Chapter Two: Compartmentalization

…

She wasn't one to smoke regularly. It was a disgusting habit, and especially bad when she was watching a loved one get eaten alive by cancer, but for Alexandrine tonight was under exceptional circumstances. She simply didn't care about taking care of herself right now.

The trance music playing in Club 471 drowned out Alexandrine's senses as she took a drag from her cigarette. She glanced up from her empty gin cocktail and towards a table of young women laughing together just outside the VIP seating. From what Alexandrine should see through the neon night club lighting. It was a group of blondes having a great Friday night out together. Standing out in the group was a single dark haired woman. She was sipping on a drink with a sly look on her face.

As though she felt a Princess's eyes on her, the woman glanced towards Alexandrine's direction. Alexandrine turned fully away and lowered her head. She wasn't sure why she had done that. She had a lot on her mind. She was still in a daze from this morning. Her brain was unable to fully process the concept that she would ascend to the throne, stepping over her older, and more known brother.

Alexandrine hypothesized that she was looking at the other table with envy. She was sure their lives had their own challenges which she never had to endure, but the women got to live independent lives, their challenges were their own and they overcame them in any way that they saw fit. The freedom they had made her heart feel sick and forced her to take another drag of her cigarette just to settle the uneasy feeling inside her.

The feeling gripping her was one she had come to hate. It was a sort. This self -pity came to Alexandrine in waves ever since she accepted to take on her position as a Crown Princess. She could have said no. She should have said no, but with father dying, those desperate begging eyes of him looking at her like he was her only hope, the years he had spent privately dreaming of his daughter to be his presumptive heir, she just could not say no.

Everything she had planned… the normal life she wanted. It was all now in tatters. She wished he told her sooner, so that she could be spared the option to have had a choice in the matter.

Life, as Alexandrine knew it, was about to fundamentally change now that she accepted her role as an Empress-in-waiting. Already her father had set up her first meeting with the Generalmajor he wanted to take her on as a pupil of sorts. Father did not have a lot of time to give his daughter room to grow used to the idea of being an Empress.

In two days, she would be heading to a manor home about fifty kilometers outside Konigsberg. There in East Prussia lived the newest member of the Wehrmacht council, Generalmajor Jochen von Hoch. His non-biological mother, Hanala had been an advisor for Grandfather, and even came out of retirement to help father in his first years of reign.

She could vaguely remember Hanala as a grandmotherly sort until Hanala returned to retirement and cut herself off from the Hohenzollern's for good. It was probably for the best considering the woman was in her 70's at the time of her second retirement.

While there was an affection that Hanala had for the throne, this time for Alexandrine there wasn't going to be a friendly encounter with a kindly monarchist. Jochen von Hoch was on the Council; he was one of the men driving her father into an early grave. Now she had to go to his home and perform for him just to get in his good graces. This would be the preamble to the rest of her life: performing for men and women who would openly hate her.

While Alexandrine might have hated that she had to meet him, deep down she did understand why having him on her side was so paramount to the future of her reign. For fifty years the Kaiser had been effectively shut out of all matters concerning the council. They were allowed to sit in on the meetings, but rarely did Grandfather and father use that opportunity and when they did, they had no idea what was going on behind the scenes.

So for Father to score this opportunity to give her, it meant she could perhaps stand a better chance against the council than she would have without the insight. With that in mind, she had to bury the resentment and add it to the pile building inside her mind since this morning.

In her brooding silence, Alexandrine opened up her purse and took out her compact to check out her hair, her hand running through her dark bangs, pushing the length to one side. She stiffened as a familiar tap bounced on the top of her head.

"My, my," she heard behind her. "Aren't you are a bundle of joy on your birthday celebration."

Rolling her eyes, the Princess looked at the source of smug male voice. Sure enough, above her with two vodka cocktails in hand was Michael Karađorđević, otherwise known as Crown Prince Michael II of Romania. For a Crown Prince, he sure didn't look the part.

He was a lanky sort, his thick long black hair went down to his neck, his face was unshaven but groomed. Tonight he was dressed in a jacket and a long white tee and some jeans. It was in complete contrast to her decision to wear a black dress that hugged her body. It was not particularly revealing, but borderline. Michael also wore that stupid little grin on his face that he used to taunt her into a response, and it worked every time.

