by Kyle Baxter
He should leave, keep this all on the down-low, especially with his new status as crown prince. But he did not want to. He wanted to embrace this moment while he could, whatever the future held. I like this guy. This was rare for him, this growing affection, and he found he cherished it. He wanted to protect it.
“Everything you said is true, but we have this moment, right?” Freddie asked.
Joel nodded nervously. “We do. We have this moment.” His eyes hardened. “Okay, I’m in.”
“That’s my boy. Damn the torpedoes.” Freddie smiled and gave him a pat on the back. They walked in together. He followed a step behind Joel, greeting his family’s open-mouthed stares with a smile. What were all their names?
“Look who I ran into in the lobby.” Joel grinned stupidly. It almost made him laugh, but it wasn’t a lie.
“Yes,” Frederick agreed gamely. “I came over to check on Joel.” Also not a lie. “He invited me to breakfast.” I invited myself, but who’s counting, really? “Hope that is all right.” Freddie truly wanted Joel’s family to like him.
“Of course,” Joel’s father sputtered, quickly standing. The big, mustachioed man gestured for Frederick to sit. “Please join us.”
“How are you today, Your Highness?” Joel’s mother asked in a squeaky voice, also standing.
“Maria, was it?” He motioned for the elfin woman to sit. Her blonde, frosted hair—a color not unlike his mother’s—bobbed as she nodded eagerly, and he continued. “I’m doing very well, thank you. And how are you . . . today?” Freddie stumbled over his own words. Why was this so hard? Joel kicked him in the leg.
“That’s very good,” Joel whispered. “Not spastic at all.”
“I’m doing very well, thank you . . . sire?” Her brow knitted in confusion as she tried to decide how to address him in this informal setting.
“Just Freddie—Frederick,” he said, sitting ramrod straight. “Please, just Frederick.” He tucked his napkin in his lap as the server arrived with coffee for him and Joel. “This is lovely,” he said as posh and proper as he could manage.
Maria looked at him oddly and went back to her semolina. Joel also gave him a sideways glance.
“What am I doing wrong?” he hissed and leaned near him.
“What are you . . . ? You sound so stiff,” Joel whispered.
“I’m trying to act like a prince,” Freddie said into Joel’s ear. “Have a little professional bearing, I guess? Act like how Luc would want me to act.”
“Why would you do that?” Joel asked, sitting back in his chair.
Why would I do that? If he was going to be king, shouldn’t it be on his own terms? It had been so long since he had to worry about this shite. There was so much to consider. Luc knew all about appearances and what he should be doing. I do need more lessons, at least for the camera and public appearances. Joel looked at him wide-eyed but finally cracked a smile and gave him a thumbs-up. But now he felt like a fake.
“Freddie,” Joel said. “Relax, they already like you. Be yourself.”
You keep me grounded, Freddie thought and gave Joel a wink and a smile. “Thank you.” He spared a glance down the table and found Maria smiling at them both like a Cheshire cat. Caught! She is sharp.
“Are you still taking me to the museum?” Mariah asked Joel, though she was carefully watching Freddie.
I’m not coming between that outing, though Freddie was sure Joel would be happy to take a pass and go run with him.
Joel nodded. “Of course, Mare. I’m yours for the day.”
Mare for Mariah. Got it. In the Regiment, they only used nicknames, and Freddie still assigned them to people by force of habit. Dark-haired and intense, she reminded him of a filly. So “Mare” was apropos. He looked over to Caty at the opposite end of the table. Joel called her Legally Blonde. No doubt about that.
Joel’s phone vibrated on the table. He glanced at it before declining the call.
“Who was that?” Freddie looked at the phone, then up to his lover. His lover? Yes, we did make love last night. Joel is now my lover. A grin broke over his face.
“No one, nosy.” Joel’s eyes danced over his face.
Freddie was sure the caller ID read Seth, Joel’s ex-boyfriend. That guy. He sighed. At least they fixed the ringtone. Freddie was growing to like that little ditty. Have to download that.
