Escape from Servitude : Chapter 4

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Sweden's POV

Finland and I were continuing our journey to Sweden. Without a ship, we had to travel by land and this made the journey much longer. I didn't really mind though. Ships were quite small and there wasn't much to see. This way, I had a much more beautiful view…

Finland seemed in good spirits, maybe due to the good weather. He was skipping along ahead of me, occasionally stopping to pick some new flowers to add to his bunch. In all honesty, some of them were only weeds, but he found them pretty so I decided against telling him.

He was happily humming a cheerful tune – one I had often heard him humming as he did his chores. I had memorised the melody perfectly over the years and, although I remained silent, I was following every note in my head. I have wondered many times what the tune was… Maybe I should ask him.

"Finl'nd." He stopped and turned around to face me. Now that I had his attention, I continued.

"What is that tune yer always hummin'?"

"Oh this? It's the Finnish drinking song!" he replied happily.

I was a little taken aback. I had always envisioned it as a song about love or nature, but somehow the revelation didn't change the fact that it was beautiful hearing him hum it.

He started humming again as he added another weed to his mismatched bunch and I found myself falling even deeper in love with him.

Finland's POV

It was late afternoon when we arrived in a small village along the main road. It consisted of a farm, an inn, about a dozen houses and a few market stalls. It was pretty busy for all the size it was but I was happy to be amongst society again.

There was a small group of children playing near the hitching post outside the inn. Two of them ran when they caught a glimpse of Sweden's face. I didn't blame them – his neutral expression looked like he'd just committed a murder and was planning his next one.

The one child who didn't run was wearing a dusky blue dress and had a look of pure terror on her face. The poor girl must've been too scared to move.

"Don't be afraid, little one," I said with a gentle tone. "Here." I held out my bunch of beautiful flowers to her. She took them without a word, but she did give me a shy smile before running off.

Sweden and I passed a little stall selling loaves of bread. They looked so good, and I'd been living on crackers for so long. My stomach craved a substantial meal. I had no money though, so I forced myself to look away.

"How much?" I heard Sweden's deep voice behind me and I spun round as he handed a few coins to the merchant.

"You have money!?" I asked in disbelief, a little louder than I intended.

"Yeah, I've b'n plannin' this a while." I was impressed at how prepared he was for what seemed like such an impromptu get away.

"How much have you got?" I inquired.

"Not much," he confessed and I was a little disheartened.

"It's gonna rain," he announced suddenly. The sky looked normal to me so I briefly wondered if he had some sort of sixth sense – like an animal.

"Shelter," he said, grabbing me by the wrist and leading me towards the inn.

"But can we afford it?" I questioned but he didn't answer.

Inside the inn, I waited by the door as Sweden offered to do odd jobs in exchange for our room and board. It'd be nice to sleep in a real bed for a night and have a roof over our heads – especially if Sweden was right about the rain coming tonight.

Alas, Sweden returned with a solemn look and shook his head. My heart dropped. I had been fantasising about a nice warm bed and now my dream had been taken for me. I didn't want him feeling guilty though, so I hatched a plan… As soon as we were out the door, I scanned the area to make sure we were alone, and then pulled Sweden towards the stables.

The building had six stalls – three on each side. A big black horse stood silently in one of them, but the rest were empty. We picked a vacant one at the back and made ourselves comfortable on the clean, dry straw. Sweden immediately pulled out the loaf of bread, and broke it in two, handing me the slightly larger half. I thanked him and started to eat happily. After all those crackers, the soft texture was heavenly.

Darkness was approaching, and with it came the rain – light at first, but before long the drops were pelting the roof of our secret shelter. I decided it was time…

"I got a way to make a rough night better!" I announced, pulling a bottle out of my camping bag.

"Fin, where did ya get that?" Sweden asked, concerned.

"Swiped it in the inn. That innkeeper was being so mean, and besides, it's been way too long since I've had vodka."

...

SWEDEN'S POV

I had never been one for drinking, but at Finland's request, I tried some. The taste was sharp and unpleasant. Despite that, he was drinking it down as if it was water, and all the while getting giddier. He convinced me to take a few more swigs, and I obliged.