Born to Princess Maria of the former Yugoslavian throne and Prince Christopher of Romania, Michael was heir to the throne ever since his father's premature death when the Prince was still just a boy. Suddenly Michael became the immediate heir apparent to the throne. Tonight Alexandrine could not help but envy her friend. He had spent years being taught how to be a King by a healthy – if old school – Grandfather.

In an effort to build back ties between the European houses, Elizabeth II and her Grandfather Louis started hosting the children of the various royal families to three week summer excursions every other year. It was thought that if the children ceased to be strangers, they could empathize with the other.

While the royal families did not hold power usually, they could practice a soft power. Usually these issues were trivial, but in one case a war between Romania and Bulgaria was averted because Prince Cyril and Michael's father Prince Christopher became such close friends when they attended their first exchange as boys. They spent weeks organizing summits between the governments and remained constantly in contact until the crisis was adverted.

In Alexandrine and Michael case, the pair had met when he was 13 and she was 10 at the exchange, which was hosted at the Eremitageslottet in Copenhagen, Denmark that year. Alexandrine could still remember how homesick she was in the first week. She did not get to leave the Reich a lot, let alone without her family. Worst still, no one wanted to interact with her. She was a Prussian Princess after all, what sort of fun would she ever be?

Then on the third day, some goofy Romanian boy confidently marched up to her, told her she was acting like a baby and proceeded to spend the entire day with her, riling her up, forcing the younger girl to focus on being angry rather than being upset and homesick. The anger turned into annoyance, which simmered into tolerance and finally into a genuine friendship.

Ever since their first summer encounter in Copenhagen, Michael was her best friend. He was her confidant to all of her darkest fears and desires which she could not even share with Marta. He never judged her, never made assumptions and most fortunately, never put her on a pedestal. In return Alexandrine offered the same loyalty shown to him to her, and just like that another chain of friendship was forged between two nations.

As Alexandrine took another drag, she took the drink from Michael. She watched the man slump down into the seat next to her. As she sipped her drink the alcohol burned in her mouth. She wasn't much of a drinker, but she imagined that would not be the case for much longer. She would need to be in a stupor for what was coming.

"Sorry if I don't have the enthusiasm I had yesterday for this," Alexandrine answered Michael. "I appreciate you taking me out like this, it's just that today has decidedly been the worst day of my life so far."

She fell silent, scarcely aware that Michael was perked up and ready to hear her out. After a moment, Alexandrine heard an audible groan over the music. Michael was looking at her, clearly annoyed by her. Whether or not it was real annoyance was a matter of some conjecture.

"You're just going to leave it hanging with a melodramatic line like that?" Michael goaded, leaning back into his seat. "Come on, talk to me so that we can work through this. It'll just be between us."

There was a truth to that. Michael was a closed book when it came to whatever she confided in him. Still, there was a hesitation that gripped Alexandrine. It was one thing to confide in your best friend about who she nursed a crush for, or had a bad day; it was quite another thing to tell a foreign Prince that she was on the verge of being named an Empress.

As much as her brain told her to suppress and contain her new title from the world, her heart demanded she confide in her best friend. She needed a sympathetic ear, and she needed one from someone who vaguely could understand the position she was in. He would be a king after all. Who better to discuss the challenge with?

Alexandrine took another drag off her cigarette and glanced enviously at the table of women she was looking at prior to Michael's return. How she wished she could live their lives instead. She could do anything, be anything she wanted…

"My father decided to be generous this year. He gave me two gifts," Alexandrine blurted out, a renewed sense of dread washing over her words, causing her voice to quake. "He decided that on my birthday he was going to reveal that his cancer has metastasized… he's terminal."

Allowing her words to sink into Michael, Alexandrine turned away from him. Unable to look at her best friend's expression turned from amusement to shock. Alexandrine focused on her drink, taking a generous gulp.

