Hi… Okay, this is actually based off some real historical events around the time of the beginning of the Commonwealth. I'm not sure names and attitudes are all correct, but the facts are. And yes, Austria and Hungary DID meet this far back. If you'd like to read more, it is at the end A/N. Written for the PolLiet secret santa exchange at LJ, for the prompt "Liet has to deal with Kid!Poland". Umm... I hope its okay *bows*
Anyway, no warnings, just some cute stuff and a poor, confused Toris. Well, they are in bed together at one point, but that's totally NOT DIRTY ( Why does no one believe me? T^T) Enjoy!
EDIT: Thank you Helisse for editing my use of curse words. It was very helpful!
Toris was vaguely unfamiliar with the term "arranged marriage" before now. All he knew was that it sounded unpleasant - unpleasant, like being called in from his home on the muddy banks of the Neman River, to court, dressed in stiff frills and on his best behavior at all times. He would rather be skipping rocks. He would rather be catching frogs. He would rather not be here.
So when he was first told of the arrangement, he refused.
"I don't like this…" he mumbled when his boss, Jagiello, had approached him.
But the action was futile; it was ridiculous for a boy, barely ten years old (it appeared, at least), to stand up to his advisors and the perfumed, bejeweled merchants that decided his fate these days. He didn't care what it looked like, though. He wouldn't marry some girl he didn't even know, even if she was the king of Polska!
"She's Catholic!" argued Toris, knowing he was being petulant and not caring much. "I don't want to be baptized in the name of their stern old God. I'm happy with Jurate, and Kastytis, and the others!"
"That is right, Lietuvos," Jagiello had told him. "She is Catholic. If you marry her and convert, then the Teutonic Prussians will have no excuse to attack us. And don't you want all that land?"
Actually, Toris had been eyeing his neighbors to the south far longer than he had been eyeing Polska, but the king and his merchant handlers were right about one thing: if he converted, the so-called Prussian Crusaders would have to stop harassing Lietuvos' people, and that would be a blessing on his poor, harried citizenry. Even now, he could feel his people inside him, tiring of the fighting. So he had eventually agreed. Under protest.
Apparently, though, the girl was having even more trouble adjusting to the situation, judging by the sounds coming out from under the door.
The door. There were five of them huddled around it - Toris, Jagiello, the advisor to Polska, and, surprisingly, the newly-engaged Austria and Hungary. Summoned by curiosity at the nation's arrival, Toris went to visit the Polska's chamber, only to see the strange tableaux of royalty and nobility.
Then he heard a voice.
"Let me out of here, ty głupia! Like, seriously, you ugly, mis-matched toads, I'm going to cut off your face and shove it -"
At that point, Jagiello politely dragged Toris out of hearing range.
"Lietuvos, what are you doing here?" he had asked, noticeably upset. Toris flushed, figuring he had broken some sort of rule of etiquette by coming here. It was so hard to be in court!
"I… just wanted to see her…"
"Unfortunately… she tried to escape. We had to lock her in her chambers…"
Toris' face fell. He had actually been rather excited to see this girl that he was to marry - for a few decades, until everyone died or forgot the union. Toris knew that he shouldn't be upset that the girl didn't share his curiosity. This was probably a strange experience for her, too; as far as he knew this nation had never been married.
But perhaps he knew her better than he thought, or rather, her older brother. A few times, he had spotted a young boy across the Neman; a few times they had waded across to throw mud at each other, but they had never spoken. Once, he had seen the young boy in court, dressed to the standards of the day. All that Toris had known was that he was somehow connected to the nation of Polska.
He wondered if the girl-nation had the same rye-gold hair as her brother.
A barrage of banging shook the doorframe and reverberated down the hall.
"You guys are all stupid liars! You said that I'd marry Roderich, not this dumb little lordling, and I, like, am totally going to die here if you don't let me out, like, two minutes ago!"
Toris watched, wincing at the words "dumb little lordling", as Hungary, as she had been introduced that morning, tried to speak. The words were too soft for Toris to hear. Catching him staring, Hungary's new husband, Austria, nodded to him and walked over. He appeared a few years older than Toris himself, as did Hungary.
"Hello," he said, trying to appear confident but looking rather harried. "My name is Roderich."
"Nice to meet you," returned Toris with a bow. "My name is Toris. Are you…acquainted with Polska?"
Roderich - it was very kind of him to offer his real name; a sign of friendship among nations - nodded.
"Elizaveta - that is, Hungary, - is a close cousin, and… my fiancée I suppose. In fact, Polska and I were to be married, the people of the nation decided they didn't want an Austrian king. Suddenly, when it was revealed our marriage was forbidden, Polska latched onto me - but had never wanted to marry me before! That terror… used to throw things and push me in the mud. I think its just the strain of thinking something all your life and then having it taken away." Roderich looked away wistfully. "Polska is a good person. I'm sure that if you take care of each other, even if it does not turn out as you would expect, you will both be happy."
