Prussia's Knighthood Reign Ch. 4

Prussia felt in a daze and winced as he was moved and being held, it only seemed to serve to make him feel worse he felt his throat tighten again and he hiccuped and coughed to cover the sound of pain he wanted to make.

"I'm a real g-good knight. I...I am the...t-the bravest....a-aren't I?” Walking down to the child's room, he closed the door, and knelt down, holding Gilbert against him, slowly stripping his clothing off, leaving him in the bare.

"Little one...whatever was the meaning of Baden treating you so harshly. What provoked him? Oh my little one." He turned the boy around, and gazed at the color of the bruising that was forming. Alaric just shook his head. "This is simply not good at all. You will be sore for days, and you cannot train in this condition. Stay right there, I must run you a bath." Gilbert still trying hard to be brave shook his head.

"It...nnggg ahh..." He felt freedom to make a few more sounds of pain around Alaric than he did with the others "B-Baden was making fun of me. He...he challenged me and so I took my trusty crop and whacked him good. I am sure he will be bruised for days worse than me." Gilbert said this, shakily trying to convince himself he had done worse damage to him.

Alaric filled the bath, and walked back to the boy, upon hearing everything that he had said, he got down on one knee, and pulled the boy forward.

"Challenging a knight as brutal as Baden was not a very wise thing to do little one, he is terribly strong, and could have killed you. However...he should not have been so harsh with you. And..." The knight still looked at the streaks and grimaced. "I am sure he is fine, though, give me a chance with him, and he won't be." The knight pulled the boy into his arms again, and walked to the bath. "I have added some salve to the bath, so it will not irritate the skin. You need the wounds to be clean, and then I shall put you to bed, as your body needs rest." With all this being said, Prussia was shaking his head, and was very unhappy.

"B-but I was brave...bravest knight!" Prussia said in his defense and then shook his head...I..I don’t want to n-nap owowwww" He hissed a little as he was once against moved around to the bath, it seemed every movement only sent burning waves all over him. "I...I was going to train today. I...I can still t-train. I don’t n-need an oowww n-nap." Holding the child still in the bath, the elder knight shook his head.

"Nein, Nein Gilbert. You need to keep still, and yes, you need to rest. You body went through a lot just now. Far too much for a boy of your age. Trust me, once the bath is over, you are going to relax, catch up on some sleep, as I still don't think you are well from the trip here, and then my main focus is on you when you are better." He washed the boy's hair, and then washed his body, careful not to rub too hard on the boy's backside. Prussia winced and tried not to cry out though even though he was light it still felt like fire the bruises had gone very deep and anything he did made them erupt with pain. But that was not what was bothering Prussia the most, he was now feeling upset that he was not being praised for his valor he was sure Vati would have been proud.

"B-but Alaric...aren't you.....aren't you proud of me? I didn't cry...and I was brave...and..." He knew there was more but didn't know how to state it right. Grabbing up a towel, and embracing the boy inside, he walked back to the bedroom, and placed the child in the bed. He then walked to the wardrobe and grabbed a nightshirt. He put it on the child carefully, and then sat down, holding a hand to the boy's face.

"I am not sure the words I would say are proud. Baden hurt you little one, and well...though I want you to be brave, sometimes it’s okay to shed some tears. I needed to stop him otherwise you would surely have been killed by the impact. Ja, I understand you are a nation, but you are a young one still at that. Now enough of this talk, you need to go to sleep. I have something to tend to, and then I will come back and check on you. Ja?" He stood up smiling down at the boy.

That wasn't exactly what Gilbert wanted to hear, but it was close enough though he did not feel like he needed a nap, he had to admit that the less he moved the less he hurt and he laid on his stomach and looked at Alaric and nodded .

"Ja Alaric..." He said dolefully feeling a little more alone than before, wishing and missing his Vati, sure and certain he would have been very proud of him.

Alaric walked out of the bedroom, and closed the door. Rolling back his sleeves, he walked down the foyer, and down near where the chambers were. As he reached them, he encountered the holding cell where Baden was. Varick was there, along with Heinrich. It looked like Baden was already roughed up, and this pleased Alaric.