As soon as she set the glass down, Michael reached out and took her hand. Alexandrine twitched at the physical contact and glanced at him. That was all it took for him to reach out and wrap her in his arms. She stiffened in his arms, but allowed the contact. She rested her head against his shoulder. She could feel his hand, running up and down the back of her neck.

"I am sorry to hear that, Sofia," Michael said, using her middle name as he had when they were kids. "I wish I could say something more…"

Alexandrine pulled back from his arms, wiping the mist out of her eyes, she attempted a weak smile. It was less to comfort Michael and more to keep her from breaking down.

"It's fine… I haven't really processed it yet; and I really don't want to think about it tonight," Alexandrine finally spoke, forcing her voice to relax a little. "I've known about his illness for a long time, but I-I… just thought we would have more time, you know?"

Michael nodded and leaned into his seat as he went for his own cigarettes. His eyes never left Alexandrine as he lit up. There was clearly a lot on his mind about the revelation.

"I wish I did have some way to help you through this, but loss is not something you fit into a neat package. It's unique to everyone," Michael said as he exhaled a mouthful of smoke. "My father died when before I had any sort of tangible memories of him… For me, it was sort of a blessing and a curse to not to get to know him. The memories of him are all second hand – impersonal, you know? When I learn something new, it's not personal to me. It feels more like a factoid my family discloses to me… still… I wish I had the first hand."

Alexandrine both envied and felt sorry for Michael's admission. She could never imagine having a life that did not include her father in it. She did cherish every free moment he found when he wasn't a Kaiser and was her father instead. Right now, however, not having these experienced memories seemed much less painful for her.

"You said he gave you another gift?" Michael redirected, his words carefully spoken as to not upset his friend.

Downing the last of her vodka, Alexandrine caught the eye of a brunette drink server and raised her hand to summon her. As soon as the woman approached, Alexandrine slid her emptied glass over.

"Could you bring me a Martini?" she requested. She never had one before, and now was as good a time as any to try one.

As the server collected the glass and moved through the crowd to the bar, Alexandrine turned to Michael, who was still waiting to hear what she was going to tell him. A small humourless laugh escaped her. It was still an absurd idea to even speak out aloud.

"He named me his heir," Alexandrine informed her friend, her voice devoid of any emotion. "And like a fool, I accepted it…"

She was greeted by silence. Alexandrine looked at her friend.

Michael, for the first time in a long time, did not have a response to the revelation. There was a wave of nervous energy that infected her as Alexandrine watched Michael look at her in a way which he had never looked at her before. The expression was that of nervous respect.

Michael and Alexandrine had an established relationship ever since they first met. He was going to be a king and she was going to stay a Princess. They could be casual friends; the power balance had been defined like that for almost a decade. When Michael interacted with Georg, there was more of an air of respect rather than friendliness.

With her admission the dynamic between them was about to shift out of his favor. It was one thing to be a King in a constitutional monarchy, it was another thing to be a Kaiser in a country where fifty years into the new the return of the Kaiser, the power of the state remained up for debate, and that the Kaiser could wield tangible power if they so choose to; and while the Kaiser's that came before chose not to, there would soon be a war where the Kaiser would have to take charge.

Now, the assumption that Georg would be Kaiser had ended, and now the girl he used to goad and tease was to be not only head of state to a superpower, but probably the most influential voice on the entire planet who wasn't a quarian was now the heir to the throne.

The server broke a little of the tension as she set down the Martini in front of Alexandrine with a polite half-smile. Alexandrine forced herself to return the gesture and wrapped her delicate fingers around the stem of the cocktail glass.

"You're… going to be the Empress of Germany…" Michael found his voice, his words strained as he continued to stare at her.

Alexandrine sipped her drink and nodded half-heartedly. The shift in the relationship had already begun. It was inevitable now; her days as the overlooked Princess were fast coming to an end.

"I don't mean to come off as rude," Michael started again, his voice a little raw. "But… Georg-"

"Georg, the first born male child, a decade and a half older and has a German mother was not chosen?" Alexandrine cut him off. "Yeah… imagine my shock."

Silence returned between future King and Empress. Michael was still stunned with the revelation; but to his credit he tried to relax. Not that it worked… how could anyone in his position do that? Half a day into her being asked and Alexandrine was still unable to process it.

