Madeline Ambrose

Madeline was once well-respected member of Yldean aristocracy. The woman grew up into a caring household with an older sister, Caroline Waybury. Brought up by the pair Khaden and Lambathy - well-known aristocratic gardener and royal dress tailor respectively, the two had all basic necessities alongside a fair bit of luxury provided for them. Madeline, much like her sister, had access to private tutoring in mathematics, geography, history and biology as well as gardening lessons, on behalf of her father. It wasn't long before she'd made her first piece, trimming a bush into the shape of a vase at the age of 7. And while it wasn't off to a flying success, gathering a fair bit of criticism, this discouraged neither her nor her father from continuing her lessons. Madeline never quite got along with her mother as a result. The two didn't have any clashes, certainly, but she found herself in the company of her father more often than not, observing his own work whilst carrying on with her studies and practice, gradually seeing a raise in positive feedback with each following job.

At the age of 14 Madeline had made a name for herself and began carrying out paid work, using her father's connections. The young lady began earning her family a decent bit of money, most of which went into their savings but that didn't exactly mean much to her when even her remaining 'pocket change' could buy her more than most could afford. And just as such, she met her first and only love at a bakery one fateful day.

An aspiring knight called Elliot Ambrose just so happened to strike conversation, commenting on how he'd recently seen her working alongside his own father whilst the two were on break. They'd hired her Khaden to work on their garden and he'd brought her over so she could leave a little gift herself, decorating their manor's garden with various little pieces to add character. Dashing looks, a fair bit of charm and just the right amount of compliments in regards to both her appearance and her art was enough to have the two spend a whole day together, everything else be damned. So came about a mutual love that saw few breaks.

Things took a turn for Madeline after meeting her beloved. While she never quite stopped doing paid work, she found herself spending an increasing amount of time in with the Ambrose family, opting to beautify their gardens more so than most others. But she never quite had the same amount of attention brought upon her, much to the dismay of her father who was, at one point, very proud of her. He never did forbid her from seeing Elliot, even if her mother urged him to do so. Disappointment as it was, he sought the happiness of his daughter first and foremost even as she grew to be less than what her potential entailed whilst Caroline was taking after her mother's craft with flying colors. It was never a question of financial stability, simply a matter of knowing she could do better if she wasn't so caught up in her love affair. It was a wonder the young woman hadn't gotten pregnant yet.

The truth behind it all was, however, that the infatuated Madeline did infact enlist into the knights with no prior experience. Even if she was well into her teenage years, and certainly lacked the strength to wield a sword efficiently, her new tutors discovered a keen magical ability embedded within her. And while the untrained wizard could be dangerous, that wouldn't quite be the case with Madeline who strongly believed she could be of use to the order and join her beloved on the battlefield.

And so with many a years passing by with a hidden self-sustained financing amidst the Yldean knights, Madeline became a competent medic. A healer who could mend wounds, restore flesh and return bone to the way it was prior to breaking should the patient by delivered on time. She was never quite -on- the battlefield, but close enough to her soon-to-be husband that they could share a tent and enjoy eachother's company even when they were out and about with the more experienced knights, quelling the beastly uprising brought about by the same magic she used to heal. Her ruse was eventually up as a result of this, however. Once she began to carry his child, Madeline could no longer conceal the truth from her family. And while she was as good as married if Elliot's father was concerned, things didn't quite stand the same way with Khaden, who was severely disappointed by her deception and lies. The man and woman refused to come to her wedding, leaving Madeline to make her own decisions in regards to her lifestyle 'seeing as we're no longer necessary', in her father's words. While this did greatly upset the young woman, she could confide in her older sister who, regardless of her family's opinion, supported her sister and even provided her wedding dress.

And so Madeline Waybury became Madeline Ambrose with her soon-to-be-son Idian Ambrose on the way.

Taking after his mother and father, Idian was introduced to the concept of knighthood in his early years. Combining both strength and magical prowess, the young prodigy became a very promising member of the Yldean knights, carrying out his studies and practices with great determination. While he wasn't quite ready to join them on the battlefield yet, the young man seemed very fond of hearing his father's tales whilst Madeline observed his growth with pride. She was a good mother, or so they'd told her. Kind, caring, a good cook which was certainly a necessity according to her smartmouth husband, didn't leave Idian wanting. In particular, she'd always bring back some form of gift for her son from her various adventures with Elliot. She'd come and see him play with his friends, or observe his various spars on the training field. She was proud to look after what was, in her mind, the perfect young man. There was a single worry at the back of her mind and that was the disappointment of her family. She'd thought to introduce him to the art of gardening on multiple occasions but always decided against it as the young man had plenty on his mind, trying to foster her healing talents and his father's blade and pistol at the same time. He didn't need the extra pressure. She knew he didn't have it easy but at the same time the upbeat boy never quite announced that he was struggling with anything, even if she'd urged him to let her know should he run into any trouble.

