eachdraidh | 002 ☙ [video]

[War changes people, Mary Crawley included.

After her midnight ride from Caer Glaem the night of the jabberwock attack, she arrived a frozen mess in the land of the Elves. Nearly dead, they had taken her in and helped nurse her back to health. The whole experience had been surreal. Being in their realm made her wonder if this was what heaven was like. Everything seemed so bright, as if someone had turned the contrast up on the entire world. Whatever medicine they used on her worked, because she was as good as new within a week, feeling stronger than she had in years. They helped equip her and her horse before she set out. She owes them a great debt and she knows it.

She has since arrived in Parrais, where she knew that Anne would be, in order to seek shelter since the castle at Glaem has been damaged. Truth be told, she'd rather not go back there for a while anyway. While in the Elvenlands she had a lot of time to think and was subsequently able to act in Parrais. Mary has cut her hair, partly out of deference to the latest style back home and partly for practical reasons. She realizes that finding someone here to do her hair every day will be difficult. Mary also hasn't worn a corset since she fled Glaem and after several weeks without one, she has no plans to go back. A camisole suits her fine and again she's met with the obstacle of having no one to help her tie a corset anyway.

Congratulations. The war has successfully pushed Mary into the twentieth century.

She appears on the locket looking well-rested and back to being herself again.]

Hello to anyone who may be seeing and hearing this broadcast. I was not able to properly introduce myself last time I used this device. [Since she was fleeing on horseback through the frozen landscape.] I am Lady Mary Crawley, daughter of the Earl of Grantham. Firstly, I would like to thank the Elves for their hospitality and care after I arrived in their lands following the attack on Caer Glaem. Your generosity will not be forgotten by me. Secondly... [She pauses here for a moment, gathering exactly what she wants to say.] I wish to know if I may help in any way now that the battle is over. I'm staying in Parrais for a while so anything in this region would be well-suited. I know... a bit about farming, actually, and the running of an estate. I also have a small bit of nursing knowledge thanks to my sister and the experience of a war back home.

Please let me know of a way that I might be helpful.

[Not only has the war pushed her into the twentieth century, it might also have caused hell to freeze over. Mary's not usually the helpful type, though maybe the healing she received from the Elves is causing her to want to pay it forward. Or maybe she just doesn't want to sit around bored all day. There are only so many shops to visit and books to read. They don't even have formal dinner here. At least back at Downton she had responsibilities and tasks to complete.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

They do. Skirts already seem to be getting quite a bit wider and more ostentatious with the Marquise at the helm of the movement.

[And Lia wants to be fashionable, her wedding gown is proof of that, she thinks, but she has to draw the line somewhere.]

Elves? Do tell. That sounds positively fascinating.

They are getting smaller and shorter in my time. Again, we seem to be moving towards comfort, so I suppose I should be thankful for that.

[She smiles, thinking it amusing that she's telling a story about how she met Elves. When did this become her life?]

Well, they're not like the ones who work with Father Christmas. They're very tall and thin and all of them are exceedingly beautiful, even the men. When they walk, they're so silent it's like they're not actually touching the ground.

Quite the opposite from mine where they become wider and longer.

[But oh Lia is so interested in the elves.]

They sound almost like spirits. Magical...though that would be the definition of an elf, would it not? But they were kind to you?

They were mistrustful of me at first because I was a stranger who had galloped uninvited into their land, but they were very kind when they agreed to take me in. I have no idea what medicines they used on me, but I regained my strength quite quickly and actually felt better than I had in years. It must be, as you said, magic.

You must have been quite fortunate indeed. I have heard of many who wandered into the wilderness never to be seen again.

[But that was Russia. This place may be slightly more civilized.]

I am glad for your health, mademoiselle. Do you plan to return to the elves in the future?

[Mary agrees. Russia does seem somewhat uncivilized.]

Thank you. I may visit them again if they will receive me. I owe them my life.

Are you also a member of the Seelie court?

I am, for what precious little that means to me here. I suppose it should mean more but it is rather difficult.

[Yes, definitely she's going to go searching for elves one day.]

It honestly doesn't mean much to me either. I am a subject of the British monarchy and my loyalty is ultimately to them.

[Her opinion of the monarchs here is waning. What sort of people would bring others into their world and make them fight a war? Having to flee on horseback from a damaged castle isn't what Mary considers to be hospitality.]

Have you heard that Her Majesty Elizabeth of York is here?

I have not. Elizabeth of York was a British queen...many years ago, even for me, was she not?

[Lia is not as versed in British monarchs as in French.]

Yes. She is the mother of Henry VIII, though I don't think he is known to her yet. Can you imagine meeting someone here who knows your future? Knows of the son that you don't yet have?

[Personally, it frightens her a bit. God forbid someone from her future come and tell her something horrifying.]

I can imagine. I am several hundred years behind most others. I do not know but I fear what will become of my beloved country in the years to come.

[She's heard rumblings. But nothing concrete.]

What do you fear is on the horizon?

[Robespierre and beheadings, no doubt.]

I was engaged to a man...his way of thinking was dangerous. That he would not obey the King. That our country could not survive as it was. That the opulence of Versailles was growing to be too much.

[So, what does she fear?]

A lot changes, in centuries. I face that everyone I know and loved has passed on, but I would hate to see my country fall to ruin,

[So, the Reign of Terror. Okay.]

I have found that in life change is inevitable. Trying to stop it is futile, even when you don't like the direction that it's going in. One must adapt somehow or they'll get left behind.

There is no cure for the march of time, only I feel I should have remained...that I should have better protected my family and my country.

[Just wait until she finds out the extent of it.]

Are you alone in this place as well?

I am alone, yes. Did you come here by your own free will? I've heard that some have not.

Admittedly, I have no idea what I was thinking when I followed the fairies. Perhaps that it would be a lark and fun adventure and I'd be able to go home whenever I wanted to.

I did follow of my own free will but...I feel I was not in my right mind at the time. Perhaps I thought they were angels or there was nothing left for me in my home country.

[Dumber reasons than Mary's, certainly, but Lia feels a kinship in this at least.]

It is not such a fun adventure, is it?

No. The fairies neglected to mention the war. Had I known, I might not have thought it such a lark and would have stayed in Yorkshire.

I fear war comes to every country but recruiting warriors in such a way...

[It is less than ideal. Less than noble and less than honorable and she wonders if she would have refused had France been on the line.]

But it is too late now, hm? We should pray for the fortitude to withstand and endure.

It's distasteful, I agree. I have not and will not defect from England.

We will endure. People always do, despite hardships.

002 ☙ [video] | OTA

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