A Soldier's Pride
By: Lilly b
Part One: The Serpent's Slumber
The sun was beginning to go down as it's dying rays washed over the Prince Plantation. Susan Armstrong-Prince stood and cracked her back in an un-lady like manner then looked at the sun before accidentally smearing dirt across her forehead from her dirt caked hand. It's beautiful rays washed over the fields while slowly the sky became darker and the temperature much more tolerable. Susan gazed over at one of the many other fields on the plantation and spotted the top of Thomas' black, balding head. Thomas Cudd and his wife, Zaine, along with their seven children, had stayed with her. Thomas stopped plowing and also straightened to watch the sun; Susan smiled as she thought of the family she fondly called her own.
After the untimely death of her husband, Garth Prince, and her father, William Armstrong, Susan had been left with the Prince plantation, and also terribly alone. Although she loved neither her husband or father she depended on them with her existence. Her father had raised the perfect wife in Susan; she didn't speak unless spoken to, sat at the table like a lady, chewed her food in small bites, and never sweat. This was achieved with the threat of a beating from her father and later her husband, who could have easily been her father because of the age span between the two. William Armstrong was a gambler and a poor one at that. One unlucky day he had been gambling with the wealthy Garth Prince and lost horribly. As an 'all debts paid' trade, William offered up his only daughter, Susan, to the plantation owner. Susan had been staring fixedly at the floor as her father lost everything they had but snapped up as her father proposed the deal. The plantation owner look Susan's curvy, hour glass figure over and rested his eyes on the blonde curls that clung to her face and neck. Susan brought her sapphire eyes up to his aging black ones. Prince stood up and walked to Susan, then held her heart shaped face in one huge hand. Susan looked up at him with huge almond shaped eyes and rose colored heart shaped lips that were always frowning. "Yes, your darling twenty year old daughter will amuse me greatly." Prince had said, before slinging a small amount of money to William. "This little babe is child material so here," he said as he slung the money at him, "this is for the heirs your darling will bare to me." Prince said before gripping Susan's upper right arm with a vice like grip and pulling her out of the hall. Susan whimpered in pain which nearly inaudibly as Prince pulled her along. Prince released her and brought his huge right hand across Susan's right cheek hard. Susan dropped to the ground, cradling her cheek as hot tears spilled down her cheeks. Prince sighed and roughly pulled her from the ground and from there to a reverend then to Prince Plantation. "And I've been here ever sense." Susan said aloud in her quiet voice. She had never been permitted to leave the plantation, she was Prince's own personal property, a fact he reminded her of every time he ravished her until her tears and blood mingled into one on their bed. Susan shivered even though there was a hot breeze and subconsciously wrapped her arms around her self as a child does when in pain. The sound of hoofs at a fast trot pulled her from her thoughtless, coma like state as she first saw a black furry hat top the hill in the distance, followed by it's owner's red coat coming next and finally the powerful beast carrying it's masculine owner. Susan's hair rose as she saw the approach of the Green Dragoons but stayed her position. Her husband and father were strong supporters of the British so she was perfectly safe, perfectly. Unless one counted the fact that she was a slim and beautiful twenty three year old woman living alone in a huge house with her surrogate family living in a well-to-do cottage well away from the house. Although Susan insisted several times over they move into the house as she didn't believe in slavery, they insisted even more so that they not. The leader of the Green Dragoons held his right arm up as signal for them to stop as he alone approached Susan. He raised an eyebrow at Susan as she too looked at her clothing, which was coated in dirt and everything else associated with field working. "I am Colonel William Tavington. Where, madam, may I find the master of the house?" He asked as he look in Susan's appearance curiously. Daughters or perhaps wives of plantation owners didn't do labor as she was. Susan looked up at the Colonel apprehensively as she chewed on her lower lip. After the death of both her father and husband, Susan hadn't uttered another word to another human being, save herself who of which she talked to about everything. Susan stopped biting her lip and pursed her trembling lips together before making a 'follow me' motion with her hand and moving quickly to the house where she knew Thomas would be heading for dinner. They all ate together in the house then Thomas and Zaine would round up the children and begin the trek to their cottage/small house. Thomas was just washing his dirty hands in the barrel next to the porch when he saw Susan. He smiled wide at her but his smile immediately faded as he saw the Green Dragoons following close behind. Lines covered and dirt covered Susan's gentle face as she looked at Thomas, knowing he understood her every look and the slightest mood shift in her. Thomas finished drying off his hands and greeted Tavington with a slight bow of the head. "Where is the