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Sneaking out of the castle was the easy part. Getting by the guardhouse was a bit of a challenge, but climbing down the hill after dark… well, that was the really difficult part.
But it was hardly as if Fritz could just waltz into town in the middle of the day. Not most days, anyway.
When he got to the bottom of the hill, he checked that his cap was still in place and that his clothes weren’t too dirty. Some dirt was to be expected – good, even. But he hardly wanted to be thrown out of the beer cellar. He dusted his trousers off and headed into town.
It was a short walk through winding streets of half-timbered houses to the town square. He knew this was dangerous – he should have stuck to one of the smaller locales, tucked away.
Maybe the danger was the point.
No one looked up when he arrived at the beer cellar, but then who would? As far as they were concerned, he was a slightly grubby-looking young man in commoner’s clothes. A commoner himself.
He slid onto a bench, next to a guy about his own age. He ordered a beer from one of the serving girls, who gave him a strange look. Was his disguise not enough?
If it wasn’t, would anyone find a way of reporting him to his parents?
He wasn’t overly concerned with just being discovered – though he supposed maybe he ought to have been. He was a prince, and there were people who disagreed with the monarchy.
In the moment, he saw that as a matter of little consequence.
He just wanted a bit of freedom, and wasn’t it only fair for him to be able to move among the commoners? How else would he know how they lived?
“I’ve never seen you here, before,” the guy across from him said. He was handsome, with sandy hair and light blue eyes.
“I don’t usually make a habit of frequenting beer cellars,” Fritz said.
“I see,” the guy said. “Well, I’m Hannes.”
“Fritz.” He wasn’t worried about his name giving him away. To the world, he was Prince Wilhelm Christian Friedrich. Only his family called him Fritz, and even then, the common people didn’t know that.
Hannes shook his hand across the table. “It’s nice to meet you, Fritz. I’ll buy your next beer.”
“That sounds great, Hannes.”
After that, Fritz made a habit of sneaking out to the beer cellar. He and Hannes became fast friends. They were about the same age, and Hannes never questioned not seeing Fritz around their admittedly small capital city. (Or maybe he did, and Fritz didn’t know; either way, he didn’t ask.)
The problem, really, was that Hannes was impossibly gorgeous, and with every passing night at the beer cellar, Fritz was falling harder and harder. He could hardly be blamed for it; Hannes was refreshing. He wasn’t polished and uptight like the men Fritz was used to. He laughed openly and often, and he was so physically affectionate it drove Fritz insane.
One night, Hannes got so drunk that Fritz had to help him home.
He didn’t know where Hannes lived, initially, but it turned out that he rented a room near the market square.
It wasn’t a long walk, but it felt long with Hannes leaning on him for support and stumbling.
Fritz helped him up the stairs and into his room.
He was going to help Hannes to his bed, when Hannes turned toward him and kissed him.
Fritz had snuck kisses here and there before, with the sons of visiting diplomats; little discreet things that left him wanting more. Just because he was the youngest prince didn’t mean that he was allowed to do as he pleased. It just meant that he attracted less attention.
Hannes kissed him like he meant it.
And Fritz, despite all of his better judgement, kissed him back.
The kiss was sloppy and wet and not in any way romantic, but Fritz felt his heart pound in his chest. Oh, he’d wanted this.
He pulled away when Hannes reached for the falls of his trousers.
“We shouldn’t,” he said.
“We won’t be caught.”
“You’re drunk, Hannes.”
Hannes huffed. “Just a quick toss off?”
“No,” Fritz said, hoping his voice sounded firm.
“Fine,” Hannes said. “But I’m going to toss myself off then.” He flopped down on his bed and reached for the falls of his own trousers.
Fritz had to get out of there. “Goodnight,” he said. “I’ll see you soon.”
“We should do this for real sometime,” Hannes said, stopping Fritz in his tracks. “If you want to.”
“Maybe when we’re not drunk.”
“Holding you to that, Fritz.”
The next morning, Fritz was woken in his room in the castle by one of the maids. “His Highness wants to see you, your Highness.”
Ugh.
“Thank you,” Fritz said. “I can see myself to his chambers.”
In the grand scheme of things, their principality was one of the smaller ones in the Confederation. They weren’t overly politically important; their main export was logging. They were landlocked, with no ports.
Still, his father, Wilhelm Karl Augustin, Prince of Anhalt, was an intimidating man.
Fritz avoided his presence whenever possible.
He had a bad feeling that his exploits had somehow been revealed.
“Fritz,” his father greeted when Fritz entered his receiving room.
“Father.”
“I’ll cut to the chase, shall I?”
Fritz tried his best not to betray himself. “Yes?”
“Your sister is getting married.”
“I see,” he said. Käthchen was only a year older than he was; was this some message that he was expected to look for a spouse soon? He didn’t want to marry. He was politically unimportant.
He wanted to live his life free to be who he wanted.
“You will be on your best behaviour when her betrothed arrives. No more sneaking off to the stables. You will be clean and presentable at all times. Am I understood?”
“Yes, Father. Of course.”
“That is all.”
He didn’t press his luck; he left the room in search of Käthchen.
Käthchen, whose full title was Princess Katharina Maria of Anhalt, had been his closest companion as a child, and really was still.
He found her in her antechamber, talking to one of her friends.
When she spotted him, she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him. “Father told you the news?”
“I hope they’re decent, Käthchen.”
“She is. I’ve met her. But she lives all the way in Baden. I’m sure I couldn’t stand to be separated from you.”
Oh, Fritz knew the common people had problems; he’d heard Hannes enumerate more than he’d previously thought possible. But they didn’t have this problem: being shipped off across the entire Confederation (or worse: across the Continent) to marry someone they barely knew.
Fritz dreaded the day it happened to him.
He sought Hannes out a few nights later.
“Let’s go back to your rooms,” he whispered in his ear.
Hannes nodded, and the two of them finished their beers as if nothing were wrong.
He didn’t tell Hannes who he was. He revelled in this chance to be normal. Just for once.
“I probably won’t be able to come by for a while,” he whispered as they made their way up the stairs to Hannes’s rooms.
“That’s fine,” Hannes said. “I just want to be with you tonight.”
It wasn’t much, but Fritz would take it.
He leaned in to kiss him.