Lucille Edevane

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Lucille is a warrior. She's fit, strong, agile, and precise. Always in control of every muscle in her body at all times. She works very hard every day to keep it that way. Her movements are smooth and somewhat graceful but powerful, similar to the grace of a lioness or a lynx of the Slopes of Shadow or the Arid Rise. She's quite calm, cool, and collected, but ready to pounce at any moment.
 
She wears her coily, dark brown hair in long dreads, which she carefully and neatly maintains daily. Her hair is one of her prides, as it is customary for her people, so she doesn't like it when anyone touches it. She usually wears her hair down, with a bandana around her head to keep it out of her face, or neatly together.
 
Her dreads and the bandana covering her ears might seem accidental, but it's very much thought out that way. Lucille has quite noticeable scars on her ears. Where they once were the classic, defining pointy feature of her species, the sun elf, they are now rounded down, with clear but old knife scars. All to protect her true identity as an elf in Ashmoor. Only Matthew knows of this, since he's the one who cut her ears. She also has old burn scars around her fingers and hands from when she first began practicing her magic.
 
Her smooth, brown skin is not only without blemishes, but also always warm to the touch. Very practical during the colder months. Amongst her own species, she's considered average in height, but amongst most Ashmorian women, she's relatively tall.
 
99% of the time she wears what Matthew wants her to wear. When she can decide herself she likes to move freely, so Lucille wears a lot of leather in her clothing, as it is both a tough and lightweight material instead of heavy metal armor. Most of her clothes are formfitting pants, leather corsets, and warm-colored or white tops. She always wears a pair of fingerless leather gloves. For special events while on duty, she has tailor-made guard armor similar to that of other Winter Guards.
 
She always carries her sword on her back and has a special tailor made sheath for it.

Single-minded - lethal - compassionate - nurturing - cold/cool exterior - brave - bold - calm - controlled - to most, somewhat invisible
 
Lucille has this strange talent to blend in, as many people do not always notice her at first. This is mostly because she now solely exists as an extension of her master. Lucille is Matthew's shield and shadow. She is completely aware what her life purpose is: protecting Matthew Winter. When Lucille is on duty, which is most of the time, she herself seems to disappear a bit into this shield. Fully focused on Matthew's surroundings and mostly mute, she follows him wherever he wants her. Especially in public. She only speaks when spoken to and will never interject in any conversation she witnesses, unless it turns into a tread. Furthermore, she is very much involved in anything that concerns Matthew Winter. From his food to his clothes to his daily appointments and business trips. She has to make sure all of it is safe and secured. Even a simple stroll through the gardens with his daughter. Lucille won't always be next to Matthew, but rest assured that if Matthew is somewhere, Lucille Edevane is not far either. And she's seen you long before you've noticed her.
 
In private, she becomes more herself. More human. a little more relaxed. Than she can show a more caring side, especially towards Matthew. It's not that she truly loves him, but there are definitely some strange feelings involved in her relationship with him. She is unaware of the trauma bonding she has to him and the stockholm syndrome she most likely is suffering from under his power and mental manipulation. It can make it a bit more confusing, considering she shared many unlawful nights with him. She ultimately has become his proporty without her realizing it. This is most likely due to the trauma she suffered right before he rescued her. In combination with her upbringing amongst the Sun Sisters, where she also devoted her life to protecting Zahriyah and its people.
 
As a warrior, she is skilled and quite lethal. It's probably the only thing she has left of her former self. She is at the mastery level in martial arts and sword-yielding. She will never use these skills without reason, though. Not many people know of her talents, as she rarely needs to use them. It would mean she had to respond in an offensive way, which is not her purpose. She will always try defense first, either by body language, warning eye contact, or words. Only if that does not work will she unleash her warrior side.
 
Lucille is very active aside from her duties. She trains as much as she can, sometimes with Matthew to keep him fit as well. She likes to be challenged in that regard as well and enjoys different types of exercise. She practices with her sword daily to keep up her level of expertise.
 
She had a son who died when he was a toddler more than a decade ago. She never had the opportunity to truly mourn him, and she still struggles around very young children. Especially since she can't have any more children herself. It's the only thing that can bring out her vulnerability. She seems scared of young children as she keeps away from them, but in truth, it's too painful to be near them. She has no problem with older children and teenagers.
 
To live, she had to say goodbye to almost every part of her old life and culture. Now she goes through life pretending to be human. But she still likes to remember Xaila and Zahriyah through small things like food and warmth. She loves candles and has a lot of them in her private room. If she has the time for it, she tries to cook some traditional dishes to quench her longing for the spicy, tasty food from her youth.

Lucille began her magic with the intention of making firebending her sole specialization. Like many Sun elves before her, it all started mostly with burned fingers and palms, of which Lucille still bears the old scars. With time, she found her way with fire bending and had relatively good control over it. Forming fireballs, manipulating existing fire (candles, campfires, etc.), and at some point she even managed to make a fire whip. In her years as a Sun Sister, she worked a lot on her magic.
 
Ever since she started her new life in Ashmoor years ago, she can't use that kind of sun magic anymore. It would expose her identity instantly, aside from the fact that magic is forbidden in the district. So she stopped using and training it almost fully. She only uses it sometimes for convenience, like starting the fireplace or lighting the candles in her own room. She only does this when she is sure she's alone.
 
Since she still has the need and desire to release the energy of her magic in some way, she started to practice heat control, since this can be done in a more inconspicuous way. She most often uses this for simple things like warming cold liquids, a cold bed, a sore muscle, or heat-drying her dreads after a bath. She started to practice with her sword as well and is now able to heat it up to flesh-burning temperatures without damaging the weapon. This could help her in combat as a surprise element. The main disadvantage is that it naturally requires a lot of her energy, and she can only heat her sword for a minute. Any longer would make her collapse as well as burn her hands. She must hide her magic, and being Matthew's guard prevents her from practicing a lot, so her strength only grows very slowly but steadily..

