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Nicole Radcliffe was the fifth child of David and Ada Radcliffe, the fourth one to live past infancy. With three older siblings already, Nicole learned to crawl very quickly so she could follow them around and be included in their games. Soon, she learned how to walk and talk, and the four of them went on fun adventures together. 

Growing up, Nicole had never been particularly close to her siblings: Gwen and Gabriel were off on their own adventures and excursions, Chloe found her annoying, and Cassian and her always fought. The only sibling she had truly been close to was her baby brother Caleb, but he passed away at less than two years old. She always felt disconnected from her siblings, so she clinged to her parents and older relatives. She was especially close to her mother, they shared a deep love for food and she spent most of her time talking to Ada while she cooked.

As time went on, she made friends outside her family circle: she was especially close to John Wakefield. She was glad to be able to talk to someone who understood feeling disconnected from their siblings.

In 1313, after years of losing siblings, another tragedy struck her family: her father died. Not long after that, her only remaining younger sibling also passed away. Her family unit was reduced to just Nicole, her mother, and Gwen and Gabriel. There was a silver lining to all of this, though: Nicole became closer to her brother Gabriel, bonded by their shared grief. Then, another loss: her eldest sister, Gwen, also passed away. With the family unit down to three people, and with no husband, Ada had to get married to another man. 

And then, the famine started. Nicole struggled a lot with the food shortages, so as soon as she was able she asked to learn how to cook. Being able to actually cook the food made her feel less powerless against hunger (and maybe she stole bites of food while she cooked, with no one the wiser). She bonded a lot with her mother, Ada was preparing her to run her own home when she became of age. Sadly, Ada never saw Nicole become a young woman: she passed away after a difficult birth. Nicole then became the only woman in the household, having to take care of the cleaning and cooking for three years until her stepfather remarried. Her new stepmother was not quite a mother figure, more like and older sister, but they got along quite well until Gabriel decided to leave the house and take Nicole with him.

At the new house, Nicole and Gabriel’s relationship soured. Nicole had had enough of grinning and bearing it: her grief and frustration manifested in being easily irritable. This annoyed her brother, who started thinking of marrying her off to John, her former best friend who she had recently fought with. John apologized eventually, but things weren’t the same after that. Additionally, Nicole found, if not love, a strong affection between her and her friend Flora. But sadly, a bad case of influenza killed her before that love could truly blossom. 

When he realized that Nicole was dead, Gabriel had to resist the urge to fall to his knees and cry until his voice gave out. He was the head of the household, he needed to keep his composure even though he felt like the world had ended. He asked Marisol to stay home and he made his way to his uncle’s house. As he walked, he kept thinking of how during the night he had been so sure that when morning came, he would go get the apothecary to help his sister heal, not his aunt and cousins to help with her funeral rites. The sun rising behind him felt like a mockery. His sister was not supposed to die, not this young, not when she was the only sibling he had left. But he kept walking, there was no time to cry now.

Meanwhile, Marisol had stayed home with no one but her good-sister’s earthly remains as company. At least the chickens were going about their day as if nothing had happened. Marisol took care of them and then returned to keep Nicole’s body company. Marisol was not a believer, she never had been. There was simply no way that someone had the fate of the entire world planned out, she thought. This also meant that she didn’t believe in the dead rising again, so she was not afraid at all to be alone with a dead body. Nicole’s dead body. She wished she had gotten to know her good-sister better, maybe they could’ve been closer. It didn’t matter now. 

Eventually, Gabriel came back with his aunt Diana and her two daughters. Gabriel went straight to the field: farm work spares no one, no matter who dies. Diana, her daughters Ellen and Piper, and Marisol proceeded to undress, wash and place the shroud over Nicole’s earthy remains, working quietly and efficiently. 

A vigil was held for a few days, and then Nicole was laid to rest at the local cemetery. Many people came by to pay their respects, including the Greystrokes, the McMullens, and John Wakefield. John was especially distraught, and Gabriel felt sympathy for him. He would’ve liked for John and Nicole to get married eventually, and it seemed as if John felt the same. If anyone saw how Flora McMullen, a friend of Nicole’s, was just as upset as John, they didn’t think to mention it.

As time passed, Nicole wasn’t getting any better. At first, she was just more lethargic than usual, but eventually started complaining of a persistent headache and Marisol thought it best to let her rest on her bed for a while until she felt better. When her good-sister started shivering and sweating, Marisol got worried and talked to her husband about it. Since Gabriel spent most of the day outside in the fields he hadn’t really noticed Nicole’s worsening condition, but when he learned of it he initially waved it off. It was winter, people got sick. It wasn’t until him and Marisol got woken up by Nicole groaning in pain, that he really worried. She wouldn’t wake up completely, she just whimpered and mumbled incoherently. She struggled to breathe, her breath coming in painful rasps.

Marisol and Gabriel looked at each other, but for Gabriel to leave his pregnant wife basically alone in the middle of the night, in winter, was not an option. They decided that in the morning Gabriel would go to the nearest farm, his uncle’s house, for help, and ask for his aunt to keep Marisol and Nicole company while he looked for the apothecary. 

Nicole hadn’t been feeling well lately. Nothing that serious, just something uncomfortable enough to keep her at home. She still had her chores to attend to, and with her good-sister with child, there was no reason not to do her part. Marisol took over the washing, though. She didn’t want Nicole to spend too much time outside in the cold. So, for the past few days, Nicole had been stuck at home with no one but the chickens for company. 

There was someone who came to visit her often, though. Her friend Flora, who was not afraid of catching cold and did not mind braving the snow to get to the Radcliffes’ house. She made Nicole’s days brighter, spending hours and hours talking about everything and nothing while she helped her friend with her chores.

One of those days, Nicole and Flora were sitting together chatting about nothing in particular, and Nicole thought of just how lucky she was to have a friend in Flora. She knew their days of long conversations by the fire and sitting side by side, doing the mending, were going to be over soon. Flora had been betrothed to Elias Scott, the heir to one of the best breweries in Henford. Nicole couldn’t help but be happy for her, it was a very good match, though she didn’t expect anything less considering how beautiful Flora was. But she still dreaded having her friend be taken away from her. Elias lived in town, which, while not that far away, was still not as close as the McMullen farm. 

Nicole was about to say something to her friend, something about how much she would miss her, when something in Flora’s face made her pause. If you had asked them afterwards, they wouldn’t be sure as to who leaned in first. They just knew they had shared a kiss, short but sweet, with no one to witness but the chickens. 

They smiled at each other and shared more kisses after that, until the sound of footsteps outside alerted them of someone coming into the house. They greeted Marisol like they always did, and if she noticed them sitting closer together than usual, she said nothing about it.