𝙖 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙠𝙚𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝'𝙨 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮.

Prologue.

The wind billowed gently upon to glistening surface of the black sea, making it's way to weave through the towering trees on the coast of the mainland. With the sun waving through the pure clouds, at brief intervals, it made for a fairly warm day - a calm, quiet day. On the lush patches of chartreuse blades, stood a small fortress town of Sevastopol - a warm water sea port belonging to the Russian Empire.

If it could only be so calm all the time.

It was currently in a state of mass hysteria - the British and French had been attacking for weeks, months, perhaps decades. The Russian army hadn't the skills or expertise to rival their enemies; eating the dust of their opponents technological advances and trained as if they were dogs just spinning for a simple treat. Glory was the goal for the Russian army. 

It was like a game - their lives being moved like chess pieces whilst the tsar sat comfortably in Moscow, kicking his chess pieces around. Maybe, that accounted for the lack of organisation amongst their men - blame it all on the damned high and mighty ruler himself, Tsar Nicholas I.

Ukrainains were squished beneath a burdensome weight of pressure via agriculture and conscription - crushed by the Russian hierarchy and nobles.

This is what life was like for Kateryna. Ukranians alike all rose up against the empire in the war - unwilling to fight for the Tsar any longer whilst he stole their land and agricultural goods, just to whisk them back off to mystical Moscow! For the Sevastipolian, it was infuriating to see the blatant oppression of her people, after assiduous service to the rotten hierarchy.

As a young girl, Kateryna Kovalenko would observe as her mother and father would travel off to labour for their nobles, twelve hours a day, day and night. Soon enough, her elder brother started to follow the pattern, as if they were all zombies under the control of one thing - very minimum wage. At this point, they could narrowly even buy bread to feed them.

 By the time the conflict began to circle and rise, much like a tornado would, the young farmer was just getting onto twenty four - her parents practically imbedding it into her head that she needed to start a family so that she could get more earnings - it was not in her greatest interests.

So, to kill these requests and to just get away, she decided to go to war - but, not as a nurse. As a soldier. 

Kateryna wanted to fight for her homeland, but she also desired to rebel more than anything - she'd give her life to unshackle her parents from the evil empire of oppression and imposed Russification within her hometown.

So, with all this in mind, Kateryna Kovalenko becomes the soldier of our novel.

.

Meanwhile, across the continent in the soot coated nation of England, her residents continued to read about the chaos ensuing at the Crimean port. People would ogle as they study the words upon the papers that showed their nation in such a glorious light, despite the utter tatters that this whole dispute was truly in.

Though, the glory in the papers didn't shelter the simple fact that they continued to ship out soldiers and nurses to the scene - and, although they were in God's good books, gaining victory over the Russians. Anyhow, it didn't sugar coat the loss of people from diseases; namely, typhoid and cholera - which was exactly the reason that a young nurse had been shipped to the war.

All her life, Mary Lewis-Edwards had been looked down upon by society, and had her entire future already decided for her. Grow up, find a man, marriage, children - she had no choice in the matter.

But, to put it simply, she was a very incredible intellectual. She never payed attention to society's rules, and held her career aspects in extremely high regard. So, she overcame stereotypes, and decided to become a nurse, instead of a housewife; being middle class did help her gain more job prospects.

Her career meant the world, and she proved it by how diligently she worked and studied just to be in the position she was in. Nursing was her silver lining, her dream, her everything. 

So, when she was apprised to go to the Crimea and aid all the soldiers, she was overjoyed - in the most abstract way possible. Only a person in the field of medicine could truly embrace the merriment of the situation.

So, she was shipped away to Crimea on the first train they could get her on, urgently requiring her incredible intellectual and physical dexterity. Lots of people were relying on her in this war.

And, hence forth, the load of her nation rested upon her shoulders, her actions in the coming years growing to her terribly great significance on her peers, soldiers, and the life of a young Ukranian, who's path she was destined to intertwine with.

Up until this point, Mary had only been one woman out of hundreds, a single speck of sand upon a long beach - but, alas, that's not how the story goes. A woman like herself, she is foreordinated to do miraculous wonders.

And, with all this in mind, Mary Lewis-Edwards becomes our ill-awaited nurse, with healing hands and a brain that stores more in it than the entirety of London does soot.