Bastions
Chapter Fifty: A King of Peasants
Part 2
Prelude:
A coronation was always a great time for Prussia. Generally it meant fairs and tournaments and a great tour from city to city that included the King and most of his court. It would start at Mariengrád and work its way across the Baltic, then down into Krakow. Eventually it would wind its way to Kiev where the King would eventually receive the pledge of loyalty from the Sich of Azowia. For two King Doyváts it was a task done entirely out of duty. While previous Kings enjoy such journeys that included stops in places such as Hungary, Austria, Wallachia and the expanses of Russia; the journey of Gunwald II and his immediate heirs was much shorter. It underlined the effects of the great civil wars to cut Prussia back down to size. At one point there was no question Prussia was stronger than the Caliphate, but now they seemed on equal footing, though the Caliph was losing more and more control over some of his more distant provinces. But other changes were being made as well. Of course there were shake-ups in the court as the new King made his presence known. A bigger change was the election of Rurik Mársun as Patriarch of the Prussian Church. Rurik was known for desire to try to re-unite the two Orthodox Churches while trying to prevent the formation of a third in Mordvia. He was accused of Unionist sympathies, which modern history would support, but more than anything Rurik worked as a dim, flickering light of hope in the dark times following the almost complete collapse of Christianity.
May 13th, 1389
"And on the behalf of the people of the Kingdoms of the Prussians and in the grace of God I, Rurik son of Már, do crown thee, Doyvát Doyvátsun of the House of Leofric of Hwicce, King of the Prussians, Poles, Russians, Finns and Azowians and all the faithful Christians; Duke of Prussia, Livonia and Estonia; Protector of Hungary, Wallachia, the German Marches, and Bohemia; and Count of Mariengrád, Memelgrád, Kiev, Krakow, Riga, Æstlinn and so on and so forth. Rise now and assume the rule of the faithful Christians of the world." The Patriarch took a step back to allow Doyvát to stand up and turn to face the cheering crowds of people gathered in Mariengrád. Behind him were the tombs of the Kings, freshly opened for his father's body.
The freshly crowned King turned to face the crowd, consisting mostly of minor aristocracy and merchants from the Baltic regions. They represented some of his most loyal vassals, the core of Prussian authority. "My father had a goal for Prussia, but his respect for his father kept it from becoming a reality," he said addressing the silent faces. They all seemed to want to hear what was next for them: the direction that Prussia would be headed in next. "We sit on the edge of a knife, hanging just above anarchy. We look at states like the Caliphate and the Roman Empire and we can see where they go wrong, but here in Prussia we do nothing. What of strong states? States that seem to rise from the ashes of the Infinite War, what do we learn from them? States like England and Muslim Sweden? The age of petty tribalism and clannish sects is ending. Prussia must be united and it must be strong." Faces seemed to pale around the room, they knew what this meant: centralization. The merchants seemed pleased, but worried. Many of the minor aristocrats did not care, they had no authority anyway. But here in the North, along the coast of the Baltic, people knew all too well the horror of the great civil war. And in the south, where the Dukes and Counts valued their autonomy, this would not be seen as a positive thing, there will be war.
"I will do what I must," Doyvát continued, "To see Prussia stay strong. The Baltic and Black Seas are ours to rule: our ships will move without fear and the riches of the Orient and of the Occident will flow back to Memelgrád, the center of the civilized world. Any threat to Prussia from within or without will not go unchecked, left to fester for some other King to deal with. We have just finished another series of wars in Rome; access to the Mediterranean has been protected. This is only the beginning, we face many challenges before us and I shall ensure Prussia rises up to meet them, forever maintaining our place as granted to us by the power of our all-might Lord and the Son. Join with me as Patriarch Rurik recites a blessing."
