Ch.1 Edward's Birth
Years: 995 (Age: 1)
Edward's birth was a planned pregnancy, to be the Duke's heir. He was meant to be the future ruler of Remoriah and owner of the Langley estate, wealth and family name. Sadly, his mother Lady Elizabeth Langley passed away shortly after giving birth; due to her illness and the fact that they had no skilled practitioners and could not arrive to the clinic on time. Doctors also determined that Edward inherited her chronic illness. This caused his father to see him as useless in becoming the next Duke. A good heir was thought to be strong and confident so they could rule over the city. They should also be healthy to live long and have many children.
Though Elizabeth had been bedridden most of her life, her generous contributions to the city were not forgotten and she remained beloved by her people even after death. She'd even helped build the cathedral and private school, St. Lumina, among other charities. Edward was somewhat shunned for causing her death; and so, he was born into a dark age in Remoriah. An age where the Duke drank away his depression and lost his ambition. This lead to a loss of the city's wealth. The peoples' morale had dwindled. Fortunately, Duke Mathias was still wealthy enough to maintain servants to take care of his son.
Ch.2 Early Childhood
Years: 996-1000 (Age: 2-5)
Since the death of his wife, the Duke would not speak of her; nor let anyone else. However, Edward did gain one thing with his father's disregard to his mother's death; he was able to keep his mother's brooch as an heirloom. When he was old enough to walk and talk, he'd noticed it lying around the house one day and asked if he could have it. It had long been abandoned, which was odd, since she wore it every day and yet it was not buried with her. His father carelessly accepted, never telling him who it belonged to. He wasn't sure why, but it had a special feel to it; a sense of love and security which came from his mother, who had worn it every day while she was alive. So unknowingly, he began wearing it every day as well.
Eventually, because of his father's irresponsibility he hired a caretaker named Rachel to look after his son while he was away. He may have considered her to be a replacement for a mother, but it was unheard of for such a relationship; so his father ignored any such advances she made. This fact depressed Rachel as well, since she had fallen in love with Mathias and she would often disregard Edward carelessly. During this time he wasn't allowed to go outside alone and he was sheltered, being looked after by his servants. In fact, due to the constant service, Edward became selfish and helpless. He also had a horrible sweet tooth and since he could ask his servants for anything he wanted and his father wasn't there most of the time, he stunted his growth by not getting a good nutrition. Still, he wasn't able to go overboard with this, due to the fact his father set strict limits for him. Also because his father considered his looks as his only bragging right, he became vain; seeing his looks as the only praiseworthy trait his father mentioned, he'd spend more time on grooming than most boys his age.
The rest of his time he spent playing with his cousins, singing and finding other musings. They would visit him on weekends and because they disliked playing roughly, they enjoyed Edward's company even if he was unable to get out of bed. Edward would spend weekends at their place in the next city. He'd also attend church and sing in the choir with them, since their family traveled to Remoriah to attend mass at St. Lumina. It was thanks to them for giving him his first social outlet. This kept him from becoming cold hearted even though he was quiet and gloomy most of the time. Soon they would be going to school though and would not see each other often other than during the holidays.
Ch.3 Childhood
Years: 1001-1006 (Age: 6-12)
The only present he ever received from his father was a golden pocket watch, it was handed down to him on his sixth birthday. His father didn't care for worrying about time anymore, and he suggested Edward did; so as not to be late for classes and meetings, among other things. Though they had issues with each other, he came to treasure the watch as a sole memory of his father and his home.
When Edward became old enough to attend public school, he befriended a girl named Diana. She had just moved in and took her cat Percy with her everywhere she went. She was even holding the cat on the day that they met. Diana was noble as well, but not as proper as the others. This influenced Edward's speech because he respected her the most. She was a bit older than him and acted as an older sister or a concerned girlfriend, though they were too young to understand what love was at the time. She would follow him wherever he went to make sure he'd be safe, and well understood the situation his family placed him in, as well as his health conditions. She would encourage him to try coming outside more often.