Alexandrine looked up from the table and looked out to the club patrons as her heart dully throbbed inside her chest as she attempted to not have a panic attack at the thoughts of being an Empress. Her gaze drifted off to the patrons of the club, pausing briefly at the dark haired woman. She looked away from her table of friend for a moment as Alexandrine had, and her eyes locked onto the Princess staring at her.

Alexandrine turned away to face Michael.

"-For the record I think you would make an excellent Empress," Michael had been speaking throughout her distraction in between taking a drag of his cigarette. "I like Georg, but he's just so…

The phrase Michael was looking for was holier-than-thou. His public face was very prim and proper. He was his father's son, with all the expectations which followed that.

That said, the more Alexandrine thought about how to desperately beg her brother into pressuring father to give him the throne instead, the more she thought about how… depressing he was. With such a small number of siblings compared to what Father had, being a Kaiser must have been the foreboding inevitability for him. He never got to live a life without knowing one day he would have to give it up. By comparison, Alexandrine lived in blissful ignorance.

"I haven't spoken to him about it yet. I was kind of in too much of a daze to engage anyone in my family beyond acknowledging they existed, but I don't think he interested in the role," Alexandrine replied as she took another sip. "Donata probably spent years telling how awful the position, which was supported by watching Grandfather in his last years with his own eyes. Then he got to see how the position ate away at our father as well. I can't blame him for not wanting it."

Exhaling, Alexandrine's fingers lightly grazed the necklace she received from Marta. She wished it could be the morning again, before her father came in and ruined her future.

"For a moment I was… thinking about renouncing my title after Father told me what he wished for me," she admitted to Michael. "It seemed so silly to be a Princess in 2007 when all I wanted to do was start life which belongs to me."

There was a strained silence as Michael digested the thought Alexandrine had… still had. If she stayed the course, everything she wanted would be gone forever. The only thing that kept her from immediately renouncing had been her father. The idea of raising his hopes up in the final stages of his life, only to dash them right away was wrong on a fundamental level.

"I know it's a lot to process when you were only told this a few hours ago, but you still said yes to him," Michael spoke to her, reiterating her only reason as to why she would not renounce her position. "At some point soon you have to compartmentalize this feeling of losing everything. It's going to eat you up if you aren't careful."

Alexandrine nodded, sipping her drink. She paid no attention to Michael's heavy hand falling down on her shoulder. There was some truth to that.

"Can I offer you some advice, from heir to heir?" Michael asked her earnestly.

Alexandrine rolled her eyes and took a sip from her martini. It was enough to make Michael shoot her that annoying expression he used whenever he was prodding her out of whatever funk she was in.

"I know our situations are different, and I've only spent my entire life preparing for this role, whereas you get it sprung up on you by surprise and Romania isn't exactly the great German Kaiserreich," Michael taunted her sarcastically. "But I think I can offer you some thoughts, even if I'm from such a small and insignificant countr-"

Reaching out, Alexandrine pushed Michael's face to one side. The Romanian chuckled and shoved her hand aside as he went to grab his drink. For the first time tonight, Alexandrine could not help but laugh just a little.

"Now is not the time to be a snarky asshole with your advice," Alexandrine requested of her friend, her tone a little moody as she stared at the drink in front of her. "Just tell me I'm unreasonable; that I'm a spoiled brat for turning up my nose at this. I know I'm being some miserable child who values the idea of independence over duty, but I can't help but feel this way."

A small exhale escaped Michael as he examined his friend.

"Look in all seriousness I love your Father, Alexandrine," Michael spoke softly to her. "Louis has been sort of like a father to me whenever I had the time to be in German-"

"But…" Alexandrine cut him off; know full well he was going to ramble on as he always did when put on the spot.

"-But when your Father tells you that you have to give up everything you are to serve the state, that's his father speaking through him," Michael pressed on, ignoring her interjection. "He got bad, out of date advice from his father and is trying to inadvertently pass it off to you like its dogma."

Taking another drink from her gin Martini, Alexandrine looked up to meet Michael's eyes. Considering how much of a bitch she must have been acting like, he was looking remarkably patient with her.