***
The world was so much smaller from behind the silver mask, Sarah thought. From the eye hole she could barely see her plate let alone any of the guests. She tried not to look at Sophie, who happily hung on Doyvát as guests spoke with him and gave their congratulations for the coronation or their sympathies for the recent pacing of his father. She reached for the wine jug just as another arm extended into sight.
"I-I am sorry," Sarah said quickly, withdrawing her arm and placing her hand on her lap.
"No, it is I who should be sorry, one should always remember that women get first taste of wine," said a heavily accented man. She had to turn ninety degrees to actually see him: a strong man of about thirty-six, his face and scalp were shaved to the skin and his eyes were a bright blue color. He wore a red outfit, studded in golden fleur-de-lis. He took the jug and filled her cup back up before filling his own. "You are close to the master, King Doyvát, are you not?" he asked politely.
"I am his aide," she said honestly.
"Strange, to invite an aide to a state coronation," the foreigner said frankly.
"I am a Lady of the Kingdom!" Sarah said, "I am Lady Grey, both here and in England!"
The foreigner smiled, "I am sorry Lady Grey; I am Prince Gaspar, son of Sich Rollo." He put his right hand on his left shoulder as a sort of salute. "I have been tasked by my father to represent the Sich at the court of King Doyvát. If you are his aide, perhaps you are the right person to talk to if I need to be squeezed into his schedule."
"Why do you need to speak with the King?" Sarah asked flatly.
"Straight to the point," Gaspar said, "I like that. In the Sich you would be quite a catch, cool... calm... calculating..."
"Why do you need to speak with the King?" Sarah interrupted.
Gaspar stopped and tried to get a reading on her, but without being able to actually see her face he was just left sort of stumped. "I... uh..." The mask only had one open eye hole and inside he could see an unmoving and unblinking focus. A friendly smile crept across his face, "Of course. I am here to speak with your master, his Majesty, over a certain task that his father gave to my father. He had requested that we settle the horselords, the nomads of my people, and though we have tried we have faced a great deal of resistance. It was my hope that I could speak to his Majesty about extending the time frame or giving us a helping hand... or if he is willing, to forget this order all together."
The eye blinked a few times before she said anything, "I am certain the King can find time for a faithful vassal."
Gaspar nodded and poured wine into two cups, offering one to Sarah and taking the other for himself. He raised it in a little toast to her, "To faithful vassals of all sorts."
The next morning Doyvát sat on a make-shift throne in the dingy Mariengrád castle. Before him, kneeling and with his right first to the ground, was Gaspar. "Your Majesty, the son of your vassal Sich Rollo of Azowia: Gaspar of the Dormandies," Sarah said.
Doyvát rubbed drink and sleep out of his eyes and yawned before giving the sign to stand up. "Gaspar, Lady Grey has told me that that your father is finding it difficult to pacify the horselords of your land. It was a tall order when my father passed it, I'll admit."
"It makes me happy you are willing to heed your vassal's advice," Gaspar said.
"Did your father ever think to make this request to my father?" Doyvát asked as he signaled that he wanted a glass of water to one of the servants. Two glasses were poured and Doyvát stoos up and handed one to Gaspar.
"It was not my place to suggest it, though I assume your father would have had to same foresight as you. It is not just a difficult task, my lord, but nearly impossible. My father cannot settle the horselords. Nor could I. In fact, I am not certain I could settle the sons of the horselords when they rose to that rank. Your father asked that we drastically change our very way of life within a generation. It will take time to take such beliefs out of the roaming lords."
"I understand what you mean," Doyvát said reflecting on the difficulties he found with the Romans. "Listen, Gaspar, I wish for you and your father to continue doing what you can, but do not put yourselves into a position where we will face revolt.
"Then we must stop where we are," Gaspar said, his eyes darting away from the King who suddenly looked very serious. "And so should you."
"Why do you say that?" Doyvát asked.
"Horselords aren't the only people unhappy being told to submit to their liege's will."
I was wondering when the next update would be up, and BAM! there it was. Simply magic, and a great update at that.
