“I cannot help you. I cannot guide you. Your offer is kind, but I’m not the right person for this.”
“Then be my friend. Hold my hand and tell me everything will be fine.” Tears shimmered in her eyes. “I'm surrounded by millions and yet I'm alone. I need you.”
Status: Outlined | PoVs: Tilda, Rajani, Alrune, Robin and Martha
The Dawnbringer Side Characters | Freya von Finholdt
~380 words excerpt; continued under the cut
Freya folded her arms before her breastplate. “When I stood eye to eye with that bandit, I thought of Faro,” she said silently. “I wanted to kill him, for Faro.”
A sting went through his chest. Sombre was her face, her eyes hard as they were fixed on the sea, or perhaps they saw nothing at all. “But you didn't,” he said.
“No, I didn't. But in that moment it was all I wanted, all that mattered. I never got to avenge my brother, and I thought as the years passed, my fury would cease, but it didn't. It was merely subdued, never quenched. And now I'm here, feeling as though I should have done something.”
“Revenge will not bring Faro back,” he said carefully, yet with a firmness.
There had been a time when Robin had thought of it too. Of revenge. He still remembered clearly the day when his father had told him that Farold had been killed by a bandit. At first, there had been sadness. But as the days, weeks had passed, he felt the fury Freya spoke of. However, the man that had taken a part of their family, had never been identified and was never brought to justice.
Freya laughed bitterly. “That is an awful fate, isn't it? You long for revenge, but in the end nothing of that matters. In the end you are still alone, with a hole in your heart that can never be filled.”
“You are not alone, Freya, and you never were.”
“Yet the place beside me is still empty.” Her angered voice quaked for the first time, and when she finally glanced at him, tears shimmered in her brown eyes. “He would be a great, respected knight now. He would stand here with us and speak words of encouragement while all we do now is lament about things we can never have.”
“Yes,” Robin muttered as his thoughts trailed to the jovial days of his childhood with his cousin, “he was rather good at that.”
She smiled then, sadly, but curved an arm around his waist, and he laid his around her shoulder. “You're right,” she said. “I am not alone. But my heart still aches.”
“I know.” Gently, he pulled her a little closer. “Mine, too.”
A strange sound reached her ears. A sound not unlike banners flapping in the wind. Much more sedately, however. She turned her head skywards, and her breath stilled. Beneath the grey clouds floated a broad shadow with large wings and a long, pointed tail.
One knight gasped and the horses whinnied.
“Don't move,” Alois hissed.
With her heart pounding in her ears, Rajani stared at the creature. She never had seen one before, but she didn't need to, to know what this was. Some people claimed to have seen one. Travellers and merchants that came to the city had described them as horrid, foul beasts that brought fear to their hearts and to those who listened to their stories.
Rajani felt no fear at all. Only an odd, sad yearning as the dragon glided above them and grew smaller and smaller with every breath she took. It was beautiful.
[WIP Intro // *not official but close faceclaims of my protagonists Tilda and Rajani]
This is the story of two brave young women born in two different kingdoms that have been warring for centuries. They do not have much else in common, save for the love towards their family. One is a lady, but born a warrior, the other is a thief, but born a dreamer. The first is the niece of a king. The second an orphan, trying to survive the unkind capital.
Yet there is something that binds them: magic. Magic in a world that began to forget its existence and believe it to be mere tales. Neither of the young women is aware of their true powers, nor do they know that all of this might have a greater meaning. For their lives were linked long before they were born.
A fierceness bloomed inside her chest, and when she turned to her father, her voice did not betray her. “You have seen what I am capable of. You know what I can do! I will not fail. Give me a sword, let me wear my brother’s armour once more, and I will do all in my power to bring him home.”
Another murmur of the lords thickened the air. Their words were unintelligible to her, but she knew what they must be thinking. That the endeavour was too dangerous for her, for a warden’s daughter, for the king’s niece. But they were wrong. They knew nothing about her.
Where Robin meets a little girl in the woods ... (800 words; continued under the cut)
Robin reached for his waterskin on the saddle, but stalled in his motion. A sound wafted through the earthy air. A faint voice, singing. Eyes scurrying over his surroundings, he found its source. Not far from him stood a small figure beside a tree, slender arms clasped around the trunk as though it was scared of falling. A little girl with long dark hair that had come loose from a dishevelled braid. Her face was nudged against the bark, eyes shut, but her mouth formed the words of a song.
