Road to the Crown

"It all started when my father remarried."

Sitting on top of a small pile of hay that I brought from the stable, we actually had to cover ourselves with an additional layer of the clothes in order to fight the cold. While the booze could warm us up and the shack where the carriage was held could only shield us from elements like wind or potentially rain since no one was dumb enough to put a fireplace in an unguarded, wooden building filled with wooden vehicles, so we had to take care to keep the warmth from escaping ourselves.

"I was eight at that time, so getting a two years older brother was actually a happy event. Instead of being constantly nagged at for playing with the commoners' kids as our family rarely left the city for the countryside with how busy it could get at times, I finally had a companion to play around…"

Taking a sip directly from the bottle, she passed it back to me, while inhaling rapidly. On this cold night, for people unaccustomed to the heavier form of alcohol that their future generations would use to waste themselves, even this tasty liquor could hit with the strength of a hammer.

"At first, everything was all right, but with my father departure for the better world in the very last battle of the recent war with Muscovy. Despite his great achievements, that time was unfortunate enough, for his dearest friend and coowner of the city died without a descendant. Originally, they planned for me to marry his child so that my kid would inherit the entirety of the city, but in this new situation, I was the last person left with the blood and hereditary title that my grandfather earned. And with everyone grew up, that situation started to irk my brother."

At this point, I took a sip from the bottle myself. While some might point out that in theory, I shared an indirect kiss with her, in reality, alcohol even in this concentration would kill all the bacteria or disinfect the saliva of the previous user, making it only a mental enjoyment for people so lonely to start looking at such silly aspects.

As the warm feeling spread throughout my chest, I couldn't help but exhale in content. While the drink wasn't as strong as I would like a proper vodka to be, after an entire cup and a few more sips, I had to admit that my thinking was turning slow and fuzzy.

"The real problems started when my mother-in-law attempted to marry me off. Thanks to the timely intervention of my loyal servant who begged the province governor to extend his protection over me, as I was the rightful heir for the city, both my brother and mother had to pretend that everything was back to how it used to while waiting for my coming of age when the protection from the governor would wear off…"

At this point, I already knew the entirety of the story. The only thing left that made me wonder, was for how long did this girl manage to roam the world while wary of various assassination attempts! It was obvious that she ran, I could even assume that after the period of siding with her, the governor decided to switch the sides and for example, force her into some kind of marriage that would benefit the other part of her family as to appear as a just judge in the eyes of the other nobles around.

"... I ran away. With six knights to my side, four of which were poor nobles, I went from place to place, from city to city, looking for someone who would support my cause. But the further I went north or west, the less interesting this small city on the border between lesser-poland and red Ruthenia would be, while eastern powers could covet it and at best, offer their help in exchange for marriage and full inheritance rights to the city…"

I could see this situation very clearly. Most of the nobles were only focused on expanding the amount of arable lands they possessed, and the number of serfs working on their fields. With the unique system of serfdom where almost entirety of the folk lived on their lord's land and was allowed to grow their own food on it, in exchange for the harvest taxes and working a set amount of days on their lord's private fields, as the form of rent. For now, this system was still fair, since free-men could pick if they wanted to settle in a certain piece of land or not, but with the future reforms that bound the people to their land, this most numerous class of people would be effectively eliminated from public life, leaving only the nobility and rich at the wheel of the power.

While the folk still had the opportunity to rise from their low status by working hard, paying their overlord the full price of their land, using the benefits to work even more fields and constantly expanding their business to the point where their former overlord would notice them and use as the overseers of his other workers, there wasn't really many other ways a commoner could use to change his fate.

Content with this system, with only a few bright exceptions, most of the nobles preferred to live a comfortable life based on the income from their land, using the money from the profitable wheat trade to pay for any luxury they would like. Outside of owning the city and siphoning its profits to their own coffins, they couldn't really see the value of such an important trading port on one of the most important roads in the entire damned commonwealth!

"That's why your deal made me so happy. Instead of trying to take advantage of me… You are the first person who actually extended their hand to me!"

Maybe because of the influence of alcohol or maybe because living on the run put an enormous weight on her shoulders, when she finally got the chance to share this burden with someone else, Eila completely broke apart. With her words interrupted by her sobbing, tears started flowing down her face.

With the strings of my hear pulled so strongly, I raised my arm with the bottle as if I wanted to let her have a drink, but when she reached out for it, I actually grabbed her wrist and pulled her into my embrace.

"Calm down, everything will be all right…"

Even before she reached the legal age for marriage, she already had to escape her own home and wander around the land to seek backers for her cause. I wonder how many women from my times could find the strength to do the same!

Seeing such a strong girl breaking down in tears kind of forced my hand here, but to my surprise, when my arms coated around her shaking body, she didn't resist my touch. As I patted her back while running my other hand through her hair in order to calm her down, I could feel her sobbing slowly subsidising.

Taking a sip myself first, I relaxed my grip on her arms, allowing her to take the booze over.

"Are you trying… sob… to drink me silly and… sob… take me by force?"

What a smart girl! Most of the future generations of females would simply enjoy the drink without a care in the world for what would happen later, but taking into account that we only knew each other for a few hours, Elia was actually still wary of me!

"You are in no state for me to be able to enjoy even if I had such plants. Just drink up and go to sleep."

Maybe calmed down by my statement or resolving herself to toughen through whatever was going to happen, I could feel her modest bust rub against my chest as she took a few, sizeable gulps.

Already in a drunk state, this horse dosage of alcohol that I could recognise from the fact that after drinking she actually threw the empty bottle aside, made her instantly relax. Cuddling deeper in my embrace, she rested her head on my shoulder. With how we were together now, I actually grabbed the coat that fell down when I pulled her into my hug and used it to cover both of us.

"To finish the story…"

After taking her sweet time to calm down and stop her sobbing, Eila returned picked up her story where she left it before.

"During my travels, I learned that the governor gave my mother-in-law the right to govern the city in my absence. That's why I wanted to reach his place and ask for protection because without it, or without someone else to back my claim, I would be just killed off when the first opportunity would arise…"

Thinking about this while enjoying the warmth that we shared while covered by the coat, I realised that the solution to this problem was actually far simpler than I initially believed it would be! Instead of raising my serfs and causing immense damage to the fieldwork only threaten the other party into obedience, or using vast amounts of gold and what was even more important - time, on moving the governor to give the adequate ruling, I could simply pretend to marry with her!

"Listen… I think I have the solution for your problems, but I don't want to discuss it in our current state, so just let's get back to the inn, get to our beds and get a good night of sleep. Tomorrow morning, I will give you the good news."

After saying those words, I attempted to move up, but with the combined strength of dizziness and Elia pulling me down, I was forced to sit back in place.

"Are you really going to leave a damsel in distress once again?"

At first, she started with an accusing tone, but after realising what kind of meaning those words held, she actually lowered her head why snuggling up to me and continued.

"Don't leave me alone, just yet. Please."