“Was that Seth?” Joel’s mother’s face exploded in delight. She clearly liked him. “Why didn’t you answer it?”
“MoOOm.” Joel groaned and kicked him under the table again.
“Stop that,” he whispered. What does he want me to do, fight his mother over Seth? I could take her, but it’d be tough. She might be petite, but she looks scrappy.
“Oh, I’m sure Prince Frederick wouldn’t mind,” Maria drawled, amusement in her chipper voice. She batted her eyes. “Would you, dear?”
Was she teasing them? “Of course not. Have at.” Freddie dipped his head. Turned to Joel’s younger sister, he poured on the posh. “I say, Mariah, would you care to see a private collection the Crown has? We have several works by Giotto and an actual da Vinci. I could arrange a tour for the two of you.”
Mariah’s eyes lit up. “That would be amazing.”
He fired off a text to Astrid, then looked up at Joel’s father. “You are all coming to the reception at the castle tonight, of course?”
“Yes, it’s already on our itinerary, but I received a personal invitation from your father.” Hector pulled a business card from his wallet and slid it to the prince.
“Excellent. We’ll find a moment and talk about your plans.” Frederick examined the card and put it in his wallet. Knowing only a little about fracking and none of it good, he was curious what the man had to say. Father and Karl were handling this, but if the pretense allowed Joel and him more time together, then he was more than happy to listen to him.
Joel smirked. He plainly had no real interest in his father’s business.
“That would be wonderful,” Hector said slowly. “But I already have a meeting tomorrow with your father and your brother . . . if you’re too busy.” He looked to both Joel and Freddie. “I assumed you knew.”
That took Freddie aback. He did not know. “Of course,” he covered. Why would he know? Recently returned, he wasn’t privy to all the business yet. But to allow fracking in Etreustein? This was huge. He should know if he was going to be king. It affected the future of the country. I need to talk to my father and my brother.
Within half an hour, Mariah and Joel were climbing in the limousine with Freddie. He slid in and fell back against the seat. “Mein Gott.” Freddie dropped his guard and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
“That was an act?” Mariah’s face twisted up.
“No, not all of it.” He gave her a wink and unbuttoned his jacket. “I’m not used to being out in public as the crown prince.”
“Can I give you a note? There were moments when it seemed like you were doing the Monty Python upper-class twit routine. Try pulling it back just a smidge.” She held her thumb and index finger half an inch apart.
“Point taken. It was my first go ’round without my handler at my elbow.” Freddie shared a glance with her around Joel.
“Then you did very well,” Mariah said in her own faux British accent. It made them both laugh.
“I can see why he loves you so much.” Freddie gave her arm a poke around Joel’s lanky frame, and she giggled.
“Why do it at all?” Joel piped up. His face contorted into a scowl. “I don’t get it.”
“A certain level of behavior is expected of a royal in public,” Luc said, leaning an arm over the front seat. They did not realize the privacy screen was down.
“We weren’t in public,” Joel countered. Freddie saw frustration in his eyes.
“A royal is almost always in public,” Luc said, his voice strained. “There were employees and other guests in the hotel restaurant. I promise you, people were watching, and some were probably taking p
hotos.” Luc looked at Freddie. “Sire, where to?”
Joel shrank into the plush leather seat, his arms crossed. Chastised, he wore a thoughtful face.
“The museum,” Freddie said. He didn’t like having to put on a front any more than Joel did, but being a royal was a job. Even in the service, there were private times, times for fun and games, and times for your military bearing.
“Will you be giving this tour?” Joel asked hopefully.
“Sadly, no. I’ve meetings all day.” Freddie played with the cuff of his shirt. “Luc will go apoplectic if I put anything else off.”
“That is correct,” Luc spoke up from the front seat, though Freddie detected amusement in his tone.
“My sister, Astrid, is there,” Freddie explained. “She’ll give you a little introduction. She’s working there today.”
“Your sister the princess?” Mariah stammered, her eyes wide. “A princess is giving us a tour?”
