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[noburden]

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JILL WARRICK, 30

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[noburden]

It means I was taken in by the duchy as a guarantee of peace between the North and Rosaria.

[Which implies she's of some importance.]

[wyldfire]

You were a hostage.

[She would call it what it was. 'Ward' implied a protection that didn't truly exist.]

You're nobility, if not royalty. [Jordana's read enough books to understand political hostages. Who the fuck took a six year old child as a hostage? Jordana's rage flared and she clenched her jaw a moment before she softened.]

I'm sorry.

[noburden]

[Yes, but... Jill shakes her head.]

I was raised alongside the princes. I was given every opportunity they were, and treated well.

[Archduke Elwin, at least, was kind. Anabella saw her only as an investment, someone to marry off for political gain. She has no love for any duchess.]

[wyldfire]

I would hope so, considering you were a child. But you were still a hostage.

[Of course, they treated her well. Political hostages situations go both ways. Mistreatment of the hostage would've been cause to incite the North to attack.]

[noburden]

In a sense. Ultimately, it was my good fortune.

[But that may be a biased opinion. Her memories of her family are dim, and she loves Clive and Joshua too much to ever imagine life without them again.]

[wyldfire]

Were you given the freedom to leave upon coming of age?

[Because then it was hard to put the veneer of ward on the situation. Was someone in Rosaria - these princes - trait wrong to harm a child if the Northmen had attacked? It made her sick to her stomach.]

[noburden]

I would have likely been married to a noble of one house or another by then.

[So... no. Were she lucky it would have been Joshua or Clive, but she could never imagine Anabella allowing a savage to wed her precious Phoenix.]

But... Rosaria was invaded when I was twelve. I was taken to another land for a very long time.

[One so much worse than Rosaria.]

[wyldfire]

Not your homeland, I take it.

[Her arms tightened about Jill, to give her comfort. Jordana could sympathize. Her four years in foster care was horrible. It felt like another land to her.]

[noburden]

[Jill shakes her head, giving Jordana's arm a pat.]

No. It was a place I'd consider worse than here, even with this cold.

[wyldfire]

How could that be possible? You were here through the prison.

[noburden]

I was mostly left alone in the prison. Treated kindly, even, by yourself and other guards. The Ironblood put me to work in horrific ways--and then, I was just a frightened girl.

[Were she who she is now, she'd have slaughtered them.]

[wyldfire]

[Jordana fell silent, her gaze going distant for a moment before she pulled herself out of the tunnel toward her past.]

I'm so sorry. If you ever want or need to talk about that time, there's a Rite only those of my tribe know that helps women heal spiritually after suffering.

[noburden]

[She shakes her head.]

I'm alright. It was a long time ago, and has since been put to rest.

[wyldfire]

[Jordana put her palm over Jill's heart.]

If you are calm in here after all that, then you have a great will.