The Woeful Tale of the Kingdom of Prussia [1]
The Woeful Tale of the Kingdom of Prussia
Pairings: PrussiaxRussia, PrussiaxFrederick the Great, PrussiaxFrance, and at certain points, the implication of everyone in EuropexEveryone else in Europe at one time or another. But the main romantic protagonist (or antagonist in certain parts) for Prussia is Russia.
Summary: From 1260 to 2004, the Kingdom of Prussia, and all his other titles therein.
Notes: This is my historical research demanding fic from me, and me trying to synthesis a lot of it into one story. There are certain pairings and situations that I love that will not be showing up in here however (for example, I love the Bad Touch Trio. I adore them dearly. They will not be anywhere in this story). Some warnings for the implication of rape and violence (This is history after all).
1260
The knights stared at the small albino child that stood defiantly in front of them.
“We shouldn’t we kill you?” the leader of the knights asked harshly.
“You can’t kill a nation so easily,” the boy sneered.
The knights howled with laugher. “You are hardly that,” the leader mocked. “Besides, your people are all dead, it would be no more difficult to wring your neck than a mortal boy.”
“You’re right, my people are all dead. That’s why I need new ones,” the boy said, crossing his arms over his chest as the tattered remains of his blood stained clothing whipped around him in the wind.
The knight kneeled down in front of the boy. “Oh?”
“You want to build up outposts, form a system here, maybe even become a kingdom. You don’t have a nation. You’d have to birth one, and raise it. I’m already established in this land, and I have no people. You have no nation.”
The knight raised his eyebrows. “Really? But you are the spirit of a nation we just slew. We’ve been fighting you these past some thirty years. We’ve killed all your people.”
The boy shrugged. “Only those that are strongest matter to me.”
1618
Prussia crossed his legs on the table in front of him and leaned his chair back, watching the man across the table from him warily. “I know you’ve been maneuvering yourself to control my lands,” he said, his arms crossed over his chest. “But I’m curious to know why you called this meeting.”
“Your Duke, Albrecht Frederick, is dead, is he not? I am the new Duke in Prussia.”
Prussia managed not to roll his eyes. “So, are you going to explain to me the point of getting my territory or am I going to have to listen to some useless and senseless speeches?”
The man smiled softly. “In good time.”
“I’m bored already,” Prussia declared, with an exaggerated roll of his shoulders.
“Not for long, I hope. Listen to what I have to say.”
“You’re not one with giving me much of a choice here.”
“As you know, my country, Brandenburg, does not have a nation representative as yet.”
Prussia raised his eyebrows. “What, you want me to be your nation or something? Seriously?”
“Hush and let me explain.” Sulky, Prussia pushed his chair back farther but fell silent. “Basically, to answer your question, yes. No, don’t say anything yet, in good time. We are barely a loose confederation of territory. We need a unifying force. We need more land. We need access to the ocean. We need strength. We have no natural barriers. At any time a stronger nation could decide to destroy us. We need everything we can get. We do not have the time to raise a nation spirit of our own. You, though, are a nation with no country of your own.”
“I still have my land,” Prussia said, stretching.
“But you serve under another country. How long do you think you’ll be able to bear that?”
Prussia scowled. “I’ve been bearing it well enough. Besides, even if I did agree with you, or decide I wanted something different, I am a representative of my people. They don’t want your leadership.”
“It’s true,” the Elector John Sigismund agreed. “As Prussia, I believe you would have to say that. But tell me, how does Gilbert feel about being only a Duchy? About not even being his own nation anymore?”
Throwing his head back, Prussia burst out into laughter. “Oh, you are good.”
The Elector inclined his head.
Prussia let his chair fall back to the ground and leaned forward on the table between them. “I cannot promise my people are going to greet you with open arms. I’m not even going to promise that I’m going to disagree with them. You want my loyalty? Earn it. You want theirs? Earn it. But we can certainly talk.”
1648
Prussia stood with Frederick William on some hill in their kingdom, looking out over the land.
“We have no natural barriers,” Frederick William said quietly and Prussia’s stomach twisted. John Sigismund had said the same thing to him barely thirty years ago, but he had no idea how true those words would prove. Others had ravished his land before, but then he’d had the option of joining them. He had not been pressed down by Sweden and then stabbed through the gut. His entire body ached, and the very thought of another country rampaging through him made him retch.
“Our army will be our barrier.”
24 January 1712
Sitting next to Frederick William I, King in Prussia, Prussia waited for news of the birth. The queen, Sophia, had gone into labor hours ago, and he was impatient to see the baby that in time would be his king. Frederick William did not look nearly as excited as Prussia felt.
Finally, a servant brought out a small bundle. She handed it to Frederick William, but he didn’t look like he knew what to do with it. Prussia leaned over to coo at the baby, and got a dark look from the father.
