173 Barbarians

"Don't you look happy?" (Jerzy Ossolinski)

"Don't talk so much, just trim that hair... and no, I'm not going to wear any wigs." (MC)

"It's an important day, you don't get married every day." (Jerzy Ossolinski)

I wonder if those sentenced to death on the day of the execution feel what I feel right now m... I'm to marry a woman I hardly know and I do not love, in a church I don't attend, before a god I don't believe in.

"This should have been told to Henry VIII." (MC)

"With this attitude on your wedding day, more cheerfulness... for example, I look forward to the banquet after the wedding..." (Jerzy Ossolinski)

"Jerzy is not Poland and they have different customs here... so breaking cups or jugs against your head or the floor may not be a good idea... but why am I telling you this, you won't listen to me anyway." (MC)

We left the rented inn less than an hour later... I was riding a bay horse, dressed in a traditional Polish noble outfit on which I was wearing a hussar armor, leopard leather and a lynx hat... the whole picture was completed with a wing made of raven feathers attached to my saddle... and a group of one hundred hussars, twenty tartars and one alcoholic noble following me. Katarzyna and Galina stayed at the inn, taking my illegitimate child and my mistress to my own wedding could be in bad taste.

Of course, first I had a conversation with Katarzyna, I explained to her that I was doing it for the good of the country and similar things... luckily she is a child and it was easy to convince her, I didn't explain anything to Galina, I told her that I was getting married and that she would now have more free nights.

"We are getting closer." (Jerzy Ossolinski)

I'm fucking aware of it, I can see the Sint-Jacobskerk church... I still have a chance to escape, I can simulate a heart attack or that the horse was scared... and only stopped in Gdańsk.

Unfortunately, while I was thinking about it, I saw carriages approaching the church... moments later the siblings, relatives and guests of Elisabeth, whom I did not know, started to get out of them and then I saw something golden... it was Elisabeth wearing a gold colored dress and she looked like Ferrero Rocher... less noticeable would be the black guy at the Ku Klux Clan rally.

All this lasted for almost two hours, first there was a mass, and then the proper ceremony... and then the priest announced us as husband and wife, but there was nothing about kissing the bride... it was interesting, public kissing could cause a scandal, but public executions were carried out almost every day.

After leaving the church, a surprise awaited us, the hussars lined up on both sides of the street, raised their lances and created a tunnel under which our carriage was to pass.

"How are you my dear wife?" (MC)

I tried to talk to my new wife, but she didn't answer, her thoughts were far away. So I decided to talk to the coachman.

"Where are we going?" (MC)

"Your Lordship, to Ridderzaal." (Coachman)

Ridderzaal? Isn't it the Knight's Hall? Fuck... I don't pay for any damage. Although I am impressed how my mother-in-law managed to organize such a prestigious place.

"Elisabeth, we've got there." (MC)

I touched her hand because she still didn't respond.

"What? I'm so sorry, I thought." (Elisabeth)

I helped her out of the carriage.

"I warn you right away, today you can see a lot of unusual behaviors... you don't have to worry, and if you don't understand something, ask." (MC)

After entering the Knight's Hall, the servants took us to our places, and then they did the same with the other guests. On the right, Ossolinski, Czarniecki, hussars and Tatars were seated... the presence of the latter was already a small "scandal", Elisabeth family and her guests sat on the left.

The difference in the temperaments of the Dutch and Poles was immediately noticeable, the first dignified and serious, they did not smile much and the more time passed, the greater the differences was... and I tried not to even look at the other side of the room.vIt was enough that I heard them... fortunately for me they sang in Polish.

"The young couple is pretty,

but when the year passes

They will have children even nicer

Today's wedding, tomorrow's aftermath

We'll be going to a baptism in nine months' time." (Jerzy Ossolinski & Hussars)

Fucking Backstreet Boys

"What are they singing about?" (Elisabeth)

"Songs for the prosperity of the newlywed... nothing interesting. Tell me how you feel, this day must have been tiring for you." (MC)

"Today I just realized that I am leaving The Hague and will not see my family for very long." (Elisabeth)

"When your brother becomes the king of Bohemia, your whole family will probably live in Prague, and Poland is very close... aha... get ready, drink a little and I'll take care of the rest. (MC)

As soon as I said it, Ossoliński got up from the table, picked up the cup of wine and raised a toast.

"Health of the newlyweds." (Jerzy Ossolinski)

It was customary, Elisabeth and I drank from one goblet, I signaled to my wife to raise the cup, drank a little and then gave it to me... and I had to drink the rest to the bottom.

As soon I had done this, servant immediately appeared to refill it again... another person who raised the toast was Rotmistrz Czarniecki.

I don't know how many toasts were like, but the time has come for the final toast... Czarniecki got up from the table, climbed onto the chair and put one foot on the table.

"For the health of the horse." (Rotmistrz Czarniecki)

After a while other hussars, Tatars and Ossoliński did the same.

"What's happening?" (Elisabeth)

"It's an old custom of cavalrymen, your life on the battlefield depends a lot on the horse, and this toast is a way to honor your horse. You're a woman so you don't have to do it, but if you do, you'll probably win their hearts." (MC)

I got up from the table and did the same as my people, Elisabeth with difficulty because of her dress, climbed up on the chair and put her foot on the table... it was simple. Now you have to drink a whole cup of wine and not fall down.

I heard several bodies hitting the ground, and the sound of wood and glass breaking. I looked at Ossolinski and the hussars lying on the floor.

"Barbarians..." (Prince Charles)