Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, nor the Carvderse idea. Hannah, Joseph and their father belong to me.
Nine days later after a long travel, they arrived in the capital in the early morning, Moscow, and Hannah was apprehensive as they stopped the cart outside of the large gates separating the rest of the country from the capital. Sitting in the cart, she watched her father and brother talk to the guards, two tall, burley men dressed in sharp, emerald green, the national color of the Country of Spades. The two checked the cart then opened the gates to let in the trio, and Hannah's father whipped the reins, stirring the horses on into the city, people making room on the crowed streets. Andrew stopped at an inn and got off, telling the two to stay with the cart as he went in to rent rooms. It had nagged at Hannah all week one question; where had her father gotten the money to do any of this?
Knowing her brother would know, she tugged on his shirt sleeve, noting she'd need to repair fraying in his shirt that night. He turned curious blue eyes on her and she asked, "Lukey, how'd Dad get the money for this?"
He blinked, ruffling his short brown hair, saying absently, "You mean Andy didn't tell you?"
"No. How'd he get the money?" She demanded again, huffing.
"Andy got it from Brittany, Hannah. She saved her dowry so we could show you this place one day." Joseph said, voice lowering when their sister's name left his lips. "She wanted you to see where Mom grew up."
Hannah frowned at her brother, trying to connect what he said before muttering, "She shouldn't have done that, Jon could have used it for when he built their home."
"He wanted us to use it for you," replied just before Andrew came from the inn.
"Hannah, Luke, go out and enjoy the city while I deal with unloading everything." He ordered. "Show Hannah the sights, let her enjoy things."
Joseph laughed, jumping off and turning to help his sister down by taking hold of her waist and swinging her down, alighting her on her feet. Hannah gave her father a hug goodbye before Joseph led his sister down into the crowded streets of Moscow. People all around her looked just as she had been told over the years, dressed in beautiful shades of green, pink, red and any other color you could think of, but never once did she see a beige, black, or brown. It made her self conscious in her bland dress that was nothing but beige, brown and black, so self conscious she began to fiddle with the only thing she had left of her mother save her sewing and mending skills: a golden necklace with a small round golden pendent resting on her collar bone. Over the years she had grown attached to it and used it to relieve stress, imagining her mother was the one getting rid of her worry. And right then she asked her mother, thinking to herself, Mother, please, wherever you are, help me through this city without trouble.
Only moments later, as if a godsend, her hazel eyes spotted a sign she never throughout to see, written in simple, bold letters with a weak underline: Charli's Fabrics and Other Works.
Remembering the money she had saved up, hidden in a pouch behind her apron, she tugged on her brother's sleeve, pointing to the shop, looking to him pleadingly. "Lukey, can we go in there, please?" He mulled it over, obviously not play acting the thought on whether to go inside or not, before shrugging.
"Why not? You deserve some nice fabrics, maybe a new needle or two." That idea, even better than finding useless fabric left over for new patches to take home to the village, to spice up the color in her earthen worn home.
With that, they entered, both separating for different parts of the store. Hannah went for the beautiful bolts of fabrics, ranging from cotton to silk, in every color of the rainbow, even dull colors like what she wore, and finger each in delicate scrutiny, an eye held out for the fine tasting material. Satin was soft, the softer thing she had ever felt next to everything, and when her worn fingers, calloused from years of work on a garden and pricking her fingers on needles in small mistakes, never enjoyed such a course material to when she grazed the silk, falling from a bolt in a shimmering, Prussian blue. It felt as if all the pain that had entered those fingers fell away as she tenderly held each and every cloth available, more than she had seen ever in her nineteen years of life, fawning over the felt in a hypnotic state and cooing when she rubbed her fingers to the soft wool, tender care taken, she hoped, when it was smoothed and spun before being waved into what it was now.
Joseph himself took to the smaller items, ones every dedicated woman or man of the material world needed. In a finding silence, he showered over every spool of thread and finely pointed needle, looking for ones he wanted to last his sister the rest of her life. Something to remind her of this visit to their famed capital. Some spools appearing as silver or gold tempted him, as Eve was tempted by the Forbidden Fruit, but left them for more practical ones, finding black and white thread he knew Hannah would need, remembering when in the dead of night, so not a soul would see her tears, she would, tearfully, unravel her favorite, most white handkerchiefs that were once their mother's or older sister's. Now, she never would have to shed tears over beloved objects. With needles, he chose a small packet of ranging sizes for all kinds of materials, and a ball the color of the country's national color filled with some sort of bead to stick them in, one she could attach to her wrist by velcro.
When Joseph headed to the front, he found Hannah held nothing to buy, like he expected, but instead looked down trodden. He did not even need to ask before she replied, voice soft, "It's all to expensive."
"I'm sorry, Hannah. I found some things you can use though." He held up his things and Hannah's eyes sparkled. "I'll pay for them."
