Maids to Wives
An Outlander AU based loosely on the TV Show and real life in the historic Jamestown
In 1619, one hundred and forty-four English women from good families crossed the Atlantic in response to the Virginia Company of London’s call for maids “young and corrupt” to make wives for the planters of it’s new colony in Virginia. One in six of the maids could even claim gentry status. Although promised a free choice of husband, they were in effect being traded into marriage for a bride price of 150 pounds of best leaf tobacco, the profits to flow to individual investors
In 1619, Claire Elizabeth Beauchamp made the voyage to do one thing: marry a man she's never met. But when she arrives, she comes to the startling realization that her heart belongs to someone else, a certain James Alexander Malcolm Mackenzie Fraser.
Chapter 1/? : Aboard The Ship
April 17th, 1619, Claire’s POV
“I feel like my innards are swasheling ‘bout” Geillis hacked out her dinner for the 4th time this week. I tried my best to soothe her, rubbing her shoulders lightly, but the smell of old fish and stomach acid from the other’s puking made it hard to keep anything down. Most of us hadn't been on a boat before, let alone in the middle of the ocean where the monstrous waves led to monstrous waves of sea sickness. It took all my strength not to succumb to the churn in my own stomach. Poor Geillis didn't have the same strength as I.
Geillis was one of the first women I met on this voyage. Me and her bonded over our love of herbs and our older age. She has become one of my closest friends on this trek to find my future husband.
My Husband. The word had only rolled off my tongue a few times in my life, but suddenly it was my entire world. It was all the ladies talked about, all they thought of, all they could remember dreaming about. But, the rest of the women on the ship were different from me, and from Geillis too: they were young, and they were trained. Geillis and I were the eldest of all the brides -she being 31 and I being 27- and didn’t receive the same education as the rest of the girls. I myself spent my childhood traveling Europe with my Uncle Lamb, not learning how to be a good wife that could keep house. Perhaps if my parents hadn’t died when I was so young they could have instilled the passion for housekeeping in me, but a childhood under my Uncle’s influence assuredly led to the demise of any interest in such things. He even tried to enroll me in a dame school, but I refused. Can you imagine? Years of learning how to sew and knit and cook. I couldn’t think of a more revolting thing. I had longed to continue to travel with Uncle Lamb, as his career as an antiquarian required him to do, and so he had no choice but to keep me by his side. I imagine him beside me now, as if this voyage was just like any other: exploring new lands with curiosity and excitement.
As Geillis continued to empty her stomach, I scanned the cabin, seeing some of the younger girls on the ship playing a card game. Their eyes lit a bright light inside of them when they got a good hand, and their smiles sparkled like pearls in the faint lantern light. Despite the ship muck they resided in, they still radiated beauty and grace. That and their training would make them excellent wives.
Perhaps I should have let Uncle Lamb enroll me in that Dame school, I thought as I turned back to check on Geillis. Even though I got to choose the man I married, there was no guarantee that my husband would keep me when he found out how many skills I lacked. But no man could be so cruel, could he? While it made no sense to wish for a kind husband, I still did, as did all the women. I could only hope that my husband would be caring, smart, and understanding (and have a face and body with equally desirable qualities, but both together was the most rare of all).
A tug on Geillis’s hair called me back to reality. It seemed the sickness had faded for a moment or two, enough for her to speak. “Claire, I swear to ye, if I don’t make it on this ship, bury me in the new world. I dinna care if my flesh sticks up the whole bloody ship, I wilna be thrown to the sea, like a bone to a dog”
“You’re not gonna die Geillis, it’s only 3 more weeks till the captains said we'll see land. If you die on this ship, I swear to you I’ll kill you” My remark managed to stifle a chuckle from Geillis’s sickly body. She smiled at me, and then her moment of peace was over: she went back to being sick almost immediately. I never found myself in the comfort of women, but Geillis was like a sister to me. Spending a month at sea in tight quarters did that to a friendship.
Geillis wasn’t the only friend I made on the ship. To my left sat 15 year old Mary Hawkins, the youngest of the maids. Mary was just… small. A small frame and small face were the most startling of her features, and the month on the ship caused an almost deadly thinning of her figure. When she spoke, the words came in small stutters, and any movement made her jump. When I first saw her I wondered how Mary could have thought she could survive the trek across the ocean; that was, until I found out being a maid was her father’s scheme. After finding this out, a sisterly urge surged inside me, and I was her protector on the voyage ever since. And as her protector, I saw her shivering as I helped Geillis, and moved my arm from Geillis’s back to around Mary’s shoulders. She gladly nestled herself into my side, but the shaking didn’t stop.
