Elaine de Lerond
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Background
Sixteen years ago, twins were born to a very minor nobleman in the province of Kusheth. It was a difficult birth, and while it didn't kill the mother, it left her weakened and sickly, the same fate to befall the first born, and male of the twins, while the second, and female proved to be a healthy babe with a lusty wail. Sir Geoffrey de Lerond named these two Etienne and Elaine, liking the alliteration of the names.
Both Etienne and the twin's mother survived the first year of the twin's life, though Lady Lenore seemed to grow steadily weaker. However, in the second winter of the twin's life, she succumbed to pneumonia and passed from the world, her son very nearly following her into death. Etienne never fully recovered and remained a thin, sickly little boy, often taken by sickness. Elaine, however, was almost the exact opposite of her brother, becoming a sturdy little girl.
The estate of Sir Geoffrey was a remote one, and Lady Lenore had been the only real female influence on the small property, except for the woman who served as both cook and house maid, so Elaine was left to run wild. Her father, it must be said, did nothing to try to tame his young daughter, for while he loved both his children, he longed for a strong son, and if he could not have it in the boy, he seemed to feel he might make up for it in his wild, reckless daughter.
So, the twins grew, the sickly Etienne turning to studies. His father could not afford to bring in any tutors for the children, but he did use the money he had to send away for books on every subject that interested his son and heir. Elaine, on the other hand, spent her time with the horses of the estate or listening to her father's stories of his youthful days as a fully functioning knight, and she dreamed of such things for herself. Eventually, she even wheedled her father into teaching her the rudiments of swordsmanship, then archery, and the two often went out hunting together until Elaine developed into a skilled archer.
The two grew steadily older, as children do, and soon the pair of them were in their twelfth summer. Sir Geoffrey had become troubled of late, for it was expected that he would send his son out to be squired to a knight and earn a name for himself, while Elaine would turn her attention to either studies or getting ready to be a wife for some minor lord. However, neither children were suited for the tasks to which they were supposed to dedicate themselves. It was, as it turned out, Etienne who suggested a solution. Why not send his sister out, disguised as a boy and bearing her brother's name, and leave the real Etienne to continue to study. Elaine, as Etienne, could uphold the family name earn a knighthood and then return home. The knight would then seem to go into seclusion, and would never marry. Elaine could then resume her real identity, marry, and provide the heir the family needed. Elaine, of course, thought it was a grand idea, but their father needed considerably more convincing. Eventually, though, his desire for more glory for the de Lerond name won out. Elaine was equipped in a fitting manner, and sent off to serve with Sir Maximus while the real Etienne went into seclusion of his own. No one of importance ever visited the remote estate, so the real Etienne's presence there would never be discovered.
Elaine, now calling herself Etienne, found it easy enough to hide her gender. Having cropped her hair off at the shoulders and lacking, at that age, any sort of curves that would have to be hidden, all it took was the adoption of a shy nature for the men of the company to let the 'boy' bathe alone, and so none ever saw anything that would give away her gender.
Etienne proved to be a quick learner, picking up the finer details of swordsmanship, archery and other fighting skills that her father hadn't taught her in her wilder childhood days. She (or he) proved to be skilled with horses, both at riding them and tending them, which made her of greater value to the company of men. In those early years, 'he' was kept out of the battles, to her disgust, but she learned a great deal. There were many men amongst the company of the Kushline legion that she had joined, but the one that struck her the most was Maximus, the solitary, sometimes cold seeming man over ten years her senior. She saw more in him, perhaps, than the others did, others who claimed he was a heartless killer. Elaine did not know his past, but saw something in him that cemented her loyalty. She became like his shadow, watching him, learning from what she saw, and acting as his squire long before he was even a knight. Not even to him, though, did she reveal her secret.
The years past in grueling war, and the legion began to let their youngest member fight, more out of a desperate need than for any other reason, as one by one their numbers were whittled away. The boy Etienne came to be known as a promising youth, and it was said that he would rise to great heights, assuming he managed to survive to manhood.
It all culminated in the Battle of Camlich, a time that remains hazy even to this day. There was blood, screams, the clash of steel on steel and so many dead men on both sides. By the time it was over, the company had been almost decimated, but Elaine - or Etienne - remained steadfastly at the side of her role model.
Later, when she learned that he was to be knighted and put in charge of a group of men to serve the king, she was delighted. When he asked her to go with him and act as his squire, she was even more thrilled. She accepted, begging leave only to return to her home for a short time to visit with her family. So, while Sir Maximus went on ahead of her to Elua, she returned to the humble estate to inform her father and brother of what had happened. Little had changed there in the four years she had been away. Her brother had grown out his hair so that, in an emergency, he could dress as a girl and impersonate her, from a distance at least, and her father had grown older. All the changes were in her, a result of what she had witnessed in her years of training. The time felt somewhat awkward, and left her with a sense of disquiet. She was expected to eventually return here and take up her life as a noble lady one day, but she no longer saw how she ever could.
With a slightly worried heart, she set off alone on her horse, making the ride to the capitol of the kingdom, there to join Sir Maximus Corvinus and the King's Own Guard, to try to keep up the pretense of her gender in a court far more sophisticated than anything she had ever experienced.
Upon arriving in the city of Elua, however, the squire found herself surrounded, for the first time, by real noble ladies with their beautiful gowns, their jewels, their exotic scents, and, above all else, their femininity, and try as she might to suppress the feelings, she found herself wanting to know what it might be like to be one of them. Meanwhile, she was finding it harder and harder to be a boy in such a court. In a fit of daring, she bought a gown, put her hair up, and showed up at the door of Maximus' chambers, claiming to be... herself. Her true self, Elaine de Lerond, here in the city to visit her brother. He bought it all.
