The announcement came earlier in the evening during mid-May. House von Rahm would be shutting her Regalian doors and returning homewards. Siegfried von Rahm would leave with it, returning to their lands within Hinter Calem- some of their kin would follow suit.
The moment the decree came from their patriarch, Winifred knew her cousin, Ernesta, would be making no such move. No, she had heard the muffled arguments consisting of Count and Countess and Cousin- woman demanding her same's hand in marriage and going against the social standards many had obligated themselves to. It came such as no surprise that the young Eriunin heard marriage plans being murmured about from her cousin on the days leading up to the doors shutting on their homely estate.
For others of her family, they found home with remaining nobility that took pity on them. They swore off their names as von Rahms and took on new colors and new titles. New ties and cousins.
Though, what was an adopted child to a long since gone patriarch suppose to do? The easy answer was for her to crawl back home to Klötzer-Roschewald, to have her rooms dusted off there and crack open the books. The easy solution would be for her to remain an adoptee and nothing more, to marry no one and stay locked away like a self-imprisoned lady in a tower. Winifred had still made no decision as the last few days came rolling in like a lightning storm off the ocean.
She had her suitcase opened onto her bed, scouring through her belongs to find what to place into this one. Winifred brushed along her desk, lifting papers and books to shove into the leather case- sneezing briefly from the shift in dust. From this dust, though, came an answer as a small gleam of metal interrupt the brown surface. The young woman turned her head curiously, much in the manner her dog often did, at notice the keepsake before she dropped her literature onto her covers and returned to grab for whatever had been uncovered.
After a moment of rubbing against her dress, she uncovered the item from beneath the gloomy, feather-light dust: a Eriunin pendant.
Winifred's eyes brightened at rediscovering the object and she cupped it in her hands with relief at finding it before she would leave her Regalian home forever.
It was a pendant from her father- though not the ex-patriarch that had left her with her cousins and uncles and aunts in Regalia, instead the one that she had been taken from early in her life to become a von Rahm as she still remained. Her father whom she had reestablished a relationship with since finding him within the Holy City, one that kept up a rather well-liked face as a Violet Guard.
Winifred couldn't help when the moment of sadness came over her like a wet blanket from the storm brewing. Could she really bear to leave him again? Sure, she could write letters, but how was she much different from her mother if she left him again, though even worse as it was on her own willpower if she did this time.
The ginger haired von Rahm turned about to face her few suitcases packed again, eyeing them with a swallow. -Couldn't she leave without all of this?
Then, as if something else had taken her over, Winifred grabbed open her suitcases and pulled open their lids. Fabric and useless knick-knacks knocked from them as she pushed out the contents. She kept her gowns, she kept her books and her papers, and her pendant from her father. After heavy consideration, she dropped in a ring with a von Rahm sigil. She dropped in pouches of regals from her savings that were never spent.
Blue and black tulle littered the carpet around the ruffled bed, though Winifred only stepped over it to her desk. She pulled open a remaining page of paper and set out her inkwell. The Eriunin stared at the paper before she began her short letter.
The days following the announcement did come like a storm. But it wasn't violent or even enough to be considered lightning. Instead, it arrived like a spring wash- where everything is wet and gloomy, but as it passes it feels as if you can finally take a deep breath. Nothing to scratch your nose, nothing unpleasant around. Just fresh and clean and happy air.
And that was how Winifred felt as she left the estate on her own, a day before the rest did. She carried a satchel over her shoulder and a case in either hand. Her dress, purposely, was rose colored rather than blues and blacks of her house. Of that house.
She had tied her curls back as usual, but they weren't twisted elegantly as her maid had often insisted. Instead, the maid had been dismissed with a heavy pouch in hand as the woman she'd worked for was now the same class.
The Eriunin started at an amble as she left the house, as if nothing were there to stop her and she no place to rush to. But as the walk continued, her steps quickened and soon enough she was hurrying through the Holy City, cases rattling in hand.
She only stopped, gasping for breath, as she reached the door as an average little house within the city. Nothing was different of it, nothing was changed. Except when she gave a knock onto the door, lowering her suitcases to rest at her feet.
The front door opened idly, no rush like she'd just been in, to reveal an older, equally as Eriunin man standing in the passageway.
"Winifred?" Shane questioned, his brows raising in uncertainty.
"I'm home, papa. I'm here to stay." She rushed out, the girl lifting her arms towards her father with a smile she rarely wore.
And with no question at all, the Marth embraced his daughter. There was no need for a reason- why ask when, after a long two decades, she was finally home.