"You don't have to give up who you are," Michael reassured her as warm as he usually was. "Sure, you must make some sacrifices and compromises for the throne as every modern monarch must, but to completely surrender yourself and throw your life into the position? That's a Prussian madness invented by your Grandfather to make amends for the sins of his Grandfather… at some point enough is enough."

Staring at Michael as he lit up a cigarette and raised his empty glass over his head to the nearest server, Alexandrine nodded as she took a drag of her cigarette as well. For sixty years her family lived in perpetual fear that the people would see the reclamation of the family's reputation. It was even one of her first concerns following learning she was her father's choice as an empress.

There had been an idea that had been festering in her mind for some time. She wondered what purpose a Princess had in the modern era and this wasn't an original idea either. Alexandrine wanted to do what many of her aunts and uncles had done: renounce the title, start a private life. Build a career and find someone to fall in love with outside the public scrutiny.

"Maybe you're right," Alexandrine spoke up after the server returned with a new drink for Michael. "I guess I'm scared I'll slowly lose myself. My father got to develop as an adult. He went into the Wehrmacht, he got married, had a couple children, got married again… and he still lost what he made for himself the moment Grandfather named him his successor."

Tapping her cigarette into the ashtray, she stubbed out what was left and picked up her glass. She could already feel the alcohol affecting her.

"I'm not going to get to have that chance as my father had," she continued, her voice growing bitter in spite of her love for her father. "He got to live a life, serve his country and explore the world on his own. Me… I'll be an Empress and that's all I'll ever be… and that scares me the most."

She offered Michael a grimacing expression. She knew he probably thought she was mad, to be this… upset about inheriting the Prussian Hohenzollern throne. But as the Roman poet Ovid said: 'the grass was always greener'.

"I know it's silly to someone outside my family, but there is still a part of me that doesn't want people to think I'm some second coming of Wilhelm. The fear of that is… well, bred into the family and then reinforced by the family; and I cannot help but notice the similarities," she confessed, unable to hide the fear echoing in her voice. "I'm inheriting a war, and for the first time since Wilhelm, I will have to be a true war time Empress – not the little one sided conflicts my Grandfather and father dealt with, but a real war with real consequences - and I don't want to go mad from the responsibility that entails…"

Michael took her hand.

"Well, it's a good thing you'll have friends to remind of who you are," Michael spoke immediately before any sort of more fear further etched into her heart, his hand rubbing her back. "I promise that if I detect a whiff of Wilhelm factoring into you, I'll be the first one to confront you… okay?"

Alexandrine held her gaze on her friend. After a moment, she silently raised her glass and watched him touch the tip with his. As she drank, she knew that she would hold him to that promise.

"I know circumstances are rough, especially with your father… you know…" Michael said, trailing off as he stumbled back into a topic which Alexandrine wanted to shut out of her mind. Thankfully he recovered and added. "…But tonight is not a night to think about it too much. You will have plenty of time in the near future to stress over what is to happen. Tonight is about you."

A slight smile crossed back over Alexandrine's mouth. She had barely registered it was her birthday since her father had turned her life upside down. She knew that Michael had been planning for this night, for some time, and had a huge celebration in order with all their friends too. Thankfully Michael noticed something was off and scaled back the celebration for the time being. There would be another party on a later date, but for now it was just two friends out for some drinks. She greatly appreciated the tact he showed. It was a rarity from the Romanian.

Alexandrine watched in silence as Michael slid to the seat next to her. A strange little knowing grin was on his mouth. He downed the last of his drink in one go.

"So…" Michael said, tailing off as he set the glass down, still wearing that awful smirk. "You're 18 now; and I didn't forget that talk we had… We agreed, and you and I don't break these agreements, do we?"

She blinked as she struggled to remember what it was that he promised him through the haze of alcohol and grief overran through most of her thinking process. It took a moment, but then it came to her.

As soon as recollection had crossed into her expression, Michael nodded. His smirk widened even more.