During his days out he had with Diana, Edward had a few run-ins with a local street gang; a boy named Bruce and three younger girls who were siblings. They were homeless and bitter towards nobility, since the Duke's drinking habits had caused their parents to lose their jobs. Also because of Edward's timid nature he was one of the few nobles who was easiest to pick on; he wasn't mean or arrogant, nor had he anyone to call on for protection. This made them target him specifically whenever they saw him, but Diana would do her best to get help when she could.
Later on it was decided that Edward would be home schooled when his illness began causing him frequent blackouts. For that reason, he has little recollection of his childhood. Luckily Diana had been there most of the time to carry him somewhere safe, but one unfortunate time he fainted on a business trip with his father. Of course his father hadn't noticed his son collapse inside of the bank, and went on to do his business. A shady passerby, a possible bank robber grabbed and ran off with Edward for ransom. During this time the Duke was unaware of where his son had gone and went home to send a search party.
At first when he hadn't attended school for a few days, most of the children assumed he was just sick. It was common he would take a few days off; but when Diana heard about his disappearance, she immediately went to go look for him. Her family was concerned when she went missing to investigate for a few days, and the Duke soon received the ransom note. He was confronted with her parents as well, as to where their daughter went; since his son was already missing. Thanks to Diana's values and cunning outweighing her noble blood, she was able to find him locked up in a closet of a shabby house in the slums. She was smart and had asked around and found that the man was seen running out of the bank with the boy a few days ago. From then on, she found out the man's whereabouts.. and snuck into the house. After freeing him, she took Edward home. Yet another conflict awaited them...
Apparently during this time a murder had occurred in the city. The search party who had been looking for the Duke's son had already returned and had been lied to by the street urchins, along with the criminal investigators of the murder, being told that Edward had been involved because of his disappearance. Diana was furious, but the kids were smart enough to make a plan to spread the rumor throughout the city. So Diana took off with Edward for his safety; had they stayed, her parents as well as his father would scold them and possibly send Edward to jail. So Diana decided she wouldn't go home, nor would he, until they proved him innocent. So they traveled through town, hid out in the woods and avoided their families while trying to find the murderer. During their time together Diana also learned of Edward's ability to use light magic; he'd used it on instinct when they encountered trouble in the woods. This became their secret.
Eventually they caught the murderer and returned home. Though Diana was scolded because of Edward's "bad influence" on her, and her family decided to move to another city. Diana didn't regret helping her friend, she made the decision. However she wasn't old enough to stop her parents from moving. Before leaving, she gave her cat Percy to him to take care of, she thought it would be better to keep him company.
Edward became somewhat depressed without Diana and began to find hobbies to distract himself with. He learnt to play and write music, some instruments including the violin and piano by the age of 12. Having focused on his studies and hobbies over everything else, he was able to accomplish this in a little more than a year.
Ch. 4 Youth
Years: 1007-1010 (Age: 13-16)
Since he had learned to sing in the choir with his cousins; he started singing to drive away depression when he was alone, which was quite often. Though this behavior would be considered childish for a boy his age, he hadn't had the chance to mature much in the first place.. He also continued practicing playing instruments around the house, since the place was so big the sound wouldn't bother anyone. The only other hobby he really had was to read and write, which being home schooled gave him a lot of opportunities for. Edward decided that he wanted to become a famous novelist or composer around the age of 13.
Frequently he fought with his father over various things, including his career; which also caused him to be locked out of his own home on occasion. He started to act more on his own and became less passive around this age. Despite his father's and servants' disapproval, he would take walks through the city more often. His health seemed to have improved and he wasn't blacking out anymore. He was thankful that Diana had encouraged him to go outside and not to let his illness take over his life.
On the other hand, now with Diana gone, his loneliness had caused him anxiety at times when he was left alone for too long. This was later diagnosed as monophobia and was relative to abandonment issues during early childhood. Rachel, feeling responsible, bought him a custom hand mirror for his 14th birthday. It was gold with a rose embellishing on the back. She knew he'd like it because of his vanity and that he preferred gold jewelry and would always ask for roses to be planted in the garden. Though her love for his father had caused her to forget him occasionally, being his guardian she wanted him to at least feel at ease if she couldn't be there for him. Surprisingly this trick worked, as long as he had eye contact with a living being the anxiety was gone. So he began carrying it with him when he went out.
