Hungary flung open the doors to Austria's drawing room and strode angrily inside. Still in full battle dress, eyes blazing, she found Austria standing next to his favorite chair, arm bent and resting on the back. Cold blue eyes followed her into the room, but something about them when he looked at her made her stop in her tracks. On the other side, with his back to the room looking out the window, was the much shorter Holy Roman Empire. When he heard Hungary's footsteps, he spun around and with fists clenched ran up to her and began screaming. "You promised! You promised you wouldn't help Sweden anymore! Why are you helping him again? Don't you know he and France are trying to kill me?" He pounded on Hungary's breastplate with both of his little fists.
"And you promised not to interfere with our religious freedom!" Hungary shouted back irritably, shoving him away with ease. "Don't get mad at me when you broke your promise first."
"But I didn't!" Holy Roman Empire shrieked, his face turning red and tears welling in his eyes. "I kept my promise, you get to keep your heathen religion and go to hell, and you're not supposed to help Sweden anymore. I can't believe you did this to me!" And he crumpled onto the floor sobbing at Hungary's feet.
"But, Sweden told me …" Hungary blurted out, frowning at the child self-named empire trying to suck in air between crying fits. She felt nothing but disgust for him at that moment, and had to resist the urge to kick him
"That's what I figured." Austria said, pushing up his glasses and rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "For all of his stoic demeanor Sweden has something of a wicked sense of humor, and there is no way he could attack Vienna without your help. Pressburg and Brünn were just a warm-up to kill time until you arrived.
Hungary's shoulders sagged, and she looked up at Austria wondering what punishment he intended for her. The strange look on his face reappeared when she asked him "What are you going to do?"
"I," Austria quietly answered, "Will do nothing." And his gaze went past her to the far wall where she had come in. She turned and couldn't stop herself from gasping in shock at the country standing in the shadows next to the doorway. Then rage filled her as she growled at him, "You! What are you doing here?"
"I'm here because of you of course. If I have to listen to the sultan's bloodcurdling screams another moment longer I will go deaf." Turkey calmly replied as he walked into view. Hungary watched his enigmatic smile grow on his face; the mask he wore made it even more sinister.
She realized then what the look on Austria's face was; it was fear.
Turkey walked up to Hungary and raised a hand towards the open door of the small sitting room Austria liked to use for tea. "You will come with me now."
"I'm not going anywhere with you." Hungary seethed, she knew she was in trouble but refused to let him know how scared she was. Turkey's smile never left his face as he reached up grabbed a large handful of Hungary's hair and pulled her towards the sitting room.
"Please excuse us, we have some important details to discuss privately." Turkey said to Austria as he dragged Hungary, kicking and shouting curses into the adjacent room and slammed the door shut. An audible click from the door's lock made the color drain from Austria's face. The Holy Roman Empire looked up from the floor with a satisfied gleam in his eyes while he wiped the tears away.
Hungary watched the key Turkey pulled out of the lock disappear into the folds of his caftan. She stood up from the spot he had tossed her and swallowed when a dagger appeared in his hand. "I won't negotiate with you Turkey!" She spat at him.
Turkey made his way to where Hungary stood and cupped her chin with his free hand. "This is not a negotiation." She felt the dagger slip under the leather straps that held her armor in place and with a loud clatter her breastplate fell to the floor. Her eyes grew large but she refused to cry out. Next the laces of her aketon were slashed and that garment too fell to the floor. She stood in her shift, breeches and braces, with Turkey's free hand trailing down over her neck and shoulder; she felt the warmth of his hand through her chemise as his fingers spread across her chest. He made no other movement for a moment, staring at her through the mask, then he stated. "You're heart is like a hammer." He shoved her roughly, tripping her over the heap of armor on the floor. Hungary fell back on her shoulders ungracefully but before she could get her legs under her to get back up he was on top of her
"Get off me GET OFF ME you son of a bitch!" She roared, pushing at him as she tried desperately to put her braces to good use. Turkey grabbed her hair and used his knees to secure her legs. His face was so close to hers she could see his eyes through the slits in his mask. The words he spoke next made her shake.
"You were told to stop once before. You even signed a treaty promising you would stop, yet here you are disobeying our sultan and fighting again. Listen to me very carefully Hungary; do this again, and I will take Transylvania. This is not a promise, this is not a threat, this is a statement of fact."
"You wouldn't dare." Hungary groaned through clenched teeth.
Turkey lowered his head so he could whisper in Hungary's ear, "Do this again, and I will take Transylvania." He rose up off of her, but before she could move he grabbed her shoulder and flung her over so she faced the floor. She felt his hand at the collar of her chemise and couldn't stop the gasp that flew from her lips when she felt it rip open. She turned and looked up at Turkey and saw the leather strap he held in his hand. His free hand came down on her neck to hold her in place and her entire body jumped when the first lash was laid across her bare back. She bit her lower lip to keep from crying out and by the third lash she tasted blood.
Turkey emerged from the sitting room to find Austria seated, hands clasped and staring at the floor. He looked around but didn't see the Holy Roman Empire anywhere. "Where did the little one go?" He asked Austria.
"Back to the war, Sweden is on the move again." Austria replied with a dull tone.
Turkey shook his head. "France and Sweden working together, Şeytan must be behind that alliance!"
"Holy Roman Empire would agree with you." Austria replied. He looked at the strap in Turkey's hand and blanched when he saw it stained red.
Turkey offered it to Austria and said, "This is for him, make sure he gets it." Without another word he walked out of the drawing room, and the doors were closed behind him.
Only after he could no longer hear Turkey's footsteps would Austria allow himself to go to the sitting room. Hungary laid on the floor, not moving. The look on her face as she stared into space told Austria he was better off not going to her just yet. He walked over to the bell pull and tugged it to summon someone to come dress the seven red welts rising on her back.
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Author's note: The Hungarian princes who ruled Transylvania tried two more times to attack parts of southeastern Europe after this, even going so far as to attack Poland (with Russia's help) to create an empire. Turkey did exactly as stated and Transylvania became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1661. The seven welts represent the seven counties in Hungary that were given to HRE as punishment for defying the sultan and coming to Sweden's aid when he sacked the city of Brünn in 1645.