“One may only hope he grows up to be a strong king,” Frederick William huffed.
“He will,” Prussia said with assurance.
6 November 1730
Prussia snuck into the fortress and wanted to punch something. He, a great and awesome nation, had to sneak without his king’s knowledge, into a fortress, to see his crown prince. Of course, he couldn’t actually sneak all the armed guards, but he had snuck until he got up to the place. Then he threw his robe and hood back and glared at the guards until they let him in. While a nation might not have the political power, they commanded respect and no one questioned him going to visit Frederick, even though the king had ordered no one in.
The entire thing was ridiculous. Of course, since he showed himself to the guards, soon enough Frederick William would know that he had gone to visit the crown prince (if he still was the crown prince) and the king would be furious at his nation.
Prussia figured it was a chance he was willing to take. Frederick William could never really do anything to him, though he’d rant and rail and probably hit the nation a few times for good measure. It was what the king could do to his son that worried Prussia.
He opened the door to Frederick’s small cell, and found the crown prince standing at the small window, even though it was dusk and he couldn’t see out anymore.
“I hate him,” Frederick said softly. “And no one can know.”
“I can know,” Prussia replied, sitting down on the small cot.
Frederick turned to him and his eyes were still red and puffy. The way his bottom lip was quivering, Prussia figured he was on the verge of crying again. “Why did he do that?” he asked quietly. “Why did he kill him? Why him and not me? I begged and begged him…”
Prussia wrapped his arms around himself and leaned forward. “That’s probably why. You’re the one who ran away, and failed. Why didn’t you expect this?”
Frederick flinched. “I thought we’d get away and we’d be safe.”
“You had not guarantee of that,” Prussia growled. “None at all except the shitty word of Eyebrows. And he is not particularly trustworthy. There was very little chance of you succeeding and now you’re crying over the fact you failed?”
The crown prince’s face went white.
Prussia rubbed a hand over his face. “Look, you screwed up and someone other than you paid for it. Though,” he paused and let his eyes roam over the boy. “You’re certainly paying for it too. But you’re still the crown prince and you better remain so. Suck it up boyo. Be as groveling to your father as he wants you to be, or you’ll be executed next.”
“You’re just angry that I didn’t tell you about it,” Frederick sniffed, angry.
“DAMN RIGHT I AM!” Prussia bellowed. “Because if you had bothered to talk to me, I could have told you what an idiot you were being.”
“I can’t stand it anymore!” Frederick yelled and stood there shaking as he glared at Prussia. “I can’t stand him anymore. I can’t bear to live under him like this.”
Prussia rested his chin on one hand and sighed. “I know. But he’s still my king. But someday I want you to be my king, so I’m going to do everything I can to make that happen.”
“Why?” Frederick asked, sulky.
“Because you have too much potential to waste. Because you’re going to be great, and I’ll be damned if I let that pass me by.”
Slowly, Frederick stepped forward and sank down on the cot next to Prussia. “I hate him.”
“Then hate him. Just bury it and pretend you love him.”
“I hate Austria too,” Frederick said, crossing his hands in front of his face, his elbows on his raised knees.
Prussia glanced out of the corner of his eye at the crown prince. “Oh?”
“They want me to marry and Austrian choice, not a British one,” he said. “They try to control our court, as if we’re lesser than them. As if we’re puppets for them to move around,” he sneered. “I’m sick to death of them.”
Prussia shrugged. “Austria certainly does try to be high and mighty.”
Frederick turned suddenly to the nation. “Prussia,” he said quietly. “Do you love me?”
Prussia choked and turned to the other. “What?”
“You’re the only one who cares,” Frederick said quietly.
“What about your sister?”
Frederick looked at his nation like he was an idiot for a moment. “She’s not the one who disobeyed my father to be here, nor the one begging him for my life.”
Clearing his throat, Prussia shook his head. “Only because he can’t actually harm me like he can everyone else. I’m his nation, he needs me.” Though, sometimes the king seemed to forget that when particularly drunk.
“That’s not all of it though,” Frederick said, giving Prussia a long hard look and Prussia really did not like that. “You knew about me and him,” he continued. “And all you looked was jealous.”
Prussia snorted. “I do not get jealous. That would be distinctly un-awesome.”
Though when Frederick leaned forward suddenly to kiss him, Prussia did not object to it. Instead he tilted his head just enough to make the kiss actually interesting and pulled the slight prince to him. “You’ve got to eat more,” he said when Frederick broke away for breath. The prince laughed softly and shook his head before diving right back in where he had broken off.
Prussia spent the night in the small cell, and none of the guards had come to bother them. The next morning, when he returned to the side of his king, Frederick William was furious. Though, even the punch to the face he got was worth it. Now he just had to make sure the father and son got along long enough for Frederick to become king.
