the night we met

《betrayal》

~Henry~
About time I'd integrated a bit into the different groups of people in this clinic. There were ones like me, who knew these kind of healing wouldn't change any of our feelings, others who thought their feelings and their whole self was wrong and truly believed in these methods to help them become "normal" and there were people who knew that the day of their death was coming closer and either tried to break out or cried the whole day, begging to be released. I personally belonged to the group of people who gave a shit about this healing stuff and knew it wouldn't change anything. I knew I was gonna get out of here as soon as Ezra chose who'd become his future wife.
I started to think about what'd happen after. I'd be back at his castle, he'd have a girlfriend and soon she'd become his wife. All this time I'd have to watch him live a life without me, maybe I'll never be part of it again except from being the stable boy. Like every king he'd have to have children someday and then...
I didn't know why I was thinking such negative things. Before I left, Ezra had made sure he'd get me out and that we'd have a life together, however he wanted to manage that. I had to believe him, 'cause now of all times hope was the only thing I had left.

~Ezra~
Days went by. Weeks. And I didn't spend a second without thinking about Henry. What if this whole plan fails? What if countess Mary-Anne finds out and he'll never leave the clinic? What if they hurt him in there? Thousands of thoughts ran through my mind which almost made it impossible to plan the wedding with Kathleen.
It wasn't usual to announce a marriage within such short time, let alone to plan a wedding within 3 months, but it was my only choice to see Henry again.
I wondered how he was doing and what kind of procedures he might have to go through right in this moment. But I also remembered what Mary-Anne said. He'd make it out of there before the marriage and he'll be my stable boy for however long I want him to be. We'll make it out of there somehow and we'll be able to live a free life. And I will do whatever it takes to make that possible.
Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted by countess Mary-Anne entering the room.
"Your majesty, I need to talk to you for a minute", she said in a serious voice and directed her eyes towards Kathleen, "alone".
Kat immediately understood, stood up from her chair and left the room without a word.
"So? What is it, Mary-Anne?", I asked, still lost in my thoughts.
The countess took a deep breath before she raised her voice.
"I just got a letter from the clinic about Mr. Lune, sir. They couldn't save him", she mumbled.
"What?!", my voice was more outraged than I thought and I tried lowering it as good as I could.
"They'll have to put him down, I'm sorry", she continued, her voice still sharp and emotionless.
"Wha- no! No they- they can't do that!"
I had to take a deep breath to calm down a bit and then finally lowered my voice.
"You promised he would be able to get back here as soon as I get married"
The look on Mary-Anne's face was guilty and she didn't dare to look me in the eyes as she started to speak again.
"I lied to you, sir. I knew he wasn't going to be healed. And I knew the consequences Mr. Lune would face but it's for the best. I did this not only for you but also for your folk. Please, you have to understand-"
"Get out. Now."
My voice was stone cold and I could barely hold back my tears.
"Your majesty, please, you have to understand that under these circumstances I couldn't let this man come back here! He could destroy your life! And your image! And maybe, if he's clever enough, he could also destroy your soul. He could turn you into one of these homosexuals don't you understand that?!", Mary-Anne yelled.
Tears started to run down my face and my voice was breaking as I cried:
"I said get out!"
With pure shock on her face, countess Mary-Anne walked towards the door but before opening it she turned her head towards me and with a soft undertone she uttered:
"Ezra, if I may call you that, I know that you think being with this boy is what's best for you but it's not. Please listen to me. You know I love you as if you were my own child but I don't want you to waste your life, your soul on this guy. I promised your mother that I'd protect you from every kind of evil and that's exactly what I'm doing right now, even if it doesn't feel like that for you. Of course you're the prince and it's your choice to make but...I truly hope that you think about it before you do something you'll regret in the future."
Then she left.

~Henry~
One week passed by, then another and another and another. I started to worry about Ezra. Until, almost 3 months after arriving at the clinic, I received a letter.
It was written in a squiggly, extravagant handwriting and contained an apology. Ezra told me about the betrayal, the trap he had fallen for. And he told me about the consequences of his mistake for trusting Mary-Anne. They'd either heal me from my homosexuality or they'll kill me. And I already knew which of these fates would be mine.
Another 6 weeks passed by and I had already lost any little spark of hope as the doctor approached me on a saturday night.
"Sir, I need you to come with me"
This was it. This was the day I was going to die.
Quietly I left the bedchamber and followed him into the backyard. Without a word he left me alone, standing there in the darkness.
Suddenly I heard a horse neighing.
"Shut up, midnight. You don't want us to get busted, do you?", a familiar voice whispered.
"Ez?", I asked quietly and the prince crawled out of a bush close to the wall that enclosed the backyard and the clinic.
"Good evening, sir. Need a ride?", he mumbled and pointed towards the wall.
"Midnight missed you"
"Oh really? Well I missed him too", I laughed quietly.
"And I missed you", I added.
"I missed you too"
Ezra pulled me towards him into the darkness and I ran my hands through his soft hair as he passionately kissed me.
"Now let's get out of here", he said and helped me climb up a tree right infront of the wall. We jumped down on the other side and quickly sat on his black mare. I lay my arms around his waist as midnight began to gallop and we left the clinic behind.
It was a pretty short ride and we arrived at the palace at around 01am.
Everyone was asleep as we snuck to Ezra's room.
"The wedding is in two days, you need to hide until then, okay?", Ez whispered.
"I hope you have a plan"
He laughed and started to explain:
"Tomorrow at midnight we'll meet at the stables. We'll escape through the woods and we'll take midnightand caramel with us. I wrote a letter to Kathleen explaining that I don't feel like mastering the challenge of being a king and that I had to leave. And I have a letter for Mary-Anne, I decided to tell her everything. She won't tell anyone. Now we only need to know where we want to go, any idea?"
"We could go to my home, it's only a day ride away from here"
"Sounds like a great plan, see you tomorrow night then", Ezra smiled and gave me one last kiss before I left the palace and hid in the stables.

-1365 words