Toris felt as if the entire conversation had gone over his head, but before he could ask for clarification, the Austrian had been beckoned over by his fiancée.
Toris hated noble life, but it was something that all nations were expected to adopt when international unions took place. But it was sometimes hard - in times like this - to remember where Lietuvos and his people ended, and where just plain Toris began.
Jagiello snapped him out of his reverie with a hand on his shoulder.
"Hungary managed to convince her cousin to be civil, I believe. Polska has agreed to meet with you inside the hour," he announced.
Toris' eyes flipped open, heart starting to beat faster. So he would meet her, then! He hoped… well, he hoped he might have found a new friend. Being a nation, especially a young one, was a lonely job.
A little less than an hour later, Toris found himself shifting awkwardly in a too-hard chair in the sitting room of his chambers, being pinned down by a lazy pair of too-perceptive green eyes.
Polska was not what he had expected.
She was gorgeous, of course, a tiny little thing, blonde as corn tassels, flawless skin, little-girl-slim figure accentuated by carefully arranged skirts. Her gaze was focused mostly on her elegant fingernails, inspecting them, as she swung her short legs. But Toris got the feeling that he was being thoroughly scrutinized in her peripheral vision. He sat up a little straighter.
"Ahm…" Toris began. The Pole's harsh little gaze turned on him full blast, and Toris bit back his half-formed attempt at small-talk. Those eyes - they were beautiful, clear and green and so deep that Toris was afraid that he'd fall in. You could be lost forever, in eyes like that. They reminded him of the wide, slow river near his house.
"Kay, here's the deal," the girl said at length. Her voice was smooth, a little bit more than expected, but melodic and clear as well. "We will get married. Then you will, like, never talk to me again."
Toris froze, his smile locked in place. Uh-oh… this wasn't going well at all.
"Got it?" she demanded.
Toris scrambled for a response. "Er, listen, I know that we don't know each other very well and all, but I think we can be friends, for as long as we have to be! Umm… my real name is Toris. Or you can call me Lietuvos, I guess, but if we're friends you should call me by my real name.
"Lietuvos," the girl scoffed. "That's, like, totally stupid. First off, its really hard to say. And second off, its dumb. I'm going to call you Liet. I'm Polska, but don't call me that. And don't call me my real name. Don't call me anything."
Toris didn't remind her that he didn't know her real name; she hadn't extended the courtesy of telling him. He wanted to tell her that if she wasn't nicer, she most certainly could not give him a nickname, especially a weird one like "Liet".
But before he could say anything - why did everyone seem to be cutting him off today? - Polska rose from her seat and flounced to the door.
"So now that we, like, have it down, Liet, I am so out of here," she said, turning the knob.
Strangely, Toris did not want to see her go. They might not be old enough to get married for real or fall in love or whatever, but she could at least try to be his friend! They could play in the river, and she could bring her brother, and they'd all be happy. Besides, her personality was… captivating, really. She knew what she wanted, and there was something addicting about that.
The door opened, and Polska proceeded to continue her flounce out, only to be stopped by Jagiello. Who had, apparently, been standing right outside the door the whole time.
"I'm sorry, my lady, but where are you going?" he inquired politely.
"Like, back to my chambers or whatever. I am so done here."
"My lady," he said again. Toris groaned inwardly, recognizing that imperious tone of voice. Something bad was going to happen.
"My lady, you are to stay in Lietuvos' chambers tonight. You are officially engaged. It is an order."
Polska exploded.
Two hours and eighteen minutes of solid Polish cursing later, the girl gave the door a magnificent kick that must have hurt, and flopped onto the floor with a wail and a fairly murderous look in her piercing green eyes.
Toris stood - rather nervously - in the door way that lead from the sitting room to his actual bedroom. He'd watched the proceedings carefully, trying to figure out what was the safest way to react.
"Umm… I think some of the servants must have moved your things into my room earlier today. There's a trunk in there. Uh… listen, I'm supposed to be in bed by nine, so… we should start getting ready."
Polska leapt to her feet. "Pervert!" she yelled.
"Polska!" returned Toris in exasperation. "We're gonna get married. I'm really really sorry and I swear we won't even live together or anything but you're sleepy and I'm sleepy and there is only one bed. So you can use the screen to change behind, but please put on your nightgown and go to bed."
Polska paused.
Toris pouted and waited.
Polska stuck out her tongue.
"You can't tell me what to do!" she fumed, but as Toris watched, she brushed past him and began to rummage through the trunk of possessions that had been brought in. She pulled out a frilly nightgown and stomped to the cloth screen in the back of the darkening bedroom.
