Name: Solange Malpais

Nickname/Title: Sol

Age: 26

Birthplace: Rouen, France

Sexuality: Hetero

Play-By: mh19273

Occupation: soldier, batman/valet to Victor Sheffield, now cousin and secretary

Physical Description: Sol is 5'5", about 140 lbs., has brown hair and brown eyes. He is solidly built, athletic, and dresses well. Like Vic's, Sol's face is a dark brown. His English is accented, but not unpleasantly so. He appears to be, and acts, as a male from the UK, but with some French behaviors.

Background

A young working class woman got a job in an inn or tavern near the riverfront in Rouen, France. A while later, she was rumored to have been seduced by a young man from a local shipping family or a sailor serving on a ship with Rouen as a home port. She became pregnant, had to stop working toward the end of her confinement, and was fired. A girl was born, the young woman needed to work to survive, so she left her daughter at the church of St. Hilaire, swaddled in a blue blanket and wearing an amulet on her neck, then went back to work.

St. Hilaire was a poor parish in Rouen. The child was given instruction taught by lay persons. When a little older, the young girl was put to work like other foundlings and orphans left with the parish, in work appropriate for their ages. Last, it was in a packing plant processing and salting fish in wooden barrels for food on long sea voyages. The child developed rashes on her hands and arms, and had trouble breathing. She ran away, became a street urchin, thieving for food and living with others like herself where she could find shelter.

As she became older, it no longer was so easy to steal, run, and escape punishment. Victims were more likely to remember the thief, were more likely to try to catch the thief, and more likely to see prosecution through to an end. Malnourishment delayed puberty, but prostitution was the logical progression for employment. It was humiliating, dangerous, and unpredictable.

One day her client seemed more interested in violence than in sex. She ran for her life rather than be scarred by hot needles, cutting through a walled garden to try to conceal her trail and passage. There was a young woman sitting on a bench, greatly pregnant, trying to read, but surprised by the intruder. She directed Sol to hide under the bench, then went back to her reading. The angry client was dispatched by an even more angry young woman, with a curse and a pointed finger.

Victoria listened to Sol's story, was diverted, and thought for a while. Her crippling depression seemed to melt away. She placed Sol on the floor of her own bedchamber that night, and announced in the morning that she had a new employee. Sol was given the choice of receiving instruction in reading and writing... or going back on the streets. Luckily, Sol was not pregnant. Unluckily for Sol, Victoria was an exacting teacher.

Sol had much to learn. French was hard. English was worse. Victoria delivered her child, with more curses than pain. Sol soon discovered that Victoria was as tough on herself as she was with others. But, it was Victoria's ideas and plans that seemed twisted, complex, and impossible to achieve. After weeks, Sol had a sword in her hand; after months, Sol was dressed as a male valet to Victor, also dressing now as a male. To boot, both of them were  learning Punjabi from a female Sikh, acting as a servant. It was stranger than a novel by Dumas, which she had to read in both French and in English!

The plans presented by Vic to Sol and Ranjit changed often, undergoing constant refinement. Ranjit was obsessive about returning to India, and Vic was goading her on. Sol felt as if blown about by a whirlwind. Fencing wasn't that difficult. Dressing and acting as a man was harder, as was learning to read and write. But, speaking, in new languages, seemed hardest of all, especially now that it was three at a time, now including Hindustani. Plus, she had to learn an upper class French as well!

Victor's first posting as lieutenant in the East India Company was to Crimea. After two years, the group moved on to India, with Vic becoming a first lieutenant. Sol became an expert at dressing women as men, English, French, or Sikh. A modified corset actually acted as armor in melee as well as concealing breasts and disguising hips. She did not need to be an expert swordsman. She needed to protect Victor's flanks and rear. She did not need to learn strategy or tactics, but merely to concentrate on her immediate surroundings. The three worked well as a team. None received any but superficial wounds.

With final victory in India, Victor received a new posting to China. There was a tearful parting for all when Ranjit stayed behind. But, she had achieved her goal. Sol wasn't sure what her own goal would or should be! One day, Victor asked to meet and discuss their futures. Both agreed that their futures would lie in France or England, and so both left the army for London.

Once in London, Victor presented his latest surprise. Victoria and Solange were cousins. A solicitor had used the medallion to trace a likely father. An investigation in Rouen had confirmed it. Under some pressure, a member of the Donadieu family, of a ship owning family in Rouen, had admitted to knowing the young server at the tavern. He was not informed that he had a daughter. The investigation also had confirmed that her likely mother, Marie, had left Rouen twenty-five years ago, and was the investigation to continue? Sol is ambivalent, and undecided, for now.

Goals: Decide upon what kind of a life to live.

Likes: Friendships. Enough money to have some control over her life. Having a family, even if unsure what it all means.

Dislikes: Never feel helpless, and hopeless, again.