Pairings: PrussiaxRussia, PrussiaxFrederick the Great, PrussiaxFrance, and at certain points, the implication of everyone in EuropexEveryone else in Europe at one time or another. But the main romantic protagonist (or antagonist in certain parts) for Prussia is Russia.
Summary: From 1260 to 2004, the Kingdom of Prussia, and all his other titles therein.
Notes: This is my historical research demanding fic from me, and me trying to synthesis a lot of it into one story. There are certain pairings and situations that I love that will not be showing up in here however (for example, I love the Bad Touch Trio. I adore them dearly. They will not be anywhere in this story). Some warnings for the implication of rape and violence (This is history after all).
1260
The knights stared at the small albino child that stood defiantly in front of them.
“We shouldn’t we kill you?” the leader of the knights asked harshly.
“You can’t kill a nation so easily,” the boy sneered.
The knights howled with laugher. “You are hardly that,” the leader mocked. “Besides, your people are all dead, it would be no more difficult to wring your neck than a mortal boy.”
“You’re right, my people are all dead. That’s why I need new ones,” the boy said, crossing his arms over his chest as the tattered remains of his blood stained clothing whipped around him in the wind.
The knight kneeled down in front of the boy. “Oh?”
“You want to build up outposts, form a system here, maybe even become a kingdom. You don’t have a nation. You’d have to birth one, and raise it. I’m already established in this land, and I have no people. You have no nation.”
The knight raised his eyebrows. “Really? But you are the spirit of a nation we just slew. We’ve been fighting you these past some thirty years. We’ve killed all your people.”
The boy shrugged. “Only those that are strongest matter to me.”
1618
Prussia crossed his legs on the table in front of him and leaned his chair back, watching the man across the table from him warily. “I know you’ve been maneuvering yourself to control my lands,” he said, his arms crossed over his chest. “But I’m curious to know why you called this meeting.”
“Your Duke, Albrecht Frederick, is dead, is he not? I am the new Duke in Prussia.”
Prussia managed not to roll his eyes. “So, are you going to explain to me the point of getting my territory or am I going to have to listen to some useless and senseless speeches?”
The man smiled softly. “In good time.”
“I’m bored already,” Prussia declared, with an exaggerated roll of his shoulders.
“Not for long, I hope. Listen to what I have to say.”
“You’re not one with giving me much of a choice here.”
“As you know, my country, Brandenburg, does not have a nation representative as yet.”
Prussia raised his eyebrows. “What, you want me to be your nation or something? Seriously?”
“Hush and let me explain.” Sulky, Prussia pushed his chair back farther but fell silent. “Basically, to answer your question, yes. No, don’t say anything yet, in good time. We are barely a loose confederation of territory. We need a unifying force. We need more land. We need access to the ocean. We need strength. We have no natural barriers. At any time a stronger nation could decide to destroy us. We need everything we can get. We do not have the time to raise a nation spirit of our own. You, though, are a nation with no country of your own.”
“I still have my land,” Prussia said, stretching.
“But you serve under another country. How long do you think you’ll be able to bear that?”
Prussia scowled. “I’ve been bearing it well enough. Besides, even if I did agree with you, or decide I wanted something different, I am a representative of my people. They don’t want your leadership.”
“It’s true,” the Elector John Sigismund agreed. “As Prussia, I believe you would have to say that. But tell me, how does Gilbert feel about being only a Duchy? About not even being his own nation anymore?”
Throwing his head back, Prussia burst out into laughter. “Oh, you are good.”
The Elector inclined his head.
Prussia let his chair fall back to the ground and leaned forward on the table between them. “I cannot promise my people are going to greet you with open arms. I’m not even going to promise that I’m going to disagree with them. You want my loyalty? Earn it. You want theirs? Earn it. But we can certainly talk.”
1648
Prussia stood with Frederick William on some hill in their kingdom, looking out over the land.
“We have no natural barriers,” Frederick William said quietly and Prussia’s stomach twisted. John Sigismund had said the same thing to him barely thirty years ago, but he had no idea how true those words would prove. Others had ravished his land before, but then he’d had the option of joining them. He had not been pressed down by Sweden and then stabbed through the gut. His entire body ached, and the very thought of another country rampaging through him made him retch.
“Our army will be our barrier.”
24 January 1712
Sitting next to Frederick William I, King in Prussia, Prussia waited for news of the birth. The queen, Sophia, had gone into labor hours ago, and he was impatient to see the baby that in time would be his king. Frederick William did not look nearly as excited as Prussia felt.
Finally, a servant brought out a small bundle. She handed it to Frederick William, but he didn’t look like he knew what to do with it. Prussia leaned over to coo at the baby, and got a dark look from the father.