"So...picking on a small boy. Have you no couth? He is very much hurt Baden...which is more than I can say about the way you are to feel." He looked over to Varick. "Fetch me my whip." He looked over. Varick nodded, and Heinrich tied Baden's hands to a wooden pole, and the knight was relieved of his clothing, upper torso and his back was bared. Alaric stood behind him. "Forty lashes sir..." Alaric started off with heavy swipes, making Baden wince, but not tear.

Prussia frowned as he lay in bed, he wasn't really tired, and he then thought of something he wanted to tell Alaric and carefully trying to get out of bed with the least amount of pain possible he started to hobble down the hall out of his room. He heard some noises on the other side and crept forward to see what the knights were doing....thinking they were doing some really awesome training. Alaric did not hold back, and continued striking the other knight with bold stripes. Baden gritted his teeth, but he was taking it surprisingly well. The head knight lifted his whip and landed it roughly on the knight's bare back.

"There are going to be some changes here, and you need to respect me, and the others. I care for this child like I did Mein own. I am not going to have anything happen to him while he is under my watch. Do you understand me?" He let the whip fall down again, and Baden kept his head held high.

"Ugh....I don't know why you care about a measly brat." This only made Alaric strike him harder. The closer Prussia got the louder the sounds were until he reached the chamber and peaked out from behind a pillar and his eyes widened as he saw Alaric with a whip and Baden there, now it seemed to Prussia it was his turn to be spanked, except he was being spanked in a much more manly knightly way, Prussia kept quiet and watched with intensity unable to take his eyes away.

"Say it Baden, say you were wrong in treating a child in such a way." He raised the whip and let it slice into Baden's skin. The knight just leaned his head down, and squinted. He then turned his head back, and spoke.

"You really don't get it Alaric...he is going to bring us down....and you are going with him!" Alaric stopped and with shocked eyes, struck the whip again. Crimson strands of blood rain down Baden's back. Prussia’s eyes went wide at the scene but he stayed silent putting a hand to his mouth to make sure of it, Alaric just raised up to several levels of awesome in the chibis mind, he believed in him, he really did. "Arghhhhh...just let me go Alaric, this is heinous and cruel. You realize I am going to be out of commission to heal with you doing this!" He roared his response, and Alaric delivered the last ten in rapid motions.

"Out of commission Baden? I think not, you will work twice as hard after I am finished with you. Your penance." He finished, throwing down the whip, and clasping his hands together. "You too will also apologize to the boy." He watched as Varick and Heinrich untied the knight. Groaning, and about to object, Baden's eyes widened as he saw Gilbert by the doorway.

"HEY! Little Arschloch!" Baden pointed, and this alerted the attention of the other knights, and especially Alaric. He raised an eyebrow, and spoke up.

"Little one...you are supposed to be resting..." Prussia had been so caught up he hadn't noticed he had peeked out too far from the pillar now he was caught and he wanted to run but in his state knew that would be agonizing and so he stood his ground fixed beside the pillar.

"I.....I was just, I thought you were training without me and...and I didn't want to miss it." He said, it was mostly the truth. Baden was breathing hard, and cursing about his back. Heinrich helped him, by putting his arm around him. Alaric looked back before responding to the boy.

"See that Baden is locked in his quarters...and then the both of you please see about getting to your other activities." The two knights nodded, and Baden just glared, but stayed quiet. Apologies would be later, when he was not so sore and annoyed. With the three knights gone, Alaric walked right over to Gilbert, and grabbed the child up into his arms. "He kissed the boy on the cheek. "You should not have witnessed that little one. Now come along, back to bed." Prussia winced at being picked up and his cheeks flushed.

"B-but I want to train...I am not too sore and it’s not fair! Can't I just watch as everyone else practices?" He said with a pleading look. Shaking his head, the knight needed to be a father figure now, and not just a knight.

"Nein little one, mind me and please have some rest. The other knights are not going to be doing anything extravagant anyway. Horse riding and what not, and since you are not ready, you will not need to care about that now." He brought the boy to the bed, and set him down again. "You are hurt Gilbert, and I need you at tip top shape."

