Introduction to the world of the Polish Exiles

Genre

Romantic High Fantasy, Alternative History.
 

Location

Alternative 19th century Europe.
 

Unique selling point

Follow a family and all its drama as it is struggling to reclaim its land in a time of political crisis and war.

Power is might. People can hide behind their pretty rules and laws, but that does not change this fundamental truth. All European monarchs know this, as well as all landowners. After all, if someone seize your lands from you, there is very little than anyone is going to be able to help you. Whether you have people living under your protection or you merely own a few yards of soil, you have to be ready to defend them with all your magic. And even when you do steal some land from someone, you will never again be able to relax, as the new enemies you have made will always be lurking nearby, waiting for any occasion to retake what was theirs...
  Currently building their forces to do so are the Prussians, French, and Polish armies. Prussia is gaining in power and is well intent on swallowing the Germanic states one by one, just as they have annexed a third of the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth. The Polish have not accepted this with good grace and are only waiting for another occasion to rebel. Meanwhile, France is eyeing uneasily this ambitious neighbour, ready to jump to the offensive to defend its own interests. Its own government has been in place for decades, but the government knows that as soon as it will released its vigilance, there will be yet another revolution.
  For the inhabitants of those countries, all of those create prime occasions to make their own fortune and seize some and and title for themselves. After all, when their leaders are occupied with such elevated matters, they are not going to want to be bogged down by petty quarrels among their subjects that will risk weakening their international position. One noble family in particular was thrown away from their land in Poland and forced into exile. Since their enemies were allied with the Prussians, the family had to go all the way to France to take refuge. There, they are still nourishing dreams or revenge and reconquest...

Jadwiga, the Matriarch: the eldest daughter out of 13 children of the nobles that were exiled from Poland. She was a young woman at the time and unable to properly face their enemies. Still, as soon as they arrived in France, she took control of the family from her parents since they had clearly demonstrated that they were not able to protect them all properly. She has since them ruled them all with an iron fist.
  Nearly a century later, she is still a very shrewd lady, a skilled politicians and mages, and a very demanding mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She despairs of the rest of the family not leaving up to her standards and not being able to assist in the reconquest of their homeland.
  Jadwiga has a Polish name and only speaks Polish and a bit of German.

Irène: One of the numerous great-grandaughter of the matriarch. She has so far avoided attracting her attention and dissatisfaction, which as allowed her to live her life just as she wanted to and to stay away from all family drama. Unfortunately for her, she has recently made some great advance in the magical field in which she is working as a researcher, and this has finally put her in the foreground. The matriarch is now persuaded to have found the salvation of their family and is ready to play all her cards, regardless of the personal enthusiasm of the cards in question.
  Irène has a French names, something that infuriates her grandmother, and she has Fench has mother language, but is fluent in Poish although her vocabulary is lacking in some areas. She also has basic knowledge of German.

The Prussian King, Frederick III: A very intelligent and ambitious man who wants to reform and liberalise the Prussian kingdom and Germanic federations while ascertaining his dominion over all Germanic states. And for that, what better way than to unify them all against common enemies?
  Frederick speaks German, French, and Italian.