She began to live a double life. Sometimes showing up as Elaine, sometimes as Etienne, but this was no easier than things had been before. Having met the Marquess de Fontaine several times, and having been impressed by her motherly nature, Elaine confessed the whole tale to her. Neomie, however, reacted sternly, demanding that she speak to Maximus and confess, claiming that it could be a matter of national security. Reluctantly, Elaine complied, and the brown stuff hit the windmill.
Maximus was furious and hurt, feeling betrayed by the only one he considered to be family. However, the cunning Kushline still managed to hatch a plot. Elaine, who knew nothing of court matters, was to take deportment lessons from Neomie, and learn to be a lady. Then, with the king's permission, she was to enter service as a lady in waiting to the Queen and act as her secret bodyguard.
It was a good plan. An almost perfect plan. But it did not count on the foibles of the human heart. Maximus felt a strong attraction to Elaine the woman, in spite of his sense of betrayal, and had loved Etienne the squire. However, Elaine knew that he loved another. She did love Maximus, or at the very least had a major case of hero worship for him, but tried to keep it to herself. Then the Comte Phillipe de Molay of the province of Siovale arrived on the scene. He soon earned the suspicion of Maximus, who thought the apparent light hearted noble was too clever by half and had much he was hiding. Elaine discovered how right he was one day in the woods... and then, when the man kissed her, discovered something else. She was drawn to him as she was to no other, save possibly Maximus himself.
This put her in a dilemma. She loved a man who loved another. She was falling for a second man who was mistrusted by the first. Tangled loyalties abounded, until Maximus, acting foolishly but with good intentions, sought to free her in the only way he knew how. He dismissed her from his service, and at the same time, said every hurtful thing he could think of to drive her from him and make her hate him. It worked, briefly, but for long enough.
Elaine made it appear that Etienne had fled the city, and ran to the Comte, who promptly proposed to her. Now, she is no longer a warrior, no longer has a place as Queen's protector, and no longer has her hero and former Master... but she has the love of a man who understands her as none other ever has, and a chance to save her family from poverty and ignominy in a way she never would have fathomed.
Personality
While in many ways, Elaine is a very strong young woman who is far older than her linear age accounts for, she now finds herself in an entirely new and unexpected set of circumstances. As a result, she often comes off as hesitant or even shy. Do not be fooled, however. A core of pure iron runs through the young woman, and when she finds her feet, she may well make the world tremble.
Family, Friends, & Enemies
Family
NPC Family
Sir Geoffrey de Lerond, age 42 - Father: Sir Geoffrey was once a knight of some renown, though he no longer socializes. He has not been known to leave his estate since the death of his wife.
Lady Lenore de Lerond, deceased - Mother: Lady Lenore is the daughter of a Kusheth lord and a fierce woman of Alba. She was a fierce woman herself, until the birth of twins left her weakened. She passed away a year later, carried off by a winter's chill.
Lord Etienne de Lerond, age 16 - Brother: Etienne - the real Etienne that is, is a fragile but incredibly bright young man. He has remained at home while Elaine has gone off and had her adventures, content to stay with his studies. Etienne is most likely unable to sire children, leaving Elaine to produce any heirs that might come about.
PC Family
Dedication: I Would Die For You by Jann Ardn
Dedication: Going Under by Evanesence
Friends
General Liam Cromwell - The huge Alban warrior was the closest thing Elaine had to an actual friend, not counting family or her betrothed. However, Liam seems to have vanished just when Elaine was starting to let him past her walls.
Allies
Nobles
Enemies
Other
Recent Events
- Etienne arrives in Elua to join his liege.
- Etienne, having wistfully watched court ladies in their lovely gowns, decided to 'pretend' to be... well... herself. She bought herself a gown and Lady Elaine seemed to arrive in Elua, where she met Sir Maximus.
- After meeting Neomie in the Hall of Games, and having met her before as Etienne, Elaine decided to confess her secret to the motherly figure
- On the strongly worded advice of Neomie, Elaine also confessed her long held secret to Maximus. Needless to say, this did not go over well, and the relationship is now extremely strained.
- After a meeting with the Marquess, Maximus informed Elaine that she would continue to assume both identities for now, but that as Lady Elaine, she was to report to Neomie for training in how to be a lady.
- Enter Comte Phillipe de Molay. Just a chance encounter in the Hall of Games, but she did feel an attraction to the flirtatious man.
- After a warning that there was a lot more to the Comte de Molay than met the eye, Elaine wound up witnessing something in the forest that showed her a glimpse of just what did lay behind the mask of foolish, flirtatious courtier... and was impressed. Being impressed fueled the attraction and the two became something... more. Before she knew it, Elaine was in love.
- Maximus, acting in a misguided attempt to 'free' her to love Phillipe, managed to drive her away and make her hate him. Etienne was dismissed from his service, and Elaine made sure to be seen fleeing the city as Etienne, then snuck back in. She ran to Phillipe, who of course took her in.
- It wasn't long after, less than a day, in fact, that Phillipe proposed. Now, she stands poised to become a Comtess, and Phillipe has suggested trusted positions for her family that will be the saving of them all.
- She has since discovered the reasons behind what Maximus did to her. However, the King has also stripped the duty of defending the Queen from her, which was her last tie to being a warrior, leaving her with a real identity crisis on her hands, and unsure if she can entirely forgive Maximus for his actions, even if she does find that she still cares for him.
Trivia
Coming Soon
Links
Coming Soon
Soundtrack
=Iris - Goo Goo Dolls
Amazing by Aerosmith
Going Under by Evanesence