Gilbert nodded, it seemed that there was going to be no talking his way out of this and he finally gave in and sighed.

"Alright, but if I get too far behind in my training and die a horrible violent death on the battlefield...I am going to blame you" Prussia said...though he was smiling a bit as he did. Sitting on the edge of the bed, the knight ran a gentle hand on the child's face, and smirked, but tried to keep a straight face.

"Oh little one...trust me, you are not going to get behind, this I promise you." He stayed there looking at the child for a moment, and then stood up. "Have a rest...it’s what you need, and then perhaps I will bring you something sweet. Don't be too proud to admit that you need to heal. War wounds are something we all receive, but it takes a toll on the body." He walked to the door, gave the child a last smile, and then walked down the hall to have a word with Baden.

The promise of a treat was good enough for Prussia and he settled down wincing and shifting as he did, it was difficult with the bruises, no position was truly comfortable and without pain, but finally managed and tried to get some rest. Alaric walked down the hall towards the knights chambers. His eyes narrowed and he walked and approached the knight's room. Not even knocking on the door, the head knight walked in, and there lie Baden on his bed. He looked up, and sat up slight, giving Alaric a smirk. Alaric did not see anything humorous about this.

"You just cannot accept new people in our Knighthood can you? I will tell you this Baden, you will approach the child and apologize in a suitable manner." Baden just shook his head, and winced as he sat up.

"I will do nothing of the sort. How dare you bring a newcomer into our castle, and none the less a child? You are living too much into the past Alaric. He is not Etzel, and will never be."

Prussia tried to sleep he really did, he rested as long as he could stand it, and if felt like an hour or so had passed he winced and rolled out of bed and looked out the window, there were the horses stables and a few other buildings of interest, he sighed heavily wishing he could go down and explore. Just glaring and walking back in forth, Alaric was more about keeping the peace. He did not like confrontation, fighting among his other knights, and he simply was not fond of his hurtful past being brought up. He simply just responded the best he could.

"I see much future in the little one. No, he is not Etzel. Etzel was never meant to be a knight. Rest Baden, because you have training later. I will not allow you to rest any longer than that." With that Alaric left, and headed down to the kitchen. He had the cook serve up an apple strudel, and with a little heavy cream, he took it, and walked down to the boy's room. Walking in, he saw Prussia looking out the window. "Gilbert my boy, why are you out of bed? You must rest some more. Here...I have brought you a large serving of apple strudel." Gilbert turned around and smiled seeing the sweet treat.

"I did rest....I am tired of resting. I am a knight, and I need to train." He said and went over to Alaric. "You know I am not a really little boy, I am much stronger than a human and I heal faster too." He said hoping to convince the knight, though it was true he healed faster, he still did not heal that fast, but Prussia liked to think he could. Handing the boy the bowl, and then he smiled.

"Okay then, if you are truly tired of resting, I simply cannot make you sleep, however, if you do feel faint, you must sleep." He then walked to the bed, and sat down looking to the boy. "I also believe you to be strong, and with you healing faster, I am glad. And regarding Baden, he is expected to give you a full apology. What he did was very wrong. That will never happen again." Prussia nodded and looked at the dessert.

"I don’t think I like Baden very much at all..." Prussia said honestly and took a mouth full of the sweet dessert and enjoyed the yummy sweet sticky flavor "Why don’t you just make him leave? Tell him to quit the Knights..."

Standing up, and placing his hands behind his back, while casting an eye on the boy. The child was enjoying his treat, and while his suggestion was very well indeed, Alaric shook his head.

"Oh my dear little nation. It simply does not work that way. We are all trusted by the Hochmeister. He hand chose us all, so while I am head of the order here, I simply cannot go ahead with that. I suppose there are ways around it. Eat up, and if you are up for it, we can practice sword fighting?" Prussia nodded his head and started to gobble the treat down then looked up putting the bowl down quickly trying to swallow a little too fast.