While drunk, his guard came completely down. He seemed much more at ease with me and he was opening up and recounting funny stories from his past. I only nodded and made sounds of agreement. I wanted him to keep talking to me like this, even if it meant I never got another word in as long as I lived.

When I awoke the next morning, I had a sharp pain in my temple. I rubbed it in an attempt to sooth it. I wished that horse would be quieter…

My heart stopped. There was a man in the stable, tending to the horse. If he caught me and Fin… who knows what would happen to us. I placed my hand on his shoulder and shook him awake, pressing a finger to my lips to convey the importance of him remaining quiet.

Miraculously, the man left promptly with the horse in tow and Fin and I were able to sneak away unnoticed.

...

Finland's POV

After that night, we passed through many villages on our journey along the main road, but our nights were mostly spent in our sleeping bags, under the stars. Opportunities like the night in the stable were few and far between.

Somewhere along the way, we took a branch of the road that hugged the coastline closely. We were looking for a town with a harbour, and a boat ready to set sail to Sweden.

Our luck seemed to be non-existent. We had passed through many settlements, but most were only small fishing villages with small boats that would not survive the high seas. The others were towns which had huge ships, but none willing to sail to Sweden because of the political relations between the countries.

As we travelled further north, we noticed a cosy-looking house ahead. I started to get the sense that I'd been here before. Yes! I had been here before! I knocked on the door and waited as patiently as I could. The excitement was already bubbling inside.

The door opened with the words "Hello? Yes? Who is there, please?" and it was exactly who I hoped it would be.

"Estoniaaaaaaaa!" I cried, launching myself at my old friend. I could feel the tears forming in my eyes. It had been so long. I hadn't seen him since before the beginning of the Kalmar Union.

"Oh wow! Hi Finland," he said in surprise. "Why are you here?"

"Oh, I missed you so! You have no idea!"

"Okay and who is this person behind you?" Estonia inquired calmly, before suddenly screaming. "Holy Martin Luthor is he scary!"

"What?" Sweden asked, sounding quite annoyed.

"I tried very hard not to say that to him and you just spit it out like it was nothing. Now you've made him angry," I cried, loud enough to stress he shouldn't've said that, but hushed enough that Sweden would not hear.

"Alright sorry he just terrifies me," Estonia whispered to me before addressing Sweden, somewhat nervously.

"Um… I'm terribly sorry for being so rude. Please forgive me. So… yes… well, I am called Estonia"

"Ja, well I am Sweden," he replied and then gestured towards me. "This is my wife."

Hold on, what!? Wife? What are you saying, Mr Sweden?

Inside I was starting to panic. I was hoping this was some kind of joke.

"Huh? Hey, don't be so silly. Why would you say something like that?" I asked anxiously.

Sweden just stared at me – not a hint of amusement on his face. "Hm…" was his only audible reply and he sounded serious.

Well this was awkward and all I could do was laugh nervously and wish something would happen to bring this weird atmosphere to an end. Estonia must have sensed my thoughts because he invited me and Mr Sweden in to rest and restock our supplies for the rest of our trip.

Inside the familiar old house, I felt much more at ease. Latvia was there too and I chatted animatedly to both him and Estonia as we gathered some food, water and extra blankets. It was just like old times.

SWEDEN'S POV

Once we entered Estonia's house, Finland became very chatty, just like that night in the stable – only this time, there was no vodka involved. He seemed to be good friends with Estonia and the shorter country who was also there. They conversed so easily as they bustled around the house, collecting this and that. I didn't want to intrude on their time together, so I opted to just observe, like I often did back at Denmark's house.

Back then, Finland had been quite close to Norway. They were able to chat and spend quality time together, but it was nothing like this. Finland seemed so happy – so at home. I wanted him always to be happy like that, but right now, it wasn't something I was able to make happen.

It made me jealous that other countries could evoke these reactions from him while I couldn't, but the important thing was that Finland was happy, so I decided to invite the two to come with us back to Sweden. That way, Finland would always have friends, and always be happy, and I would always see him smiling like he is now.

