Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters! I just like to borrow them. But the story is mine!

Now on with the story! It's a Royalward story. This is a chapter update for mistakes.


Edward POV.

I couldn't help the laugh that came to me as I watched my brother, Jasper; make a fool of himself, while trying to water ski.

"Mate I think you've made a fool of yourself enough for one day!" I shouted with my hands cupped around my mouth so that he could hear me over the boat and the water.

"Oh sod off Edward," Jasper responded, all the while trying to flip me the bird.

"Charming oh brother dear, did you forget your manners while out there?" I retaliated, with my crooked smile firmly in place.

Jasper glared at me, but I could see his shoulders shaking which meant he was trying to hold in his laughter. Laughing I held my hand out down the ladder when Jasper got there, so that I could help him up, and back onto the dock of the boat or yacht was the more appropriate word for it actually.

"You know you could be a little more encouraging," Jasper snapped once he was back on deck.

"Jasper I sat and watched you try and do this for over an hour…face it, you're not good at everything," I retorted while putting my hands on his shoulders. He shrugged them off.

"Yeah well at least I had a go," He added, while walking to collect his towel off of the bench seat.

"Yeah you did, and I'm not saying you didn't I'm just saying you wasn't very good at it," I laughed. I picked up the beer that was on the table and had a quick pull then put it back down.

"I love coming here," I said, basically changing the subject. "We should go snorkelling on the reef, what you think?" I asked Jasper once he sat down on his sun bed.

"I think it's a massive security risk, I mean come on Ed, and they're a lot of dangerous shit near the reef, mainly sharks. You really think they'd allow you to go snorkelling?" Jasper questioned. I sighed knowing he was right.

"I mean look what happened to Steve Irwin, he goes for swim, gets stung by a Stingray and the poor guy died." Jasper babbled on trying to make his point of view known.

"I know Jasper; forget it we'll do something else. Fancy climbing Sydney Harbour Bridge?" I asked with a slight shrug.

He sat there and thought about it for a moment contemplating the idea in his head for a couple of minutes.

"Yeah I could go for that, I'll ask Alice if she wants to come with…well if she's finished shopping that is." He said, with a questionable look on his face.

"Yeah I don't think that's likely," I laughed out.

"You know considering she's going to be a Princess soon you'd think she'd calm down a bit," My head whipped in Jaspers direction so fast I'm surprised I didn't give myself whiplash.

"What do you mean a Princess? Jasper, did you propose?" I asked in shock.

He simply nodded; he had the cheesiest smile on his face too.

"Yeah, I asked her the other night and she said yes. She wasn't very happy when I told her she couldn't wear the ring yet though. I told her that we had to wait until we were back in London, and that family had to know first, and then wait at least two weeks before the news went public. Let's just say she's hoping the next two weeks pass by quickly." He tipped his own beer in my direction. I nodded dumbfounded; I can't believe he didn't tell me.

"Well shit! Congratulations!" I got up from my spot and hugged him, only brothers would get away with this kind of hug.

"I'm really happy for you Jasper. I'm guessing after five years of dating, Alice couldn't wait anymore?" I asked.

"Actually it was mutual, I mean five years are a long time to be together, and the country's expecting a Royal wedding at some point and seen as their future king is still single, that roll has dropped to me. But it's also the natural progression for us and I honestly cannot wait to marry her." He expressed with, as cliché as it sounds, much feeling, but I also heard the insult in there too.

"Hey, I like my single status, it's not like I'm going to become king tomorrow, Jesus it's going to be at least 30 years before I hit that throne. So I think I have plenty of time to find someone," I affirmed.

"Edward your pushing 30, you need to find someone so that you can have an heir and a spare, you can't be the most eligible Royal in the world forever. Like you said, you're going to be king some day and every king needs his queen," Jasper expressed with a lot of emotion than he normally would.

"Listen, if I don't find someone and have kids, I can always advocate the throne to your oldest child. That way it stays in the family," Jasper looked at me shocked.

"You'd seriously do that? Give the throne to my oldest if you didn't have kids?" He asked in surprise.