She frowned now, "Lukey, no. I can." She went to reach for her apron to pull out her pouch, but he beat her too it, taking out his own leather pouch and setting the things on the counter to the finely dress woman.
He smiled charmingly at her, noting she was about Hannah's age, and said in a suave voice, "Ignore my sister, she's having mental problems currently, a donkey knocked her into a cart of watermelon a few months ago. Can you be a princess and ring up my things?"
The girl blushed, ducking her head, dark brown eyes shimmering in appeasement. Her dark brown, almost black, hair swayed against her back in its low ponytail as she rung up the things Joseph wanted to purchase, telling him the price and paying it without second thoughts and taking the things in the cloth bag he was given, winking at her and earning a giggle.
"Thanks, sugar."
He then walk out of the store, leaving his sister to follow with a gobsmacked look. When they exited the store, she hit her brother on the shoulder, who merely laughed at his sister's expense. She glared back, huffing and crossing her arms before walking ahead of him, refusing to acknowledge him in her anger of being provided for. It was stupid, but she preferred to provide for her family and deal with her own problems.
"C'mon, Hannah!" He reasoned, "Now you can use your money to buy yourself a dress or somethin'!"
"I did not want a dress." She snorted. "I wanted to buy myself some fabric for when I patched clothes and get you and Daddy's new shirts."
"You still can get Andy and me new shirts! How much do you have?" He caught up to his fast paced sister, holding out a hand for her pouch. Reluctantly, she pulled it out, giving it to him in exchange for the bag of goods. Dumping the gold, silver, and copper she had into his large hand, he counted everything. "Yeah, you have enough to get Andy and me shirts. One each and leave some for you to buy yourself something. We need to head to the cheaper side of the city, though." He grinned at his nervous sister as he dumped her money back in its holder. "Mom always made the most money by heading over there on Saturdays and Sundays."
That got Hannah and she pulled him along, even though she knew not where to go. After some time, he took the lead and they set off on their adventure once more.
~CLUBS~
The nineteen-year-old smiled down at the soft cotton shirt the color of a fresh cloud, holding it up to the evening sun light so it glowed a fiery orange. Daddy will love this, she thought to her self in satisfaction. He'll adore it. Her father never got new things, hardly ever did she or her siblings save on occasions such as their birthdays, so she knew he would accept the gift she had gotten him. Joseph already had, wearing his fresh shirt proudly, showing his rippling muscles from years of heavy lifting through the short sleeved, peasant shirt, his in-need of mending one hidden away in her bag holding the needles and thread.
"Daddy's been needing a new shirt for awhile. He'll like it," she said to herself before folding it and placing it in the bag above her brother's old one, eyes glimmering in pleasantry.
"Of course, it's from the pauper princess of the family. He'll love it." Joseph replied, winking at a few girls who giggled.
"Pauper princess?" Hannah repeated in confusion. "Why would you call me that?"
"I'm not the only one. The whole village does," he explained. "You mend clothes and make them look brand new, you have the air of a princess without realizing it, and you over all would look like one if you were dressed in the clothes this city wears."
"I would not!" Hannah yelped in slight shock. "I'm the most ugly person alive, and it's only reinforced by the dirt and pimples on my face, my cracked, dirt covered fingernails, and greasy hair. My eyes are too narrow and my cheeks and nose too red. I'm ugly."
Joseph scoffed. "If you want ugly, take a look at the makeup caked chicks in this city." He pointed to an old lady going the opposite direction practically made of makeup, causing Hannah to giggle then- to her horror- snort, making her blush. The old woman scoffed in indignation and disgust, picking up her walk in the opposite direction. "You're adorable, and all you need is to clean off the dirt and leave those pimps alone to let 'me die off, not to mention clean your hair, and your pretty much a beaut."
It was her brother, yes, but being called beautiful, by anyone, and it had her blushing. She rarely got any complement on her looks, and being a city filled with pretty people made her feel far more ugly, so this did flatter her when she usually would scoff and call the person a liar. Hannah still felt it was a lie, however, she just did not enforce it.
Giggling with her apron front, she murmured delicately, "Thank you, Joseph." He smiled back, wrapping an arm to pull her into a quick side hug before continue his quiet flirt with any young woman passing in a skirt.
The two fell into silence, not saying anything, and Hannah looked to each shop window in wonderment, enjoying the site of actual glass windows, having never seen it except when she traveled with her sister four years ago to a village closer to the capital to help with a birth for a newborn baby which was laying the wrong way, apparently.
A dress caught her eye at one point, making her stop. She walked closer to the window, eyes scrutinizing the dress as she put her hands behind her back. It was a Prussian blue, falling to her ankles, she guessed, if she wore it. The top was a little low in a heart dip, possibly meant to show a little cleavage in tease, with scarlet red ruffles across the top, and sleeves that started just as your shoulders began to dip down and fell to the elbows before giving way to the same scarlet ruffles. The ruffles appeared silk while the dress in itself looked cotton, or maybe wool. It was a dress she wished she could try on, but knew she couldn't, not ever with how dirty and unruly she was.
