SUMMARY . . . Mercy Boswell truly believed she was cursed in this life. When she was only a mere six years old, her camp's wise woman told her as much, with a small bony hand clutched round her own and dark stormy eyes piercing into her Romani soul. She had been told that the day that her mother welcomed her into this world, multiple fires had spontaneously combusted from seemingly no cause, setting the dusky sky into an array of bleeding reds and worrying ambers, a clear message from the almighty himself of the hellfire raining down on their world.
And then, out she came, with tufts of those same dangerous hues sprouting from her head in a beautiful yet horrific display, that could not be reasoned by coincidence.
The wise woman had told her of the dark cloud looming over her life, with streaks of blue lightning coming from its storm, due to bring forward agony and chaos disguised in the form of one monster of a man. She told her that it was an inescapable fate, one that despite all warnings from those around her, that she would run to with a heavy heart for the inviting poisons that this man leaks are much too potent to deny.
Mercy grew up with these facts imprinted onto her life like the etchings of her name on a gravestone. Every whisper, every rumor, every conversation connected to her name always being of that one stupid prophecy that she had absolutely no say over. It was enough to make a woman go wild. And unsurprisingly, it very much did.
A gypsy soul is never a tame one, but for Mercy Boswell there was no disputing that. Her two feet barely ever being firmly planted on the ground, for there was rarely a time she wasn't mounted on top of some horse set out riding through the fields at frightening speeds. Because horses never saw her as marked for a future doomed from the start, they only ever saw her as a red headed woman who would feed them gorging amounts of apples and sugar and set them off racing through the trees until the hearts content.
Yes, she was rather good with horses, believing them to be her only salvation from the cursed man in her dreams. Completely sure that no link could be formed from the mighty beast to the monstrous man.
Ironic, she supposed, that due to this undying love of horses she willed, she was set to walk up onto the yard of one Charlie Strong, the man in need of aid to help tame his multitude of creatures. And just like that her walk into a burnt path begun, for it was there that she met her storm, there that she witnessed the bright blue hues of lightning strike, there that she felt the intoxicating swirls of poison laced into the clouds of his cigarette smoke.
For it was there that she met Thomas Shelby.
NOTES . . . i. Mercy is from a very well known Romani family. I actually googled the most established Romani families back then and the Boswell's were a real family from around this area and by far one of the most well known. So, this is important because when she does meet Tommy, it will be very easy for him to find out information on her since she is obviously going to intrigue him. Also, this is another way that Mercy finds herself employed by Charlie given that he already knows her family. Not to mention you can also establish a cute friendship between her and Johnny Dogs this way (just a little suggestion)
ii. Mercy has a very deep love and affection for horses. This is probably one of the most important notes I could give because I can't stress how important this is, that you establish in your story. This is because this can play a huge part into how her and Tommy bond, with lots of opportunities throughout the seasons for her to use her expertise in horses to Tommy's advantages as well as the fact that Tommy clearly holds the same kind of love for horses himself.
iii. The curse should be something that makes Mercy home back from pursuing and doing a lot of things. She has been warned her entire life to the destruction that this supposed curse of hers will have over her, and how it will all in all be her doom. Now, this curse has also been symbolised in the form of a man, who she will be attracted to despite the dangers. So, when she meets Tommy she should be wary about getting close to him and exploring these feelings that are starting to develop over passing time. But in the end she will give in. But this is just to say that it should be a relative slow burn that may even take you past season one if you so wish. I just really like this idea of a curse because I think it just gives you a lot to play with, especially when it comes to season 3 and all the material that the plot gives you.
iv. Mercy should be quite a bold character. Much like Esme, I think that Mercy should be quite fiery (excuse the pun), quite short tempered, not afraid to say what she thinks, even if she should really hold her tongue. I think this again gives you a lot of material to create some really good scenes with Tommy, because he is so used to people minding how they speak to him due to this fear aspect, and while Mercy in the beginning would be cautious of Shelby she won't be afraid of him or hold back in any way. The same goes for the interactions with the rest of the Shelby clan, which offer you some chances to slip in some humor with certain moments as well.
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