"Here's the deal, as your gift, I have I rented a private suite at the Adlon for the night. It cost an arm and a leg, but it'll be worth it," He teased, his head tilting as he watched the Princess grow pale and nervous. "With your new role, it's time you become an actual woman now. If – god forbid -you're going to be a teenaged Empress, the last thing you want to be is like Victoria, a child until she found Albert."

The heat rushed to her face as she struggled to comprehend what Michael's birthday gift was. He wanted to help make her a proper woman… Of course that was what he wanted to do. No wonder he was so insistent on taking her out for drinks. It made her more susceptible to agreeing with him.

Still, a very small part of her felt that perhaps Michael may have had a point. She was 18 now, she was going to be an Empress, and her freedom would be severely limited. Alexandrine was keenly aware that she would not have many opportunities like this in the future. She could not help but feel a small rush at the idea. Michael, for all his annoying faults, did have a reputation of making the impossible possible…

Her hands quaking a little, Alexandrine reached for another cigarette to smoke.

"So… with that in mind…" Michael said, lighting up her cigarette as soon as she slipped it between her lips. "Tonight, you're going to pick someone, and I am going to wingman you straight into her pants. This is my gift to you, Sofia."

Alexandrine rubbed her face. Of course he remembered that promise he made.

"I thought you were joking…" Alexandrine spoke, finding her voice after the "I only agreed because I thought you were just being nice."

"I'm offended you'd think that," Michael mock gasped. "You know that I keep my word. I wouldn't be a very good Crown Prince if I didn't, now would I?"

Michael was, after all, her confidant. She indeed told him everything about her, no matter how peculiar it was.

So when she realized she had a certain… predilection towards members of her own gender, she told him. Michael was the only person in her life who knew the truth about who she actually was. He might not have understood the experience of having the sort of feelings she had, but he was an empathetic ear who let her vent and discuss these most private of urges she felt once puberty hit.

It was a strange thing to be a Princess and attracted to women. There, of course, was the expectation of a Princess finding a Prince or noble and having children. Perhaps that was why her father and the rest of the family had condoned the amount of time which she was spending time with Michael. The assumption many had was that Michael and Alexandrine were close in a romantic way, and that maybe one day she would be his Queen consort. Ignoring the fact that they were distantly related, it was never like that with Michael and her. Michael had immediately set the boundaries the moment he knew Alexandrine was not attracted to his gender.

This same sex attraction she held was one of the motivators to her wishing to renounce the title she held. She wanted to fall in love one day, and while her… tastes were not frowned upon in Germany, it didn't mean it was going to be easy. It would especially be hard with her being in the spot light that being a Princess brought on. Once she became an Empress, how in the hell was she going to be able to live honestly? There would be an expectation to take up with a man she would never actually love…

Alexandrine would not do that though. She would not live that way. If she couldn't have what she wanted… who she wanted… then she would prefer to be alone then to live a lie for the sake of convention.

"So… who has caught your eye tonight?" Michael asked as he relaxed into his seat. "I noticed a couple of quarians looking your way earlier. Probably could take them both back to the suite if you wanted."

He nodded his head and Alexandrine followed, seeing a pair of quarian women swaying together at the edge of the lounge leading to the dance floor, drinks in hands and clearly flirting with one another. Alexandrine turned back to Michael, who naturally gave her a grin and a thumb up.

As disgusting behavior as it was on his part, she could not help but feel a little flattered he had such confidence in her being to pull that one off.

Staring at Michael for a moment, Alexandrine exhaled unsteadily, reaching out to grab him by the chin. She pushed his gaze in the direction of the table she had spent all night glancing over steal small glances at the brunette leaning in her seat, a cigarette between her fingers in one hand, her martini glass in the other. Her friends seemed to be vibing to the entrancing beat blaring from the DJ and chatting with each other, yet she remained motionless as she appeared to be scrolling through a data pad.

Michael emitted a low whistle, clearly impressed by the choice Alexandrine had in mind. He reached out and patted her shoulder as though she were just another one of his male friends.

"My dear Sofia, you're feeling real ambitious tonight aren't you?" he praised as he downed the last of his drink.

