"Ah. So this is the soldat könig's son. It's very nice to meet you." The man said. "My name is Ferdinand Albert the Second." I looked up at him. Fritz was a Second too. "My Queen's name is Antoinette Amalie. Our daughter is Princess Elisabeth Christine." The Queen and the Princess both curtsied to Fritz.
"It is an honor to meet the three of you." Fritz replied.
"I assure you the pleasure is all mine." Elisabeth replied, giving a flirty smile. "I've heard many great things about your country."
"I suppose you already know me then."
"Of course, Prince Frederick." She gave another curtsy to show she meant no disrespect. "Who is your son?"
"His name is Gilbert Beilschmidt." I smirked. Fritz had warned me not to speak during this encounter and I had no problem not speaking. I don't know if I like these people or not.
"Nice to meet you Gilbert." Elisabeth said, holding out her hand. I backed up and hid behind Fritz' leg. Fritz grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it. I frowned, confused. "Is the poor boy shy?" She asked.
"I assure you that when you get to know him, he won't seem shy at all."
"Well it's time for lunch. The table should be set by now." Ferdinand spoke up again. "Follow me, please." He turned and headed toward the castle. I watched Elisabeth and Amalie followed him. Fritz grabbed my hand and led me in.
We reached the dining room and Fritz helped me to a spot on the right side of the end of the table while Ferdinand sat at the middle of the other end of the table. Amalie sat on his right side and Elisabeth sat across from Amalie. Fritz sat at the end of the table that was left. I noticed that the table was set now and food was beginning to be brought in.
"I thought it prudent to serve a Prussian dish." That was Ferdinand's only remark about the food. I smiled and was about to dig in but I noticed that the food was actually small balls of meat on sticks. That's weird. It's a full course meal. Just like you would expect at the high society level.
"It's Sauerkraut balls, isn't it Father?" Elisabeth asked, giving me a gentle smile.
"Yes. It is. I hope you don't mind Frederick." Fritz smiled.
"Of course not." We all began to eat the meat on sticks. They talked while they ate and soon the empty plates were gone to be replaced by a bowl full of water. I stuck my hands in the water, accidentally spilling some onto the table. Fritz cleared his throat and I quickly followed his lead. We were then given a bowl of soup. I stared at it, frowning. It looks not nice.
"This is my favourite, potato soup." Amalie said, starting up a conversation. I just stared at mine as they ate. I noticed Fritz looking at me.
"Something wrong with the food Gilbert?" He asked.
"I don't think I like the way it looks." I whispered.
"Try it, you might like it." I picked up my spoon and started on it, it didn't taste that bad but it still looked bad. The next plate I was too eager to eat. It was a fillet of salmon. I had to keep being reminded quietly to slow down by Fritz. I was already getting full but another plate was brought to replace the dishes we had.
It was a big thing of fried meat, which I happily nibbled on while they all talked about politics and stuff. The next thing was a strange wine glass filled with rice, whipped cream, and two cherries. I gladly ate mine. Next came a drink of punch. Top and bottom flavors were blueberry but the middle part was cherry.
The next one I refused to eat from. It was a few slices of roasted venison. Thankfully Fritz didn't think I was being disobedient by not eating it. Then came a 'salad'. It was really just a pile of carrots, tomatoes, and lettuce all stuffed into a big plop of ranch dressing. I took a few bites before eating the whole thing. It was a strange taste but I liked it. It was a new view on salad.
The next course was three deviled eggs. That meant six pieces if egg. My favourite part was getting a plate full of sweets. An eclair filled with chocolate and topped with vanilla ice cream, a layer of whipped cream, and finally some cherries. I ate the whole thing. I was actually enjoying myself.
The last plate of the meal had grapes, cheese, crackers, and small slices of meat. I also noticed I'd been to distracted by the food to notice the drinks. Sparkling wine, red wine, white wine, champagne, two red burgundy, two martini, red bordeaux, sherry, and tequila. I quickly set about draining them… not a good idea but I didn't want them being taken from me. The next thing I was given, I knew part of it I wasn't supposed to take part in.
We'd been given coffee and cigars. The coffee had whipped cream on top along with a cherry while the cigar was honey flavoured. I took the cigar but refused to act on the coffee. I watched as Fritz and Ferdinand lit their cigars and copied them.
"Let's let the ladies leave the table." Ferdinand said, as though he was being thoughtful about it. The Queen and the Princess left us all alone and Ferdinand and Fritz began to talk to each other. I sat there, being quiet as I held my cigar with both my hands and smoking as I saw Fritz do it.
The cigar was very weird. It was almost as if I were trying to inhale bad honey. I noticed Fritz never swallowed so I never did either. Instead, I would remove my lips from said cigar and breathe out the smoke that went in and when Fritz went to grab another breath of it, I put my lips back on it too. Though I could tell that Fritz had… forgotten I was here. He never looked at me once like he had done at the beginning of our lunch.
I was beginning to get the hang of smoking the pipe when I decided to try what Ferdinand was doing. He would smoke the cigar and when he exhaled the smoke, he took a small swig of his coffee. Surely Fritz wouldn't be unhappy if I tried the coffee?
The coffee enhanced the scent and flavor of the cigar, making it ever the harder to keep myself from coughing and dragging attention to myself so I left the coffee alone. I sat there smoking my pipe for what felt like hours and finally Fritz and Ferdinand had stopped.
"The wedding is to happen tomorrow Frederick. I hope that the day after tomorrow, my daughter will be going home with you." Ferdinand stated.
"I assure you that I'm ready for this wedding. It's been in the works even before I knew my Father had decided on a bride."
"Very well then. You're dismissed." Ferdinand replied. Fritz nodded and stood. Finally his eyes dropped on me once more. Fritz noticed my half gone cigar and he took it from me, putting it out, followed strictly by his own. Then he picked me up. I laid my head on his shoulder, noticing I didn't feel any good. I felt bad.
"Thank you for having us, Your Majesty." Fritz replied, quickly leaving the room. "Why didn't you leave with the women?" He asked.
"I wanted to be with you." I replied, putting my hand to my mouth.
"You really shouldn't have smoked the cigar."
"But you did it." I complained through my hand that was covering my mouth.
"Yes but now you're going to be sick for a while. You've never smoked before, and I didn't intend for you to do so for a long while." I closed my eyes, feeling dizzy.