Merissa Drackenrise: The scars of serving a Noble

This story displays two moments out of Merissa's life that perhaps have been big "turningpoints" when she grew up as a servant in the house of Brimstone. Separated by a line inbetween where the story shifts to another moment. This happened before Merissa ever learned who her father was, before she was taken away to find out that she herself had noble blood and is now the character people meet IC

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Music reached the little girl's ears, softly swaying her and beckoning her to come closer. As she approached the large ornamented doors of the great hall she however froze, alarm bells ringing in the back of her head warning her of previous words spoken, she was not allowed to set a foot further. But the curiousity of a child is a powerfull thing and Merissa reached out nonetheless, wanting to see where the music came from she pushed open the heavy door to look inside.

Never before had the girl seen anything of such magnificent beauty before, even if the manor was littered with the most expensive and delicate decorations. Before her was a large dancefloor on which several couples were dancing graciously. Entirelly mesmerized by the beauty of the ladies with their colourful and elegant gowns that swayed around their feet she remained on the spot to try and take it all in. The stoic movements of the men with their distant grips around the waists of the women, it had something otherworldly to the child.



The room was lit with several floating lanterns hovering around to illuminate enough of the grand space to give off a warm and welcoming glow of the hall, the musicians in the back were nearly shrouded in darkness so the attention would not be drawn to them while there was plenty of light around the rows of tables on the side. Several dishes and plates filled with a great variety of food and other mouthwatering things. There was barely anything on there that Meri had eaten before and her stomach rumbled at the sheer sight of the overwhelming amount of food before her. Not even the beauty of the dancers and the idle chatting of the guests could draw her attention away from the tables within her reach.

The temptation was too much, and the hunger only fuelled her desire to try and grab whatever she could. Closing the door behind her she quickly tried to cross the room unseen but there was barely a way to hide herself. Little did she know that a pair of eyes already had been following her around with a menacing little twitch around the lips beneath. Only when the observer saw the child reach out to a sugar-coated pastry he intervened. Grabbing her by the back of her neck and dragging her out of sight and into the shadows to leave the hall through a smaller service-door. He did not halt at any of the scared and whimpered sobs coming from the child that tried to get away from his grasp. Simply dragging her further into the less appealing corridors and quarters of the manor.

It did not occur to her to look up, just like her mother had told her, to never look at the face of those they served. Yet once again the curiousity and the sudden shame made her glance up, which she shouldn't have done. She looked straight into the face of Lord Troven, his eyes narrowed and he stopped in his tracks to release the girl forcefully with a downward shove.

One of his hands already had reached to the small, thin leather whip that he kept on his belt all day as he walked and marched through the halls of his manor. His entire expression was twisted into disgust and arrogance, looking down at the underfed and crying child with no remorse nor pity. His stare icecold and void of emotions and care towards the human being crawling down at his feet as if he deemed it as unworthy as a bug or insect. Troven did not hesistate and aimed a well-aimed lash downward to one of the thin and exposed arms which drew a horrible cry from the lips of Meri. The pain was something she had never felt before and it made her weep, wondering why she deserved to be hit in such way. So far she had been sheltered by her mother to not witness the cruelties of their lord. Learning with great urgency how she had to behave in his pressence and the child had caught up well with the rules.

Yet she was not made aware of the physical punishements for misbehaving like she had done, sneaking into a party where she had no business, abandoning her chores and trying to steal food. It was too much for the small and scrawny six year old to comprehend why she deserved the pain. Bracing herself for more with little sobs and pleas that went unheard.

Once the man lifted his hand to continue his punishment to teach the girl her rightful place a hand however gripped his wrist, long and skinny fingers clamping down as the woman who had boldly made such move bowed her head. Shaking visibly in fear for what would come for her own actions.

“My Lord, she is a child, please let me bear the punishment for her.”

Every word shook with the tremble in her voice, knowing well that she had reacted out of place and shown disrespect for interfering. However it had made the man reconsider his own actions and with a stern nod he gave the curled up ball on the floor a shove with his boot.

“Out of my sight, if I see you again near those halls you'll not get away again, is that clear?”


