Die Königin (The Queen - A Prince Harry story)

Prequel 006: March 2010 (William)

"Life is really, when you get down to it, a series of stories. The stories we experienced and tell others, and the stories experienced by others and told to us. Stories can be a great number of things: a complete fiction, an embellished tall tale, a carefully and factually recount...today, I'll be telling a story which isn't really any of those things. I don't know the full story of what I'm about to tell you, and what I'm about to tell you doesn't even cover a long period of time - just over a year - and even ends at a beginning, but when I first sat down to write this speech nearly two years ago, I knew this is where I had to start.

For me, this is when the story of Harry and Lina began. Not when Harry realised he was in love with Lina. Not when Lina realised she was in love with Harry. And not when they realised the other was in love with them. It was when I realised Harry was in love with Lina..."

The Duke of Cambridge, 18 July 2015

Schweriner Schloss, Schwerin, Mecklenburg

March, 2010

Schloss Ludwigslust, Ludwigslust, Mecklenburg

William and Harry were due to depart from the pretty, symmetrical and reasonably sized Schloss Ludwigslust just before ten in the morning. The second (or was it the third?) assistant chef pushed thermoses of tea into their hands as they approached the rear exit of the Schloss. The man bowed his head and wished the brothers a pleasant day. William said something, but he honestly couldn't recall what it was. He was sure it was polite, and probably more than a bit rote, but honestly, the assistant chef - the entire Schloss - were lucky William and Harry were even awake.

He was going to kill Klaus Wilhelm. And maybe Harry. And then maybe himself.

As they exited the Schloss, their boots hitting stone, William weighed the negatives of taking more than the recommended dosage of painkillers (decided risking Kate or Lina finding out about it wasn't worth it), and squinted under the thick layer of clouds covering what looked like most of south-west Mecklenburg. He wore sunglasses (as did Harry), but they didn't seem to be doing any good. Their boots quickly hit the gravel path that would take them north to the stables and paddocks where the others were waiting for them.

It was March and winter hadn't released her grip on the central-northern-ish European country just yet. The grass was half damp from the morning frost, the trees were bare, and there was not a flower to be seen in the Schloss's British inspired landscape (not that there were many flowers to be seen during spring or summer). Naturally, it was the perfect day for a horse ride and picnic. Because of plans. Right, that was a bit unfair. The ride would help clear his head and wake him up properly, the company would be top notch (family, friends and cute kids), and the picnic was actually going to be on the floor of the Schweizerhaus's upper level so no one was going to freeze.

But. Klaus, Harry, himself. In that order.

The walk was blissfully quiet, only interrupted by the sounds of nature, the crunching of gravel, and the sipping of tea (it must have been prepared some time earlier for it was already the perfect temperature to drink). His stomach was mostly settled thanks to the greasy and carb loaded breakfast Harry and himself had been served in the small dining room about half an hour earlier. They'd been alone, of course, having slept through the scheduled eight o'clock breakfast. He'd woken just after nine, blurry-eyed and head pounding, to a glass of water, painkillers, three texts from Kate, and finally a note from Lina's staff letting him know breakfast would be available in the small dining room twenty minutes from when he or Harry alerted the kitchen.