Brothers in Arms

The aeroplane carrying Prince Rolf Glücksburg, of Denmark and his entourage of guards made it to the small remote island in the Hebrides shortly before sunset. Alastair, the lighthouse keeper, and Connell, the steward of one of his former hosts, met them on the end of the runway with a lovely carriage pulled by a huge Shire. Seeing as Hem was not with them, they all spoke in English, laughing and joking.

“Grant here hasn’t pulled anything so light in years,” Alastair smirked. “Even with the carriage fully laden, he probably won’t feel like he’s pullen nothing at all. I think he likes pullen it. The moment I hitched em up, he seemed to stand taller and prouder than before, and there’s a bounce to his step.”

“He does look happy,” Rolf laughed.

“I’m sorry your highness,” Alastair said timidly, “but I may need Grant back periodically here and there if harvest gets too tight. He, his missus, and their son are my ‘tractors’, so they work hard during harvest.”

“That is no problem,” Rolf smiled, fascinated by the old-fashioned simplicity of the island. “Kaspar here is the only one of us who has trouble with walking distances, as he was shot in the leg a few months ago, but the walking will probably do him good, and he can always stay at the house if we’re going to be doing too much walking. How is Hem doing?”

“Yer lassie seems to have taken a liking to our island. She was a little sour but quiet for a while, but now she seems to have settled in and made herself at home. Fiona says that she’s almost pleasant now. I hope you like it here at least as well as she does.”

“So do I,” Rolf smiled.

“I’ll help you get settled in, your highness,” Connell offered, “But I’ll be needen to get back this week to prepare the estate for Apollo and the girls. With so many guests, I need to get back to my regular job,” he smiled.

“Well, I hear you have done an excellent job taking care of everyone and everything,” Rolf said. “Thank you.”

Connell beamed with pride and blushed a little, quickly busying himself around the plane. “I’ll get her shut down and in the new hangar. You all go get yourself some dinner.”

“Thank you,” Rolf once again told him and hopped up into the carriage, offering his hand to Kaspar.

“Aren’t I supposed to be the one taking care of you?” Kaspar asked in German.

“I didn’t get shot in the leg, and this is my good arm,” Rolf returned. “Let’s go get dinner.”

“Yes your highness,” he smiled, licking his lips and taking Rolf and Bruce up on their offers to help.

~♦~

Hem was in the sitting room with a book when they arrived and she greeted them with a smile.

“You made it safely to the end of the world,” she joked. “Dinner should be on the table and your rooms should be ready. Not a lot happens here, but it’s peaceful and beautiful.”

Everyone stopped and stared in disbelief at the pleasant woman in the rocking chair, but they all couldn’t help but smile.

Surely this couldn’t be the same Hem who had made their lives miserable for months.

As she went back to her book they greeted David and Oskar with hugs then sat down and ate heartily.

They all wandered up to their rooms, helping Hem up the stairs as they went, curious what their new rooms looked like. The house was small compared to where they had been staying, but it was comfortable, and the view was amazing. Every room had two beds and two chairs with a small table between them.

David and Hem had been sharing a room since they arrived, and Oskar had been enjoying a room all to himself. With the arrival of so many more people, he had jokingly acquiesced to sharing a room with Leo. Rolf and Egon always shared a room wherever they went, and Bruce and Arthur were accustomed to sharing a room. Frederick and Kaspar looked at each other and joked.

“Well, we’re family now, so it’s time we got to know each other better,” Frederick laughed, as he had recently married Kaspar's cousin.

“You can help me with my English and I can help you with your-” Kasper caught himself. After months of being able to speak freely, he had almost admitted he spoke German.

“Yes,” Frederick chuckled, then put a finger to his lips.

In spite of how tired he was, Rolf sat up at his window talking with David and Egon well into the night, enjoying the view of the ocean. They all spoke in Hebrew, allowing them to relax and speak freely.

“Henrietta has been really easy going since we’ve been here,” David admitted. “The only time she was even somewhat demanding was when she was in the throes of morning sickness, and even then she was apologetic.”

“Are you sure someone didn’t somehow manage to switch her out with someone else?” Egon asked incredulously, as Rolf side-eyed him.