master of his house?" Tavington asked, slightly annoyed at the girl's lack of communication. "Master Prince passed on a year ago. Mrs. Susan Armstrong Prince-" Thomas slightly waved his hand at Susan whose eyes moved helplessly from Thomas to Tavington. "is the mistress." Thomas stated and glanced at Susan, whose breathing was coming in short breaths. Tavington turned to Susan, annoyance written clearly on his handsome features. Susan took an inadvertent step back and flinched at the look, remembering it being the look she got just before a beating from Prince. Tavington's eyes widened in slight surprise at her action while Susan looked up at him with fear, pain, and some dark emotion unfamiliar to her danced together in her brilliant sapphire eyes. "Madam, I am sorry for your loss. If you have the room to spare, can me and my men have shelter here for a few days?" Tavington asked as a feeling of caution crept in him, as if he were walking on a frozen over lake and was getting dangerously close to thin ice. Susan glanced at Thomas whose lips where in a firm jagged line. "Madam?" Tavington said with a twinge of concern. "Sir, if I may, she is unable to talk." Thomas offered as Tavington raised an eyebrow. "Oh," was all Tavington said before looking back at Susan. She glanced at Thomas, who was staring at each of them hard. Several of the men were looking at Susan's tanned skin and beautiful blonde curls with glints in their eyes but were quickly extinguished by Thomas' hard stare. Zaine and their three daughters (18, 16, and 12) walked out on the front porch as the four boys (20, 15, 10, and 8) came from different directions. Tavington's eyes looked at all of the new arrivals before looking back at Susan, whose lips were pressed so hard together they were no longer rosy and velvet looking pale. Susan glanced at Thomas then Zaine before looking back at the still mounted colonel. She nodded her head in fast small nods as if she didn't want the decision noticed. Tavington un- mounted his horse and was followed by his officers. The four boys came up and took the reins, leading the horses to their barn. Zaine came down and took hold of Thomas' arm and looked at the colonel. Tavington noticed the gesture but knew it wasn't to show her marriage. There were many hidden communications being shared by all three of the adults and he wanted to know what they were. I'm sure ya'll are hungry? I have a dinner prepared if ya'll care to come inside." Zaine said with a smile to the colonel. Tavington smiled back in gratitude first to Zaine then Susan, who was still watching him and all of the officers with two of the most distrusting eyes he'd ever seen.
"This dinner is very pleasant, Madam." One of the officers said with a genuine smile after he swallowed down some of the late Prince's fondest wine. Zaine smiled in thanks from her position on Susan's right and across from Tavington, who nodded in agreement distractedly. His attention was focused on the sun kissed angel to his left. 'after she cleans up she's quite remarkable.' Tavington thought privately as he discreetly marveled at her beauty. Susan's blonde curls had been pulled up and held in place as a few stray curls laid on her perfectly bronzed neck. Her dress although modest, prompted a man to use his imagination. Her lips were no longer pursed firmly together but retained their perfect heart shape and rosy tint. She was the closest thing to an angel Tavington had ever seen, the only thing missing where those gorgeous blue eyes. She kept her eyes firmly focused on her plate but when they did stray and meet his own he saw the same distrust in them as they had when they arrived. He also saw something else behind the distrust, something sleeping, waiting under the winter snow that layered over her. Susan was the first to lay her fork and knife down; she placed her hands in her lap and stared fixedly at her mostly full plate. Slowly the officers finished as Zaine and the daughters collected the plates. "If you'll follow me I'll show ya'll your rooms. One moment please," The oldest daughter, Delilah, said before following her mother in the kitchen, a confused look on her face
"I don't trust these men alone with Miss Susan in this house, baby." Zaine told Delilah as she grasped her shoulders. Delilah nodded that she understood her mother's meaning before going back into the rooms. "I'm afraid ya'll might have to bunk up with my brothers. The house is big but as ya'll see so is our family." Delilah explained as she led the officers down the long hall, save Tavington, who hung back from the group and watched as Susan stood shakily from the table and walked into the sitting area. She picked up a novel from the table and sat comfortably in a chair. Tavington noticed sheets of paper, an ink bottle, and quill pen by her as she read. 'that must be how she talks.' Tavington thought privately to himself before re-filling his glass with the wine and walking into the sitting area. Susan's head immediately snapped up as the thing inside her recoiled back under it's snow, back into the darkness. Now her eyes filled with distrust and bitterness. "Have you been mute sense birth, Madam?" Tavington asked before taking a sip of the wine. Susan pointedly ignored him until Tavington came to stand beside her, his temper flaring at her lack of response. Finally Susan gently used a black ribbon to hold her place in the book as she placed it in her lap and unscrewed the ink bottle. She dabbed the pen in it and began writing on the top sheet of paper.
