the night we met

《new year's eve》

~Henry~
Days went by. Weeks. Weeks in which the prince didn't even look at me, let alone talk about what had happened in the early morning hours of december 4th 1899. It felt like he had forgotten about me, about what I've done. As if it never really happened.
My working days were always the same and after a bit of time it kinda bored me. The exact same routine for almost 3 weeks. Then christmas came. The servants and I celebrated a bit but there was no big feast or such, as a lot of people would've expected. The days between christmas and new year's eve went by very fast and soon it was the 31th of december 1899.
One of the servants had told me that prince Ezra would give a ball on the occasion of this festival and that atleast 150 royals were expected. Counts, countesses, dukes and duchesses. Kings and queens aswell as  princes and princesses.
I think knowing this made me jealous. Jealous of Ezra's life and all the opportunities he had.
Before the ball started the prince ordered to have a small feast with his servants. The thought of sitting at one dining table with Ezra, celebrating the new year with him, made me feel sick out of happiness.
As I drifted away from this thought I began to think about my family. My father had died when I was only 6 years old, my little sister Eleanor was 4½. We never really talked about what happened but I still knew every detail. My mother was probably celebrating the last day of this year with Eleanor. She's going to turn 14 in a few months and I planned to use my days off to celebrate with her and mother. In this moment I forgot about my excitement and just wanted to be with them.

~Ezra~
It was a few minutes before 7pm. 2 hours before the ball starts and only a few minutes away from the small feast I was going to have with my servants. I got ready and went down the stairs, down to the dining room with the long table. One by one countess Mary-Anne and my servants arrived. Henry was one of the last ones and I really had to force myself to stop thinking about him. Weeks passed by and I still couldn't figure out the reason for what I was feeling.
I think deep down I already knew it, I just couldn't get myself to believe it. I didn't want to believe what I already knew.
The feast began with Mary-Anne welcoming the servants and telling the story of this kingdom. She told them about how my father was born into this family as the long awaited prince and how he married his first and true love, a beautiful young woman with a humble background and the kindest heart he had ever known. Mary-Anne stopped talking and gestured me to continue.
"She taught him to think with your heart and to avoid wars and fights as much as possible. On october 26, 1882 they had their first child, me"
Everyone was listening to my story, no one even dared to make a sound as I took a deep breath in.
"In 1892, more than 7 years ago, they died. The only one to survive was me, a ten year old boy with no clue about politics or my own folks. Before she died my mother had taught me to see people as who they are, not what kind of situation they're in. She always used to say that you should thank every person in your life that they exist here, like this. With you. I guess that's what I'm doing here right now. I am thanking all of you for being who you are and being part of my life. Now let the feast begin!"
The meals were good and so was the mood. I thanked my servants for having dinner with me and left the room. The ball was going to start in 20 minutes and I had to get ready.
Suddenly I didn't want to attend it anymore. I had an old memory of my mother's voice. I never understood why there was so much hate in this world and she used to explain it to me like magic. The magic of being aware of what's right and how to think with your heart.
I closed my eyes and remembered the kiss between me and Henry. I tried to analyse what I had felt in this short moment of my life. I felt like my brain was digging for the key to open my heart and expose the feelings it held inside. Then I knew it. After repeating the scenario about a thousand times in my head I had found the key and opened my heart. I was in love. In love with this beautiful guy, the caramel brown haired stable boy with warm chocolate brown eyes.
This was it. This was what I've been missing for my whole life! I was now thinking with my heart, only with my heart. A huge burden now fell off my shoulders as I opened my eyes. Tears were slowly running down my face before I quickly wiped them away.
My decision was made. I was going to meet Henry again, alone.

~Henry~
The ball was about to begin and I was about to retire to my room as I heard the panic voice of prince Ezra shout through the hall.
"Where's the stable boy? Has anyone seen a stable boy here? Please, I think there's something wrong with my horse! I think she's dying!"
Without any form of hesitation I ran into the ball room. I probably bumped into 20 people before I reached the prince.
"What happened?!", I hectically asked, already running towards the entrance of the stable. All of a sudden Ezra was totally calm and stopped running.
"Nothing", he said and put one of his hands on my shoulder. We were standing right infront of the stable and I had already opened the door just to see every horse being totally fine.
"What the-?!". I turned around just to see the prince grinning because of my worry.
"This is not funny!"
Ezra grabbed my arm with the hand that had been laying on my shoulder before. He pulled me towards him and softly started to speak:
"I know and I'm really sorry but...I need to talk to you. Alone. Besides I don't really like any of the people in this ball room so..."
He didn't finish the sentence but instead carefully pushed me into the stable. He closed the door and took my hands.
His fingers were cold and we looked deep into each other's eyes. For the first time I could see the small details in his, like the golden flecks he had in the left corner. He ran over my fingers with his thumbs and sighed.

-1.167 words