Marian Kenneth
Marian has always been musically talented, ever since she listened to her grandfather play his violin, then was taught on it herself by his hand. What had taken her grandfather decades to learn and master, Marian was playing in less than a day.
"A Genius!" He cried proudly. "My Granddaughter is a Genius!" Marian had never been so happy to make others proud.
But they were a poor family and couldn't afford lessons for her. So, her Grandfather stopped smoking his pipe and saved his pipe tobacco money so Marian could take her lessons. Her parents took two jobs and her grandfather worked extra hours at the fishery.
Then her grandfather became sick and Marian thought she should stop playing. "Oh, no!" Her Grandfather begged. "Little Mare, don't you ever stop playing! You play and play and play and make me proud! For when I am in heaven, I'll be watching down and listening and clapping and wagging my finger if you stop!"
So Marian kept playing. When her grandfather was especially ill, Marian would pray he would be well if she played and his coughing fits would stop as he listened and he'd smile, calm and peaceful.
Her music teacher insisted that Marian go on a tour, one that would introduce her to wealthy patrons who would pay for her tuition to a fancy music college.
Marian didn't want to go, for she would be away from her grandfather and she didn't know what would happen if she wasn't there to play for him. But her grandfather insisted that this was the best thing for her future; that this would make him happy.
So Marian went on tour with her instructor, leaving her mother and father behind as they had to work their two jobs.
She prayed before each concert, "Let me play well! So well that they can't stop listening until I put my bow down!" And Marian would play to hushed audiences that would be silent until her tiny little hand dropped the bow from her violin and bowed, then they would pop out of their seats and cheer.
Marian had many patrons by the end of her tour, each offering to pay her tuition themselves. They showered her with gifts and baubles and toys, new dresses and shoes and ribbons for her hair.
When she finally returned home, fit to burst with the waiting to tell her folks about all the gifts and money she was going to receive, she discovered her grandfather had died when she was away. She'd missed the funeral.
"We didn't want to tell you, Mare. Your grandfather wanted you to have a grand time, not worrying about him. And that's just what you did. It was his wish so you better respect your grandfather's wishes."
"Aye, mam." Marian said quietly.
At her grandfather's grave Marian promised she'd keep playing, as that's what her grandfather wished. She played at his grave one final time, praying he heard her in heaven as he promised.
Marian's Alice talent isn't music itself; that is a natural talent, and what she does with a violin is pure genius-savant. It is the Enticement Alice that she unknowingly conveys to her audience that is the real trick.
When she was little, being shown off as a musical prodigy, she used to pray before each concert, "Please god, let them enjoy it, let them not be able to stop listening until I am through!"
And the prayer would work - the audience were on the edge of their seats. Even recorded samples of her playing could hush the listener.
Then the Alice scouts came to one of her concerts. She ten years old.
Her favored instrument, the violin, was played so beautifully that people soon lost all track of time. Her tiny, but nimble fingers never skipped a stroke. Minutes turned into ten, ten turned to twenty, until thirty minutes passed and Marian was still playing, her fingers none the worse for wear, and the audience still enraptured by her melody.
The Alice scouts were almost done in themselves, had they not had Lord Reizen with them, who had a null Alice ability. They immediately entreated Marian's parents to letting her join their Academy.
Marian was already living away from her folks, so she didn't mind. But what made it more enticing was that her parents would no longer have to work so hard. "We'll pay for everything." The handsome gentleman, and wealthy-looking Lord Reizen, said kindly. "She'll have allowances, as much food as she could ever want to eat. She'll be among peers." But when he offered her parents a check was what did them in. The amount on the check would last them comfortably for decades. They could stop working if they wanted, as their two yearly paychecks together was just a drop in the bucket to the amount they were being offered yearly.
But Marian's mother still couldn't decide. It was not until Marian herself chided her and said she should go that her mother gave in. "This is the answer, mother." Marian said softly. "I'll keep playing at the Alice Academy, and you can both relax. We'll write, and I'll come back one day, promise."
Marian hugged and kissed her parents and her brothers and sisters. She wrote a note of thanks to her music teacher and left in the fancy black Rolls Royce that belonged to Lord Reizen.
It has only been a month, but Marian still doesn't quite fit in. Since she was far older when she joined the Academy than most of the students, they still tend to mark her as an outsider. Her 3-Star rank helps, but she still hasn't made any lasting friendships. Not that she made any at her previous music college.
SECRET: Marian has just one secret... a secret fear: Sicne discovering that she has the Enticement Alice, she fears that all along it was this Alice of hers that was the real talent--the real reason people enjoyed her music so much. It has left a nagging doubt that's affecting her confidence considerably.