(Captain Krzysztof Arciszewski / Elisabeth Stuart POV)
"Your Majesty, my orders are clear and I am at your full disposal." (Krzysztof Arciszewski)
"Admiral, is it safe?" (Elisabeth Stuart)
"I'm not an admiral, but a captain. Hetman's fleet is commanded by Admiral Dickmann, but due to his old age, he spends his time only on land. As for safety, I can guarantee safety at sea, and on the land, you are Hetman's family, I do not know a fool who would like to provoke him. Especially now... Lady Elizabeth is pregnant." (Krzysztof Arciszewski)
"When will we be in Gdańsk?" (Elisabeth Stuart)
"If we leave tomorrow, it will be in about four days, Your Majesty. No more than five, even in bad weather." (Krzysztof Arciszewski)
"So we will leave tomorrow afternoon, thank you, Captain... and I entrust our safety and protection to you." (Elisabeth Stuart)
(End POV)
Every day Elisabeth got bigger and bigger, I wasn't sure if right now it wouldn't be easier to jump over her than to walk around her... but with each day it also brought me closer to the birth of my baby, everything was prepared, the midwives were ready, the children's room was also ready... only I was not ready.
I was trying to keep myself busy to pass the time. I supervised the construction of Batory's Column and the race and equestrian track, both facilities will be ready in a few months, probably not later than in the spring of 1641... I was also working on subsequent editions of the newspaper and colored the further story of Father Robak.
"Lord, Prince Jerzy Rakoczy has arrived with his entourage." (Wroński)
It was a surprise to me, I expected an answer from the ruler of Transylvania, but I did not expect a personal visit.
"Wait... prince, but father or son? Because they both have the same name." (MC)
"More like a son, not more than 25 years old." (Wroński)
"Take him to the living room... you know what to do." (MC)
"And when will you go and greet him, Lord?" (Wroński)
"At the moment I am dealing with important government duties... he is young, he can wait." (MC)
I wanted to let him know that he is not someone important and that he should know his place... it's like during the wedding night.
First undress so your wife knows that you are not embarrassed. Then punch her in the face to let her know you are not afraid of her, and then jerk off to let her know you don't need her... the perfect wedding night.
It was also an opportunity to test his patience... three hours later, I woke up in my armchair and summoned Wroński and ordered him to bring the future ruler of Transylvania to my office.
"Greetings Prince and welcome to Warsaw. Please forgive me for such a late greeting, but state matters are more important than private matters. Please rest, the servants will serve wine soon." (MC)
Young Rakoczy did not make any impression on me, he was neither ugly nor handsome. Good stature, not fat, good manners, did not look nervous or stressed. When he entered the office, he first took a small step back, as if he was afraid of an ambush or had seen something unpleasant.
"Prince Jazłowiecki, my father sends a letter..." (Jerzy II Rakoczy)
I read it quickly. The old fox agreed to the marriage proposal, but he raised the stakes, he wanted to win as much as possible for himself... which was something normal, if he did not, I would suspect that he was up to something... I gave the letter to the young prince and told him to read it.
"As you can see, your father agrees to this marriage, but I believe that this matter concerns you and my adopted daughter the most. Therefore, it would be appropriate for you to get to know each other first..." (MC)
It caused a surprise on Rakoczi's face, such an approach to the matter was rather unusual, but I was also able to gain his trust thanks to it.
"Katarzyna is my friend's daughter, we fought together in the Empire against a Protestant..." (MC)
A grimace of dissatisfaction appeared on Rakoczy's face. I knew he was a Calvinist and he did not like this remark.
"Unfortunately, my friend was killed and for his merits on the battlefield the previous Emperor awarded his children with hereditary titles of Prince of the Reich. Katarzyna also has a brother. Piotr studies in Rome under the care of Pope Urban's nephew." (MC)
"Thank you for the information and thank you that the Prince takes my opinion into account, despite my father's consent." (Jerzy II Rakoczy)
"Marriage is a serious matter, you take a wife for life, and until you die, so I believe that you should not make rash decisions." (MC)
I felt like a spider setting a spider's web for an unaware fly... a very nice feeling.
"Your father asks for the dowry in the letter. Katarzyna has no land, but as her father I will provide the right amount of gold... I think that 200,000 Polish ducats will be enough, and if Katarzyna becomes pregnant and has a son... I will give you Wallachia." (MC)
It was a shock and a surprise for my future son-in-law... I gave him a whole country that wasn't even mine.
"Please forgive me, but I think the prince is joking... Wallachia is not yours and there are still Turks." (Jerzy II Rakoczy)
"Turks? According to the treaty, Transylvania and Wallachia remain neutral. They cannot ally themselves with the Ottoman Empire or the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, there is no record anywhere that they cannot fight each other. If Wallachia attacks you, you must defend yourself." (MC)
It was enough to arouse his curiosity.
"And he will attack us? And if we fight then how is this gift?" (Jerzy II Rakoczy)
"There must be a wedding and a baby first, explanations can wait." (MC)