Toris sighed, shoulders starting to finally relax. This was going to be a really long few decades.
He know that he probably shouldn't, but curiosity grabbed him, and he found himself peeking into the open trunk. What kinds of things did girls carry around? Makeup? Powder? Hairbrushes?
On the very top of the trunk was a picture, a sketch, of a young boy. He had shoulder-length bond hair and cut a striking figure, wearing the courtly dressings of a Polish noble - similar to the way Toris was dressed right now. But the boy in the picture didn't look uncomfortable at all - as Toris always felt - he just looked beautiful.
This must be that boy that I met at the stream, Toris thought in awe. He could really see the resemblance between Polska and the boy; they could almost be twins -
"Like, what do you think you are doing?" screeched Polska, coming out from behind the screen much more quickly than Toris had expected and catching him leaning over her trunk.
Toris leapt up, wielding the parchment sketch like a shield.
"This picture, that's all! I'm just looking at it! I saw it and I was curious and -"
Polska snatched the parchment away. "Perv! Ty głupia!"
She turned away and Toris colored with embarrassment. "It's a lovely picture," he offered, catching Polska staring at it. "Is that your brother?"
Polska spun back around, giving Toris a glare that clearly doubted his sanity. "No, its me. Duh."
Toris' brain shut down.
"Hanh?"
"Its. Me. You idiot. I don't have any brothers."
"But… but… that's a guy, and…"
"Um, yeah, I'm a guy. Gawd, is your head screwed on right?"
Polska was a male?
She - he - was crawling into Toris' bed when he was finally able to make his mouth move.
"But… we're getting married. And you are wearing a frilly nightgown."
"Yeah, its new, isn't it cute?" asked Polska, grinning. "I like it a lot. I like girly things. It makes me feel in control. Like, I can be what I wanna be and all that. You know, sometimes its hard to tell where Polska ends and where me, Feliks, begins."
Toris' confusion and anxiety suddenly deflated.
"Yeah…" he agreed sadly. It was really too late to do a lot about this, and he was sure that stranger things had happened than marrying an - utterly feminine - guy. Besides, maybe they really could be friends; they both agreed that being a nation and a person at the same time was really, really hard.
So instead of freaking out (because, really, Feliks had done enough of that for the both of them) Toris took it in stride, as he would learn to do many times in the future. He crawled into bed next to his new partner and companion and blew out the wall sconces and went to sleep.
However, he woke up again very early. Too early. Maybe only one or two in the morning.
Toris was cold. It was not difficult to discern why - there were no blankets on top of him. They had all mysteriously congregated on Feliks' side of the bed. Toris sighed and tried to yank them back.
They didn't budge. Feliks had them in a death grip. Toris yanked harder. No yield. And the little blonde was still asleep, mouth open in a small "o", hair splayed over his face. Was he sure that he wasn't a girl?
It was really far too cold to sleep without blankets, especially in the drafty stone castle. And Feliks looked so warm…
Knowing that he was likely to be yelled at in the morning and too tempted to refuse, Toris snuggled close to Feliks' side and let his heat warm him up. Toris was not sure why he did it; he only knew that if felt right. He didn't even mind the lecture the next morning on being a pervert. It jut felt so perfect to hold Feliks in his arms.
A/N Okay, so the history stuff:
As far as I know (and I read textbooks, so they'd better be accurate!) Lithuania and many other emerging Baltics were getting attacked by the Prussian Teutonic Knights, or the crusaders, trying to gain land on the Baltic for trade, and using evangelization as an excuse. So, the Lithuanian king, Jagiello, decided to marry into Poland and become a Catholic like them so he wouldn't get harassed.
The former king of Poland and Assorted Other Lands had just died and left all his land to his two daughters, Maria and Jadwiga. They were honest-to-goodness kings. Maria was supposed to have Poland, and Jadwiga was supposed to have Hungary, but Hungary was going to get joined to Austria, and for some reason the Austrians didn't like Jadwiga (I forget why T^T) so she became queen of Poland instead.
Jadwiga married Jagiello - under extreme protest - and Jagiello converted. The Teutonics were still bitches, so the new Commonwealth decided to route them at the battle of Tannenburg… and the rest, as they say, is history.
Oh, fun fact - legend says that later Jadwiga marched up to the leader of the Prussians and basically chewed him out for being a jerk. I can totally see Poland doing that… XD.
Translations:
Neman - the biggest river in Lithuania. It's a pretty slow one (I THINK).
Jurate and Kastytis - two older Lithuanian pagan gods. (Yay Wikipedia!)
ty głupia - You stupid.
I LOVE YOU!