Hello everyone! Thank you for choosing to read my historical AU and there are a few things I'd like to talk about.
For one, since im writing about the 17-18th centuries, the English might be a little hard to understand, which I have tried to simplify as much as possible, but to keep the essence of the time period, I cannot change much.
Second, I will make a glossary and explain a few of the words I think you might find difficult.
That's all for now! Please let me know how it is in the reviews and thank you for reading!
Glossary:
(1)Garb- Clothes
(2)Wench - a whore/slut
(3)Fathom - Imagine
(4)Summers - a way of counting years
(5)Eshoppé- Old word for shop
(6)Castilian robe - A fashion of ball gowns that was very popular in the 1800s
(7)Card- a card provided to women for writing down their partners for particular dances.
(8)Minuet - Type of ballroom dancing very famous in the 1800s
(9)To have your cap set on - To intend to marry
(10)Jest - To joke
(11)Drút - Beloved friend
(12) Rake - A flirt
Chapter 1: The Lady.
"Oh for heaven's sake!" The troubled woman cried out, pacing back and forth in the tiny room.
"Put down those tools and go out! "
She had told her time and time again, so many times that her now tired nerves were losing count.
The young woman who sat on a chair in the far corner of the room, put down her drilling gun and looked up at the old lady.
"I went out to the market place just yesterday, grand mama," she replied, wiping her dirtied palms on the apron that hung from her waist covering the lower half of her simple peach garb(1).
"And it wasn't a very pleasant trip I must say, meeting the blacksmith's wife. She's quite the hassle to deal with."
"Winry!" The old lady admonished at the child's shameless remark.
She could swear that most of the wrinkles appearing on her visage in the past few years were thanks to this young girl. Sure, she had seen her fair share of rebelious children, but none so stubborn as this blue eyed beauty.
Winry was a mere six, when she stumbled into the tiny stall in the middle of nowhere - that originally belonged to the old woman's late husband - on a stormy night, all drenched and cold. The woman couldn't fathom(3) what terrible happenings had caused her to appear so miserable, but she had thought better than to ask.
That was ofcourse, till she heard it from the lot at the marketplace.
"My dear," she said, placing one hand on her beloved child's lap. " You know I wish for nothing but your happiness." Pinako dearly loved her most among all in the world. Biased, the folk called her, but it mattered not to her for she admired this rebellious adolescent who she had raised akin to her own.
Winry made a very unladylike snort at the comment, though she knew what the older lady said was all true.
"If you indeed do as you claim, then why do you coax me to return to that dreadfully isolated mansion ?"
Pinako said nothing for a moment, possibly trying to formulate a proper reply.
"This tiny abode is no place for a woman of your..." she said, considering what word would be less harsh, and put less of a boundary in between them.
"..rank."
"What would you rather I do?" She said, pulling out the soap from one of the cabinets. She absolutely disliked being labelled by anybody, the hierarchy was irrelevant to her.
"I have no home but here."
The older woman opened her mouth to argue, but shut it in dismay.
12 summers(4) ago, during the onset of the coldest month of the year, when the old woman was running to seek shelter in her home after having been caught up at the market, finding the half dead child at her doorstep had left her surprised beyond belief.
She had no way of looking for the child's relatives in the turbulent weather and so, simply kept her in her shop with the other homeless children she often took care of.
When asked her name, she answered:
"Winry Rockbell."
When the storm had calmed, Pinako went about her usual routine of roaming the marts and her good friend Rebecca had choked on air at the mention of the child's name.
Sir Yuriy Rockbell was the duke of the Resembool, she had said, but was killed along with his wife while rescuing wounded soldiers in the Ishval War.
They seemed to be good people.
The one to inherit their entire fortune was their then four year old daughter named Winry Rockbell.
She was no normal child, she belonged to the nobility.
Ofcourse, she did have a home - a mansion to be completely honest - but to her it felt hollow, full of neigh but maids and servants that could hardly keep the rebellious child still or entertained for even a moment.
So she would often run off,ending up in a heap of trouble and the old woman concluded that it was probably how she had ended up in the mechanic's eshoppé.(5)
However, it wasn't the last time Pinako would see her.