"Nothing about me is any of your business, Colonel Tavington. And, perhaps you will refrain from analyzing me at meal time or any other time for that matter?"
Susan handed the sheet of paper to him then stood up and walked off with her book. Tavington read the note and watched her walk out of the room seething at her answer.
A/N: At the end of each part I plan to include a few sentences from the following part. by the time a part makes it to fanfiction.net I usually have the other part near done so it works out good.
Lilly
Part Two Preview:
Suddenly Susan's right hand came up and with her long nails poised like claws, and put four gashes in Tavington's left cheek. He howled as her left fist came and nearly connected with him in the face. Suddenly he forgot his cheek and grabbed both of her wrists and while holding them apart, skillfully avoided her legs as well. Susan fought against him to no aim until she finally gave in, panting.
DISCLAIMER: All work you recognize here belongs to Foxx Entertainment or whom ever holds the rights. Susan Armstrong-Prince and the whole Cudd family belong to me as well. If you would like to use any of my characters please ask for permission. Lilly
Part One: The Serpent's Slumber
The sun was beginning to go down as it's dying rays washed over the Prince Plantation. Susan Armstrong-Prince stood and cracked her back in an un-lady like manner then looked at the sun before accidentally smearing dirt across her forehead from her dirt caked hand. It's beautiful rays washed over the fields while slowly the sky became darker and the temperature much more tolerable. Susan gazed over at one of the many other fields on the plantation and spotted the top of Thomas' black, balding head. Thomas Cudd and his wife, Zaine, along with their seven children, had stayed with her. Thomas stopped plowing and also straightened to watch the sun; Susan smiled as she thought of the family she fondly called her own.
After the untimely death of her husband, Garth Prince, and her father, William Armstrong, Susan had been left with the Prince plantation, and also terribly alone. Although she loved neither her husband or father she depended on them with her existence. Her father had raised the perfect wife in Susan; she didn't speak unless spoken to, sat at the table like a lady, chewed her food in small bites, and never sweat. This was achieved with the threat of a beating from her father and later her husband, who could have easily been her father because of the age span between the two. William Armstrong was a gambler and a poor one at that. One unlucky day he had been gambling with the wealthy Garth Prince and lost horribly. As an 'all debts paid' trade, William offered up his only daughter, Susan, to the plantation owner. Susan had been staring fixedly at the floor as her father lost everything they had but snapped up as her father proposed the deal. The plantation owner look Susan's curvy, hour glass figure over and rested his eyes on the blonde curls that clung to her face and neck. Susan brought her sapphire eyes up to his aging black ones. Prince stood up and walked to Susan, then held her heart shaped face in one huge hand. Susan looked up at him with huge almond shaped eyes and rose colored heart shaped lips that were always frowning. "Yes, your darling twenty year old daughter will amuse me greatly." Prince had said, before slinging a small amount of money to William. "This little babe is child material so here," he said as he slung the money at him, "this is for the heirs your darling will bare to me." Prince said before gripping Susan's upper right arm with a vice like grip and pulling her out of the hall. Susan whimpered in pain which nearly inaudibly as Prince pulled her along. Prince released her and brought his huge right hand across Susan's right cheek hard. Susan dropped to the ground, cradling her cheek as hot tears spilled down her cheeks. Prince sighed and roughly pulled her from the ground and from there to a reverend then to Prince Plantation. "And I've been here ever sense." Susan said aloud in her quiet voice. She had never been permitted to leave the plantation, she was Prince's own personal property, a fact he reminded her of every time he ravished her until her tears and blood mingled into one on their bed. Susan shivered even though there was a hot breeze and subconsciously wrapped her arms around her self as a child does when in pain. The sound of hoofs at a fast trot pulled her from her thoughtless, coma like state as she first saw a black furry hat top the hill in the distance, followed by it's owner's red coat coming next and finally the powerful beast carrying it's masculine owner. Susan's