny, new buildings. It almost looks like a real city. There's even a nice little frozen lake with people skating on it and a bridge over it where young couples could be seen strolling along. It looks like the kind of city you would find in a snow globe. Everywhere you go there is joy on people's faces. 

The smile pasted on my face is fake and the crisp, clean clothes I wore were stolen from the mall a few Solstices ago. As I walked through the Veil, I saw aristocrats rushing to buy Solstice presents for their spoiled and bratty children. No one even notices me. If they had stopped for a second, they would've easily realized that I don't belong here, despite my clean clothes. They would take one look at me, my greasy, tangled brown hair braided down my back, my old, worn cloak that I wore everywhere, my dad's old boots that had now a hole in them, my dirty face and calloused hands and shun me. The most obvious give away would be my dark eyes. My eyes that held no hope, no happiness, no light. This marked me as of the Fray.

I walked on and saw children playing in the park by the lake, enjoying the snow, waiting for their parents to finish shopping. There were three children building snowmen and making snow angels. Several children were throwing snowballs at each other. Some were drinking hot cider or hot chocolate to warm up from the cold. I heard a few exclaiming that winter was their favorite season. I had to scoff at that. Imagine being that privileged. Winter in the Fray was absolutely brutal. Little to no heating, shortage of electricity, and of course the lack of game to hunt made it the hardest season to survive. But these children, they didn't have to worry about any of that. When they got cold, they just went inside their heated houses and had a hot meal waiting for them. 

As I walked, I focused my attention two teenage girls wearing matching hot pink beanies with a professional-looking camera that they probably got for Solstice. They were busy taking pictures of themselves in the most ridiculous poses. Someone should really tell them they looked like fools. They were so distracted that they barely noticed anyone else until some of the children started attacking them with snowballs. They screamed in frustration as their hair got wet. Their noses and faces flushed red and they started screaming about how their father was going to sue them. I had to laugh. They were at least sixteen and they were threatening to sue a bunch of eight year old kids. The upper class baffled me sometimes. The children just looked at the girls and stuck their tongues out and ran away laughing. 

Close by was a young boy with glasses, probably no older than ten, sitting on a bench by himself reading a thick book. He was completely fascinated by it. Occasionally, he would look up in delight as if he had just figured something out. I understood completely. There was a special kind of joy that only reading could bring. Unfortunately for me, reading was not something that I was able to do very often as books were expensive and utterly useless for everything, but kindling. My sister and I were two of the few in the Fray that could actually read. Our father had insisted on teaching us when we were younger. 

As I walked by the beanie girls, their mood shifted quickly as they noticed me. They gave me a once over, noting my appearance. They clearly noticed that I was of the Fray. I saw their expressions change from disgust at the children into those of disgust at me. They looked at each other and an evil smirk passed between them. They started to come closer towards me, but thankfully kept some distance between us because they probably thought I was contagious or something. 

"Ew, look at her hair," one of them exclaimed. She was the shorter one and had wavy black hair with horizontal white stripes across it. "It's so greasy and messy. And come on, braids like that went out of style years ago." Well come on now, not everyone has rich parents. And besides, take a look at your own hair, I didn't realize that zebra manes were in fashion. Of course, I didn't say this out loud because I didn't want to ruin this perfect opportunity. 

"Forget about her hair, look at her clothes!" her friend added, still holding the camera. She came closer towards me, trying to intimidate me. "A cloak? What century does she think she's living in?" Well, it's cold and your clothes aren't much to look at either, honey. Seriously, who wears a neon orange jumpsuit, complete with faux fur and neon yellow, thigh length boots. Is she trying to look like a walking traffic cone or something? 

I rolled my eyes and continued walking at a faster pace and ran right into someone. It was zebra hair, blocking my path. She turned to traffic cone and said, with a pretentious accent, "Viola, isn't this city wonderful?" 

Traffic cone - Viola, I guess - replied, in the same accent, "Of course, Valentia, but weren't we promised that there would be no vermin allowed here? " She gave me a pointed look.

I shrugged and mocked their accent, "In that case you should show yourselves out." With that, I pushed them out of my way and continued walking. It wasn't one of my best comebacks but oh well, I guess. I'd just passed the reading boy when I heard something. 

"Wait!" I turned around in surprise. Who was talking to me, now? I saw reading boy closing his book while he walked towards me "Take this." He thrust a silver watch into my hands. It was brand new and probably super expensive.

"What's this?" I asked, confused.

"I got it for Solstice, but I already have too many watches. You need it more than I do. Sorry that my sisters are rude. It's not your fault." He explained. 

I was still puzzled. "Why are you being so nice to me?" I asked. 

He shrugged. "You're human, too. And we can't help what family we are born into." And with that he turned around and left. I just stared, as I pocketed the watch. Children are so sweet until they are corrupted by society. I hope this boy never changes. I hope he never becomes like his sisters.

With that thought, I started to continue on my way. I became so preoccupied with my thoughts I almost didn't notice I was entering the Shadow. The Shadow was the other part of the marketplace, the Fray part. Looking around, I immediately noticed the difference between the Veil and the Shadow.

Instead of shopping plazas there were small, unstable stalls. Instead of perky, makeup clad salespeople there were tired, old shopkeepers. Instead of playing, children were begging, lying and stealing. Instead of laughter, crying and wailing filled the air. The smell of paper burning filled the air as books were being burnt to provide some warmth. People huddled around the fire, shivering in their faded, threadbare shawls.

I started to walk over to Ariel's stall. I've been trading with Ariel for almost four years now. She always offers a fair price and never asks too many questions. I smirk as I pull out an object from under my cloak. It's the camera that the beanie girls had. I had swiped it while they were busy critiquing my appearance. First rule of the Fray: if you are not smart enough to protect your belongings, you have no reason to own them. The wealthy Rosemellow citizens didn't grow up here like I did so they are basically sitting ducks.

Because of this, Solstice was always my favorite time of year, despite the harsh winter. Every Solstice, the royal Flior family visits every sector, starting in Sector 1 and ending in Sector 7. The aristocrats always came a few days before them to welcome them.

Ariel cleared her throat and I realized that I had been zoning out. "Well Savannah, this an expensive and relatively unused camera." She handed me a sack of coins. "Just next time remember to clear all the photos from a stolen camera before you try to sell it." She said with a small smile, tucking a piece of gray hair that had escaped her bun behind her ear. 

Oh, that's right. The girls were taking pictures, before they saw me. How could I forget? I smile at my foolishness. Ariel hands me a sack of coins. "Thanks Ariel.  Pleasure doing business with you."

"Likewise." Ariel was a woman of few words. She never said anything more than she needed to. 

I took the bag and continued on my way. I, then remembered the watch. I decided that I'll sell it some other day, if I absolutely had to. For now I kept it, as a reminder that there are kind people in the world. As I was leaving, I turned around and looked at the Shadow one last time. I looked around and saw nothing but emptiness. There was no life anywhere anymore. Every action of every person seemed robotic and monotonous. Even the youngest of the children, had vacant eyes, staring, but not seeing.

For a second I felt guilty. I always did. I wish I could help these people, somehow. My family wasn't rich or anything, but we weren't as bad off as most of the Fray was. But empathy and guilt have no place in the Fray. So as always,  I hardened my heart and stopped feeling. And with a swish of my cloak, I turned on my heel and left. 

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Hi everyone! It's your girl mana345 here! I just want to say thank you so much for giving my book a chance and I hope you will continue to read on! This is my first book, so I'm still figuring things out and I hope you all will be patient with me. I'm so excited to continue writing this book!