At their first meeting, the child had taken a liking to the older woman, and watched her work with a keen eye.
Pinako's late husband was a genius, he had found a way to reconstruct a human hand, the secret which he revealed to none except his doctor friend.
Pinako had sworn to find it out by studying it herself and completing her husband's unfinished piece of work.
And Winry was quick to learn too.
She kept escaping from her mansion to come to the run down stall, in hopes that she could learn the beauty of medical sciences. When reprimanded for bothering who was now referred to as 'grand mama' lovingly, she would sit in a corner, taking one of the books on the many shelves and read till she tired herself or fell asleep.
She had surpassed all the knowledge even the old lady he'd learnt in but a fortnight, now able to use screwdrivers with ease. At first, her caretaker did not want her to touch the dirty tools, but she soon gave into Winry's demands.
She really had no victory against this maiden.
"I wish for you not to return to a lonely life, but share it with another."
Winry rolled her eyes, her gaze fixated out the window.
This was probably the hundredth time she was hearing this statement.
"Do you still wish to play this game, grand mère?" She asked in annoyance, wanting to evade the subject altogether but she knew from practice that the old woman was stubborn and would not let her off with just one word.
Luckily for her though, as they were conversing a carriage wheeled in,stopping just by the little shop.
Racing out, Winry swung the door open, a wide smile on her face.
"Rose!"
The brunette with bangs much like her name, covering two thirds of her beautiful face turned around to look at the girl in an equally merry demeanor.
The two friends embraced, after a long while of separation, one of them having gone far away from home.
"How were the States? " Winry curiously questioned the girl, inviting her into their workplace.
"Oh, splendid! How many stories I have to tell you, my dear friend!" Rose said, her eyes twinkling like stars in the night sky.
"Then I shall gladly listen to them all." Winry said, putting a cup of morning tea in front of Rose.
"How do you do, grand mama Pinako? " She asked, courteously bowing to the older woman.
"Is my friend still riding on your nerves?"
Lady Rosè Thomas, daughter of the Earl of Liore, was a refined young woman who could caught the eye of many men with her charming body and glowing skin. She always claimed that Winry would be more beautiful, had she dressed well more often.
An offer that Winry most courteously declined.
"I certainly do have a lot to ramble on about, but today I have come with a more meaningful purpose." The lady Thomas said, sipping on the Earl Grey placed before her.
"And what might that be?" Winry asked, sitting across her on the small diner.
Knowing fully well she'd be rejected in her first attempt, Rose pulled in as much air she could and put forth her invitation.
"Madame DuPont has organised a ball tomorrow eve," she began to say, already noting the change in her friends expressions.
"I wish for you to accompany me."
Pinako dropped her cup in the basin and came racing to where the Winry sat groaning.
"Isn't that great news? You should go my dear!"
The blonde pursed her lips into a thin line, clearly irritated.
"I have no interest whatsoever in these unions and you know that well, Rose." She asserted, not even entertaining the idea.
"I believed you would say that," her friend said sighing in exasperation. Convincing Winry to go with her was a herculean task, so Rose had already prepared a bribe.
"But I have something that you would really like."
The chocolate eyed woman held up the newest editions of 'improvement in medical and scientific fields'.
The sly fox!
Pinako stiffled a laugh, looking at the blonde woman's conflicted expression.
She hated social gatherings more than death, but she desired to own those books since the closest outlet she could buy it from was a town's distance away.
Giving into her greed, she agreed to go at which Rose jumped in joy, hand in hand with her grand mama.
"Let us meet at half past six, is that alright ?" Rose asked.
Winry nodded rather unenthusiastically, hoping she wouldn't be a nervous wreck when the time rolled by.
The next day flew in, with the morning over rather quickly and Winry was back in her mansion, her footsteps resounding eerily in the empty halls.
She had worn a Castilian robe(6) of pearl grey sarsnet that was elegantly lined with pink satin, to suit her snow white complexion.
Dainty glass slippers lined her shapely feet, giving her the appearance of an actual woman of nobility.
Truth be told, Winry knew exactly how to be lady-like, it being drilled into her head by the very many teachers she had dealt with.