The moment the decree came from their patriarch, Winifred knew her cousin, Ernesta, would be making no such move. No, she had heard the muffled arguments consisting of Count and Countess and Cousin- woman demanding her same's hand in marriage and going against the social standards many had obligated themselves to. It came such as no surprise that the young Eriunin heard marriage plans being murmured about from her cousin on the days leading up to the doors shutting on their homely estate.
For others of her family, they found home with remaining nobility that took pity on them. They swore off their names as von Rahms and took on new colors and new titles. New ties and cousins.
Though, what was an adopted child to a long since gone patriarch suppose to do? The easy answer was for her to crawl back home to Klötzer-Roschewald, to have her rooms dusted off there and crack open the books. The easy solution would be for her to remain an adoptee and nothing more, to marry no one and stay locked away like a self-imprisoned lady in a tower. Winifred had still made no decision as the last few days came rolling in like a lightning storm off the ocean.
She had her suitcase opened onto her bed, scouring through her belongs to find what to place into this one. Winifred brushed along her desk, lifting papers and books to shove into the leather case- sneezing briefly from the shift in dust. From this dust, though, came an answer as a small gleam of metal interrupt the brown surface. The young woman turned her head curiously, much in the manner her dog often did, at notice the keepsake before she dropped her literature onto her covers and returned to grab for whatever had been uncovered.
After a moment of rubbing against her dress, she uncovered the item from beneath the gloomy, feather-light dust: a Eriunin pendant.
Winifred's eyes brightened at rediscovering the object and she cupped it in her hands with relief at finding it before she would leave her Regalian home forever.
It was a pendant from her father- though not the ex-patriarch that had left her with her cousins and uncles and aunts in Regalia, instead the one that she had been taken from early in her life to become a von Rahm as she still remained. Her father whom she had reestablished a relationship with since finding him within the Holy City, one that kept up a rather well-liked face as a Violet Guard.
Winifred couldn't help when the moment of sadness came over her like a wet blanket from the storm brewing. Could she really bear to leave him again? Sure, she could write letters, but how was she much different from her mother if she left him again, though even worse as it was on her own willpower if she did this time.
The ginger haired von Rahm turned about to face her few suitcases packed again, eyeing them with a swallow. -Couldn't she leave without all of this?
Then, as if something else had taken her over, Winifred grabbed open her suitcases and pulled open their lids. Fabric and useless knick-knacks knocked from them as she pushed out the contents. She kept her gowns, she kept her books and her papers, and her pendant from her father. After heavy consideration, she dropped in a ring with a von Rahm sigil. She dropped in pouches of regals from her savings that were never spent.
Blue and black tulle littered the carpet around the ruffled bed, though Winifred only stepped over it to her desk. She pulled open a remaining page of paper and set out her inkwell. The Eriunin stared at the paper before she began her short letter.
"To Father,
Hamelin von Rahm…
…
What I write is no lie, I will be returning to him.
Guidance,
Winifred."
Hamelin von Rahm…
…
What I write is no lie, I will be returning to him.
Guidance,
Winifred."
---
The days following the announcement did come like a storm. But it wasn't violent or even enough to be considered lightning. Instead, it arrived like a spring wash- where everything is wet and gloomy, but as it passes it feels as if you can finally take a deep breath. Nothing to scratch your nose, nothing unpleasant around. Just fresh and clean and happy air.
And that was how Winifred felt as she left the estate on her own, a day before the rest did. She carried a satchel over her shoulder and a case in either hand. Her dress, purposely, was rose colored rather than blues and blacks of her house. Of that house.
She had tied her curls back as usual, but they weren't twisted elegantly as her maid had often insisted. Instead, the maid had been dismissed with a heavy pouch in hand as the woman she'd worked for was now the same class.
The Eriunin started at an amble as she left the house, as if nothing were there to stop her and she no place to rush to. But as the walk continued, her steps quickened and soon enough she was hurrying through the Holy City, cases rattling in hand.
She only stopped, gasping for breath, as she reached the door as an average little house within the city. Nothing was different of it, nothing was changed. Except when she gave a knock onto the door, lowering her suitcases to rest at her feet.
The front door opened idly, no rush like she'd just been in, to reveal an older, equally as Eriunin man standing in the passageway.
"Winifred?" Shane questioned, his brows raising in uncertainty.
"I'm home, papa. I'm here to stay." She rushed out, the girl lifting her arms towards her father with a smile she rarely wore.
And with no question at all, the Marth embraced his daughter. There was no need for a reason- why ask when, after a long two decades, she was finally home.