hair rose as she saw the approach of the Green Dragoons but stayed her position. Her husband and father were strong supporters of the British so she was perfectly safe, perfectly. Unless one counted the fact that she was a slim and beautiful twenty three year old woman living alone in a huge house with her surrogate family living in a well-to-do cottage well away from the house. Although Susan insisted several times over they move into the house as she didn't believe in slavery, they insisted even more so that they not. The leader of the Green Dragoons held his right arm up as signal for them to stop as he alone approached Susan. He raised an eyebrow at Susan as she too looked at her clothing, which was coated in dirt and everything else associated with field working. "I am Colonel William Tavington. Where, madam, may I find the master of the house?" He asked as he look in Susan's appearance curiously. Daughters or perhaps wives of plantation owners didn't do labor as she was. Susan looked up at the Colonel apprehensively as she chewed on her lower lip. After the death of both her father and husband, Susan hadn't uttered another word to another human being, save herself who of which she talked to about everything. Susan stopped biting her lip and pursed her trembling lips together before making a 'follow me' motion with her hand and moving quickly to the house where she knew Thomas would be heading for dinner. They all ate together in the house then Thomas and Zaine would round up the children and begin the trek to their cottage/small house. Thomas was just washing his dirty hands in the barrel next to the porch when he saw Susan. He smiled wide at her but his smile immediately faded as he saw the Green Dragoons following close behind. Lines covered and dirt covered Susan's gentle face as she looked at Thomas, knowing he understood her every look and the slightest mood shift in her. Thomas finished drying off his hands and greeted Tavington with a slight bow of the head. "Where is the master of his house?" Tavington asked, slightly annoyed at the girl's lack of communication. "Master Prince passed on a year ago. Mrs. Susan Armstrong Prince-" Thomas slightly waved his hand at Susan whose eyes moved helplessly from Thomas to Tavington. "is the mistress." Thomas stated and glanced at Susan, whose breathing was coming in short breaths. Tavington turned to Susan, annoyance written clearly on his handsome features. Susan took an inadvertent step back and flinched at the look, remembering it being the look she got just before a beating from Prince. Tavington's eyes widened in slight surprise at her action while Susan looked up at him with fear, pain, and some dark emotion unfamiliar to her danced together in her brilliant sapphire eyes. "Madam, I am sorry for your loss. If you have the room to spare, can me and my men have shelter here for a few days?" Tavington asked as a feeling of caution crept in him, as if he were walking on a frozen over lake and was getting dangerously close to thin ice. Susan glanced at Thomas whose lips where in a firm jagged line. "Madam?" Tavington said with a twinge of concern. "Sir, if I may, she is unable to talk." Thomas offered as Tavington raised an eyebrow. "Oh," was all Tavington said before looking back at Susan. She glanced at Thomas, who was staring at each of them hard. Several of the men were looking at Susan's tanned skin and beautiful blonde curls with glints in their eyes but were quickly extinguished by Thomas' hard stare. Zaine and their three daughters (18, 16, and 12) walked out on the front porch as the four boys (20, 15, 10, and 8) came from different directions. Tavington's eyes looked at all of the new arrivals before looking back at Susan, whose lips were pressed so hard together they were no longer rosy and velvet looking pale. Susan glanced at Thomas then Zaine before looking back at the still mounted colonel. She nodded her head in fast small nods as if she didn't want the decision noticed. Tavington un- mounted his horse and was followed by his officers. The four boys came up and took the reins, leading the horses to their barn. Zaine came down and took hold of Thomas' arm and looked at the colonel. Tavington noticed the gesture but knew it wasn't to show her marriage. There were many hidden communications being shared by all three of the adults and he wanted to know what they were. I'm sure ya'll are hungry? I have a dinner prepared if ya'll care to come inside." Zaine said with a smile to the colonel. Tavington smiled back in gratitude first to Zaine then Susan, who was still watching him and all of the officers with two of the most distrusting eyes he'd ever seen.