Lucille was born in Zahriyah, in the kingdom of Xaila. She was the first child and oldest daughter in her family, and they named her Zoya. Both her parents were members of the Sun Sisters, as a Sister and Brother. Both were skilled warriors and protectors of their beloved city and kingdom. She grew up under the beliefs and teachings of the Goddess, as she herself was expected to become a Sister when she was of age. She was somewhat rebellious and arrogant as a child, winning many of her siblings' and peers' games and competitions. She was quite competitive and showed physical skills from a young age. And so it happened that around her 12th birthday her parents asked permission of the Mother to teach Zoya martial arts. Her father was the one to teach her, and he gifted her her first sword. It was a challenge, but over time, especially in her teenage years, she became a true sword-yielding master. It helped dim down that rebelliousness and arrogance of her childhood as she became more in control of her body, her mind, and her purpose.

Zoya became a Sister after passing the proving in Al-Qahil, where she defeated a powerful apponant, when she was of age. She took her place among the warriors of Zahriyah to protect the city. At that time, she met her future husband, Xanth Nándor, a tradesman and a good man. They fell in love and got married quite quickly, as she was only 19 years old. After about a year, the happy couple welcomed another woman, Zehra Aishwarya, who was a Sister as well, into their marriage, and both women soon fell pregnant. Zoya gave birth to a strong baby boy whom she named Utay. Not long after his birth, Esma, Zehra's daughter, was born. The two women nurtured and cared for both children as if they were their own. The trio had a great relationship together with the two young children, and life couldn't be happier for them.

When Utay was around 3 years old, he got sick. At first, Zoya wasn't too worried. Her son was strong. But the illness suddenly progressed too fast. Utay died in Zoya's arms only a month and a half later. It was a hard blow for everyone, but especially for Zoya. They didn't get the chance to grieve the boy, though, because Esma started to show similar symptoms. Xanth knew of certain stories about healers who lived in Avalon, so the three decided to go to the fallen kingdom. With the permission of the Mother, they left their beloved town and family. They crossed the border into Lemuria and started their long but hasty journey north-west to cross the Mirrored river into Avalon. When they tried to cross, however, they were unable to due to natural causes. The river was too wild and unpredictable at the base of the mountains at that time of year. They would've waited for a better moment if it weren't for Esma getting more and more sick. Causing them to make the unwise decision to cross the river more down stream, where the waters was calmer. That would bring them into the lands of the Ashmoor district—a risky path into hostile territory—but the only option they had.
 
They planned to cross at night and travel straight through the old, stolen Lemurian town of Glimmerhollow as swiftly as they could. A task they were well-versed in as trained Sisters, hoping to quietly pass through the town. Unfortunately, the strange group was spotted by Glimmerhollow soldiers, who, after some questioning, discovered where they came from and what they were. Suddenly, everything happened so fast. As the soldiers tried to grab them, Xanth attacked to protect his family. He was killed before their eyes. Zoya tried anything and everything to protect Zehra and the very ill Esma. But they got cornered like animals. She fought them off using her magic, taking multiple of them down, but there were too many soldiers. They were captured and separated. It was the last time that Zoya saw them.
 
She was stripped down and thrown into a cell, where she was abused by a group of soldiers. Revenge for their fallen comrades no doubt.  She knew that her final days had arrived, and she would spend those days in this cell. And even though she was only locked up for no more than a week, it was the darkest time in her life. All she wanted was to leave with the family that she had left, not knowing if they were still alive. They never did anything wrong, and still they were treated like animals. There was no chance that she would leave the town alive. All that was left was for her to await her annihilation.  
 
Zoya was spared that ending, however, in a way she never could have predicted. An Ashmorian upperclass man by the name of Matthew Winter. Zoya didn't know why, but the man saved her life. It came at a huge price, however. At the time, she barely knew what she was agreeing to as she clung to the last bit of life she had left. Call it coincidence, call it luck, but at the time of her imprisonment, another sun elf had been captured as well. And with that, Matthew Winter had a way to save Zoya. Essentially, her identity had to be erased. The other sun elf would take her place and die in her stead, under her name. Zoya Somuayina would die, and with that, she would have to say farewell to her old life, beliefs, the Sisters, and the family she had left back in Xaila. She agreed, and with Matthew's help and influence, a new woman was born: Lucille Edevane.

Lucille owed Matthew her life and was therefore bound to him. He was the only one who knew her secret. Who she really was. What she really was. For two years, Matthew kept the woman away from the public, to make sure the woman she once was had truly been erased, both by the public in Glimmerhollow and herself. Even though he tried everything he could to erase it, including cutting off her pointy ears. There were still reasons to be worried. For if he dies, her true identity would be spilled and her doom would come once again. Lucille became the shield of her new master, protecting him at all costs. Both soldier and personal guard, she stands by his side in everything. It took a while for her to trust him, as she never learned the reason why he did all that for her. As a Sister she didn't see the evil in protecting. And over time she wasn't only bounded to him through what she owed. She was bound to him through emotion. Lucille was under his spell, bonded to him by trauma. Matthew was a master manipulator through and through, and Lucille was the weakest she had ever been at the time they met. Matthew had seeped into the cracks of her mind and manifested himself as the most important person in her life. So much so that she would give her own life to safe his if she has to.
 
And so Lucille has stood by Matthews side for the better part of a decade. Protecting him, supporting him, caring for him. Making love to him. At this point in her life she truly lives for him, making her his perfect personal guard.