Union of Lublin 1567-69 [R-18]

1567

Things did not look good...
With Brandenburg advancing steadily from the East the greater the Grand Duchy's dependence on the Polish army had become. Such dependence left the Polish Crown wanting more from the young state. The question of 'when?' rather then 'why?' had become the only thought in the mind of Polish higher archs as it seemed.
Even though Toris was young Radvila Rudasis, acting Grand Chancellor of Lithuania, had been worrying enough for the both of them. From everything that was said Toris understood the position that he was in if things turned for the worse. Safety came with a large payment, as Toris had worked out in his head. A payment that the people of the state were not yet willing to give. The longer they waited the more desperate the Dukes were becoming, and the closer the Grand Duchy came to defeat. At one time Rudasis made the point to Toris that if they unified with Poland then it would be for the best of the state; but all possible outcomes made Toris nervous. So nervous that it was to the point he could not sleep.
At night he would sit out in the court yard, facing North. To him he thought the sky was darker and the stars were brighter from the North. To the East were his people, fighting for what was their own. He had wanted to join them badly, but no matter how much he wanted to the Dukes would not risk him going, in fearing of his death. He only sat there and watched the stars in vain attempts to forget his present situation.
During the day he would hide away in his room, curtains closed, and refuse to answer the door for anyone except Radasis. There he waited in the dark for Brandenburg or Poland to finally come and take him away from the home he loved so dearly.
The days came and went this way for him. One day Rudasis came to him and told him that they would be meeting with the Polish Sejm. Toris first refused to go, but redecided with the promise to finally being able to meet the Polish Representite.
The travel to Lublin Poland from Vilnius was a long one. A total of four and a half days he was in the carriage with only Radasis and the country side as his company. He had a long time to think of what was to come in the coming days and if the unity of the two states did happen. The thought of uniting with Poland did seem to be the better of all situations. He only knew Poland from trade and military organization. From what he has seen of the other young country, the kings seemed to just want the land Lithuania has; like all other leaders did. Ultimately it wasn't his decision if the union would be made, and he would have to follow the Grand Duke's lead no matter what happened.

(( I took it upon my self to decide that the two had never formally met before this. Yes their armies had allied in wars before this, but I thought since they were both relativity young that they would not have participated in the fighting themselves. Also in the comic you do not see them fighting together or independently until after the formation of the Commonwealth.))

Feliks sat quietly outside his home in Lublin, his bright green eyes sharp and alert as he watched the roads ahead of him for the expected company. His fingers played with the hem off his shirt, his teeth biting into his lower lip. The summer sun was beating down hard on his head, and he could feel his golden hair growing hot from the prolonged exposure to the fiery star overhead.

He didn't mind the heat so much. He was used to being outside in the fields during the warmer seasons, and he knew how to dress to make the heat less of a nuisance. No... what was truly bothering him was not the weather.

It was Lithuania.

He drew his knees up to his chest, his stomach curling and writhing. He felt nauseous, and it wasn't because of something he ate. The poor blonde was a bundle of nerves and anxiety.

His bosses had been pressuring him non-stop to join a union with the Baltic nation, telling him things like, "He needs your help", and "You'll like him." He wouldn't have minded so much if he had known the brunette a little more-- but he had never once even met him, and that was the biggest issue running through the blonde's mind.

Feliks was never a very quiet nation once you got to know him. He was strong, loud, stubborn, and opinionted-- get on his bad side and it was a right pain in the ass trying to get back off. However, he had always had one little weak spot.

New people.

They called it shyness, but he knew better. It was so much more than that-- shyness he could deal with, but this feeling of fear and anxiety was almost too much for him to bear. What if Lithuania hated him? What if he ended up not wanting to be near him? What if this union ended in disaster?

He'd find out soon enough, wouldn't he?

