Title: Frederick's Flute
Characters: Gilbert/Prussia, Frederick the Great
Warnings: … some language, maybe? And history...
Disclaimer: Unfortunately neither Gilbert nor any of the other characters are mine. I hold no rights to anything other than the writing.
Note: I failed at writing what I first intended to write (namely: punctual!strict!diligent!Prussia for a friend (who also was my beta-reader in this one and... almost any other FF, too)) and while I checked some information on Wikipedia, I found some really interesting stuff and… well, I got carried away xD"
Enjoy~
~1729
It was early in the morning, the sun was about to rise, and some birds were already chirping in the tree outside the open window. Somewhere down the road, an old man climbed the stairs up to the old belfry, and when he chimed the bells, they were heard everywhere in the surrounding area.
Gilbert opened his eyes. A new day had started. Without rushing, he sat up and left the bed. He yawned and stretched, and then he went down to do some press-ups.
When he had finished his daily exercises, the Prussian went to the wardrobe to dress. Standing in front of the mirror, he combed his hair and fixed his cravat, then left the room.
Humming in a low tone, he walked through the hallways until he heard a quiet noise. What's that? he thought, following the noise until it got louder and he realised that it was coming from Frederick's room. With a frown, he opened the door and stepped into the room.
As he had expected, he found the young prince sitting at the window, practising his flute.
Frederick jumped in shock, but relaxed when he recognised Gilbert. "Ah, it's you… you scared me half to death!"
With a low sigh, Gilbert closed the door. "What are you doing, Frederick? Your father doesn't want you to play this-" he nodded towards the wooden flute, "-thing."
As if he wanted to protect the flute, Frederick pulled the instrument to his chest. "I don't care! I like it. And it's not a thing, it's a flute!"
"And that's a black eye," Gilbert deadpanned, pointing at the bruising around the boy's left eye. "And you'll get another one if your father catches you playing your precious flute."
The prince looked at the ground and frowned. "So what? He'll hit me anyway. He'll find a reason, so why should I care?"
Gilbert sighed, then went to him and mussed up the younger boy's hair. "Because I care, isn't that enough?" He smiled at the boy. "You're supposed to become an awesome king, so you'd better not let your father beat you to a pulp before that day comes! Understood?"
Instead of answering, Frederick stuck out his tongue and grinned.
"Hey, hey!" Gilbert laughed. "Show some respect, kid!" He smirked, then turned around and went to the door. "I won't tell your father… but try to practise a little less noisily. Okay?"
~1730
"You can't!" Gilbert shouted, knowing full well that if any other person had yelled at the king, they would have been executed immediately. "You can't execute him too! He's your son, goddamnit, and the crown prince!"
Frederick William I just looked at Gilbert coldly. "Watch your mouth! I'm your king and my word is law. He betrayed me. And you, too! I can't let him get away with this."
"Please," Gilbert said, his voice calmer now. "Rethink this. He's the prince and accepted by the people. Think about what they'll think if you execute your own son because he tried to flee from you."
The king looked thoughtfully at Gilbert, repeating the words in his head and thinking about them. "So what is your advice?" he said coldly. "If I don't do anything, it'll make me look bad as well. You're right, he tried to flee from me. I'm his father, but more importantly, I'm the king, so what he did was treason. I can't just pretend that it didn't happen."
Gilbert swallowed silently. No, he could and would not pretend that it hadn't happened. Never. As the king had said, his word was law and Frederick had broken that law when he had tried to flee to England.
"I… I have a suggestion," he began.
Frederick raised his head as the heavy door opened. His face brightened when he saw Gilbert entering the cell. "It's you!"
Gilbert just nodded and closed the door. "Yes. Fritz, you know what happened to your friend…"
Frederick nodded, his face bitter and sad. "Of course. They executed him in front of my eyes…" He raised his head. "So, did my father decide that he doesn't need his eldest son anymore?"
With a sigh, Gilbert sat down next to him. "Yes…" When Frederick turned away, he continued: "But I talked him out of that."
"You…?"
"Don't be too happy about it. What you did was really stupid, kid. One could call it treason, you know. And you were going to run to England!" he snorted. "You father's the king, he couldn't let this go unpunished. I convinced him to let you live, but he had to do something."
"Don't keep me in suspense! What did he decide in the end?"
Gilbert let out a sigh. "You're not the crown prince anymore… I'm sorry kid, but that's all I could do…"
"I'm fine with that," Frederick answered after a moment of silence. "It means I can do what I want from now on."
"You're not supposed to be fine with that!" Gilbert replied angrily. "You're supposed to become my king, damnit! You're intelligent, you learn so damn fast… you'd be an awesome king, so don't be fine with not being in the running anymore! I want you to fight back and win what's yours by right, understand?!"
The young man looked at him in surprise, then smiled and said: "Fine. I'll try to meet your expectations."
"Good kid."
~1733
Gilbert lifted his hat in greeting, and then followed the young maid through the hallways. It wasn't long until he heard the low tones of Frederick's flute.
He found the crown prince in a bright hall, standing near the window with his flute at his lips, playing a soft song to no one but himself. When Gilbert entered, Frederick stopped his playing and smiled at him.
"I knew you'd come," he said lowly, and Gilbert nodded.
"Of course. I wanted to see you, free and happy…?"
Frederick laughed and answered: "Well, I'm as happy as I can expect, I guess."
"Good." The white haired nation pointed at the flute in Frederick's hands. "So, you're still practising?"
Frederick laughed softly. "I think I can say that I've become pretty good by now… want to listen for a moment?"
Gilbert nodded and sat down on one of the chairs standing close by. When Frederick started to play, he closed his eyes and let the music fill the room, his body, and his heart.
When Frederick finished playing, there was silence for a long moment. After a while, he asked: "So…? How did you like it?"
Gilbert blinked, almost as if awakening from a deep sleep, and then smiled, his gaze lowering to the ground. Shifting uncomfortably on the chair, he finally answered: "It was beautiful… do you," he raised his head, "do you think you could… teach me how to play like that?"
Frederick gave him a warm smile and replied: "Sure."
Some historical information:
1728 – Frederick began secretly taking the flute lessons with Johann Joachim Quantz
1729 – When he was 18, Frederick plotted to flee to England with Hans Hermann von Katte and other junior army officers. Frederick and Katte were subsequently arrested and imprisoned in Küstrin. Because they were army officers who had tried to flee Prussia for Great Britain, Frederick William I accused the pair of treason. The king threatened the crown prince with the death penalty, then considered forcing Frederick to renounce the succession in favour of his brother, Augustus William, although either option would have been difficult to justify to the Reichstag of the Holy Roman Empire. The king forced Frederick to watch the decapitation of his confidant Katte at Küstrin on 6 November, leaving the crown prince to faint away and suffer hallucinations for the following two days.
1733 – Frederick moved into his own castle, where he could play his music as he wished.
Info taken mainly from wiki/Frederick_II_of_Prussia and some other sources. Feel free to correct any historical mistakes =)