The sound of Christmas songs outside drifted into the bedsits tiny room creating a contrast of feelings, the joyful and upbeat sounds of children celebrating the fact that "Santa Clause is coming to town" amid the bare walls of peeling plaster. A can of soup was being gently heated on the one working gas hob of the tiny stove, he knew that across the capital of Mountjoy families would be preparing feasts of roasted meat, fresh vegetables and creamy deserts, the very thought made his stomach growl. There had been a time when at this time of year he'd have been in the bossom of his family back home looking forward not to Christmas but to the end of year when followers of the Cult of Helus celebrated the new year to come. He'd been here in Moutjoy for six months now, ever since he'd managed to get out of Seleucid following the Cultist genocide there. It had taken him a few months to trek through the hills and plains that seperated Mountjoy from Seleucid, getting what help from the kindness of strangers that he could. Having arrived in Mountjoy he'd struggled to find somewhere to live and had spent a few weeks living under a bridge in the capital, his life was about as far away from his youth as a Prince. As winter came he was fortunate enough to find a job in a Mushroom factory, the work was simple enough and it bored him. He spent his days collecting trays of soil, sifting through finding the Mushrooms and then putting them into nice neat boxes before cling filming them. The pay was garbage but it covered the cost of his tiny bedsit just a few hundred meters from work.
Some days he thought perhaps he'd be better off back in prison in East Moreland, he even spent one day sat on a wall staring at the East Moreland embassy and considered just walking in and telling them who he was. At least back in the military prison he'd be warm and feed three times a day. He'd have no friends, but that wasn't unusual, ever since he'd betrayed his cousin King David he'd only ever had one friend, that was Charlotte, the sweet girl from a religious community in the hills near Freestone he'd meet while on the run. They'd become lovers and he knew he had a two year old son, James Junior, who he'd never meet. That was another reason why he'd thought of handing himself in, at least he'd maybe get to see his boy. He had a younger sister too, Lily, but he knew that she's disowned him, he'd read in the paper about how King David had relented and forgiven her assured she knew nothing about his plotting. He was pleased she was successful now, she'd always been a nice girl, not devious like him.
At the end of the day however James knew that if he ever went home he'd never see freedom again, he'd be sent into the depths of Northfort Military Prison and in all liklihood be shanked by some soldier who had lost a friend or loved one in the Regency Crisis. That wasn't something he was able to accept as a fate and so he was resigned to this life, still it wasn't without hope, there was a chance of a promotion at work, to that of "Chief Packing Supervisor" and who knew he may even be able to afford to have his heating on. The soup was ready, he took the pan from the stove and crossed to his window which was next to the head of his small single bed, be sat with his back to the wall looking out the window at the groups out celebrating Christmas. He allowed the warmth of the pan to be used to help warm his body before he began taking small spoonfuls of the thin soup. He longed even for a piece of bread to soak up his meal and fill his stomach but he had none, maybe after pay day. He finished his small meal and washing his pan putting it back in his one cupboard where his three more tins of soup, his meals for the rest of the week, were stored. As he moved his belongings from the bed to the floor so he could lay down and read in bed for a while he heard something slide under his door. He looked down, no one knew him, he had no friends and socialised with no one, but here a thick white envelope lay. He nervously opened his door looking down the corridor, it was empty without any signs of life, he shut the door and opened the envelope, inside was a Christmas card, he opened it and his eyes widened as he read the words.
"Merry Christmas Dickhead"