Covae

Histoire

• "Art! Who comprehends her? With whom can one consult concerning this great goddess?" ( ♪ )

  
  

  ʙᴏʀɴ Jacqueline Covae Descoteaux in the Pigalle district of Victorian Paris to
  a Madame Marion Deirdre Roiseux, procurer and official Madame of the le Chambre brothel, Covae was raised by the prostitutes who called the bordello home. Her father was absent throughout her life, and his whereabouts are completely unknown aside the fact that he was an English tourist. The Sphynx's upbringing was considered to be of a middle class status, neither living in poverty or luxury but she was well taken care of financially. Her mother did not have the innate nurturing characteristic, and at times, left Covae among the sex workers in the maison close-- whom took the roles of multiple adoptive mothers and sisters. This is where Covae had learned about her artistic talents.
  
  
  At the age of seven, an experience with a client opened up a new world that she had never
  even dreamed of. A tall man, thin and gaunt but a local as she could distinguish from his dialect, sat in the hall as he brushed a piece of charcoal against a piece of parchment; the scritching and scratching sounds caught her attention. Peeking out from one of the rooms, she watched in wide-eyed curiosity before mustering up enough courage to sneak over to him. Without a word, she sat on the cushioned bench beside him and watched. The feminine form was nothing new to the child, being raised among a homestead of scantily clad women, and she had never thought much of it until she saw this sketch-- it was beautiful, awe inspiring even. Noticing those watchful blue eyes leaning over his arm, he offered a smile.
  
  "I see a sparkle in those eyes, the sparkle of someone who will accomplish great things, little one."
  
  And with that, he left. Covae never saw him again, but since that day, she would beg and
  plead the ladies of the bordello to be subjects in her art work. She honed her talent expertly, a natural born gift that she treasures to this day. Though, she also learned early on from her 'adoptive' family that she also had a fondness for music, instrumental and vocal. At the age of thirteen, she began to work as the manager of le Chambre as her mother was becoming increasingly sick. This was where she began to accumulate a decent amount of money which she saved rather scrupulously, rarely spending and if when, only on art supplies. She had no interest or time, as she blossomed into a teenager, to consort with her peers, either in a platonic or romantic manner. During that time, she became self-conscious of her appearance; her lack of feline fur and hair turned her to resort to using an assortment of wigs. This vanity obsessed behavior is still apparent even now.
  
  Unfortunately, soon came the day her mother passed, leaving le Chambre to the Sphynx.
  Despite Covae's mothers absence, her death brought this young idealist to a dark realm of reality to which she responded by abandoning the brothel and venturing out on her own at the age of sixteen. She made her way from France, to England where she met a woman who would alter her life for eternity.
  
  
  "Black Acres"; Elysian Fields
  
  Upon coming to England, her wayward travels landed her briefly in London where she met
  a foreigner by the moniker "Shin". His curious nature, not quite unlike her own, garnered some interest and in such, she came to find out he was a master artist who hailed from Japan. Intrigued by his unorthodox artwork, she collected enough of her saved inheritance and acquired two distinct tattoos that now mark the soft contours of her body. An expansive tree across her back, twisted and uprooted in it's dying state and a peculiar raven forever imprinted on her inner left wrist. With these tokens in mind, she set off and soon settled in the area of Cornwall, much near the coastline as she had never lived near the ocean before. There she tried to reinvent herself as a working class artisan, taking cheap commissions on the street by doing caricatures and singing operatic melodies in exchange for money. Covae had bought herself a small cottage, practically in shambles but it was a roof over her head and large enough for herself and the select valuables she had brought along the voyage. The Sphynx had built a reputation among the locals as a talented rarity, though the majority were peasants who barely sustained themselves. It was a simple, quiet life, much unlike the life she had in old Paris but she was beginning to enjoy it -- and then she met Briget.
  
  Beautiful Briget, she was not like the women Covae had ever laid eyes on before. Sharp
  feline features, stunning hazel eyes, downy white fur and long blonde locks of hair; she resembled, almost identically, the sketch that old client once drew. A peasant's daughter, a few years older than her. The Sphynx was smitten since day one, filled with nervous laughter and shy glances; she was thrilled that this beauty happened to pass by her little corner one fateful afternoon. The electricity soon intensified, as they spent days together and soon, passionate nights thinly veiled to the locals as simply "friendship". If they had known, during the moral strictness of the era, surely something grave would occur. None the less, Covae and Briget were inseparable and madly, deeply in love. The Cornish Rex accepted her in all of her flaws, from her hairlessness to her 'sordid' past--Covae trusted Briget completely, and she Covae. At twenty-two, she had found the one person she seeked to spend the rest of her life with.
  
  They soon decided to move away together, free of judgment and speculation, where their
  love would be free of prying eyes and torment. Briget's mother was becoming increasingly suspicious of the amount of time her daughter was spending with this French foreigner, and they both knew it was only a matter of time. One night, laying against one another in a loving embrace inside Covae's cottage, Briget smiled and looked down at her secret love with adoration.
  
  "Sweet Jacqueline, how I wish I could proclaim to the world how spending eternity with you simply would not be enough.", Briget crooned, as she brushed her palm against the Sphynx's cheek.
  
  "And why can you not? These people, they do not understand the meaning of love. Let them gawk, and shun us, as long as we have each other.. ", replied Covae, a sense of urgency and yearning in her words that were met with a tender press of soft lips to hers.
  
  "How I wish it would be that easy, my love.", Cornish tone trembled in sadness as she murmured gently against her lover's mouth. If only.
  
  Soon, there was an abrupt knock to the heavy wooden door. Scrambling to their feet, the
  two women hurriedly pulled on garments while the knocks became louder and harder. The echoes of angry voices were audible and frightening, causing Briget to urge Covae to leave out a window with the promise that she would follow suit. With a pained, deep embrace, Covae muttered the sweet whisper of an 'I love you' before slipping out. For curiosity's sake, and for love's sake, the Sphynx did not wonder far, instead she stood by a stone wall and listened intently as she heard that door creak open. "Briget, we know of the abomination that you and that heathen have been participating in!"
  
  The voice belonged to her father, stunned and disgusted in his tone of his voice as he
  shamed his daughter openly, warning her to bring them Covae and she would be spared from the local's wrath. The Sphynx knew Briget's love was sincere, she would never betray what they had and knowing these facts caused her to worry for her darling's safety. The harsh yet earnest tone of Briget's protest was met with a loud slap, causing silence to filter through before the sweet, honeysuckle voice of the Cornish Rex cut through. "Do what you must, but I will never hand her to you. Not even in death could you stop our love, father. I would take an eternity of whipping flames in Hell before I'd allow it."
  
  A rush of yells soon carried through the dark skies as the local authority came to arrest
  Briget, tried guilty and her punishment was death. In silence, Covae grieved, attending the hanging of her beloved as she wept quiet tears and realizing that only in death were they to be reunited. Not by these villager's hands, but her own. With the intent to seek solace, she fled from Cornwall to an island that was considerably more tropical; somewhere Briget would have wanted to live, and there was the Golden Tether. The Sphynx is still planning this grand attempt of reuniting with the one and only love of her life, but these arduous and tortuous years of sadness she felt were well deserved for not coming to her love's rescue.
  Or is she?