There was something about the rolling scenery. Something in the way that he hadn't communicated with anyone, and the way the wheels connected to the carriage slowly made him rock from side to side. Maybe it was the way the constant sound of movement hypnotized him, or the feeling of fatigue that set in on his body after being on the road for such a period of time. What ever it was, he finally found sleep in the last few hours of his traveling. God knows he needed it.

In his dreams he met with other young man that he was truly to meet shortly; They were in the fields. The fields were theirs' but there were the feelings of ... shame, disownership, sadness, worry, nervousness... and an emptiness between them that would never once again be filled. No action happened in the vision, no dialogue or movement, not even the wind blowing on the tall grasses. There was only a deep silence.

...

"Toris..." a distance familiar voice tries to lull him from his much deserved rest, "Toris...pabusti..." As he began to awaken he felt a deep numbness set in from the stopping of the carriage and the tinge of limbs that has been without sufficient oxygen supply for much too long. Slowly he opened his olive colored eyes to Rudasis. "We've arrived in Lubin Toris... come with me..." with that he sat up, his head spun lightly from sudden blood flow to his head, and made his way out of the carriage.

The Poles were clean, and he wasn't. The greeters took one look at him and plans were made to clean the boy up. To him it seemed like it was planned all along because after his bath he had his own finest clothes to wear. Still though compared to what the Poles wore his clothing seemed simple, plain, inornate.

After he was dried and dressed he was taken to a room with what seemed like many important people in it. They all spoke that strange language that he had trouble understanding. After his arrival was announced they all turned and looked at him scrutinizingly. A man came up to him and smiled before escorting him back out into the hall way. "Litwa," he began, "You are going to be here for some time." His accent was funny sounding to Toris and it made him smile. The man began to walk down the hall way. Toris followed. "Please allow me to show you to where you are supposed to be." They walked down long corridors for what seemed like forever for him as he was not familiar to such elaborate buildings. Finally they stopped in front of a door and the corespondent knocked on it, then waited for an answer.

(( yay for Poland's room =3 ))

The nerves had become to much for the little blonde after about an hour of his anxious waiting, his green eyes had grown heavy and strained from his constant watch. He couldn't just sit outside and keep his eye on the road anymore, he had to get up and go inside. Maybe after a rest he'd feel better, and his anxiety wouldn't cause him to hide from the man he would be living with for a very, very long time.

He padded through the house, heading straight for his bedroom. When he got there, he stripped down to his underclothes and climbed into the bed, snuggling undwer the covers like a small child would. He closed his eyes and forced himself to drift off to an uneasy sleep.

---

The knock first began in his dream, where a large, black sillhouette was banging on his door, speaking in an unknown and frightening language. He had run away for so long, his legs growing heavy and tired, but it was always right behind him, following him with chaos and death. It wasn't until the knocks became more fervent that they finally snapped the sweating blonde from his slumber.

"Kurwa!" He hissed, jumping up out of bed to grab a long shirt from the floor and slide it over his body, and wiping his brow with a towel. He then straightened his clothing, fixed his messed up hair as best as he could, and answered the door.

"W-witaj!" He greeted the people there, trying not to bolt when he saw the Lithuanian boy.

((Please forgive my Polish ))

"Polska..." The corespondent began, "Przyniosłem Litwa ... On nie może pozostać w sali rady. " The man paused then gave Feliks a stern look. "Umieść na odzież ..."

"Teraz."

With that the man closed the door and turned back to Toris. Toris had a very blank look on his face, not have been able to understand the one sided conversation, but knew that the blonde he just seen had been the one he was supposed to meet. He was surprised that the Polish weren't giving them a grand introduction much like Bradenburg had...but this trip wasn't about meeting was it?

"Sorry, it will be a moment." Toris looked up at the man. He was tall, much taller then himself, with thick dark brown curls on his head and black eyes. He had little facial hair that seemed trimmed and was beginning to gray. There was nothing too distinctive about him, and Toris found some comfort in this. Everyone where he lived were all like this man. In resent years he had never really been able to get away from the old men, somewhat of a prisoner in his own house... He didn't like to think about it that way though because after all they were looking after him and making sure he was safe.

