Between Two Queens

4. The Journey to Court

A/N: this will be a long chapter.  I had to rewrite it to include a character that I previously left out.  I would of split it into two chapters, but I cannot add an new chapter between the existing ones.     

Srebinick, Bosnia, Febuary 1351     

     It was time for Elizabeta to leave Bosnia to live at the Hungarian court.  She had more than a year to prepare for this, but in a way she was still nervous.  Her father would accompany her to Croatia.  From there, he would take leave of her and return to Bosnia.  Elizabeta then would continue her way to the Hungarian court.  Among those accompanying her the entire way were Ursula, her cousin Maria, and the Hungarian ambassador, Marko.  

     As Elizabeta left Srebinick, the town of her birth, and her main residence, she looked at it, until the town was out of sight.  She wondered if she would ever go there again.  She wished her mother was still alive, she would have loved to talk to her about what it was like to leave Poland, and come all the way to Bosnia.  Since her mother lived at the Hungarian court before her marriage, she would love to talk to her about what it was like.  When Elizabeta's mother was not much older than her, she left her native Poland forever, journeying many miles over a rough terrain, and to the Hungarian court, and eventually she was sent to a strange new country, to marry Elizabeta's father, a man she had never met, who spoke a different language, and followed a different church.  A man her and her family considered a heretic.       

     When they reached the city of Zara in Croatia, it was time for Elizabeta and Stephen to say their goodbyes.  

"I'll see you again, my dearest Elizabeta." Stephen said.  "I'll be sure to come to your wedding, and to visit you in Hungary each year."  As a high-ranking vassal of the king, Stephen had been to the Hungarian court before, but Elizabeta being there would give him more reason to visit.  She should be safe at the Hungarian court, Stephen thought.  Safer than here.  

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Buda, Hungary     

     It was an exciting journey for Elizabeta and Maria.  The girls were looking forward to this new chapter in their lives.  So few girls had such a privilege.  As they journeyed across Croatia, the girls practiced speaking in Hungarian, and their court etiquette.  After days of traveling, they finally reached Buda, the King of Hungary's seat. 

     Dressed in their best clothes, Elizabeta and Maria walked side by side to the great hall.  Knowing that they were about to meet their King and Queen Mother for the first time, their hearts were pounding fast.  They took in the sites around them- they had never seen such an extravagant place before.  At last they reached the great hall.  There, Elizabeta caught her first sight of the king, sitting on a high throne, his mother by his side.    

     King Lajos was a handsome young man of twenty-five.  He was tall, powerfully built, with light brown hair and blue eyes.  His mother, Elzbieta was forty-six years old, but still looked youthful.  Her hair was covered by a veil, and she wore a glittering crown proudly.  Sitting near the queen, was a girl that looked about the same age as Elizabeta.  She looked like a younger version of the queen, and was dressed in extravagant clothes.  Who was this girl, Elizabeta wondered.  She knew the king did not have any sisters.  Could she be an illegitimate child of the king?  Then she remembered that was not likely, the girl seemed to old to have been fathered by him.  

     Elizabeta curtsied before them.  The king held out his right hand to her, and she kissed it.  "We have something in common, Lady Elizabeta." said Lajos.  "Our mothers are both named Elzbieta, and they are both daughter's of Poland's ruling Piast dynasty."