Around the time he was 15 he met a stray dog which he adopted, naming it Pietro. His father insisted it couldn't live indoors because of the cat that he already owned. Though his father held resentment for him, he didn't have the heart to take the cat away. It was the only memento of his bestfriend. So Edward decided to keep Pietro outdoors, still it became loyal and would guard him from bullies whenever he went out as well as always follow him and stay close by even when he went inside. Having been a stray, it already knew it's way around; though it was very young, it was fiesty and playful with a nasty bite. Percy on the other hand was domestic entirely, it wasn't a fighter and needed to live indoors. Percy and Pietro kept Edward content among a few other less close friends, but his studies and meetings took up most of his time.
On Edward's 16th birthday, his father held a ball in his honor. Edward found this to be very out of the ordinary... His father had never celebrated his birth before. Rachel too was setting up the festivities, so at first he thought maybe they felt bad for him now that Diana was gone. But then he overheard this was merely a chance to find a future bride for him. When the council had a meeting with his father about his will, it was decided he would marry Edward off and find a new son to become his heir. This ensured that Edward would become a key to greater wealth and connections, rather than useless.
During the ball, Edward was forced to sit in a chair somewhat resembling a throne near the back of the ballroom. He sat there, depressed and missing Diana as the boys and girls danced across the ballroom floor; and of course his father would not give him the choice to choose any girl to dance with.. instead, it was arranged that he'd dance with a girl named Franceska; a young noblewoman who would be attending fashionably late. This sort of pompous behavior didn't interest Edward at all.. nor did most of the noblewomen. He found their pale, fragile faces, just as depressing as his own; not to mention the fact that they faked fainting and acting distressed, when he had already dealt with such, on a realistic level. When they met, the girl was picky and selfish. She hardly noticed Edward other than whether she looked good with him or not, and asked him about the things he owned or would own, while forcing him to cater to her. After the ball, it was decided that Edward and Franceska would marry when they were 18 years old.
Ch. 5 Adolescence
Years: 1011 (Age: 16)
Looking for any distractions from his loneliness, he continued to hone his usual hobbies of writing and music. He had proved his disinterest in becoming the next Duke through previous council meetings. He hadn't seen Franceska since the day of the ball either and was now fearing his 18th birthday...
On a nice day in Autumn, when he took a walk to get away from problems at home, he happened to walk past the orchard in the middleclass part of the city; there he saw the most beautiful girl he thought he'd ever seen. The orchard owner's daughter was a commoner though, so he had no chance of meeting her. He knew that if he did, he would only cause more trouble. So instead, he'd continue to take walks just to see her. Stopping by the orchard almost daily, but resorting to hiding in barrels or behind crates to avoid the street gang, or to avoid being seen by his crush.
One day he decided to send her a valentine, but knowing he couldn't trust any of his servants to deliver it without someone finding out.. he decided to bring it himself. When he came to his usual spot, he wondered where he could put it for her to find. At first he thought the mailbox, but then thought.. what if her father found it instead? So he ended up climbing over the orchard fence, where he usually saw her working. He looked for a place to put the valentine, but wasn't fast enough; the girl was already opening the back door. Impulsively he dropped the valentine and jumped inside a barrel to hide. When the girl found the letter, she opened it and leaned on the barrel to read it. But her weight was more than his, causing the barrel to topple over. Luckily she had finished reading the valentine by the time he'd fallen out. Knowing he was the one who left it for her, she was more amused than frightened or angry. Her name was Katrina and luckily for him, she preferred gentlemen over the usual guys who asked her out. From then on they became friends and would try to see eachother often.
Of course Edward's caretaker caught onto his frequent trips outside and knowing he was now alone, without Diana; she sent someone to keep an eye on him. When Rachel found out that Edward was seeing a commoner, she locked him up in his room and said she would tell his father when he returned; he was on a trip to another city and would be home in a few days. Edward became so distraught in his room that he somehow was able to escape. Having become closer with Katrina than he had even been with Diana, over these short few visits, he knew he'd feel safer to be with her. So he went straight to the orchard.
