Clara was born in the now decimated town of Lynnfield. As a child, her mother left Lynnfield with Clara in tow while Clara’s father, a priest of Lynnfield, went on a pilgrimage to hide their sacred artifact before Emestria or one of the other nations vying for Lynnfield’s fertile farmlands prevailed. He was supposed to meet up with Clara and her mother in Corinth after hiding the artifact but he never arrived. He either died during the pilgrimage or was caught up in the attack that destroyed Lynnfield and the surrounding farmland.
Without a definitive death, Clara’s imagination created plenty of stories on where her father was. Had he perhaps been captured, or maybe he was off on a life of adventure? Realistically, as Clara grew, she knew that her father wasn’t coming back, but in the back of her mind she still came up with stories that would explain his absence through a grandiose tale of adventure and intrigue.
Growing up with her mother, aunt, and uncle, Clara did not want for male or female role models, but she did not shy away from chances to sew rebellion, but that changed when Clara discovered she was pregnant with her lover’s child. He was a Corinthian noble but they were in love so Clara assumed that he would want to marry her.
What Clara did not know was that he was already betrothed and she was the other woman. He wanted nothing to do with Clara or the child, which hurt, but Clara grew up most of her life without a father. She had a support system to help her raise her child. And her support system rose to the task, helping Clara through her pregnancy.
Shortly after giving birth to Scarlette, Clara worried something was wrong. She was too pale and lethargic. The healer’s visit only confirmed Clara’s worst fears, Scarlette had been born with the blood sickness. Without regular, expensive healer’s visits, Scarlette would die. Her family could use all their savings and only buy Scarlette six months of life.
So, Clara swallowed her pride and went to Scarlette’s father. She begged him to pay for the treatments. Even if he didn’t want anything to do with Scarlette now, surely he couldn’t sentence his own flesh and blood to death. He proposed the most wicked deal imaginable: he would cover the treatments on one condition: Clara surrendered baby Scarlette to him and his new wife to raise as their own. Scarlette would never know Clara was her real mother.
It was the most painful bargain Clara ever had to make, but she made it for her daughter’s sake. It was better that Scarlette live rather than know her mother. At first, Clara tried to stay in Corinth, to make money so that she could one day afford Scarlette’s treatments herself and be reunited with her. However, when a higher paying job on a trading caravan became available, Clara lied to herself that she would take the job, then take another to make it back to Corinth. When she left that morning, she knew she’d never live in Corinth again. It was too painful to be so close to her daughter and not be with her.
Working trade caravans was more fruitful than helping run her aunt’s spice shop. Trade caravans centered in Newtonne were the highest paying. Once there, Clara discovered she could make more working the docks, then more shipping on merchant ships, then even more as a pirate. With each new opportunity to make more money, Clara jumped, partly because making money was a way to be back with Scarlette again, but also because of the stories of adventure she told herself as a child. Maybe if Scarlette one day found out who her mother was and the life of adventure she led to try and be with her again it would make up for her absence as Clara hoped her father’s absence would be lessoned with grand tales.
Clara returned to Corinth at least once a year, always near Scarlette’s birthday and found a reason to be near enough to give her a present. The meetings were always bitter sweet. Scarlette only knew Clara as the pirate lady that would come once a year and give gifts at the school around her birthday. But Clara made them last as long as possible with stories of swashbuckling and exotic sights. Scarlette always seemed excited to see Clara and would ask when she would be back next. Knowing that Scarlette wanted her around made everything worth it.
When tensions between the nations of Rouke and Emestria began to boil over, there was one other job that paid better than piracy, smuggling. Clara thought her captain would discourage her from taking on the more dangerous but lucrative task, afterall, she was his first mate and lover. He encouraged her knowing how much she wanted to be reunited with Scarlette.
Regardless of how high-paying the next job was, Clara always found setbacks that prevented her from reaching that goal of being able to afford Scarlette’s treatments for a span of time long enough to get to know her daughter. But every good stolen, every refuge taken advantage of, and every loss cleanly severed was one step in the right direction, reunification.
Clara became a woman of many hats and likewise needed to be a woman of many faces. She learned to act and dress for the people you surround yourself with. She could take a meeting with a noble family and convince them of how she knew their plight because she attended all the best schools in Corinth with the right people. When meeting with commoners that had saved just enough money to be smuggled out of Emestria, she could align with their feelings because she like them was a refuge.
Clara could become who she needed to be in the moment because she never lost sight of who she really was. She was a mother that would do anything to be with her child again.