Merissa did not want to leave, but her insticts told her to aswel as the pleading and torn gaze of her mother when she gave a small encouraging nod towards her daughter. Without thinking twice or trying to question their Lord she scrambled up, her tiny feet carrying away from the man who had caused her pain. One of her hands gripping across the bleeding gash that marked her previously unblemished skin.

That night, when she was still wide awake in her bed she watched her mother return to the servant's quarters, hunched over and shuffling in limping and wincing steps. Because of the dark she wasn't sure, but her robe seemed to be darkened on the back.


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The young woman looked down to her scarred arm, a hand running across the oldest line adorning her skin and sighed. Sat on her knees with a bucket of water by her side to clean the floor she had let her mind wander to the memory. She had only obtained a few more over the years that she had aged, her mother always had found a way out for Meri but now the girl wondered what would happen now that she was gone. It only had been a week or so since the death of the woman that had kept her safe.

And she'd find out soon enough, she had not heard the approaching steps of the ever-observant master when he came to a halt behind her to raise his boot in a strong kick down the girl's back. Sending her falling forward and sprawling on the floor with a loud pained groan. There was no chance nor even a thought of wanting to retaliate, letting herself be picked up once more by the collar of her robe and spun around to face the man who had made it his mission to express his superiourity towards those he forced to serve.

Immediatly her large blue eyes darted down to stare at her feet, trembling from head to toe in anxiety of what was to come and she braced herself. Expecting him to lash out soon enough she tried to breathe calmly. Yet to her own suprise she could suddenly feel his strong grip around her chin to force her face up for him to look at. It scared her even more than the expected pain she had grown to fear. Staring up at his face with a widened gaze and ragged breathing to see the small grin creeping upto his visage. Some might have considered him handsome or good looking yet that cold and arrogant glint in his eyes gave the man a more hideous appearance.


“Your mother is no longer here to protect you girl. I've dealt with her interfering for too long and she only has herself to blame for her early death by wanting to keep you away from deserved punishments. It's a disgrace that I've let her manipulate me for someone as worthless as you. It is time your learn your place properly.”


He nearly sounded gleeful, inspecting her closely to see every change of her expression in sheer fear and soaked it in. In high contrast to his words his thumb graze her chin for a moment as he suddenly smirked.

"I shall take it upon myself to teach you how to please me and fulfill your duties as a proper servant of my house. I shall not tolerate any mistakes. You're old enough to be called to the chambers if I'd order you to, but such privilege is not something you deserve. Nor do you look appealing, you lack the maturity of a woman that would suffice for the sake of my satisfaction. Unworthy to be more than what you are now, perhaps I should dispose of you like I did with your parents.”


Merissa stood there, unmoving and too afraid to utter a word with her heart racing inside her chest, trying to figure out what he meant. Surely she had already done everything she could to be as obedient and sufficient as he desired? Her throat felt incredibly parched, the questions burning on her lips before she parted them with a hoarse splutter in desire to ask the meaning of his words. Only to be granted a forcefull backhand that made her head snap to the side despite his iron grip on her chin.


“You do not speak unless told girl, you do not have the right to adress me, you are not worthy to speak to me."


Her cheek burned red, glowing with a painful sting as she swallowed down a sob and nodded in response. Unable to form another word yet this was once again not to his liking as he raised his hand again to aim it for the other side of her face in another resonating impact on her skin. And his grin only widened, thrilled by the power and controll he had over his servants as he leaned in to speak, his tone cold.

“Do you agree? Am I speaking the truth?"

Meri's reply came with an audible stutter, lacking the ability to speak up loudly she just whispered with yet another, more urgent nod.

“Yes M'Lord.”

With a sigh he let go of her chin, shoving her backwards for a moment as he eyed the scrawny body and her face, reaching out to grab her arm to start dragging her behind him.

“You'll learn, and I shall make sure that you remember where you belong, and what you shall endure if you cross me girl.”

Up until then Merissa had never known what the punishments were that her mother had endured for her sake, she had never known the true pain of Lord Troven's wrath and cruelty. But when she crawled back to finish her chores with the blood staining her back and arms she finally knew that each mistake would cost her a lot more than it had before. The sound of the whip crashing down onto her bare back still rung in her ears, the sound of her own cries of pain had echo'd against the walls. And nobody had come to stop him, none would stand up against Troven. And nobody would try to shelter the girl away from this day forward.