the night we met

《home》

~Ezra~
The next day was torturous. Everyone congratulated me for getting married tomorrow and asked me about my plans for the future and whatsoever.
The only thing I could think about was the escape. What if we get caught? What if it wouldn't work out? I looked at the clock. 01pm, 11 more hours to go until I could escape this cage I've been trapped in my whole life. Like a bird set free I would ride away from this palace, away from this life and away from everything I know. Henry had already told me that his mother and sister knew about his sexual orientation and he seemed so happy when he told me that we'd finally be able to be together without having to hide. But somehow I couldn't be as happy as him. I mean, I was the prince. I had responsibilities that I was running away from. And I knew nothing about a normal life. Since the death of my parents I never fully opened up to anyone until I met Henry. I don't even remember what it's like ho live a carefree life without the stress of being responsible for thousands of people. What if I'm not able to live the normal life Henry has lived since birth?
So many thoughts were running through my mind and suddenly I questioned everything. Myself, my decisions and my responsibilities. There was only one thing I was sure about. I love Henry. And nothing, no one can ever heal or cure me from this love. Henry and I were going to do this. We're going to run away and we'll build our own life. The plan will work.

~Henry~
Time went by really fast and soon it got dark. A few hours after sunset I looked at my watch, it was 11:50pm. I was nervous, very nervous but I knew that all I had to do now was wait 10 more minutes and then Ezra would be here. And then we'd leave and I'd be back home. The door to the stable opened and Ezra entered.
"Hi", he smiled.
"Hi"
"Ready?"
I smiled and nodded. We saddled the horses and sat on them.
"We can't leave through the front gate there are too many guards but I think caramel and midnight are able to jump over the fence without making too much noise", Ezra said as we left the stables, each carrying a sack filled with our clothes, food, a can of water and anything that was important to us. The ride felt endless and as the sun set we had reached an area that I already knew from my childhood.
"The farm's one more an hour away", I said to Ezra, who was lying on midnight with his head resting on her neck and his sack of clothes lying on top of him.
"First thing I'm gonna do is sleep, I'm so tired", he mumbled.
"Me too", I smiled and leaned forward so that my face sank into caramel's mane.
Soon we arrived at the little town  close to my mother's farm and my home. It was already dark and I almost fell asleep as Ezra raised his voice.
"Hey, wake up! I think we're there! There's a farm right infront of us, just like you described it!"

~Ezra~
Henry opened his eyes and looked around.
"Yeah. Yeah we're- we're there!", he almost yelled. Then he started to gallop towards the farm, I followed.
Henry rode straight to the small stable and brought caramel to one of the empty stalls. Then he went to the little cottage and knocked on the door. I took a look at my watch and saw that it was only 10:30pm and Henry's family usually wouldn't be asleep already. I brought midnight to a stall aswell and as I entered the stable I could see one other horse, a young stallion. That must be the filly that survived the wolf attack Henry had told me about. I left the stable and went to the porch. The door had just opened and I saw a confused, but happy woman in her late 30s or early 40s.
"Henry what- your majesty?", she stuttered.
A girl with auburn curls appeared behind her. She was about 16 years old and her face lightened up as she saw Henry.
"Hey sis", he smiled and then pointed to me, "That's Ezra".
"Hello Ezra", she greeted me.
"Hello uhm..."
"Eleanor. My name's Eleanor"
"Hello Eleanor", I said and shook her hand.
"Mum can we...stay here for a bit?", Henry asked his mother who was still standing in the doorway.
"Yes. Yes, honey, of course! But we- we don't have guest room for the prince"
"Oh uh no worries. And please call me Ezra", I said to her and she smiled before letting us in.
"You want me to show you around? It won't take much time", Eleanor asked politely.
"Yeah uhm sure. I'm just a little tired so...maybe tomorrow?"
"Oh of course uhm sorry", she giggled.
I uttered "no problem" and then wished both Eleanor and Mrs. Lune a good night. Henry took my hand and walked up the stairs and towards a small room.
"We can sleep in here if you don't mind sharing a bed", he grinned.
"Of course I don't mind, we shared a bale of hay once, remember?"
I closed the door behind us and we literally fell onto the bed, tired from the long ride. Henry immediately fell asleep with his head lying on my chest. I carefully caressed his naked back and kissed his short auburn curls. Then my eyes closed and I slowly drifted away into a deep sleep.

~Henry~
I woke up to a familiar knock on the door. Two times short, one time long and again one time short. The knock Eleanor and I invented as a secret code when we were children. I looked to my left and saw that Ezra was still sleeping so I quietly got out of the bed, trying to not wake him up. I opened the door to see my little sister in the doorway.
"Good morning Henry", she smiled.
"Morning"
"Is the prince...Ezra awake? I still owe him a house tour", she asked.
"Now he is", I heard Ez mumble from behind me and couldn't hold back a little giggle.
After Eleanor showed Ezra around, we had breakfast with my mother and Ez and I explained why we didn't write a letter and instead just showed up at her door like lost puppies. We went to the stable to feed Caramel, Midnight and Apollo, the beige filly that had now become a young stallion. As I was about to leave, Ezra put his arm around me waist and pulled me down onto the hay.
"Hey! What are you-", I tried to ask but he cut off my question by giving me a kiss. He sat on a bale of hay and leaned his back against another bale while I lay on top of him with my head on his stomach.
"Do you remember the first time we met in the stables?", Ez asked.
I had to smile.
"Yeah. Yeah I- I forgot to turn off my lamp and you didn't want me to burn down tye whole place...and then we kissed"
"I never told you that but...that was the first time I experienced such feelings, the first time I experienced love. And I just...I wanted to thank you. For everything", Ezra said in a low but soft voice.
"Always a pleasure. And thanks for offering me a job, without that all of this wouldn't have happened. You wouldn't have happened", I replied.
"Always a pleasure. To he honest this kiss was actually the first time I fell in love, you know"
"Really?", I asked.
"Guess so...when did you start to..."
"Fancy you?"
Ezra nodded.
I answered in a soft voice with a serious undertone.
"3rd of december last year"
"When we first met?", Ez uttered.
"Yeah. I have loved you since the night we met"

-1352 words