August 4, 1791 AD
A chair in a waiting room of a mansion. Serbia sits there, slouching, with her short brown hair covering her eyes. Her hands are resting on her knees, her fingers tightly intertwined. There are a few doors around her, a muffled conversation could be heard from one of them.
"I can't help but feel disappointed by all this. I really thought it would work" a male voice says and sighs.
"It is a shame I agree. At least you didn't lose that much. Your civilians and cities were spared at least" another voice replies.
"Yes. And I'll get to keep a little bit of land. It's good for strategic purposes if anything else" the same male voice replies.
Serbia's fingers clench even tighter. Very soon the Hapsburg Empire comes out. He straightens his formal attire and has a strange looking wig of long white curly hair. He notices the entity occupying his chair and quickly moves towards the corridor. Observing him the whole time, she jumps up and follows him.
"You could at least acknowledge me. I have been waiting for you whole day" she says with her voice raspy from anger.
Hapsburg presses his lips together and turns sharply towards his follower. "This is not the best time."
"Then when? After you sign it!?" Serbia asks with her lower lip quivering. "Have you even bothered to ask that the civilians be spared? Do you even KNOW what is going to happen to them after the Ottoman troops return!?"
Hapsburg clears his throat. "I think you are exaggerating. The only people who will be punished are those who fought. I'm sure the Sultan will have mercy for his own citizens" as he says this he continues walking.
"For the last time, my people are not Turks!" she screams and runs after him. "Let me talk to the other powers. I'm sure that if they hear my plea, they will spare my people."
"You! At the meeting with the greatest powers on this planet! Don't be absurd! You, my boy, are hardly a notion at this point" he says dumbfounded by the request.
"We are created from the same material, aren't we! Just because I don't have a red line around my boarders on some map doesn't make me less equal" she follows him relentlessly. "And besides, you lost the war, why should I be punished for it."
Struck by this, he stops turns and says with his nose high up: "I beg your pardon!"
She stands hesitant for a second and continues: "When I heard of you a while ago, I though you were this great warrior. The great Ottoman nemesis. I heard you even reached Skpoje once. That's why, when the prosecutions of local Muslims became unbearable, I led my people to you. And I thought that it was the best decision in that moment. You took us in, you planned to chase the Ottomans away. When we freed Belgrade and other cities in 1718 you started to rebuild and upgrade fortresses. I was over the moon. I even ignored the fact that all the major decision-makers were a Von, or a -berg or something like that. I was annoyed for sure, but I believed that anything was better than what I had previously. And, honestly, I thought you would get bored very soon and let me handle my own people but that's a story for another time...The point is, you didn't listen to my battle advice, ignored my experiences, my expertise. You just pushed me and my men into the front lines. Then, you lost, in 1739, and retreated and I had to take the wrath of the Ottomans alone. After that, we tried again in 1788 and failed and now you want to give all of my territory back. Why can't I at least tell my part of the story before you sign my life away!"
"Is that what you think?" Habsburg's voice cracks.
"Yes."
"Alright then. Come with me" he says and takes Serbia through the hallway to an unusual door. It was a part of a very thin oval shaped room that was placed in the centre of the hallway, not connected to any other wall.
Showing her the door, Hapsburg says: "Before you enter, kindly name all of the powers that will be there. I don't want you to embarrass me."
"Ok" Serbia says insecure "there are the Ottomans, of course. And a large orthodox country, Russia, that also fought the Ottomans but you never introduced me. Let's see...Your brother with the white hair that screams a lot...Prussia, was it? Those two names sound really similar now that I think about it. And then there's the English Empire..."
"It's the British Empire actually" he corrects her calmly.
"Right, sorry. Prussia and British Empire are Ottoman's allies. And then there's France, Poland-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Spanish Empire" she finishes feeling confident.
Hapsburg hides a chuckle with a handkerchief. "Poland-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Spain are not considered powers."
"Really? But what about the whole Hussar thing and saving of Vienna? I was sure they are important" she asks confused.
"It just shows how much you know, my boy. Now, you may enter" he says moving aside. Serbia eagerly grabs the knob and is surprised by a sharp pain in her hand. As if the door knob was made of fire. Serbia jumps back and holds up her scorched hand.
Hapsburg continues arrogantly: "Well well well. It seems that we are not all made equal after all. I told you my boy, time and time again, there are so many things you don't understand about politics and power. If only you listened."
As he says this, he opens the strange door with ease and enters. Serbia watches. There seems to be a circular staircase inside. The Hapsburg Empire lingers for a while standing on the first stair. "Don't ever talk to me like that again. Considering the circumstances I may be the only friend you have" he says in a serious tone and slams the door.
There is nothing else for Serbia to do but to cover her mouth with her heathy hand to muffle a scream. Not so much of pain but rather of desperation. She crawls into a ball and the frame slowly fades to black.
So that's the story for now. A lot more to come. I will probably reach 3000 views so thanks for that everyone!
P.S. I have to ask. Does anyone know what happened to Julian Assange? I mean where is he? Is he being tortured? I'm asking because there are no news about it. Bye.