“One may only hope he grows up to be a strong king,” Frederick William huffed.
“He will,” Prussia said with assurance.
6 November 1730
Prussia snuck into the fortress and wanted to punch something. He, a great and awesome nation, had to sneak without his king’s knowledge, into a fortress, to see his crown prince. Of course, he couldn’t actually sneak all the armed guards, but he had snuck until he got up to the place. Then he threw his robe and hood back and glared at the guards until they let him in. While a nation might not have the political power, they commanded respect and no one questioned him going to visit Frederick, even though the king had ordered no one in.
The entire thing was ridiculous. Of course, since he showed himself to the guards, soon enough Frederick William would know that he had gone to visit the crown prince (if he still was the crown prince) and the king would be furious at his nation.
Prussia figured it was a chance he was willing to take. Frederick William could never really do anything to him, though he’d rant and rail and probably hit the nation a few times for good measure. It was what the king could do to his son that worried Prussia.
He opened the door to Frederick’s small cell, and found the crown prince standing at the small window, even though it was dusk and he couldn’t see out anymore.
“I hate him,” Frederick said softly. “And no one can know.”
“I can know,” Prussia replied, sitting down on the small cot.
Frederick turned to him and his eyes were still red and puffy. The way his bottom lip was quivering, Prussia figured he was on the verge of crying again. “Why did he do that?” he asked quietly. “Why did he kill him? Why him and not me? I begged and begged him…”
Prussia wrapped his arms around himself and leaned forward. “That’s probably why. You’re the one who ran away, and failed. Why didn’t you expect this?”
Frederick flinched. “I thought we’d get away and we’d be safe.”
“You had not guarantee of that,” Prussia growled. “None at all except the shitty word of Eyebrows. And he is not particularly trustworthy. There was very little chance of you succeeding and now you’re crying over the fact you failed?”
The crown prince’s face went white.
Prussia rubbed a hand over his face. “Look, you screwed up and someone other than you paid for it. Though,” he paused and let his eyes roam over the boy. “You’re certainly paying for it too. But you’re still the crown prince and you better remain so. Suck it up boyo. Be as groveling to your father as he wants you to be, or you’ll be executed next.”
“You’re just angry that I didn’t tell you about it,” Frederick sniffed, angry.
“DAMN RIGHT I AM!” Prussia bellowed. “Because if you had bothered to talk to me, I could have told you what an idiot you were being.”
“I can’t stand it anymore!” Frederick yelled and stood there shaking as he glared at Prussia. “I can’t stand him anymore. I can’t bear to live under him like this.”
Prussia rested his chin on one hand and sighed. “I know. But he’s still my king. But someday I want you to be my king, so I’m going to do everything I can to make that happen.”
“Why?” Frederick asked, sulky.
“Because you have too much potential to waste. Because you’re going to be great, and I’ll be damned if I let that pass me by.”
Slowly, Frederick stepped forward and sank down on the cot next to Prussia. “I hate him.”
“Then hate him. Just bury it and pretend you love him.”
“I hate Austria too,” Frederick said, crossing his hands in front of his face, his elbows on his raised knees.
Prussia glanced out of the corner of his eye at the crown prince. “Oh?”
“They want me to marry and Austrian choice, not a British one,” he said. “They try to control our court, as if we’re lesser than them. As if we’re puppets for them to move around,” he sneered. “I’m sick to death of them.”
Prussia shrugged. “Austria certainly does try to be high and mighty.”
Frederick turned suddenly to the nation. “Prussia,” he said quietly. “Do you love me?”
Prussia choked and turned to the other. “What?”
“You’re the only one who cares,” Frederick said quietly.
“What about your sister?”
Frederick looked at his nation like he was an idiot for a moment. “She’s not the one who disobeyed my father to be here, nor the one begging him for my life.”
Clearing his throat, Prussia shook his head. “Only because he can’t actually harm me like he can everyone else. I’m his nation, he needs me.” Though, sometimes the king seemed to forget that when particularly drunk.
“That’s not all of it though,” Frederick said, giving Prussia a long hard look and Prussia really did not like that. “You knew about me and him,” he continued. “And all you looked was jealous.”
Prussia snorted. “I do not get jealous. That would be distinctly un-awesome.”
Though when Frederick leaned forward suddenly to kiss him, Prussia did not object to it. Instead he tilted his head just enough to make the kiss actually interesting and pulled the slight prince to him. “You’ve got to eat more,” he said when Frederick broke away for breath. The prince laughed softly and shook his head before diving right back in where he had broken off.
Prussia spent the night in the small cell, and none of the guards had come to bother them. The next morning, when he returned to the side of his king, Frederick William was furious. Though, even the punch to the face he got was worth it. Now he just had to make sure the father and son got along long enough for Frederick to become king.