“A-am I going to die here, C-Claire?” She stuttered out. I quickly shook my head and turned to look down at her. I saw tears running down her face, but she didn’t look me in the eyes. She kept her gaze on the wall across from us, where a woman who looked the most sick of all rested her head. She didn’t look alive anymore, but with closer examination I saw her chest rose ever so slightly. I made a mental note to check on her later, if she hadn’t already died. So far, 34 women have died. While the cause of death varied from maid to maid, it was all from the same sickness that plagued our ship since the beginning of the second week aboard. Not all the women were victims, but the ones that were died swiftly and in immense pain. But, for every maid that died here, the same amount of men were left without a bride, and that would mean another wave of maids. I couldn’t imagine putting more girls through this hell. I was fortunate to be well, and above all else, alive.
“No, you’re not. You’re gonna leave the ship with us and meet your husband.” I rubbed Mary’s shoulders gently. I felt her breath loosen, and she slumped slightly. Good, I thought. She fell asleep
I then stayed with Geillis until her nausea faded. After cleaning her up using my dress as a rag, I laid her down and watched her drift to sleep. I touched my hand to her forehead, and was thankful for not feeling any unusual temperature. I removed my arm from Mary’s shoulders, and slowly set her down near Geillis’ head. I tucked a small bag of grain beneath both of their heads, and thankfully none of them awoke from their slumber. I looked across the cabin and saw the pale woman from before. She hadn’t changed positions, but her chest still rose and fell like before. I moved in front of her, and placed my hand on her forehead. Hot. Burning hot. I shook her awake, and when she opened her eyes, they were bloodshot.
“Will... you tell my husband that I’m sorry I wasn’t able to make it” The sentence flowed out like any other statement, but the meaning behind it was darker.. She was a young woman, nearly 23 I guessed. Her hair was a soft blonde, and she had a pleasing aura about her. I could also tell she was quite pretty, underneath the sweat and sickness. Her hair stuck around her face, but she had the complexion of a sheet of paper. She was transparent, the veins of her body stuck out harshly against her pale face. When she spoke, it came out in a low whisper, as if her body didn’t have the willpower to use any strength.
“I’m Faith” She flashed a quick but weak attempt at a smile. I wished there was something I could do, to give her the strength that had saved me these past weeks. I reached beside her to grab a rag, in hopes of maybe wiping away the heat, but she put her hands over mine.
“Make the new world good for us” She spoke, before closing her eyes. Everything happened so suddenly, I could barely register it all. The minute she closed her eyes, any color that was left in her face disappeared. The rising of her chest stopped, and a hand fell limply from mine.
I removed myself immediately, and sat next to Geillis. She stirred in her sleep before sitting up, tired. She must’ve heard what had happened, because just as I sat down she put her arm around mine. I wanted to cry, to feel some kind of pity for the woman, but nothing came out. ‘You should mourn her’ my brain told me but how could I? I just met her.
I didn’t have time to be like this. In a few short weeks we would be on the island with the men, living in the new world. Instead of feeling pity, I felt a sense of guilt. Out of nearly 100 women, only a few would step off this ship and into a new life. And I was one of them. Why did I get the luxury? I wasn’t ever a quiet, obeying miss, and I don’t think I could ever be. Why did god and those above think me fit to take on the responsibility of marriage? Faith would’ve probably made a fantastic wife, but here she lies dead by my feet and I am still breathing.
These thoughts ran rampant in my mind, so much so they exhausted me, and I felt myself roused into a deep slumber, with Geillis’ arm still around me and the soft breathing of the living filling my ears, reminding me I was still alive, that we all were. We bore the weight and responsibility of those who didn’t live, it was our job to make the new world good and prosperous.
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Hello everyone! This is my first chapter of a fanfiction I’m looking forward to writing! I’m a fairly new author so if everyone could be kind/give solid constructive criticism, that would be amazing! I’m looking forward to hopefully releasing more chapters later on!
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ranking outlander seasons by their promo shoots of Jamie and Claire
okay so outlander has some of my favorite promo shoots from any tv show I've watched, so I thought it would be fun to rank the outlander seasons by how much I like their promo shoots of Jamie and Claire (p.seven though all of them are hot as hell) ((p.p.s these are just photos taken in season costumes to promote the show, not like posters ye ken)
5. Season 3
okay while this is one of my favorite seasons the promo shoots look VERY romance novel that you would find at barnes and noble meant for 50 year old women (ya know). like it’s good, I like the colors, but it’s just such an unnatural pose and looks a little to magazine-y
4. Season 4
Season 4 is close to being my second favorite season, I just wish Jamie and Claire were closer in the photo. Like they’re so far away??? I love the woodsiness but I wish they were closer and we got to see their beautiful faces (I will say though Cait is SERVING in this photo, both of them are looking hot as hell)
3. Season 1
Okay these are the classic photos and both of them look so young and cute in them. Like they’re good, they just aren’t my favorite. this is a classic and the photos from this shoot slap hard (funny story when I first started watching the show I thought that it was a scene in the tv show, and I was so confused when I didn’t see the scene xD)
2. Season 2
okay so season 2 is probably my least favorite season of outlander but the photos WENT HARD I mean this is just one of so many hot photos they did (the purple dress...) and honestly can I recreated all of these when I find my own Jamie??? (one day)
1. season 5
SEASON 5 IS MY FAVORITE SEASON AND THEY BOTH LOOK SO GOOD IN THESE PROMO PHOTOS. like wow they both are serving full course MEALS in these photos, like wowI love these and think they look fucking awesome.