"I'm ready, I'm ready now." He said, thankfully the eating and little rest he had, made the bruises and the small cuts not hurt as bad to him at all. Giving the boy a stern and understanding look, he nodded his head, and walked to the door, opening it.

"Gut, grab your sword, it is time Gilbert. I will take you out to the courtyard, and we will practice on some bales of hay, and then after that, perhaps a little battle one on one."

Now this was what Gilbert had been looking forward to, he went to the chest and pulled out his sword, it seemed unfortunately a little heavier than he expected it...it was not light and cool like his crop.

"Are you sure Knights don’t use crops to attack with?" Alaric walked over, and lead the boy out towards the hallway. He responded to the boy's question.

"Well...a knight normally fights with a sword, and well something of a more dangerous nature called a mace. I will show you one out in the courtyard. And, well you don't like your sword? I thought you would be very happy fighting with a sword. I understand you are proud of your crop, but it won't really hurt one while you are in danger." He walked, and the two soon approached the outside.

"Oh...nein I like Mein sword, it’s very.....very gut I think...it’s just...I am used to Mein dagger and crop. The sword feels heavy." He said but didn't want to sound ungrateful. "Is it supposed to be this heavy?" Nodding his head, the elder knight replied.

"Ja, Ja little one. It is supposed to be heavy like that. You have to know that a sword needs to be heavy to slice through things, and make one's attack effective. I have retrieved the smallest sword I could find, but perhaps there is a smaller and less heavy one, but you yourself said you are strong. Come now...do you want me to find you another? I can you know." Prussia suddenly shook his head.

"Nein NEIN!...I like this one...its suits my hand and I like the color." He said and then looked to inspect the blade "Is it really sharp?" He said and started to drag a finger over the blade carefully. Smiling, but then stopping as he looked to see what the boy was doing, Alaric almost had a heart attack, and ran to the boy just as he was running his finger over the finger.

"Nein Gilbert! It is REALLY sharp! Don't!!!!!" Alaric's eyes widened as he glanced down to the boy, hoping nothing was too serious.

"Ahh" Prussia dropped the sword then with a clang in surprise. "Woah really Vati would only ever give me dull daggers....I didn't know it would be sharp." He looked at his finger it was only a small cut barely getting the first layer of skin, he put it to his mouth. "I will be more careful...sorry."

Walking closer, he knelt down and pulled the boy closer on his knee, and his paternal instinct had him grab the boy's little hand, and he gazed at the finger.

"Ah Ja, it looks like you are not in so much pain, but you need to be careful. A sliced arm hurts a lot more than a little nick on a finger." He smiled at the boy, and let him down. "I know you will be careful, but there are no blunt blades in the Teutonic Knights." He grabbed at his belt, and took a small piece of fabric. Bending down he took the boy's finger. "Here, this will cease the bleeding. Now then, go and stand a few feet from me, we will begin."

Prussia nodded, he had been so used to the way Vati did things that all of this seemed to turn him on his head, but he was willing to learn and he stood back to watch, excited at what he was going to learn to do with the sword. Having the child stand a little ways away, Alaric walked to one side, and held a hand to his waist. Behind the boy was four large bales of hay. He pointed to them, and cleared his throat.

"You will begin by dueling the hay. I want you to thrust, while breaking at the hay. Do it in quick motions, all the while "pretending" to protect yourself, as if there was an enemy knight in front of you." Watching this made Prussia feel excited in his chest

"I want to try, I want to try! I will kill those hay bales!!! I will splay their innards all over the courtyard!" He said feeling very very excited now about using the sword. Standing and now serious, Alaric nodded his head.

"Alright Gilbert...straight face on. I want you to stay focused and be serious. The enemy is right in front of you. They have pillaged the town square, and the villagers are in disarray. You must destroy them. Attack little one!" As he directed this, two knights came out with their own swords. It was Josef, and Mikkel. They smiled as they walked over to Alaric.

"Very Gut Alaric, he is getting trained." The head knight looked over, and simply nodded.