"This dinner is very pleasant, Madam." One of the officers said with a genuine smile after he swallowed down some of the late Prince's fondest wine. Zaine smiled in thanks from her position on Susan's right and across from Tavington, who nodded in agreement distractedly. His attention was focused on the sun kissed angel to his left. 'after she cleans up she's quite remarkable.' Tavington thought privately as he discreetly marveled at her beauty. Susan's blonde curls had been pulled up and held in place as a few stray curls laid on her perfectly bronzed neck. Her dress although modest, prompted a man to use his imagination. Her lips were no longer pursed firmly together but retained their perfect heart shape and rosy tint. She was the closest thing to an angel Tavington had ever seen, the only thing missing where those gorgeous blue eyes. She kept her eyes firmly focused on her plate but when they did stray and meet his own he saw the same distrust in them as they had when they arrived. He also saw something else behind the distrust, something sleeping, waiting under the winter snow that layered over her. Susan was the first to lay her fork and knife down; she placed her hands in her lap and stared fixedly at her mostly full plate. Slowly the officers finished as Zaine and the daughters collected the plates. "If you'll follow me I'll show ya'll your rooms. One moment please," The oldest daughter, Delilah, said before following her mother in the kitchen, a confused look on her face
"I don't trust these men alone with Miss Susan in this house, baby." Zaine told Delilah as she grasped her shoulders. Delilah nodded that she understood her mother's meaning before going back into the rooms. "I'm afraid ya'll might have to bunk up with my brothers. The house is big but as ya'll see so is our family." Delilah explained as she led the officers down the long hall, save Tavington, who hung back from the group and watched as Susan stood shakily from the table and walked into the sitting area. She picked up a novel from the table and sat comfortably in a chair. Tavington noticed sheets of paper, an ink bottle, and quill pen by her as she read. 'that must be how she talks.' Tavington thought privately to himself before re-filling his glass with the wine and walking into the sitting area. Susan's head immediately snapped up as the thing inside her recoiled back under it's snow, back into the darkness. Now her eyes filled with distrust and bitterness. "Have you been mute sense birth, Madam?" Tavington asked before taking a sip of the wine. Susan pointedly ignored him until Tavington came to stand beside her, his temper flaring at her lack of response. Finally Susan gently used a black ribbon to hold her place in the book as she placed it in her lap and unscrewed the ink bottle. She dabbed the pen in it and began writing on the top sheet of paper.
"Nothing about me is any of your business, Colonel Tavington. And, perhaps you will refrain from analyzing me at meal time or any other time for that matter?"
Susan handed the sheet of paper to him then stood up and walked off with her book. Tavington read the note and watched her walk out of the room seething at her answer.
A/N: At the end of each part I plan to include a few sentences from the following part. by the time a part makes it to fanfiction.net I usually have the other part near done so it works out good.
Lilly
Part Two Preview:
Suddenly Susan's right hand came up and with her long nails poised like claws, and put four gashes in Tavington's left cheek. He howled as her left fist came and nearly connected with him in the face. Suddenly he forgot his cheek and grabbed both of her wrists and while holding them apart, skillfully avoided her legs as well. Susan fought against him to no aim until she finally gave in, panting.
DISCLAIMER: All work you recognize here belongs to Foxx Entertainment or whom ever holds the rights. Susan Armstrong-Prince and the whole Cudd family belong to me as well. If you would like to use any of my characters please ask for permission. Lilly