“I know,” David laughed. “I think she just really didn’t belong in the public eye. She has said that she loves that she doesn’t have to impress anyone or act good enough. She can just be herself and relax.”

“Yeah, that would put me in a better mood too,” Rolf admitted. “That’s actually why I liked staying at the Brennus’. They all speak German and they’re all nobility, but no one worries about status. We’re all the same- ish.”

“We’ve been pretty much doing the same here,” David smiled. “Henrietta admitted that she’s at our mercy out here, and yet somehow feels safer.”

“Well, here’s hoping we don’t disturb that delicate balance,” Rolf worried. He then looked out the window and sighed. “The ocean has such a soothing effect.”

~✡~

When the brothers, Bruce and Arthur, awoke it was light out but the sun hadn’t yet made it over the ridge. They were just wondering what time it was when they remembered that they were on a north-west facing slope, so the sun didn’t make it over the ridge until after nine in the morning. They all hustled to get dressed and down the stairs, apologising as they walked into the… empty sitting room.

They wandered into the dining room and then the kitchen, where Fiona, their cook and maid, was just starting breakfast.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t expect you to be up so early,” she began in Gaelic, then stopped and quietly asked in English, “Do you have Scottish?”

“Yes,” Bruce smiled. “Arthur, Frederick, and I all do, but the man who looks like Frederick and his guards do not.”

She nodded, thinking.

“But we will translate anything that needs to be said. And if it’s an emergency, we all speak English and German.”

She once again nodded. “Well, like I said, no one is usually up until after nine, so I’ve taken to eating my own breakfast and milking the cow before starting breakfast. It’s pretty relaxed around here.”

“That is wonderful,” Arthur sighed. “I could get used to that.”

“Me too,” Bruce smiled, and they both went back out into the sitting room to relax and wait for the others.

Frederick and Kaspar weren’t too far behind them, and both were more than happy to lounge in the sitting room, talking and watching the ocean until breakfast was ready. Everyone else slowly came down two at a time over the next half hour, and breakfast was served soon after.

Being on the island was going to make them lazy, but happy. They could see why Hem liked it so much.

~♦~

Once they had eaten and done chores they decided to explore the island a little while the weather was still nice. Kaspar was a little nervous but said nothing and began getting ready.

“How about you and Oskar catch up here around the house,” Rolf suggested. “I’m sure there are quite a few chores, and the two of you haven’t seen each other in months. I have six guards with me. I think I’ll be fine.”

“I don’t know, Hem can be rather dangerous,” Kaspar winked with a chuckle. “Go have fun,” he smiled, relaxing.

~♦~

They walked down to the beach and explored the sandy shore, splashing in the water and enjoying the warm weather. They knew it would turn cold in another month or two, so they wanted to soak up as much sun as they could.

Rolf and Hem, for the first time, enjoyed spending time together as they laughed and explored like children under the watchful eye of six parents. As they casually walked barefoot in the sand, Hem turned to Rolf.

“Do I still have to marry you?”

“No,” he said kindly. “I want us both to marry someone we love, not someone we barely tolerate.”

Hem nodded and looked out across the water. “I just want to go home. Home to my mor and my far. I never wanted to marry, or climb the ladder of nobility. I was lied to and tricked into this stupid war. Out here I don’t have to be anything but me, and I can pretend that the war doesn’t exist. But it does, and if I go home I’ll be right in the middle of it, because we live in the south.”

“I hear you,” Rolf sighed. “I feel the exact same way”

“Do you think you’ll ever go home? Or are you going to stay here with that big girl that you like? She was really nice, and she seemed to like you too. Maybe you could stay with the Brennus again and get to know her better.”

“I wouldn’t mind staying there. And either way, I want to marry her. But I have a feeling I have to go home sooner or later, whether I want to or not.”

She sighed and nodded, a sadness in her eyes. “If I go home, I… can never let anyone know-” her voice cracked and she looked at her growing belly. She took a deep breath. “Maybe I should leave him or her here with David. They are safe here, and no one cares what they are. He can raise him or her Jewish and no one will care.”

Rolf looked at her in shock. She had grown up a lot since he had seen her last.