okay that was it lol be prepared for more dumb rankings (trust me this isn’t the last)
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Claire’s Wedding with her 2 husbands.
Okay. So this will contain book spoilers so BE WARNED, I WILL BE SPOILING THE FIRST OUTLANDER BOOK.
So In book 1, one cool little thing that we didn’t get in the tv show was that Jamie and Claire were married in the same church Claire and Frank were married in. When I first read this, I didn’t understand why they changed it. I thought it could be a good parallell of her 2 marriages, and show an effect of age. It could’ve also been a really cool visual effect, with it jumping back and fourth between each wedding.Thinking about it more however, I understand why they changed it.
In the TV show, Claire and Frank are married in a court house rather suddenly. They’re going to meet his parents and he instead takes her to the marriage office to get married. It’s very quick and hurried. In the 18th century, Jamie takes his time marrying Claire, making sure that everyone is perfect, even though it’s an arranged marriage.
I think that they changed it in the TV Show because it perfectly encompasses both relationships. Frank and Claire got married very quick, and a bit haphazardly. Yes, it was out of love for each other but eventually, it would fade out. I love Frank and Claire so much and I think they did have a good relationship, but I think how they got married is symbolic of their marriage if they stayed married without Jamie; quick, and would burn out quickly.
On the other hand, Jamie took his time with Claire. He wanted to make sure everything was perfect. Even though a British officer was searching for her, and if he were to be discovered he would probably be jailed and hanged, He still wanted to take his time. This is symbolic of their longer lasting relationship, they take their time and end up loving each other more everyday. Jamie puts in the effort to make sure it lasts, and who would’ve thought they’d end up being soul mates.
Now both relationships were done because they were both in love with Claire, but how they approached the marriage says a lot of how their relationships would end up.
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Theory on Jamie’s Ghost
OKay so read an Outlander theory that basically stated that Jamie actually died on Culloden field and that the rest of the show since then has been a dream.
Now I'm pretty 50/50 on whether I believe this
Reasons I believe it
1. Jamie’s ghost being young.
The ghost Frank see’s and what we see in the show is a young highlander man. Jamie is definetly not young anymore so It would make sense for that to be him at culloden, because he was 25 when he would’ve died. Now I will say, perhaps Diana and the showrunners didn’t expect it to last this long so they could’ve just written him as a young man, but then the show lasted longer than they expected.
2. Some of the wild things that happen in seasons 3-5
Some of the events that happen in the later seasons/episodes definitely seem like they’d happen in a dream. Jamie and Claire getting caught in a hurricane, Claire seeing the native american ghost, Brianna getting thrown up by a buffalo, and other things. I’m not saying these couldn’t happen, but it just seems unlikely.
Reasons I don’t believe it
1. Jamie knowing important events/meeting important figures.
in Season 4, Jamie meets George Washington at a play (Claire tells Jamie about him). Jamie couldn’t know who George Washington is so it seems unlikely, and this isn’t the last time the Jamie comes into contact with famous events and people. In Season 5 Brianna comes to warn Jamie and Claire that the battle their fighting was a real battle, the Battle of Alamance, and the spark of the american revolution. How would Jamie know about this? Claire didn’t even know this, so it seems unlikely she would tell Jamie about this part of American History. Also Jamie know’s about the American Revolution from Claire. 18th century boy Jamie wouldn’t know anything about the American Revolution, so it doesn’t really make sense for this to be his dream.
2. Bad shit happens
If this was Jamie’s vision of him and Claire’s life, there are a lot of bad things that happen. Brianna getting raped, Murtagh dying, and Claire getting kidnapped and raped. If this was Jamie’s vision of him and Claire’s life, death, war, and destruction seem to follow them a lot.
3. Documents proving Jamie lived.
Maybe Jamie imagined these, but it seems unlikely. There are documents that prove Jamie lived well beyond culloden (scrolls at ardsmuir, frasers ridge, him and Claire’s death) and for him to think of all of those seems unlikely.
Overall, I think the theory is cool and interesting, but when you start to think about it more it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
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