My house had been empty a long time, and would definitely need work done to make it liveable again, but I had the skills necessary and the willingness to fix it up and add on more rooms to accommodate our new companions. In my head, I was already planning where it would be best to add the rooms and what type of wood I would use for the new bedframes.

"Hey you there," I announced. "And the little one too, I want you to come with me."

"Oh! Sorry, we can't do that, right Latvia?" Estonia apologised.

The little one, who I now knew to be Latvia, chimed in. "Yes! That's right! We would have to be asking Mr Poland first."

"We can wait."

FINLAND'S POV

Estonia informed Poland of Mr Sweden's intentions, and we had received word that Poland would be arriving the following day, so Estonia offered to put us up for the night.

The house had only one spare room, and Estonia offered it to Sweden and allowed me to stay in his room. I was glad I didn't have to share a bed with Sweden after that wife comment earlier. Just what did he think I meant by running away with him?

Clad in a set of Estonia's pyjamas, I climbed into the bed with him. As young countries, we often had sleepovers together and we would talk about our dreams of becoming big strong countries with lots of weird and interesting traditions. We had a bet going about which of us would have the most outlandish tradition in the future. So far, I was winning with the Finnish custom of relaxing in a hot sauna before dashing outside into a cold lake. Estonia was still determined to beat me.

This sleepover was a little different though. The atmosphere was much more tense. I confessed to Estonia that Mr Sweden may have brought us here on purpose to get him and Latvia to join us. After all, every country had that dream of being a big player and Sweden was certainly scary enough and powerful enough to create a vast empire. I'm sure he could rule the entirety of Northern Europe if he put his mind to it.

In turn, Estonia confessed his concern about my future. He even tried to convince me to stay with him. Truthfully, I could probably have been happy staying here, with my best friend, living under Polish rule, but I wanted more than that. I'd spent so long being ruled by Denmark and I didn't want to be bullied by powerful countries anymore.

With Sweden, I was treated better than I had been previously. We'd been travelling together quite a while, and although he still seemed pretty scary, he had taken care of me and protected me, and not once had he ever bossed me around. I didn't know what would come from going to Sweden's house, but I wanted to find out. It could be a big opportunity for me.

SWEDEN'S POV

It had been strange spending the night alone, after so many nights of sleeping with Finland by my side, but I couldn't argue with the sleeping arrangements after they had been kind enough to let us stay.

The next morning, Poland showed up, accompanied by his friend (who Finland later informed me was Lithuania).

Poland had a sort of arrogance about him, standing his ground with his hands on his hips.

"They filled me in," he began. "So, you're Sweden, huh? Do you have a pair on you or what? You can't just show up and try to take what's rightfully mine. Estonia and Latvia are staying." His tone raised into a sing-song voice at the end, emphasising his confidence.

"How come?"

Poland seemed taken aback. "What? How come? Well… it's like this…I mean, I…they both belong to me, and I don't like you so…

I just looked at him, as he tried to find the words to make his point.

"…. I will never, like, ever give them to you so sit on that!"

"I see." I guess I've done all I can. It'll just be Finland and me from here on out.

Both of us stood silent as I contemplated this outcome. I had been caught up in the idea of us all living together so it had been a bit of a disappointment, but there was nothing else I could do.

All of a sudden, something very odd happened. Poland, who was now hiding shyly behind Lithuania, offered half Estonia and Latvia's land to me. I'm not sure why he did so, and this wasn't the outcome I wanted – I wanted them to come live at my house. Still, this was more than I thought I was getting so I accepted – after all, anything that helped me gain power in the region was taking me in the right direction.

In addition to this, Poland offered us a fleet of 19 ships for our journey back to Sweden. This would afford us protection throughout our travels, and a means to carry all the Estonian and Latvian tradable goods we had been gifted with.

FINLAND'S POV

I sighed happily. It was so nice to be on a boat and not have to walk anymore. The rest of the journey would be plain sailing – literally. It was very kind of Poland to help us out so much, but I think his willingness to help was mostly influenced by how intimidating Sweden looked back in Estonia's house.

The weather had been favourable so far, and everything had been going smoothly. That is, until we were passing the small island of Bornholm…

In the harbour, I could make out a fleet of ships, only about 10 of them, but I recognised them immediately as Danish ships.