Life like this carried on until the family got to witness his knighting ceremony, overjoyed as they were to see him take his place in the order at a young age, besting much of his competition. This did earn the young man some mean looks but at the same time nobody quite dared to go up and confront him about it. Nobody really wanted to, given he'd, to all intents and purposes, done nobody any harm.

All 3 members of the family found themselves sharing skirmishes and fighting off the many beasts that plagued Elne on a constant basis. And while Madeline was never quite in the midst of it, she did tend to the wounded, including her own, on more than one occasion. This brought about a worry however. That of not seeing them off should they, gods forbid, be felled in battle. This was a constant thought, but one she kept at the back of her mind. After all, no tragedy had befallen them quite yet.

Unfortunately for Madeline, her life was about to take a turn for the worst. When those worries became justified, it was sudden and unavoidable. Their camp was decimated by an onslaught of magical beasts at night. The patrols were taken off guard and before anyone could really get their bearings together, the small group of knights were trampled before they could take up arms. The woman looked on in terror, her eyes hazy with blood as she lay on the ground as the feast began and she saw not only her comrades but her whole life torn asunder before her. Her own arms were torn and bloody. Her legs were crippled and she could scarcely move. And when one of the foul deformities got to her, Madeline could do nothing to defend herself. Adrenaline coursed through her, she wanted to survive. She wanted to survive as she knew she was the only one who could save the dying. Namely, those she loved.

But all she managed to do when the monster came upon her is bring out an inner fire in a desperate time. Everything around her went up in flames as she screamed, incinerating the beasts altogether in a blaze of glory but alongside them - anyone else who might have had a chance of survival.

Madeline awoke in a medical facility. She could hardly feel anything. Her heart was beating but she looked up to the ceiling unable to say a word. Her arms hurt. Her legs hurt. Her body hurt. She could not utter a word. It was only when her husband's medallion of courage and her son's pistol were brought to her bedside that she made her first sounds and those just so happened to be a silent weeping. The images came back to the crippled woman. She knew not how long it had been but it was right there before her eyes. She could have saved them all but she wound up killing them instead. Damned beasts. Damned magic. The woman weeped, clutching her belongings as her charred arms began to hurt. Hurt, hurt, hurt they did but she couldn't let go. It was only when the attendants realized the ensuing self-harm that they took them away from her for her own sake and left her once again to rest.

A number of years went by with Madeline stuck to the bed as she was. She would be put up on her feet every couple of days. She would walk to the nearby park with the assistance of one of her attendants. She would watch the birds. Observe the flowers quietly, a blank expression constant on her face, only able to utter a couple of words altogether. But Madeline could never quite foster the same abilities. Every time she'd exercise the ability to heal upon herself, she'd wind up creating sparks. Coupled with her already present depression, the woman just seemed dead to most. But when one of her attendants brought over a new plant, the previous one having slumped during winter, Madeline made a note to have her bring it over. She took the dying plant and cradled it, trying one last time to see if she could be of any use to the damned world even with her scorched hands. And so she did indeed bring the flower back to life without burning it. Color returned to it once again. It rose upright. And with a bit of water, the staff was happy to see the woman smile for the first time in years.

Madeline never quite had the eyes to look at her family anew. When seeing herself in the mirror, she'd noticed her appearance having changed since the incident. Scorched arms aside, her body was pale, her hair had adopted a silvery-grey color. She thought to herself that she may as well be dead to them given the way they'd seen eachother off the last time. And while for a time there was the hope that Caroline would write to her, no letters came. Madeline may as well have been dead to the world. But, just as well, she had no world to live for. Her world had died. It was time that she return to what she was good at. The woman was let go from hospital a short while after this incident. Experiencing this small surge of life, she took to her long-forgotten craft of gardening, utilizing what little lifebringing properties there were to her now destructive magic and combining them with all the skills her father had taught her, that she'd have to relearn after years of non-practice.