11Frogs

Elizaveta was born in a small village in the Kingdom of Norland to Tardos Vilk and his wife, Elena. They lived on a small farm that contained chickens, pigs, and sheep. Eliza had many chores in this life, mostly revolving around tending to the animals, household duties, and watching after her younger brothers, Benci and Fredek. Her father would travel into the cities of Norland, such as Morsgrad, to sell goods from the farm. It was during one of his trips that he met a group of Knights and became inspired to live a life like theirs. He enlisted in the royal army and would send money back to his family, hoping to eventually send enough to move them from the village into the city. 

Due to Tardos' traveling, Elena began the trips to the city to sell goods. Elizaveta was left to watch her siblings for long periods of time. She clothed, washed, fed, and defended the boys from bullies. She typically would have to fight off attackers for her youngest brother, Benci, who was teased for being small and meek. When she wasn't defending her brothers, Elizaveta enjoyed roughhousing with the other village children and exploring the woods with her bestfriend, Njal Erikson, a young boy her age from the same village. The two of them had dreams of becoming Knights like Eliza's father. Unfortunately, Eliza would come to forget about her dreams when her mother returned from one of her trips seriously ill. While the illness didn't take her life immediately, it would infect her youngest son, Benci, who died six months after contracting the disease. Elena's condition worsened after the death of her son and Tardos' grief turned into gambling, relaying the family's move to Mosrgrad even further. 

Tardos died in the Skirmish of the Southern highway. His brother, Mikkel Vilt, would move in per his wishes, becoming responsible for Elena, Elizaveta, and Fredek. He scrapped the idea of moving the family to the capital, believing them capable of making sufficient profit where they were. He would raise the prices of their items and cut corners when it came to animal care. Elizaveta and him held countless argument, him believing his way of running the farm was more effecient, while Eliza preferred the way they had always done things. Regardless, enough money was made to afford treatments and medicines for Elena's sickness, but nothing seemed to take. When Elizaveta was seventeen, her mother would pass. 

Mikkel, now with a mountain of medical debt, decided to marry Elizaveta off to Njal Erikson in exchange for a dowry. Elizaveta hated this idea but had little choice in the matter. The two were wed and while Elizaveta didn't despise her husband, she despised her lack of freedom and the expectations put on her as a wife, feeling like her life would never be in her own hands. As a wedding present from Njal's family, Njal and Eliza were gifted the cattle farm that belonged to the Eriksons. Eliza's in-laws were very kind to her and expressed great joy when she announced she and Njal would be trying for a child. However, this attitude changed when she began experiencing fertility issues. The Eriksons became angry at Mikkel, believing him to have scammed their family by selling them a subpar bride for their son. They encouraged Njal to leave her, he refused.

Instead of going with his parents' wishes, Njal abandoned the farm he enherited and moved him and his wife to Morsgrad, deciding to pursue his dream of becoming a royal knight. Njal promised that when he finished his training, he would return to Elizaveta and help her train and become a knight as well. Only, he never returned. Elizaveta recieved a letter explaining how Njal was missing in battle and presumed dead. Elizaveta swore off attachments from then on and decided to try and find work to support herself, starting with becoming a handmaiden in the castle. While sad over her husband's death, if there is a silver-lining, it seems her destiny is finally in her own hands.