Carefully, Robin dismounted, wound the reins around his hand and approached the girl. “Hello,” he said softly, but received no response. “Do you need help?”
Her silent song proceeded undeterred, yet thin and almost woeful. The words were unintelligible, but he knew the melody. It was a children's lullaby. His mother had often sung it to his sisters when they were but infants.
Even as he came closer still, did she not look at him. Dirt was smudged on her jaw and a dark, red stain caked her blue wool dress, just above her hip. Blood.
With his heart in his throat, he tied Taler's reins to a young tree and patted his neck. He crouched before the girl, making sure to keep enough distance. “Hello,” he said again. “Are you hurt?”
The girl's eyes jerked opened. They widened all the more as she glanced at him, stumbling backwards with fright distorting her face. Smeared blood shimmered on her light brown skin above her eyebrow. It did not seem to be her blood, however. Earlier tears had left streaks on her dirty cheeks. She couldn't be older than six years.
“I'm not going to hurt you, I promise,” he said. “I'm here to help you. Are you hurt?” Slowly, her face softened, but she shook her head. “Do you want to tell me your name?” She shook her head again. A smart girl, he thought, then brought his lips to curl into a little smile. Placing a hand upon his heart, he continued, “I am Sir Robin.”
“You are a knight?” she peeped then, tilting her head a little. Her dark eyes looked more curious than frightened now.
Relief made him sigh. “Yes, I am.”
“Can I see your sword?”
Puzzled, he said, “Of course,” and drew his blade in a wary motion. Not his own though, but the one Jivan had given him. He held it up on blade and hilt, and she reached a hand for it. “Be careful, it is very sharp.”
Despite his warning, an avid grin unfurled on her face, but she withdrew her hand. She was unaware of the horrors that could be done with a weapon like this. “You have two?”
He followed her gaze to his gelding's saddle where his tarnished blade hung. The pommel of a golden rose blinked in what little sunlight fell through the trees. “I do. It is rather dirty, I'm afraid.” It was not wholly a lie, after all.
“Can I see?”
Uneasiness made his heart beat faster. The girl's eyes followed his motion as he sheathed his blade. “It is best that you don't see it.”
She grimaced. “But my hands are dirty already. See?” She showed him her hands – little children's hands caked in mud and blood. What horrible thing happened to this poor girl?
“I have some water,” he said. “Do you want to come and clean them?” She nodded, stepped a little closer, and he was glad to have filled his waterskin in a clear stream not long ago.
Slowly, he dribbled the water over her hands while she rubbed them together. When the water was all spilled, dirt and blood still clung to her skin. She wiped them dry on her dress, causing the blue fabric to stain even more.
“Thank you,” she muttered shyly. “You're a good knight.” She brushed a strand of dark hair behind her ear, looked between him and Taler. “I'm Edda, Sir Knight.”
“It is a pleasure meeting you, Edda.” Robin kept his voice soft and calm. Whatever horrors she had seen, she must have forgotten, dispelled them from her innocent mind. “Can you tell me where your parents are? You shouldn't be walking around on your own.”
At once he regretted his question as her eyes widened, and she threw a skittish gaze over her shoulder. “You're a good knight?” she asked silently.
“I will protect you,” he vowed.
The girl looked at her feet, fists balled into her dress. Fright shrouded her little face, and it put fright into his heart too. “There were men,” she whispered. “Bad men. My papa said I should run. So I run.”
Introduction; in which a princess introduces herself
Family; in which the princess talks about the love towards her family and the loss of two brothers she never met
Friends; in which the young, lonely princess wishes for nothing more than a true friend
Rivals; in which the princess finds herself betrayed by a jealous girl who feigned to be her friend for many years
Loss; in which the princess and her family mourn the loss of a beloved queen, a mother and grandmother
Home; in which the princess travels north to reunite with her cousins, that really are like her siblings
Thank you for hosting this lovely event @yourocsbackstory! I really had a lot of fun working on these prompts and I loved exploring Martha’s life.
Adding the tag list in case someone maybe missed a prompt and would like to read it! Thanks to everyone who already left such wonderful comments and tags! I really appreciate all of them <3
