A Magical Winter
 

It was only mid-November in the land of Reitezelia, but it was bitterly cold, the morning skies were as pale as paper, and a blanket of glittering frost coated every treebranch, roof, chimney, lawn and gate. The cold woke thirteen-year-old Lillianna. Despite the size of the mansion in which they lived, she, her brother and the two kids who had once been their servants all slept piled up in one chamber to keep warm. After all, there were only four pairs of hands to gather fuel for the fire now, and it had died out.
Lillianna sat up, hugging the blankets to her and shivering. She had sewing and laundry to do today; that was how she managed to ensure that they all had most of what they needed to survive. She dreaded leaving her bed, but after five minutes of procrastination, she shed the blankets. She climbed over and tucked them in around the youngest resident, a little girl, to offer extra protection from the cold, then made her way over to the fireplace.

The cold air was withheld by the windows in the mansion but most of them had been frosted over, causing the warmth of the mansion to decelerate at an astonishing rate. The cold never bothered a certain 13 year old as he was known to spend more time outside whenever it was cold. Well he used to do that when he still had his parents with him. Now a days Raphael made it a point to remain inside with his sister and the other two children. He'd only leave whenever they were running low on food to eat.
Currently the boy was struggling to prepare breakfast for the four of them as he was the one who could actually make food without it being inedible.
Ralph decided they could eat cereal for now and opened two different boxes as they youngest member was somewhat picky about what she liked to eat. After gathering some bowls and the rest of the milk they had he made four bowls of cereal and placed the boxes back where they belonged. Guessing everyone was still asleep, he went to check on them only to see that his sister had already gotten up and out of bed. He assumed she was doing her tasks and decided to gather her once he woke the other two girls. "Rise and shine," he said, gently shaking the older of the girls first.

(Since this is an 1800s type setting, I'm not sure they'd have cereal. Maybe they could have oatmeal? :) )
Eleanor shifted in bed, then sat up, hugging her thin little body with her arms. She trembled uncontrollably, but forced herself out of bed.
"I'll go get more firewood," she quavered. "I - i think Lillianna's putting the last of it on the fire."
She took her shawl down from the headboard, pulled it around herself, stepped into her scruffy shoes and headed for the outdoors.
Having fed the fire, Lillianna returned to the bed. She gave the youngest kid a gentle shake.
"Hey, sweet. Get up. It's time for breakfast."

(Oh duh, lol. yeah that works)

Raphael watched the other girl go and offered his scarf before she went. He didn't want her to freeze to death and knew well the others couldn't handle cold the way he could. After rubbing his hands together and blowing on them, he opted to wear mittens but figured it'd be difficult to eat with them.
The dark haired girl muttered something as she was shaken and kept her eyes shut, shivering as she tried to fetch more warmth. "Too...cold," she managed to say, no amount of coaxing taking her from the bed. Her hunger got the better of her and after a moment she sat up and let out a sneeze. Angel didn't want to leave the bed but knew she'd stay hungry if she remained there all day.

(Question, would ghosts work in this world since it has some fantasy elements?

(Yes. :) Add anything you want! How old is Angel?)
Back inside, Eleanor fed the dining room fire with unsteady, raw hands. The warmth helped her coughing to abate some. She draped Raphael scarf across the dining room table.
"Thanks, Ralph." Her voice was hoarse.
Lillianna got Angel downstairs.

(Yay, will introduce them further on. I'm going to say 7 or 8)

"You're welcome," he called back as he checked the temperature of the oatmeal. The warmest one he would give to Angel while he would eat the coldest of the meals. Every now and then they would switch to who got the warmest food but he always made sure no one was stuck with the coldest, even if he didn't benefit from it. Noticing his sister, he gave her a smile along with Angel. "Morning," he greeted. "Food is on the table."
Angel started to nod off again but kept herself awake.

Lillianna sat down and took a listless bite of the oatmeal. "Ugh. Elly, you'll have to read Angel her lessons today. I've got all this sewing to do today. Angel, open your eyes. Come on, sweet. You still have studying to do."
"Ralph, when did Mr. Norris say he was going to bring us our allowance for the week?" Eleanor refused to touch her breakfast. "I hate oatmeal so much."
Mr. Norris had been Lillianna's and Ralph's butler. Now he only cane around to give them a small weekly allowance and yell at them if he felt it was warranted.

Ralph began eating once everyone had seated and grabbed milk for them as well. He turned to Eleanor and shrugged. "He said, and I quote, When I get around to it. You lot better be grateful I still give you a chance to live. Or something like that." The whole time he spoke he put on an imitation of the man's voice before switching back to his own voice. "Please eat. I know you don't like it but I promise you, you'll be fine."
"Don't want to study, just want to sleep," Angel mumbled as she lazily ate her food. "Not enough suger…"

Eleanor helpfully dumped more sugar into Angel's oatmeal.
"ELLY!" Lillianna moaned. "Thanks alot. She's not supposed to have that much sugar. Not to mention the white kind's so expensive!"
"Well, I hope we get our allowance soon." Eleanor took another reluctant bite. Her throat was so sore from all the coughing she'd done that she could scarcely swallow. "Lillianna doesn't get paid till tomorrow."

After taking another bite Angel instantly felt the sugar making its way through her system and she began to wake up more. She ate more and was about halfway done when she started bouncing in her seat.
"I don't know, soon for Norris would be next April. But I know what you mean," Ralph said as he took the bowl of oatmeal from Angel, not wanting her to have a sugar rush or a sore tummy. "That's enough sugar for you."