Toris sighed slowly, an exhalation of nerves. He was good at waiting patiently, he could do that...
"Tai gerai ..."

Feliks frowned as the door was shut in his face, a twitch in his lip indicating his annoyance. He turned away from the door, sighing as he looked around his room. The people he worked with were always so gruff and boring... most of them were strict, and didn't approve of the way their country tended to act. It wasn't necessarily his fault... he was a bit different.

But so were a lot of people, right?

He looked back at the door, his teeth nibbling his lower lip. The brunette looked harmless enough, but still... he didn't know him. He didn't know what was going through the man's mind, what was going through his thoughts.... and not knowing scared him.

He wanted to escape. He didn't want to do this, to meet with this new person that he was supposed to... to join a UNION with, of all things!

Maybe he could get out the window...

TAK.

That was the perfect, most fool-proof plan of action! He'd just jump out the window and run as fast as he can-- far past the fields, far past any way that people can get to him, far past having to deal with new people, or join any unions, or do these boring meetings and political crap... if he left, Lithuania would be sent home, he wouldn't have to do this damn meeting, and they could both go about their own business! There was too much pressure!

He was seriously debating making a run for it, until he remembered how much trouble that he'd get in if he really was going to run away, and if he was caught... and what about Lithuania?

Maybe he could take Lithuania and run? That way they'd both be safe from having to deal with each other.

Did that even make any sense?

The petite nation sighed and ran a hand through his hair, before picking his forgotten clothes off of the ground. He tugged on his pants, his top, then his boots, glancing in the small mirror over his dresser to make sure he looked presentable.

He then opened the door, a plastered smile on his face. "Teraz jestem ubrana ... kurwa jesteś szczęśliwy?"

Standing out side the door with the man had slowly grown awkward. The man kept staring at him as if he were examining him for something... it made Toris feel very nervous. After only a moment the man dismissed himself to " attend to other matters." Toris felt slightly uncomfortable by himself, walking slowly to the directly other side of the hallway to look at some artwork that was hung on the wall there.

When the door opened he spun around and looked directly at the blonde who had emerged with quite a bit of confidence...

He didn't reply back to what the other had said because he didn't quite understand it... There was an awkward long silence as the two stared each other down...

"Ką?.."

He finally broke the silence with the single syllable, hoping that maybe the other would be able to speak his language much like the man had been able to speak both of theirs.

"Ką... tai reiškia...'kurwa'?" The word made Toris blush, he was almost positive it meant something different then what it meant in his language. At least he hoped so.

There was a long, long bout of silence as the blonde stared at the brunette, a look of confusion on his face when he did not see the Polish man with him.

Well. This was rather awkward.

"U-uh.... Kurwa is a curse word... it's... I meant to talk to Piotr... " He spoke in careful, heavily accented Lithuanian, his words probably not the best choices-- but he didn't care in the slightest. Toris would be learning his own language soon enough.

"Aš ... atsiprašau..." He smiled, swallowing hard. "Um.. you are... T-Toris?" His stutter was beginning to show his nerves. his hands fidgeting with the hem of his clothing. "Jestem... uh... Aš ese... Feliks."

Toris shrugged off his nervousness as well as he could.

"Yes... I am Toris..."

It seemed to him like there was going to be a problem because of the language barrier, hopefully they would be able to over come it soon.

He thought is was kindda cute that the other was so nervous, then again he was a bit nervous himself. He smiled to him. "It's nice to meet you Feliks. " He didn't move, the though of if he did Feliks would jump and run away like a little rabbit.

Things were not getting any less awkward between then so Toris turned his eyes back to the painting, even though to him it wasn't nearly as interesting as the person behind him. He stared at it a moment before

"This is interesting..."

