The Empire's Twin Pillars

A nobleman's daughter and a manor maid meet as the empire crumbles, then take up arms together amid the smoke of war. "I used to think I would grow old and die as a nobleman's daughter, as a countess, but the times gave me a different choice." "I thought I would spend decades as a maid, see my lady married, protect her for the rest of her life, and then protect her children. But everything changed when she took my hand." They left the manor and saw a wider world. Empires rose and fell, dynasties changed, and war engulfed the world time and again. They concealed their identities, took up weapons, and went to the battlefield. They won honors, traveled far and wide in pursuit of peace, and were forced into exile... 1. A plot-driven story, I suppose. 2. It looks serious, and actually is serious. 3. HE 4. I just want to write protagonists who grow over time. Premise: Through the characters' fates and emotional entanglements amid the tides of history, this story condemns war and expresses a longing for peace.