#isobel's here but doesn't have lines in this chunk

[bitletsanddrabbles]

WIP Wednesday II: ARGH HOW DO YOU HISTORY?!?

So, I normally don’t do two per day - unless one of them is craft related - but my brain firmly decided that rather than work on either of the stories I’d selected, we were going to work on the vampire piece, because focus is for other people.

And I got a lot of words down, which is good, but I also researched a bunch of history for an OC and that.................leaves me uneasy. Always. Especially since it’s really old, European history. So I’m putting this here and if anyone sees any GLARING ASS ISSUES, please let me know so I can fix them in the final draft.

...

Also, Patrick? Stop speaking with a German accent in my head. Not only have you lived in England long enough to sound pretty local, but you’re Dutch, for crying out loud....and seventeenth century Dutch at that.

....don’t make me knock your fangs out, boy.

“I was born in the United Provinces, with the given name of Pieter,” Patrick began, settling back into his chair. “When the war broke out against Spain, in 1619, I joined the army. Some joined for glory or distinction, as they always do, and I suppose at my age I can’t say I was immune to the idea. I was barely twenty, after all,” he shrugged. “But mainly I did it to protect my homeland.”

“Did you enjoy fighting?” Lord Merton asked, apparently unable to restrain his curiosity any longer.

Patrick waggled his head a bit, thinking. “I liked being a soldier,” he finally compromised. “I still do, or would if I had legs.I like being active, and I like using weapons. I don’t know that it’s the same thing as liking to fight, though. I certainly do not like people dying, although I don’t feel so bad about it if it’s the other side. And I could do without the mess afterward, cleaning up all of the bodies. But I have been a soldier ever since that first war, and I was very good at it. Back then, I continued fighting right up until the siege at Berda in sixteen twenty five. That’s where the Spanish got me.” He gave them all a very serious look. “No one can choose how they’ll die, but if you can, I advise you avoid being shot three times in the stomach and once in the lung. It hurts just as much as you think it does.”

The advice brought the expected round of wincing and cringes from everyone except Richard. After all, he was not only familiar with the story, he was part of it.

“Didn’t you go into shock?” Lord Merton asked, looking a bit pale around the edges.

“Yes, but it hurt first. Fortunately for me, I’d made friends with our doctor here,” Patrick nodded to Richard. “He was one of the English men who came to help us. With people dying all around us, he decided that I was one person who could be saved, and so he offered me the chance to live.”

This time it was Thomas’s turn to interrupt. “I’m sorry, I’d been lead to believe that you were unconscious at the time?”

Again, Patrick nodded. “That’s right. Out cold, as they say.”

#downton abbey #downton abbey fanfiction #thomas barrow #dr. clarkson #lord merton #isobel's here but doesn't have lines in this chunk #wip wednesday #vampires #history makes me uneasy #i am bad at dates #and worse at locations #comes from switching schools three times #among other things