“The museum is her baby. She’s happy to do it.”
❖
After the siblings were dropped off, the car continued up the hill to the castle. Luc let him out again at the back entrance to the keep. Taking a deep breath at the bottom of the steps, Frederick braced himself.
Karl sat in a chair in the long hall, just inside the door. A servant rushed up and took Freddie’s jacket. He thanked her and looked at his brother.
“Are you waiting for me, Karl?” he asked.
“Yes, Frederick.” Karl stood slowly and walked with him down the hall. “I wanted to warn you, Father is in a mood.”
“Isn’t he always these days?” Frederick slowed his pace to make it easier for his brother.
“Yes, that’s why it was important to call you home, not only because of my health concerns, but his own.”
“Is he . . . ?” Frederick held out his arm for support, and Karl took it.
“Oh, Father’s fine.” Karl patted his arm. “But he’s in his late seventies and he’s ready to step down. Not everyone wants to be Queen Elizabeth, clinging on until they die.”
“But he is okay, isn’t he?” Frederick asked again, not entirely satisfied with Karl’s response.
“He is healthy, but again, he is in his seventies. None of us is what we used to be. Or what we want to be.” Karl let go of him as they got to the office.
Frederick walked in first. His father sat at the desk, as somber as ever. Frederick couldn’t remember him wearing anything other than a black suit. He suspected he was born in it. Mother stood beside him in her signature ivory, designer pantsuit.
“This is simply not done,” his father shouted. Standing, he folded up a newspaper and then waved it at Freddie like he was a dog. “You’ve been shirking your responsibilities and doing a lot of God knows what. Our press agent fielded ten calls asking who you were with last night. There are rumors you’ve been sneaking around town with a male acquaintance, and I use that term very loosely. Frederick, you can’t be running the streets and sleeping with whomever you want like a sailor in port.”
His cockles rose; he did not like being talked to like that. “I’ve done what I wanted for years, and you never cared before.”
“Yes, but everything is different now, isn’t it?” Karl walked to the couch, retrieving his cane as he did.
“You are the crown prince now, not a soldier on leave,” his father spat. “Did you at least get this boy—”
“We are the same age,” Frederick interrupted quickly. The way his father said “boy” rankled him. An implication lay there beyond garden variety homophobia. He noticed Denis standing by the window and wondered why he was here. He was queer too. Would he not speak up? But the tall man’s eyes refused to meet his.
Karl held up a trembling hand for peace. “Did you at least get him to sign an NDA?”
“Nondisclosure agreement?” Frederick turned around in place. “You can’t be serious. Joel doesn’t care about all that.” The itching on the back of his neck was back, and panic bubbled in his stomach.
“People always care about money,” his father said with a snort.
Frederick jabbed a finger at him and shouted, “You don’t know him!”
His mother walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. “Frederick, please, you’re being naïve. Your loyalty does you credit, but there’s more at stake here than the feelings of two people. It’s not only the country, as if that weren’t enough, but we have businesses and holdings and employees. Your whims can’t put them in jeopardy. We need you to focus on your duty.”
Frederick let his arms fall to his side limply. “We’re not even dating, really. We’re spending time together, enjoying each other’s company before he leaves.”
“Exactly. So . . .” Denis said, finally. “If you were in love, it might be different, but as you say, you’re not even dating, really.”
“Why are you here, Denis?” Frederick asked sharply. “Did you pop in merely to voice your disapproval?”
“We asked him here,” his mother explained. “You were great friends as children. We hoped he could help get you over the bumps. Get you back into proper society.”
“We have a lot of work to do,” Denis said airily. “What does this Joel person even do?”
“He works in catering,” Frederick mumbled. What did that matter? But he knew it mattered a great deal to them. Appearances.
“A waiter? How very droll.” Denis shared an eye with Frederick’s mother. “Well, we can’t have more of that.”
“I agree,” his father said. “But we should still get an NDA.”
“His father is here on business. He’s the representative from the clean fracking company from the U.S.,” Frederick said. “Joel wouldn’t jeopardize that.”