Once his father had returned and heard of his meetings with a common woman, he was angry but at the same time.. happy. Rachel didn't understand this, that is until he told her his reason for the trip in the first place. Apparently he was furthering connections with Franceska's family. It was also arranged that Edward would have dinner at their house the coming weekend. Overjoyed for the Duke's increased chance at wealth, Rachel quickly opened Edward's door so that he could hear the news. Finding no one, the Duke became furious again, and sent some men to go and find him. He did not want to lose this chance at marrying him off... Rachel did her best to comfort him, but the Duke, as rules were closer to him than his own heart, pushed her away and began drinking.
All of this time Edward had spent telling Katrina what happened. She comforted him as usual, until he wasn't worried anymore. Now, having warmed up to her new fiancée, she was brave enough to walk him home; even if it meant walking straight up to his door. She was sure she could find a way to reason with his father, and despite nervousness, Edward trusted her. On the way home, the men his father had sent found them. At the time the Duke had been so mad at his son's disobedience he had ordered them to detain him in any way possible, so long as he was alive. So the men roughed him into submission and began carrying him off, while Katrina did her best to chase after them. She eventually lost them on the way, and even though she was determined to stop them.. she realized they were only taking him home; though she hated their methods. She went as far as she could, but in the end she had no choice but to return home when they refused to let her through the gates.
Lucky for Mathias she hadn't been allowed in, or she would have killed him for beating Edward senseless in a drunken rage when he got home. After that he had the men put him back in his room and increase security. It was obvious at this point the Duke as well as Rachel had become corrupt out of their sorrows. Edward was desperate to leave out of fear of what would happen next, but was too badly injured and well-guarded to leave.. So he stayed in his room, looking out the window and playing sad songs until he fell asleep.
The next morning Rachel had some servants come in and clean Edward up for his banquet with Franceska tonight. Franceska arrived late as usual with the same, if not worse, snobby attitude. She picked on every little imperfection of their household and when she saw Edward, complained of how tired and sick he looked. She insisted she could not possibly be seen with him in public. His father scolded him for this, though it was a helpless cause; even if he said he would do his best to improve appearances, he simply could not because he was unhappy. Needless, the Duke arranged for them a carridge to drive in the night. Franceska accepted, rolling her eyes.
On the way to her house, Franceska tried to get to know him better. Even though she was still the same selfish person, she now seemed somewhat interested in her fiancée more than what he owned. However, Edward didn't care to tell her anything and was quiet most of the way. He was too sick and depressed to talk with her. She was a bit angry that he ignored her advances and yelled for the driver to go faster. When they got home she took him up to her room to tried to put some make up on his face before her parents arrived. She didn't understand why he didn't seem to care at all. Dinner was terribly quiet and when Edward was asked anything, he replied lying that he was fine and the food was good; nothing enthusiastic, but nothing bad. Her parents assumed the boy was just boring, but they didn't seem to care. He was the Duke's son afterall, so they thought they were getting a good deal of wealth as well; though it was the other way around.
The next few days Franceska would stop by Edward's house to see him, or to bring him over to stay the night. Out of offense she was persistent to get to know him.
"Why would he not want to marry me?", she thought.
Eventually out of loneliness, Edward opened up to Franceska to why he was depressed and what had happened. Since his father had made it so there was no way he could see Katrina again. As they continued spending time together Franceska realized she was falling in love with him. She also learned many things about nobles and commoners, that nobles were not perfect nor destined for happiness; as Edward revealed what a rough life he'd had. She also learned that commoners like Katrina could be kind people as well.. but knowing how he loved Katrina and loving him herself, she struggled and was able to lose her selfishness.. She told him that he didn't have to marry her if he didn't want to. Edward was surprised, but suddenly a little happier. She even agreed to lead him to Katrina so that they could be together.