She did however put the name of the place to stock in her mind, it being called the The Pauper's Palace. An odd name with how high the quality of the dress was, but who was she to argue? Maybe it was a ruse to discourage high-class people so the more poor could buy from there. What every the reason, she turned and ran after her brother, never noticing the man with kind green eyes and shoulder length blonde hair looking at her from the shop's window, dressed in a fancy violet skirt, ankle brown boots, and deep pink poet's shirt. He made a humming sound before the dress was promptly pulled from the window.
Joseph and Hannah arrived to the inn a little after sunset, finding Andrew in the dining area of the pub on the lower floor, waiting for them with a glass of water. He pushed his glasses up his nose as he watched his children come up, asking even before they sat down, "How did the day go?"
"Excellent." The two replied before looking to each other and grinning, saying, "Still got it!"
The older man rolled his eyes, pursing his lips which ruffled his peppered mustache, and sighed. "We'll. then, what do you have to show me?"
Hannah picked up her bag and pulled out the shirt, spreading it out on the wooden table delicately, as if it would tear easily. "We-" "You, Hannah," Joseph broke in. "I bought you a new shirt. Your current one needs a wash and some mending I couldn't get done in just seven hours."
He nodded. "Thank you, baby girl. It's wonderful." He picked it up, feeling what it was made of. "Wool?" He smiled. "I love it. Perfect for the upcoming months."
Living in Clubs meant two things: one; cold, freezing weather during the winter that killed most crops and two; snow unless you lived farthest from Moscow on the country's skirts, though you still got very cold whether that killed crops. They were said to most likely have a bit of snowfall that winter and Hannah wanted her family as well off as possible.
"What else is there?" He questioned after folding the shirt and placing it to the side. "Something for yourself I hope, such as a new dress?"
"No, I'm sorry," apologized his daughter, pulling out the needles, spools, and pin holder. "Just some things for my sewing kit." She sighed. "There was some fabric, but it was far too much..."
Andrew frowned. "Hannah, the money was supposed to be for yourself, not just your brother and I." At Hannah's shrug, he held out a hand. "Hand me your coins." She knew better than to argue and gave the pouch to her father, and he counted what money she had left before handing it all back. "Tomorrow, when we leave, I am going to send you to get something for yourself. Understand? You deserve something." He stood, setting down gold coins from his pocket. "We'll discuss the rest of this tomorrow morning. Eat some dinner then come on up to bed you two." He then left, heading up to the lodgings of the inn.
"Yes, sir." Both replied in sync again as he left, one feeling chastised like a bad pet and the other indifferent. Joseph looked to his sister. "You should have gotten yourself something, y'know."
"I would have, but I wanted to have enough for you and Daddy," Hannah mumbled, crossing her arms as a bar wench came up, asking for orders. "You guys need clothes for winter." Already, being here in Moscow, Hannah could feel the biting chill of winter, and autumn had barely begun yet. The fall harvest was brought in, and now they had to make due until spring sprung again.
Joseph shook his head at her antics, telling the wench to bring a jug of water and their house specialty, sending her off as soon as possible. "You need to start thinking about yourself, too. Everyone in our village worries about themselves, so you should too."
"It's not in me, though." She objected. "It's just not, and you know it! You all look out for me."
"You haven't matured enough to take care of yourself yet, meaning we have to."
"We'll, that's stupid! I can handle myself!"
"Fine." Joseph leaned back in his chair, pointing to a large man, dressed in the guard uniform. "Get him to give you a few gold coins."
Hannah looked between her brother and the man, mouth agape. "You must be joking!"
"No. Now do it, any other woman would be able to."
"By selling him their body!" Cried she in disgust, rising from her seat as their water was brought. She took it, taking a long drink from the jug before slamming it to the table and heading upstairs in disgust at her brother for proposing she try to get the man to give her money.
Upstairs, she found the room she would share with her brother and father, the latter of who was already asleep, and shed her apron, skirt, vest and shirt, leaving her to change into her nightgown before climbing into her bed, a simple cot on the floor with thick blankets. Rolling to face the wall before settling to laying on her stomach, hands on top of one another under her right cheek.
Lying there, thinking, she realized maybe coming here wasn't going to be a simple trip like she had thought. Their was a coronation tomorrow for her new king, and she was being sent into a city she had no sense of direction in, looking like a pauper, just like in the story the Prince and the Pauper, only she was a girl and there was no princess to trade places with. The worst thing was, she knew she didn't have enough to even buy a shirt, let alone a dre-
Her thought process slowed at that, thinking of the dress she saw earlier in the shop called The Pauper's Palace, maybe there was something their she could find, even that dress she liked. It wasn't very sensible, getting a dress that would be ruined by yard work and baby food, but it was a thought to indulge, her father always wanted her to, and her brother continuously pushed the prospect of indulgence on her part. Hannah decided then to return to that shop the next day as soon as her father set her loose.