I Will Always Return ~ (A Will Scarlet Love Story) *Completed*

Prologue

The little girl genuinely blushed at the complement before climbing onto her bed. Her small back was pricked by the stuffing of her bed that was thickly packed with hay. At certain positions she could be highly uncomfortable, however Evemina preferred the constant pokes of the hard hay straws than laying in the dirty, moist earth in the cold. Her little hands reached down and grabbed the thin woollen blanket before covering her small little body. Granny smiled at the child before blowing a lone candle out, in the anticipation of resting her own weary bones.

It was not long until Evemina soon heard the soft snores of the old woman. Her eyes stared at the silhouette of Granny, watching every rise and fall of her breaths. The child was not tired from her long day of laundry and cleaning the courtyard. Instead the young child was consumed of thoughts that did not seem to cease any time soon for Evemina to rest.

The child thought of her old home and believed she was much happier to sleep in this bed rather than her nest of hay along the street. Strangely, deep inside her heart a lingering sorrow stayed in the absence of her not sleeping on the ground. It had always made her feel safe. Besides the awful smells of the presence of civilization that ranged from feces to the weird scent of smithing of weapons and sweat, nature smelled amazing to her. Evemina loved the smell of fresh morning dew, of the green grass, and of the clean river that coincided with her old home.

She did miss home.

Most of all, she missed her parents.

However she would rather be working to get money to send some for her parents.

She loved them and found it in herself to be the caretaker of them.

The emerald eyes still stared at the sleeping old maid and a small smile touched her lips. Granny was just another maid for the grand mansion of the Dubois and was the kind protector of the green eyed child. In fact, all of the residents of the noble family and the workers under the roof of the manor were always very kind to the young little girl. From their story-telling of their encounter of Evemina, they were blown way when they found themselves staring into the face of a determined five year old who had asked for a job. It was not uncommon for a young child to be looking for work, but it was rare that a five year old would venture all alone without any weapons to protect herself from another village that was one hundred and fifteen miles away to Knighton asking for work. The kid had guts and Lord Dubois was more than happy to take in such a spirited yet strange child.

Evemina was than nicknamed 'Braveheart' by the Lord Dubois. Brave for her courage to walk along the dangerous roads of rolling hills and moors of England by herself. But also the child showed great kindness and the strength of her heart was one of the rarest they have ever come across in a very long time in these times. Lord Dubois certainly put the strange child to work however he also set Evemina under his wing, accepting her as one of his own. His true children, Peter and Marian, were more than glad to claim little Braveheart as their sister.

The two girls would play with each other whenever they could when Evemina was not working. Although those times were very limited and rare, therefore Marian would wander to her brother to play with her. Peter, from what Evemina heard, had a friend with him. Another Lord's son she presumed from the name 'Robin of Locksley'. From the accounts of Marian's numerous blusters, Peter and this Robin were 'rotten, indecent toads'. Whatever that meant, Evemina came to an agreement that the boys sounded very unpleasant. For hours upon hours, Marian would ramble on and on about how that rotten Robin burnt her hair and made fun of her for having no one to play with and so on. Evemina, being a five year old and Marian being a thirteen years old, the younger child listened with all of her heart to her distressed friend. The child would not know what to say. However she did not what to upset Marian, so Evemina would nod her head along and agree.