"She's… interesting, to say the least," Alexandrine answered with a small sigh. "I just… I don't know if it's a good idea anymore…"

No matter what she wanted to do, the looming shadow of her new title hung over her. Already she found herself questioning her desires and whether or not it would be good for her image if they got out. The press would have a field day if they found out she had a tryst before a marriage like – god forbid – most people did in the modern era. How would they react to a same sex one?

"Why are you so nervous?" Michael egged her on, clearly not one to care about purity. "You're going to be an Empress, picking a woman up will be nothing. If you get stuck, I'll talk you out of any jam."

Michael's earnestness in having her act like a degenerate was surprisingly touching.

"It might be easy to pick up women and be a Crown Prince for you… but it's a little different for me," Alexandrine found her voice, struggling as she looked for the right words to use. "I'm not… looking for someone of an opposite gender, aren't I? I can imagine it gets complicated if I approach the wrong person."

Michael rolled his eyes at her concerns. She did not raise an issue with it. How could he understand the potential ostracization she would endure if she ended up chasing the wrong person? Who knew who would try to blackmail her, or go to the press right away to make some quick money at the expense of her reputation? Michael was fortunate enough not to live with the sort of fear she lived in about something as simple as attraction.

"But you're interested in her tonight, right?" he reiterated, trying to redirect her out of her growing moodiness. "If I go over there and get her hot and bothered enough to fuck a Prussian princess, you'll go through with it right?"

There was no response from Alexandrine to answer his question. He stared as the woman next to her looked away from him nervously. It was all the confirmation he seemed to need.

"Wait a second… you've never done this before, have you," Michael confirmed out loud, his voice disbelieving as he held his attention on her. "You've never approached a girl? You went to an All-girls school and never let loose and just had your way with one of your classmates in some closet while no one was looking?"

All that it took for Alexandrine to do was stare at him wordlessly to cause a wild, nearly hyena laugh erupt from the Romanian. If it had been anyone else, Alexandrine would not have taken it in stride as she was doing.

"I figured it was your first time – and I get the nerves that come from that – but I never thought that you were this innocent!" he exclaimed before laughing again.

"As I said…" Alexandrine said as she moodily swirled her drink. "It's a complicated struggle."

"It's only complicated if you make it complicated. I'll tell you what, I'll make it real fucking easy for you," Michael said, cutting off her self-pitying thought process before is further brought the mood down. "I'll have my driver take you back to the Adlon; you'll go to the suite and order a bottle of champagne. If I'm successful, you'll have a visitor in an hour or so. If not, the night is still young; we'll go to another club and find you someone. God as my witness, you're going to get laid tonight."

"You make it sound so… creepy." Alexandrine said distastefully. It felt like to her that he was ordering a woman to sleep with her on her behalf, like it was some sort of feudal throwback.

"What is it with you Prussians seeing complication in simplicity?" Michael groaned as Alexandrine shifted in her seat anxiously. "It's just a hook up. Look, I'm not going to drag her back to your room and coerce her. If she's interested, I'll direct her to you. If not, we'll move on!"

Michael reached out and gave her an encouraging shake on her shoulders.

"So ignore those fucking nerves," he cajoled her playfully. "You have only seen this woman since you entered this night club. If picking up a random stranger is such a problem, how the fuck will you ever begin to approach Isabella?"

At the mention of her, Alexandrine launched herself out of her sat, scooping up one of the shot glasses left untouched and downed it in one. She ignored the dizziness caused by the night's chain smoking more so than the alcohol itself. She wanted to be anywhere, other than in this conversational redirection Michael was attempting to lure her into, even if it meant humiliating herself in front of a strange woman.

Clearly enjoying scoring another victory over her, Michael stood up as well, dropping hard currency onto the table and slicking his long black hair back behind his ears. He was far more intoxicated than she thought

"Look…just… don't flat out proposition her," Alexandrine practically begged Michael, who was too busy grooving to the music between them. "Could you instead… ask her if she would be willing to spare ten minutes of her time to see me?"

A small grin crossed his face as he scooped up his jacket and turned back to her. He seemed he could live with that course.

"I understand… I offer the invite, and give you a chance to sell the opportunity to her in private..." Michael listed off. He clasped his hands together and added. "Alright then, we got a plan… follow my lead, Crown Princess."

