Thyme Will Tell
lest we forget the struggle amplified
through the fire
we stalked, by name, by blood, by duty.
Magnified.


(no particular character) - "Thyme Will Tell" - (c)2006 Amanda Lee Harig
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Thyme. Small on the aristocratic scale, the Thyme family was regarded as a "mercenary family" -- not truly aristocrats -- but a blood line that was as pure as they could hope after the reclamation of the monarchies. There were basically two forms of power then: the noble-born and the militia-minded. For years after the detrimental attack on the Americas, these two warred silently against each other. Though different families paid different militias, all relationships were tender and easily destroyed by the slightest offense. It was chaotic back then, and many of the aristocracies didn't make it.

But of the few that did ended up "purchasing" factions of the militias and hired them on as a Home Guard. Eventually, there would be no difference between Militia and Aristocracy and a lot of things became muddled. Such as: who was responsible for the vast quantities of labratories that developed biological weapons and who viciously violated the age-old Geneva Convention. This of course, being after the change of interpretations of the convention. Regardless, it was through the fire that the Thyme family became noble-born and bested their failures.

Thane James Thyme was the heiress of her father's proud name and her mother's prestige as an Artegael -- an aristocracy that had been around since before the fall out of society. Her arrogance was inherent, then, and was not a surprise at all when she was declared a Lady. What was a surprise, however, was when she was introduced as "Lady Thyme" at the age sixteen. Surnames didn't always follow the father, but rather, the power. And here, the brat child of a Thyme and Artegael marriage, shunned her mother's heritage and took pride in the Thyme name.

Ultimately, she was a legacy -- long in the making.