Once upon a time, there was a powerful man. His name was Magyar, a general in one of the more powerful armies in Europe. He fought many battles never losing a single one. That didn't stop his country from collapsing in on itself against the gunpowder empires of the east. They took the country town by town leaving nothing but ashes, smoke, and bodies in their wake. His own brother and sister-in law were killed in this type of warfare. Yet, they had spared his young niece Erzsébet. He looked at the small army of men behind him, barely eighty of them all together, then at his little niece of no more than six sleeping on the back of his horse. He disbanded them, encouraged them to run before fleeing the country with her.
They soon became nomads wandering through the continent. Erzsi, as he called her affectionately, quickly adapted to her new life with smiles. Magyar noted that despite her horrible luck she was still full of them. This way of solitary life continued for five years and the only time he saw her distressed were when she brought home a young injured boy and girl near the end. She begged him nonstop for hours to let them stay after he already agreed. She promised him how much she would take care of them, and that none of them would ever go hungry.
She dubbed them Ludwig and Feliciana. From what Magyar had gathered, Ludwig had no memory of before his injuries, and had been a citizen of the Holy Roman Empire due to his accent. The Feliciana girl was from Italy who looked strikingly like a boy, was convinced her twin brother was looking for them, and that she was a part of 'Italian Royalty' because she was the granddaughter of the famous Romulus Vargas. Magyar let the little girl day dream all she wanted, he had never heard of any man called Romulus Vargas
Erzsi helped them adapt to their new life. Neither of the smaller children complained about their new situation, Ludwig almost seemed thankful for it. Magyar gave the horses they had accumulated rests often, taking rests often himself. Erzsi helped him through fevers he began having. One day, he noticed a large red bump near his armpit and realized what kind of sickness he was going through. He'd seen enough soldiers to know it was the plague. He begged Erzsi to run with the horses and children as far away she could. She didn't ask why, but hugged him one last time before running with the children. He prayed for their safety; Erzsi was only ten.
They came to a dark down at the bottom of a mountain with a castle always omnipresent over it. She looked over at Ludwig and Feliciana on the other horse. Feliciana was sitting up groggily, Ludwig forcing himself awake. Erzsi dismounted from her horse and began knocking on doors throughout the town staying out of the looming shadow of the castle. She came across the house of a Pole named Feliks who agreed to let them stay for the price of their horses.
Feliks was a few years older than Erszi, maybe fifteen at the most. He lived with a family friend named Toris, who was about the same age. They told her about the village, and how it was in control of the powerful family of Beilschmidt-Edelstein.
"How can a family control an area?" Erzsi said once Ludwig and Feliciana were safely in bed.
"You're, like, obviously a nomad," Feliks replied. "They own the land we live on. Like the entire area too. In return for protecting us, we like pay taxes, and attribute that we live under them."
"The only way I see you're under them is the fact their house is higher than yours."
"Settled life is much different from nomadic life. Mister…?" Toris asked as politely as he could.
"I'm a girl." She was frowning more than anyone he had ever seen in his entire life. He laughed awkwardly before retiring to bed himself.
Feliks and Erzsi became fast friends, while it took a while for the same to be said of Toris. The three acted like the de facto parents of Ludwig and Feliciana. The two children played together in the fields around the house in their spare time. Feliks had shown Erzsi and Felciania how to be housewives in their spare time. Erzsi cleaned faster than Felciana, due to her not tripping all over herself ever twenty seconds. Erzsi bought new clothes, giving the ones she had out grown Feliciana. The clothes fit Feliciana better and she moved more quickly.
They were happy living like a sort of family. Toris and Feliks worked at a local quarry. Erzsi forbade Ludwig from ever going with them, insisting he studied instead in the hopes he could become a worthy scholar when he grew up. She found work in the castle as a maid. Her life became monotonous, walking up the hilly path every day, cleaning room after room after room that had no discernible difference from one another, walking down the same hilly path every evening. She longed for the days she rode horses with her uncle through mountains, and snows. Knowing she was working for her, her kids—they were always her kids, no matter how much Feliciana or Ludwig protested—and her uncle instead of figure-head who had no names, only a paycheck which she would give back to them in taxes. That's how her days went for eight long years.
Feliciana grew into a princess like beauty, and Ludwig had a sort of royal swagger about him. She was proud of both of them knowing the day when Feliciana would marry someone was coming soon. She noticed some of the side long glances Ludwig would give Feliciana. Erzsi hoped silently that Ludwig would the bridegroom. Even though he was a bit young to be married. She ignored the protests of some of the towns folk that her wedding day should come first. They had tried pairing her up with every man who would lend himself to her. They even entertained the idea of her marrying Toris. She scoffed at them all. She would die a maid working in Beilschmidt Castle before she would be married to one of the local men who were born tied to the soil.
Feliks came home from work one day dragging Toris behind him.
"Erzsi! Erzsi! We like have some great news!" He said panting. "One of the princes…he's like totally single and ready to mingle and wants a bride!"
"I'd sooner choke then let one of those men marry my Feliciana," Erzsi replied in a sing-song voice while cooking dinner with Feliciana. "You know that. Why are you telling me?"
"He's throwing a huge party for it," Toris tried to explain. "It's going to be fantastic! And Feliks and I managed to receive invitations for it." So much for working there for eight years, you have to be a stone mason to receive any sort of compensation.
"Do you two realize how much money we'll need to raise in order for all five of us to go?"
"I'm up for it if like you guys are," Feliks said simply.
"Me too," Toris added.
Feliciana turned around from cooking, as Ludwig looked up from his books. "Let's go Erzsi! It couldn't hurt! Maybe you could find your true love! It will be great! Ve! Let's go!" Felciana said excitedly.
"I agree with them," Ludwig said more to himself than anyone. "Maybe I could find someone who is willing to apprentice me and we could make enough money to pay it off."
Erzsi had four sets of eyes staring her down. "Fine! Fine! We'll go! But Toris, Feliks, we're going to need to work of fingers to the bone to pull this off. I hope you understand that." Everyone in the house shook their head. She put on a smiled for them, despite her worries of that night.