With that, Michael grabbed her hand paying no mind to the expression of protest she wore. Whether it was his acknowledgement of her new title, or he was effectively dragging her towards the table, even she was no longer aware of what annoyed her more.

"What are you doing-" she started to say

"Don't give me that shit. I thought you said you didn't want to make it creepy," he said as soon as he finally looked back to her. "Look, we're going to stop by the table, she's going to get an eyeful of you, and then I'll make the move. She'll at least know the woman waiting for her is real."

"Is this just an excuse to pick up one of her table friends?" Alexandrine wryly replied, trying to inject a little more enthusiasm into her voice.

All it earned her was Michael's arm around her neck tightening into a playful headlock. Alexandrine yelped and hit Michael in the side as hard as her fist could. The man laughed and let her go.

"Stop looking too deeply into such a magnanimous birthday gift I am giving my best friend," Michael shot back, flattering himself as he pushed the two of them between a group of off-duty Heer soldiers in the midst of a shot drinking contest. "Besides, like I said… If she says no, we're going off to the next club we find. If she won't give you the time of day, why the fuck would I give up my time for her friends?"

There was no response from Alexandrine as she felt her stomach lurch and her chest pound uncomfortably fast as Michael fearlessly led her closer and closer to the woman. There was almost a groove in the way he was moving, like he was attempting to make the pair of them appear causal.

It's the quiet time before the dawn and I'm half past making sense of it, was I wrong?
Should I claim to give it all?
In a world where not much ever seems to last long…

The song, a somewhat older one permeated through her thoughts. She tried to ignore the brief glances she got. She always feared being recognized.

The haze of the alcohol and the moody club lighting faded as she took in far clearer details than she had lurking across from her in the VIP lounge.

The woman – now very clearly East Asian in her origins - had jet black hair, which had tied up in a loose bun with wavy bangs inching down the left side of her face. She had full lips that were a soft glossy red tone and soft application of makeup. She was dressed in a small white dress with a revealed shoulder and semi deep V-cut. She was clearly a professional woman who was making a conscious effort to appear causal for the sake of her friends. In her slender delicate fingers gripped a half consumed whiskey highball by the looks of it.

It was… strange how small Alexandrine already felt. It probably led back to lack of experiences in just about every avenue by comparison.

Without any sort of warning, Michael seemingly bumped against the table, knocking over empty glasses and earning protesting noises from most of the table. It was enough to make the woman's trance-like concentration on tablet to break and she looked up, locking eyes on Michael first, then to Alexandrine. For the first time, the woman seemed almost taken aback. Whether it was just shock of Michael's purposeful accident, or at the sight of Alexandrine now within arms distance, Alexandrine could not tell.

"Sorry for that, ladies. I wasn't looking," Michael faux apologized to the table. "I may have had too much to drink."

A couple of the women laughed at the confession. Perhaps they found him charming. The woman on Alexandrine's mind was not one of them. Michael shot the ones who reacted positively a warm grin before turning back to face Alexandrine, whom he proceeded to envelop into a hug.

"It was great to see you again, Sofia," he said loudly. "I'll see you around. Have a good night and a happier birthday!"

A little confused, it took a moment and Michael subtly gesturing to the club exit for Alexandrine to clue in that it was her time to leave. Alexandrine looked over Michael's shoulder and noticed the woman was carefully inspecting her body over her drink. In a moment of daring which likely had been fuelled by the alcohol in her veins, Alexandrine put her hand on her hip and emitted a small smile for the woman. The expression on the woman's face did not change, but she did not seem uninterested either.

As Alexandrine left she heard Michael say: "Can I make it up to you with a round, purely as an apology…" over her shoulder. She smiled a little and let him get to work.

The thrill of this sort of first contact tickled her nerves. Now it was up to Michael to not foul it up.

…

…

Long delay, life got in the way. I have a follow up chapter almost done so it should be out a lot quicker. I know a lot of people like the intrigue of the original series but for now character building is key. Hope you enjoyed this latest outing. Song is Late Night Alumni – Empty Streets