The soft notes of a well-known waltz fill the air, the tempo tapped out by dozens of pairs of dancers as they swirled across the lengthy hall.
A small thrill shot through me as the beat increased, and I swung in a wide circle around my brother, Fritz.
~ Marie ~
Cassian sighed, turning towards me, his eyes dull with the internal mask he seemed to slip on whenever his old country was brought up. One that very much matched the one inside of me.
Pain was so easy to hide behind a mask. As easy as hiding an expression behind the silk one I wore on my face.
Life as Marie Stalhb’rin knew it was torn apart when her parents and younger sister–her best friend–were killed during a diplomatic trip to the country of Eisyber, and Marie was suddenly thrust into the role of Lady Stalhb’rin.
Now, two years later, she has yet to come to terms with the loss, and thinks herself weak for not being able to handle the pain on her own.
During those two years, she accidentally stumbled across a nut farmer named Cassian, who had recently moved to Ninaria from Eisyber. The two became fast friends.
When we were little, Fritz, Charlott and I would play Eisyber vs Ninaria, battling through the manor to be the first to convince our nanny to give up the keys to the pie-closet. Charlott and I would always pretend to be the Eisyberians, creating magnificent white castles from blankets, and locking Fritz in the ice house with shrieks of mischievous laughter.
Marie and her younger sister Charlott had always dreamed of visiting the frozen country of Eisyber. Living in Ninaria, all they knew was sun, sun, and more sun. Ice houses where the only place to find a breath of cold air.
The far-off land seemed like magic to them, and it was Marie’s greatest childhood wish to find an icicle.
Marie stared about our small group in open-mouthed awe, the reins of her mare hanging limply from her fingers as she took in the frozen world with wide eyes. The cold wind had already nipped her face pink, tousling her pale hair into what she would surely consider a mess, but she seemed completely unaware as she held out a gloved hand, her gaze sparkling as a delicate flake landed gently on her fingertips.
~ As a Character ~
Fun fact. Marie was once a retelling of the character Clara. (Marie is the name of the very original version of Clara in the original Nutcracker story.) And she did not have a POV in ANW. Then I realized that she needed a POV to round out the story…yet I couldn’t have the POVs of both the MCs from the original fairytale. XD
So, Clara very nicely turned herself into Charlott, handing me the backstory and key to Marie’s entire character arc. And Marie became a retelling of Clara’s older sister, Louise.
Marie is bubbly and loves a good laugh, quick to brighten someone else’s day as an effort to try and bring sunshine back to her own life. She is a steadying voice to her best friend, Cassian, encouraging the shy farmer in his lonely life.
She loves music, and is quite an accomplished musician. She also has the very hard task of keeping her older brother Fritz and Cassian from causing chaos as they argue.
She has straw-colored hair and pale blue eyes, common coloring for a Ninari.
~ In the Story ~
A Noble Warrior starts two years after Charlott’s death, and Marie is navigating the life of the youngest noble in Ninaria. Her days with Cassian are a bright spot in an otherwise cloudy life, even if the farmer is growing stranger by the day.
Marie and Fritz are attending one of the many yearly festivals that bring Eisyberians and Ninari together, when an assassination attempt upends everything she thought was normal…
Marie gripped my hand, her eyes glimmering. “You won’t be alone this time.”
Lulu’s Library 