The most worthy note of Rainne's childhood is that it is over. Nevertheless, there is no happy ending which follows not a veritable closet's worth of shadows and unhappiness. Yet Rainne emerged from no closet - instead a castle, of spiralling stairways and soaring turrets and quiet, somber servants with noiseless feet.

It was in this castle that she was raised to be a woman of charm, wit and grace. This was hardly by virtue of virtue, but instead of the assumption that she would remain obedient to the course laid out before her. It was a red carpet to wealth and estate, and one to be tread in the company of some eminently eligible man who would bring more fame to the family than already it had accrued throughout the centuries; a fine alliance, were Rainne to play the game she had been taught. It was a fine and subtle game, of dancing eyes and coy gestures of the fan, of speaking well enough to be thought intelligent and little enough to be thought harmless.

There were darker sides to this game. One had to know, after having snared a man, what to do with him - and the Duchess M------- undertook great pains to ensure that Rainne knew precisely which side of the sheet was which, and how to keep her husband there. But these things, of course, were hardly spoken. They were a tacit understanding that the present, when unwrapped of its gowns and glitter, would not therein reach the zenith of its utility. It would continue to bring pleasure, and so would be deserving of keep.

Though Rainne's many sisters seemed to be well-inclined to such fates, she herself could not be brought to surrender. A strap was laid many a time to her bottom for her defiance. In her fifteenth year, eager to be rid of a defiant and ungrateful daughter, her parents concluded her hand in marriage to a wealthy earl in his sprightly seventy-second winter. Horrified, Rainne stole away in the dead of night. The hounds gave chase, but lost her scent; hungry, tired, bleeding, cold and very, very much alone, Rainne arrived in Gahlen.

Understanding Rainne's childhood is key to understanding her as a young lady. Born and bred as a symbol of pleasure and status, she yet prizes very much her reputation. She has been known to say that 'I am nothing if not that which they say I am': without affirmation from those around her, Rainne is left insecure and uncertain of her worth. Yet some spark within her persists to make itself known ever so once in awhile, refusing to be dampened nor put out. With her hand forced, she has been known to take great steps.

Her cloistered childhood, her deprivation of the outside world has left Rainne with a great thirst for adventure and the outdoors. She has learned to conduct herself in the wilds commendably for one nobly bred. Though she will never be a great heroine, she never travels without a dagger tucked in her bodice or along her thigh, and is often surrounded by her entourage who provide her protection. A shadow of fear lingers on her path - fear of being caught, sent home, whipped as she was in her youth - and for this reason as well as ones of pragmatism she has a variety of protectors, ranging from her fierce dogs to her guards to her gentleman soldiers, and even her contacts in the underworld (though this last is kept infinitely secret). They have killed for her and will give their lives in her defence, and she is eternally grateful for their unfailing devotion.

As much as her past lives in her present and foreshadows her future, Rainne is yet determined to forge her destiny independent of her castle skeletons. When she feels weak, or lost, she need only remind herself that she is living a life much sweeter than she would have, had she not stolen past the guards that cloudy night in a peasant's dress and with a bundle of illegitimately-gained cookies under her arm. She need only say to herself - Rainne is dead. Long live Rainne. And that is all to be said on the matter.