Greeting, conversing, dancing, she was brilliant at them all though not very comfortable. She rarely attended balls or any social gathering in general, since politics never interested her, which was the most discussed topic.
Her life as a commoner was a secret known to none but her grand mama and Rose, so most people of the ton just thought her snobbish and she was perfectly content with that.
As her carriage stopped before the DuPont property, she noticed Rose's carriage right behind hers.
The brunette stepped out in a beautiful scarlet gauze brocaded with white silken flowers, her hair in an updo. She looked as stunning as the starlit night.
They bowed to each other and turned to greet the hostess, Madame DuPont, who smiled at the two young women.
"I appreciate your presence, my beautiful young ladies," she said in her honey sweet voice.
"And might I add, you look stunning im those beautiful gowns!"
After a good conversation with the older women, they proceeded to the refreshments room, where most of the women sat waiting to be asked to a dance.
"My Lady Winry," the Baron of Ridenberg, Lord Drew Nightskin called on her, bowing courteously to the beautiful woman before him.
The Baron had taken an interest in the fair maiden, who resembled a divine goddess.
"Will you reserve a set for me if your card(7) is not already full?"
The Baron was a rake(12) , something Winry was aware of painfully well, having heard of his...mischiefs with most women from Rose on a previous occasion.
"It would be my pleasure," Winry said, writing his name on her card.
"The minuet(8) then?"
"Thank you my lady. I shall look forward to it." And bowing one last time, he left through the door having been promised to Lady Annabelle for the next dance.
He was very handsome, and gifted in most ways, but not to the liking of the golden haired woman, who was more for intelligence than money or face.
"My word! To have already scored a dance with the Baron within minutes of being in the hall?" Rose exclaimed, sipping on her punch.
"You are very desirable, Winry!"
Winry glanced at her friend, whose eyes were searching for someone in the crowd of the ton.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, it seems you have your cap set on(9) a certain gentleman already?"
Rose turned red in embarrassement, her eyes on the floor in shame.
"Well.. I am of age now.." she whispered and Winry let out a laugh.
"Well, then. Excuse me, the minuet is about to begin and I am destined to be bored to death by talks of horse racing."
After about an hour of dancing with various partners, her card full and legs about to tear apart, Winry stepped out into the open garden, the soft wind tickling her feet.
"Winry, have you had your fair share?" Rose asked, stepping down to stand near her friend, equally exhausted.
She had had a good evening.
"Enough to last me a lifetime." Winry whispered, blowing clouds with her breath.
There were preparations of some sort taking place on the streets before them, and Winry's curiosity had gotten the better of her.
"What is all the fuss about?" She questioned, her gaze fixed at the people fixing poles and cleaning the rodes.
"Oh, my dear, you certainly live under a boulder." Rose chortled , shaking her head at Winry's lack on information.
"Haven't you heard that The Earl of Resembool is arriving in the noon tomorrow?"
Resembool? Winry thought to herself.
She was too young when she left her hometown to come to the central so she didn't really remember much of her time back there.
Rose looked thoughtful. "From what I've heard, he was a war hero and is one of the youngest to earn a title . A prodigy, he is called among the ton." She said.
"He must be as young as us."
Winry raised an eyebrow. "He has received a title of his own at this young an age?" It almost seemed impossible, to be able to work at the age where most men fooled around with a variety of women.
"Would you consider him on your list?" Winry narrowed her eyes at the girl, who could jest(10) a lot when she was in a joyous mood.
"Immature men are not my preference," she said, walking back into the hall, the cold now biting her skin.
"Plus, with that much work load, I'm sure he must be a boring man."
Rose sighed. " You expect too much, Winry. You do not get exactly what you desire."
"That is why I do not wish to be wed."
Poor grandmama Pinako, was all Rose thought before they greeted the Viscountess one last time, sat in their carriage and drove back to their respective mansions.
The clueless lady went to sleep that night,happily reading the books she had received from her drút(11), unaware of the storm that was about to sweep her away, in the form of one beautiful man.
And he was already here.
That's it for now. Thank you for reading and let me know if you like it! I love y'all