That night Franceska told her parents that Edward was staying over, so they could have a night out. They left happily and Franceska told the servants to keep an eye out for their return, while she took Edward to Katrina. They promised not to tell where they were headed. In the middle of the night they ran to the orchard. The previous day Edward had sent a carrier sparrow from his balcony, with a letter for Katrina; (Edward seemed to be able to train sparrows easily ever since he'd delivered that first letter to Katrina himself.) The letter had a poem and it told her to wait outside in the orchard tomorrow night so she could see Edward again. However, when they got there, Katrina was gone. Edward thought that maybe she didn't want to see him again.. Franceska started to take him home, when Bruce approached them in the streets, saying that he knew where Katrina was. Edward believed him in desperation, though should not have been so naive as to believe him of all people. When Bruce lead them to the docks they saw Katrina step onboard a ship with many bags of luggage and a young nobleman. Edward watched in disbelief as the ship sailed away... Bruce said that she was going to marry that man.
Hopeless and disheartened, Edward returned to his father's estate after seeing Franceska home. Franceska vowed she would be a good wife to him, but even though he appreciated her kindness, he didn't seem happy. Yet a new trouble had brewed, the Duke had heard from Franceska's parents where they went that night. Apparently one of her servants hadn't kept their promise.. Edward was scolded, but luckily not beaten. In his current state he knew he couldn't handle that.. However, new terms were made... it became apparent that Franceska's parents no longer trusted Edward, nor were they impressed. The marriage was off. Edward didn't care, but he did when he heard what came next. His father had already found a new heir during the past days he spent with Franceska; his Nephew. Not wanting to pursue another noble daughter's hand in marriage for his son, he decided Edward was unfit to be married and banished him to the streets. Edward carried what little he could and was forced out of his home.
Edward spent the next few months living on the streets, the urchins would make trouble for him whenever possible. He lamented the loss of Katrina, his home, his name and even his violin. He was too depressed to sing, nevertheless it would be considered queer to be singing in the streets in the first place; especially in his situation. He had to resort to chasing chickens and stealing food, though that ended up getting him jailed for a short time. Luckily at that time jailing was so common because of the poverty, he was quickly released for a more urgent crime. Through struggles and depression his health eventually worsened as Winter approached. He became certain he'd die on the streets, falling into a deep sleep.
Ch. 6 Prologue
Years: 1011 (Age: 16-17)
Just as Edward was giving up, after much struggling through the coldness of Winter on the streets; Katrina returned to the city. After she heard he'd been banished, she searched the city, assuming he would not have gone far. When she found him collapsed in the snow, Katrina woke him up and took him in so that he could recover. Katrina explained how she had been on a trip overseas as a representative of her father's business. It was important and she hadn't had time nor had been able to contact him previously, since his father had locked him up.
After resting up in their guest room, Edward told Katrina to check the windowsill. She was confused, but did so. Upon opening the window she found a dead carrier sparrow with the letter from Edward. It became apparent that he'd been thinking of her all of this time and the fact that this was a sparrow he had owned, it must have meant a lot for him to send it... Also for the fact that it had loyally waited until death for this important delivery to be made, reminded Katrina that if she had returned much later, he too, could have perished. These were all things that caused her to continue to stay by his side, besides of course, the fact that she loved him. She even followed him on a trip to the neighboring city to see some relatives when he was well again. Though they had some mishaps along the way, cousins were eventually able to assist them financially until they could better get on their feet.
So Edward spent the rest of the Winter staying with Katrina and her father Abel. Their home was connected behind the produce shop that her father ran, where Katrina worked part time. There he learned to help with chores and housework, while continuing to develop a career in writing. Katrina was happy just to have him around, though her father was less enthusiastic. His stoic personality and seriousness about traditions caused conflict with their relationship. He often complained that Edward was not manly enough to be her husband, nor did he have any way to take care of her, not to mention his sheltered upbringing. Needless to say the two didn't get along, though Edward showed more attempt to.
(WiP notes: Edward gets a new violin/gets his old one? as a 17th birthday present? Spring comes, story progresses w/ mercenaries.)
