Make Me Crumble

Prologue

The first time Eileen met a blood kin, she was seventeen.

Living in the orphanage for all those years, sure that you have no family, really does affect one's idea of belonging. But it was on that day, almost five years ago now, that her father finally found her.

Earl Rubin Tuffin wasn't a man who exerted his power. In fact, he was a man who usually forgot he had any at all. Looking for a lost daughter for seventeen whole years, in world as wide as Labrumia, is surely no easy task. It would be a polite way of putting it if one said that all that time had taken a toll on the man's idea of what really mattered in life. His pride did little to reach the heights of his love.

So, when Eileen did find out she was a daughter of a noble man, in fact, one of the richest men in the kingdom of Avalorn, she knew no person had ever been as lucky as her. For not only did her father give her everything she could ever desire, but he also loved her. Deeply. Dearly. And with an intense desperation, like he could lose her again at any second.

This is why one can state without a doubt that it was no easy feat when she convinced him to let her join the war, five years later.

"You're barbaric!" He'd claimed. "Absolutely BARBARIC!"

And his claims were justified. Eileen knew this too. Just finding your daughter, and then her asking you if she could go be a mechanic for the army of Avalorn was bound to blow a father's mind. Not to mention the growing number of suitors he had to battle with each day as soon as she turned eighteen.

But even when he didn't tell her anything, Eileen knew he wanted her married. He wanted her to find a suitable man who could be heir to Villa de Grandios, and all the Earl's responsibilities. But he wanted to keep his daughter close to him, too.

"Father, if you'll just hear me-" But he didn't hear her. Not yet, at least.

"Why? Why would you want to join the war? Don't you have enough to do? You're going to be busy soon meeting with all your Suitors, if feeling too free is the problem."

Eileen had to think at that moment for a proper reason. Indeed, she asked herself, why did she want to join the war?

For three years now, four kingdoms of Labrumia have been at war. The northern kingdom Delairin, the western forests of Svalin, the southern tribes of Faercrest, and our very own Avalorn, located in the dead centre. The fifth kingdom, hidden away far to the east, was the kingdom of Thaleren. The only kingdom ruled by a widowed queen. Many assumed that was the reason they weren't fighting in the war. Nevertheless, everyone silently wished to be there right now. Eileen had been shielded from the war's effects, hidden away in the most secure part of Avalorn. But the destruction couldn't go unnoticed by anyone.

What were these kingdoms fighting for? A castle.

Not just any castle. The castle of a great Mage.

When Galadhol died, the whole of Labrumia went into shock, and that's understating the matter greatly. The great mage controlled a great deal of the world's affairs. Keeping the leaders together, connected. It was a tough task, and no one realised it was even necessary until the mage's death. His castle was said to be a fortress of power, where magic beyond anything anyone had ever imagined dwelled. It was in the far west, on another continent, and no one had ever seen it before. Galadhol was a great Mage, but never one to host house parties. Few who had sailed far enough to get a glimpse of it described it as a haven of beautiful creatures, a testament to the type of man Galadhol was.

Nobody suspected that something so beautiful could be the cause of something so ugly as war.

And so, the destruction rained. Fire, rained. The kingdoms' lives had become a race to see which one would overtake the other first and get to the far away continent. No one left the land until then. No one was allowed to, by order of the high court of dragons.

How does one justify this? You'd say humanity is the problem. It's always humans. Well, unfortunately, imputing the damages and horrible consequences of this war on the complex nature of human beings was not an option for the people of Labrumia, because 3 of the five kingdoms were ruled by elves, and creatures of all sorts had a part to play. Ogres, dwarves, dragons... none of them needed a reason to defend their respective land.

So, when the earl asked Eileen why she wanted to join the army as a mechanic, she had thought before answering.

"Because I want to feel useful." She had settled for in the end. She truly didn't know why she wanted to feel useful at all. Perhaps it related to the fact that she now had an identity, a family name, and only someone who has lacked that for as long as Eileen Tuffin will be able to tell you all the uses of a family name. How you could use it for the better, or for your own damnation by humiliation.

"But you are useful! So useful!"

"Father, I want to be useful to the world." She reasoned, "I have the skill, I understand machines, why not use it to help us win this war?"

"You're supposed to be having fun... thinking about your wedding, meeting your suitors, spending time with me! Not going off to join armies! I swear... the nerve of you sometimes."

It is fair to say that Eileen had to do a great deal of convincing. She buttered him up more than usual, promised she'd come back, and offered an ultimatum.

"Father the moment I come back; I'll marry." She declared.

That did little to calm him completely. But once the Earl slept on it, thought about it for the next week, spoke to his servants about it, his friends,

He found himself knocking on her door one night.

"You..." He hesitated, "You may join the army."

It was at that moment she realised that she absolutely had to come back to him. For she couldn't encourage the thought of never being able to see him again. And that is how the agreement was made. That Eileen Tuffin, Daughter of Earl Rubin Tuffin, will be wed as soon as she has provided sufficient services to the army of Avalorn.

Fate plays in strange ways, and no one will testify to this better than Eileen, 6 months from now.