Gilbert nodded and frowned imaging the huge giant hay monsters were eating innocent villagers and he let out a battle cry and started to sling and stab the sword in a crazy archaic way that was random and dangerous to anyone within a few feet of him, hay was flying as he was screaming and slashing the sharp sword haphazardly like a crazed lunatic. Alaric watched, and as serious as he needed to stay, he found it comical with the way the child was fighting, but he was not going to stop him, he figured the boy had a lot of anger, aggression, and hurt to get out. He just let the child go ahead and do what needed to be done. Josef and Mikkel were impressed and Mikkel leaned in.

"Alaric, he has quite the fight in him. Its very impressive." Mikkel said this, and then shouted to the boy. "Get get'em Gilbert, you rouge fighter!"

"RRAAWWWWW and that is for Vati! And THAT is for taking Mein bruder you Austrian stuck up Shizer pig!!! I will ram this sword up your arshloch!!!" He screamed the hay bales now mowed down to mulch. The three knights watched this, but as soon as the boy spoke the words, their eyes widened, and Alaric jerked a little forward at the boy's mouth. He called out.

"Gilbert! Mind your tongue little one, you mind it! Language like that is not very gentlemanly!" Mikkel and Josef had to hide their laughter, but stopped at Alaric gave them a glare. He shook a finger. "I don't believe you should promote such language, so both of you get on with your training." He turned back to Gilbert, and continued watching. "Go on youngster. Get on with the next bale of hay."

Gilbert was gripping his sword so tightly in his hand that it felt a part of him somehow, he didn’t feel anything, no pain, no hurt, just him and the sword attacking the terrible things that had taken away all the things he loved so much, he barely heard Alaric over his anger and he slashed out at the other bale and started to scream again, unable to stop the swear words now. Mikkel and Josef were starting to walk back, when they both jerked their heads back at the child, and everything that was coming out of his little mouth. They stayed put, and looked over to the foyer where Varick and Gustav were now coming out.

"Here quick Varick, Gustav, come here! Check out what the Junge is saying!" Said Mikkel. The other two ran over, and could not believe it. Alaric also could not believe it, and looking over to his men, he then took it further, and walked to the boy, quickly scolding him.

"GILBERT! Cease the sword handling, and give me your full attention sir!" Gilbert was breathing hard, he felt almost numb from all the screaming and anger that had been unleashed when finally feeling free to attack, he was sweating and his red eyes seemed redder than usual the sword felt permanently stuck to his hand he stopped though when he heard his name called loudly and he stopped and blinked a few times, as if coming down from the rage he had built

"WHAT?" He said still wound up from his fight. Slightly taken aback with the tone of the little nation's voice, Alaric looked to the nation, and then over to the other knights. The four knights just kept quiet. It was just known, giving Alaric a response in that way was not tolerated. He turned back to the boy, and though Gilbert had just been punished, the knight was not going to let him get away with the horrid language that had been spat out forward. Though he would not spank him, he would give him a lovely dose of some lye soap. He walked to the child.

"Now, now young man...I am all for having you train, and really take a liking. I am proud of that factor, but under no circumstance are you to utter naughty language. Come...take my hand, we are going to take care of this right now." He held out his hand, and the other knights just watched, and talked to each other, slightly sorry for the boy. Prussia frowned a bit but took Alaric’s hand still clinging to the sword with the other hand.

"I...I don’t see why it’s such a big deal...when you’re fighting you have to say mean words...I HAD to say those things...you don’t understand!" Shaking his head, and taking the sword out of Prussia's hand, and setting it on the ground, Alaric said calmly to the boy.

"Nein, you are but a boy in my eyes. I don't care how old one is, it is not suitable language, and not appropriate even for a child. Now come inside with me, training will continue shortly after I take care of something. Even the knights don't speak in such a way." He lead the boy past the others, and looked back sternly. "Get on with your training, and Varick, do see about where Heinrich, and Baden are. They must get on with their work too. I am not about to have laziness today." Looking down. "Come Gilbert..." Gilbert now felt a little nervous Alaric seemed too serious about this and he was suddenly afraid of what he was going to do.

"W-what are you going to do to me?" He said nervously now pulled at the front of his tunic. Swallowing hard afraid of the answer.