battlefield | clara & melanie
There was something particularly heart wrenching about seeing a woman and her child scared beyond wits and begging for mercy. Melanie felt her eyes welling up with tears and it was inevitable really, that Melanie would see such a duo and be haunted by the image of her mother and baby brother. She did it all the time regardless of where she was, if there was a woman and child roaming about the town Melanie only saw the lost opportunities and impossible dreams she held close in her heart. She’s gotten better at ignoring the pang of her heart at such thoughts but this was different. The angry screams and painful cries surrounded them and Melanie could see clearly the fear in their gazes. In another world this could have been them lost and alone. Terrified.
Melanie felt a rush of anger so fierce it burned at her insides and threatened to claw its way to the surface, oh how she wished she had the capabilities to fight back! To go head to head with those who made this happen. The cowards who attacked so many innocents, the fools who thought they could break this kingdom into pieces. She wished she could have that satisfaction of watching them burn under her fire. But first she would focus on what she could do. She could lead them all to safety. And perhaps use her resources to help in any other means necessary.
“The only place that I am sure of being safe is the Castle. Its where I was heading when I stumbled upon you two.” Melanie tilted her head as the following information let her know that the two before her were not related. She put aside the information for later, they could always discuss the details about that when they were safe and not while they were still in the heart of chaos. “Have faith that your family will find a way to survive Miss, and for now focus on keeping the child calm and following me to the castle, I know its a ways away but there will be food and medical attention there.” Melanie looked at the child in the woman’s arms and smiled sadly, running her hands through his messy hair as he snuggled into the woman’s arms further. “He’s so beautiful, do you know his name? Which reminds me, you can call me Melanie.”
Clara couldn't have been more relieved that she and the boy whose life she was attempting to protect had been stumbled upon by a kind stranger, one whose intentions seemed all too pure and lacking of any ill-honesty whatsoever. The woman seemed so terribly out of place in the midst of the chaos that had broken out all around them, though...her beautiful clothes were strained and tattered, and her golden locks of strawberry-blonde hair were matted and tangled around her exquisite face. She must have been a noblewoman, that much was certain, and Clara was genuinely startled that she had risked her life solely to help someone whose station was so clearly beneath her own. Her heart was true, then, and warm and kind and more generous than she could even begin to fathom, and Clara promised herself that, so long as they made it out of this nightmare alive, she would do everything in her power to repay her as soon as she possibly could. For now, though...Clara shakily allowed the elder woman to lead her and the frightened boy in her arms away from the war-torn battlefield, trembling from head to toe as she struggled to fall into step alongside her. She...oh God, she needed to get this little boy to safety, and she needed to do it right now.
"The--the castle, yes. Perhaps his family has already managed to find their way there and they're looking for him as we speak," Clara breathed with a timid smile, if only because she couldn't help but be hopeful even when the situation was as bleak as it was. When the elder woman, whose name was evidently Melanie, reached out to comfort the child in Clara's arms with one of her manicured hands, the blonde watched as they young boy cooed and whimpered fretfully, clearly desperate to be soothed and coddled after what had been such a horribly traumatizing experience for him. "My--my name is Clara, miss. Clara Lightly. I--I work at the castle, actually, as a handmaiden, and..." she trailed off so that she could gingerly hoist the dark-haired boy in her arms further up, shushing him softly in an attempt to raise his face to hers. "...what's your name, little one? Can you tell me that much, honey? Do you have a name as lovely as your little face?" She watched as the toddler's features crumpled up in slight confusion, but then he was timidly nodding, and it was only after he buried his face in her chest once more that he managed to shyly murmur that his name was Nathan...Nathan Thompson.
"It...it's a beautiful name for a beautiful boy, isn't it, miss?" she asked softly, squeezing Nathan tightly to her chest and nodding firmly when Melanie gestured for them to head towards the castle. The skies were growing dark now, until the only thing keeping them alight were the stars and the blasts from the canon, and it was only when her arms began to ache and grow heavy that she gratefully accepted Melanie's offer to carry Nathan, taking him back as soon as the noblewoman grew sore as well. Finally, the castle was within sight, and Clara was so relieved that she could have sobbed. "Is there anyone you need to find, miss, before we go inside? Family of your own?" she asked tentatively, her voice barely heard over the sounds of war all around them. "Can I help? It--it's the least I could do for you after all of this."