Since Toris was Pagan he couldn't quite figure out why the two figures in the center of the image had rings of light around their heads. He thought that maybe the clothed boy was made to resemble Feliks, but now that Feliks was older he looked more like the woman then the boy there.
He kept his thoughts to himself.

"What do you think?"

"What do I think... about what?" The blonde asked tentatively, glancing at the picture on the wall. "About that? What about that?" He looked back at the brunette, wondering if maybe he had misunderstood. He was a bit nervous, and he wasn't certain about anything right now... he was even told that this boy was PAGAN, that he didn't believe in GOD, that he... that he worshipped...

Feliks bit his lip. He couldn't just JUDGE him like that... that would have been rude! But...

He waited for the other's reply.

Of course Toris knew about Christianity... He wasn't that naive. But he didn't see the use for it... He didn't fully understand it either, or know any of the figureheads for it...His people spent a long hard fight trying to keep his Paganistic views. Why should he fight for something that seems to just make you angry all the time?

"Is that one you?"
He pointed at the white clad boy holding up the haloed baby, then looked back at Feliks. There was some what of a resemblance.

"It is ... interesting. The whole composition. It's beautiful." He caught himself...The only thing that he knew about Christianity was that people would fight for God... They would do anything for God..."It must not be so bad if God can command you to create such beautiful art." He had turned around and was staring at the painting again.

"A-ah... that's not me..." Poland answered, looking at the picture. He then trained his eyes back on the brunette before him, a curious glint in their green depths.

"You... if you do not worship the Lord, then who do you pray to? You must pray to someone, right? I think it would be very lonely if you didn't." He asked. It was a loaded question, of course... but he was certainly curious. If Lithuania prayed to no one, then that meant he was all alone... and that was surely a horrid feeling, wasn't it?

Knowing that God was with him was all the little blonde needed. He couldn't imagine what it was like without him.

"I pray to life. To all life... So it can continue living and prosper and be at peace."

When he said this he almost sounded sad. He wasn't too sure the other would understand. True he had more reason to sound sad because hundreds of his people were dieing on the eastern front each day...

"Even if the rest of the world thinks different of me, The life that is all around us is more then enough to fight for... " He paused to look for a window, but saw none so continued looking at the picture in front of him. He digressed, "In a field..the grasses don't fight with the trees or the flowers. They are all at peace living with each other even though they are all different and work in different ways."

"... I... I don't think that's gonna work..." Poland said softly, despite the fact that the brunette's words... they had truly felt...

Deep...

Passionate...

But that wasn't enough. It wouldn't do.

"I... I know that this union has to happen. I'm afraid that you don't have a choice in the matter, really." He stood straight up, his hands on his hips. "But if you join me, you can't keep doing that... you have to worship MY God. You have to learn MY language, MY culture... that's all I ask!" He smiled "innocently", a strange tone in his young voice.

"But don't worry... I'll keep my evil cousin away from you. I'll protect you, and I'll love you, and you'll be happy! We'll be happy!" He grinned even wider, his expression one of pure happiness.

"Won't that be tons of fun?"

["I...I don't think that's gonna work"]
Toris' expression changed quickly from that of happy, peaceful, to that of ... confusion.
["you can't keep doing that"]
Toris turned from Feliks, still listening, but not looking directly at him anymore.

There was a short silence between their dialect as he felt his cheeks become hot with anger. Who was Feliks to tell him what it was that he could and could not do? His people had given their lives in the Northern Crusades so that he might be able to keep his religion and he was not just about to let this ... person.... tell him that he was to change just like that.

"Ne." With the word the air between then began to boil. There was a little hint of anger in his voice that was not previously there, though there was still a underlying calmness that he wouldn't let go of. "I will not give up everything that is dear to me..." He paused turning back to look Feliks in the eyes, there was a clear fire that burned within him. "Having Brandenburg invade would be better then that."