Thread: Sightless [Sigr / Raina_Reader]

Gently nested on top of a small hill, Ravenwood manor wasn't the looming presence of ages past, the dreary settlement that Baron Ravenwood established almost a couple of centuries ago. The woods that gave name to the family once the King had granted them the title were still there and for a newcomer the constant presence of ravens could seem as a bad omen, but there wasn't such notion on the barony, not anymore. Even the stone wall that once proudly marked the manor grounds and allowed its defense in case of peasant uprise now was a crumbled legacy overgrown with ivy and an occasional red poppy. Even if the state of disrepair of the wall was an intentional decision by the part of the former Ravenwood lord, father of the current one, the rest of the place sure didn't look the same, as it had a veritable army of servants taking care of the vast extension of both building and the grounds themselves. It was true that even if there still were flower beds here and there, most of the gardens surrounding the house offered the odd sight of nurturing various vegetables. It was those kinds of strange practices the ones that garnered the family the favor of the people they once lacked, abandoning their legacy of a land ruled by fear. The former Lord Ravenwood was quite the character, and the current one didn't fall too far from the tree. To say they were loved was perhaps to say too much, as it's maybe impossible for the ruled to love the ruler, but they were respected and they sure loved their people. Ravenwood was after all a barony quite far from the kingdom's capital, always deemed a brutish and provincial place, the ruling family judged as far away from the refinement required to be real aristocracy, always named countryside nobles and upstarts. If the other nobles were to be right about the rumors on the Ravenwood family, it was better to be close to their people and respected by them, and not to rule them with utter terror. All things considered, even the current Ravenwood lord was married to a merchant's daughter, a choice born from love more than the difficulty about finding a suitable bride. It may be detached, and it may be on the countryside, but Ravenwood was still a barony, a title to not be scoffed at. It was precisely its people, once conquered, then feared and now gently ruled the ones that made the King have any consideration about Baron Ravenwood. Of course, it varied from King to King and from Baron to Baron, as the relationships haven't always been nice, but the women of Ravenwood were accustomed to hard labor and the men were accustomed to brave difficulties. In times of war, having Ravenwood by your side was an asset precious enough for noblemen to conveniently forget their usual attitude towards that particular stretch of land and its rulers. It was precisely that kind of conversations, of dealings and treaties the ones that took the Lord and Lady of Ravenwood away from their lands, away from their only daughter. In her hardest moment, the parents had been summoned away, and even with pain in the heart, that was the kind of call a Baron couldn't ignore. Long gone were the days of protests, of negotiations to travel with them. Days of screams, pleads and burning tears. She was no fit for such a long trip, and even if she was recovered of the illness that assaulted her, she still felt weak. Recovered to a point, of course. There was no more coughing, no more fever, and now she could even take slow, short walks if she wanted. But she didn't. Angry and sad, dejected and abandoned, Alexandra felt miserable. With her windows wide open she could feel the sun warming her face, she could smell the tomatoes on the garden below her, but she couldn't see their red meat shine on that wonderful day, nor she would ever again. Hearing Martha mumble something outside her bedroom, Alexandra turned around to look what was going on, a habit that still didn't disappear. She caught just enough of her sentence to hear about the caretaker. Yes, the gentle old maid had informed her earlier of the visit of such a woman today. Alexandra didn't want a stranger in her life, not in general terms and even less when she was at her weakest, but her parents insisted in having someone to tend her, someone that could offer a more specialized service than the ones the manor servants could even figure out. The service was full of good, loyal people, but as many in Ravenwood they were a simple kind with simple needs and simple skills. Alexandra would love to be one of them, but some things couldn't be, now less than ever. Ah- the sound of the doors startled her. Alexandra was now aware that the person would be seeing her, an unknown woman, and the thought made her feel vulnerable, naked. Properly dressed she wasn't, and one could even doubt the merit of her presentability even for a countryside noble. Alexandra had been insisting to keep doing certain things on her own, even if it was a ridiculous and childish claim, so that explained her current looks. Her blonde hair was on disarray, with parts of it brushed down and other parts showing signs of bed hair, as she had desisted from braiding it herself. The outfit of choice was an ivory nightgown, the very one she had been sleeping with, as pretending to dress herself in the layers her station required was mind numbing. The fabric did cover her body way below the knees, although her figure still was a bit of a cutout against the sunny window. Alexandra wasn't a tall beauty, being a bit short for her age, and even if she didn't tan easily, the sickness had left her a little bit more pale than usual. Her body wasn't specially curvy, but she was soft and plushy in all the right places, even if it wasn't up to a scale nobody would consider womanly or nurturing, spectacular or enticing. I'm- I'm Lady Alexandra Ravenwood she muttered, trying to keep composure and proper forms. Why didn't the woman say a thing? Why didn't she introduce herself? Her blue eyes looked glassy, unfocused and unable, further contributing to make her look like a lost porcelain doll. In a clumsy and ill thought of approaching the newcomer, Alexandra stumbled upon her own bed, embarrassingly falling face first on it.