Hearing that, his father and Karl exchanged a glance. Before he could ask why, Denis spoke up again.
“Have you ever thought that he was a plant meant to get in your good graces?”
Fredrick’s teeth ground together. He paused and counted to five before he spoke. “That is an asinine statement. I don’t even have any meetings with the man. They were all planned before I returned. Joel had no idea who I was when we met.”
“So you say,” his father started, intent on getting his way.
“If you ever entertain that idea in my presence again, I will leave,” Frederick spat. “I did it before. I will disappear and you will have no heir.”
Everyone in the room went quiet. They believed his words; they were firm and clear. After a long moment, his father finally said, “But seriously, son, you had to have an affair with another man?”
His mother put her face in her hands. Karl shook his head and went back to his desk. Denis rolled his eyes but said nothing.
Freddie put his hands on his hips and stared at his father. “Are we going to discuss this now?”
“Yes, we are. I don’t give a damn what you do privately, but be circumspect for God’s sake.” His father smacked his newspaper against the table. The sharp sound stopped them all, and his father looked embarrassed for a moment. Then the king continued softly. “This is still a conservative country, Frederick. We only legalized same-sex unions five years ago.”
“I’m aware.” Frederick plucked at the cuff of his starched shirt and said stiffly, “I also know that you publicly opposed it.”
“Publicly, yes.” His father stood up to his full height. “It passed anyway. I may be king, but it’s a constitutional monarchy. We rule at the pleasure of the people.”
Freddie folded his arms over his chest and sneered. “Good thing, sire.”
“Don’t take that tone with me, soldier.” He aimed a finger at him. “You will step up and do what is asked of you and when it is asked of you. Is that clear?”
All the eyes in the room were on Frederick. It was a long moment before he relented. This was not at all what he wanted, how he thought it would go, but he didn’t see a way out. Not yet. “Yes, sir.”
“Outside of official business, you are not to see your little fr
iend again,” Father said firmly. “Am I clear?”
Anger flared behind his eyes, but Frederick kept his fury tamped down. He snapped to attention, saluting as rigidly and formally as he could. “Yes, sir!” If his father was going to treat him like an underling, he might as well act like one. “It doesn’t matter. He’s leaving soon anyway.” His gut twisted as he said it and he felt a little panicked. Joel was leaving. He avoided thinking about it as much as he could, but it was happening. As soon as his father’s business was done, Spider Boy would be gone.
“First good news I’ve heard today.” The king sat in his chair behind the desk. “Frederick, you have been away for a long time. But your traveling—your Landstreicher—days are over. We need you here. It is time to take care of the home front.”
Freddie frowned as a sharp pang of guilt gnawed at him. Appealing to his honor and duty was a cheap ploy. “Yes, sire.” He resented that it worked so well, that his father knew exactly what button to push.
“Now, what are we going to do about this?” The king unfolded the paper. On the front cover was the grainy photo of Frederick and Joel running down the alley.
“This was days ago.” Freddie picked it up, smacked it with the back of his hand, and dropped it back on the desk. “Surely they have something else to cover.”
Mother inclined her head toward him. “We had to pull strings to get the paper to bury a story that you’ve been seen going in and out of the Sonne Hotel at all times of the night and day.”
Raising his arms, Freddie just said, “Well . . .” What could he say? They wanted him to stop seeing Joel. They wanted him to be more careful. They wanted . . . they wanted . . . He forgot how intrusive all of this was.
Denis put his hand to his face. “For God’s sake, Frederick, you can’t go around sleeping with the help.”
Freddie clenched his fist. It was everything he could do not to punch the man. How were they ever friends?
“But we have a solution.” Denis smiled at his own cleverness. “I have arranged a European tour for you next week after we have smoothed your rough edges off. The media is in love with the story of the prodigal prince, so we send him out. Nothing major, just a few stops: Munich, Paris, London, and Rome. But it will make people forget all that.” He waved at the paper with a fey shooing motion.