"Sweden! Danish fleet, portside!" I proclaimed, and all of a sudden, everyone was on edge.

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DENMARK'S POV

Losing Sweden and Finland as my lackeys sucked, and I knew I wouldn't be able to convince them to come back to my house, but that didn't mean I didn't want revenge. Sweden was going to get what was coming to him.

I had taken a small fleet of ten ships with me and we were currently anchored in the Bornholm harbour. Bornholm was an island I owned, in the Baltic Sea between Sweden and I. We were planning a great attack on Stockholm and were confident we'd be victorious. The crew and I drank and made merry – there was no harm in celebrating a little early, right?

Wrong! A crew member ran to my side, announcing the presence of a fleet approaching, with the Swedish flag at full mast. I pulled out my telescope, and I could tell that the Swedish fleet had noticed us. We were in no fit state to fight like this – most of us drunk, and none of us prepared for battle. I made the decision to send three of our ships out, with myself aboard the first. Perhaps with so few, Sweden would view this as peaceful, and not engage us in battle.

As we sailed towards the foremost of the Swedish ships, I mentally tried to prepare my speech for the captain, but it wasn't easy with so much alcohol in my system. In closer range, I was able to tell that the Swedish crews had their cannons ready to fire on us. I had to tread carefully, or my fleet would be destroyed.

My crew grew more and more anxious with the situation. Many of them wanted to attack first rather than waiting here like sitting ducks. I could see their point – at the moment, we were totally at the mercy of the Swedes.

Some of my crew were already loading our cannons.

"Stop! Don't fire!" I yelled, trying to get my men under order.

Still, there was some resistance. "HOLD YOUR FIRE!" I commanded, but it was too late – a cannon had already been lit.

I watched in horror and anticipation as the cannon fired, and smashed a hole in one of the Swedish ships. There was no hope of peace now.

FINLAND'S POV

The boom of the cannon fire was still echoing in my ears. I was petrified. I thought the Danes were going to surrender but I guess I was wrong.

"IT WAS A TRICK!" shouted Sweden. "TAKE THEM OUT!"

Crewmen were running back and forth carrying cannonballs. The guns were firing almost continually. Everything was loud and fast-paced. I couldn't follow.

In the end, we captured the three ships, and Denmark and his crew were sent shamefully back to the rest of their fleet in their little wooden row boats. We took their magnificent ships with us, and any cargo they contained.

After all that excitement had passed, the rest of the journey to Sweden's house was uneventful. The house itself was nice but modest. I got the impression that Sweden had built it himself with his bare hands.

The house was pretty old, but we lived in it happily together and spent our days fixing it up. Sweden would take an axe out into the nearby forest and cut down trees for timber. Once felled, I helped with chopping the wood into more manageable pieces and within months, I was noticing a definite gain in muscle mass.

That wasn't the only place I was increasing in size. With the money that we had gained from Poland, Sweden had been buying a lot of sweet foods, and delicious ingredients for cooking tasty, lavish meals. With eating so well, day after day, I had developed a chubby little belly which Sweden often commented on, calling it "cute".

My own clothes started to feel tight around my new tummy, and Sweden, who I had now taken to calling Sve, offered me some of his old clothes. At first, I was reluctant to accept them because they looked super expensive.

"Sve, are you sure this is ok? They look kinda expensive…" I asked uncertainly.

Sve grunted in agreement. "Those were my fav'rite"

I put them on and did my best to get them to sit right but I simply couldn't. They were much too big for my short frame, and the fabric was extremely heavy. I couldn't believe Sweden had always worn such heavy clothes since he was young.

"Ugh! It's too huge and rough and heavy!" I complained. I didn't want to be ungrateful, but there was no way I could do my daily chores in these.

"Um, Sve, did you know… Finland is smaller than other Scandinavians… You're 12cm taller than me… so… these won't fit me."

Later that day, after finishing my chores, I walked into the living room to find Sve sitting on an armchair with a pincushion on the arm rest, fastidiously working away with some thick fabric. I recognised some of the patterns of the fabric on the floor and I realised he was altering his old clothes so that they would fit me.