"Well yeah…who else would I give it too? It would automatically go to you or your oldest. Hey if you marry and have kids before I even find someone I'm serious about, I might just renounce my title and let you have the job," I took another pull of my beer and looked at the beautiful view of the Tasman Sea. The yacht was heading back to the harbour and I was actually looking forward to climbing the bridge if we could today.

"You can't be serious? Edward your THE worlds most eligible bachelor, you could have any women you wanted, so even don't think for one seconded that I'd even accept you giving me the throne. You was born to become the King of England, you've been brought up and taught all your life, knowing that one day you will rule our country and the Commonwealth Realms, for fuck sake, don't get all nostalgic now. Not to mention dads really proud of your work and all that you've done. I mean next to Gran and mum, you're the one that does the most public engagements. Plus we all know that you're Gran's favourite," Jasper sniggered at me.

"Liar you know you're her favourite, jeez you're the only one allowed to call her Nan," I said exasperatedly. Jasper laughed.

"So true. So very true. You know that shit pisses Irina off to no end. She's doesn't seem to understand why me and you are the favourites, not just in the family, but globally as well." Jasper insightfully said.

Jasper did have a point. Myself and jasper did seem to get a lot more press interest than any other family member, next to our mother and grandmother of course. I think that's because Royal family's nowadays are celebritized. People think of us to be famous rather than of Blue Blood heritage.

You see, my father Prince Carlisle of Wales is the first born son of Queen Elizabeth of England and Prince Edward the Duke of Edinburgh (who I'm named after), I on the other hand am the first born son of Prince Carlisle and Princess Esme of Wales, which means I'm currently second in line for the throne for the 16 Commonwealth Realms, which includes the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, The Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, The Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda and also St Kitts and Nevis.

I haven't been to all of these places yet, but I hope to have been by the time I'm King. Which is a very long way off. My grandmother Queen Elizabeth ll is currently the ruler, and then it will be my father, then it will be me. So I'm guessing I'll be at least fifty before I even become king, so that will give me plenty of time to travel to all of these places. And find that wife Jasper so desperately thinks I need.

Currently, myself, Jasper, his girlfriend, well now fiancée, Alice, our cousin Peter and his wife Charlotte, are in Australia for a friends wedding. The wedding was a couple of days ago and we'd decided to do some normal tourist things while we were here. We were in Sydney, and the one thing I really wanted to do was climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge, we were hopefully going to do it tomorrow. Even if I have to drag Alice to come and do it with us.

We'd gotten a lot of press attention while we were here and it was a little difficult to go places, but we had an amazing security team with us, so it gave us the little freedom we needed to able to sight see and do things that we wouldn't be able to do if this were a formal visit.

"Hey, by any chance have you heard from Irina?" Jasper asked when the yacht was pulling into the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron.

"No, but should I of?" I asked confused.

"I was just wondering as she was talking about meeting up in a couple of weeks. Alice isn't too keen, but then again, Irina can be a bit of a snotty cow around Alice, just because she has a higher title than her," I frowned at that and looked over at him.

"Irina? Are we talking about the same cousin here? I thought she adored Alice as much as everyone else does?" I asked still confused.

"It's amazing what a false appearance can be like. But Alice told me it's because Alice seems to always show her up when it comes to style and that she always beats her in the fashion stakes." I laughed.

"Alice has a fashion degree, of course she's going to get more praise than her! Next to charity work Alice's passion is fashion. Irina should know this. Alice has been around for five years now and it looks like she's going to be staying," I smiled at Jasper; he gave me that cheesy smile again making me laugh.

Once we was completely docked myself and Jasper made ourselves presentable, then we made our way off of the yacht we were staying on while we were in Sydney. We'd just made it off of the gang way when Alice showed up in a chauffeur driven car.

Jasper was immediately at her door to help her out the back. He gave her a quick peck to the lips, then took the five bags she had and quickly went to put them in their room on the yacht, mean while I stood and waited with Alice.

"You ready for something to eat?" I asked her after giving her a light peck to the cheek, she smiled at me and gave me a sisterly hug. When she pulled away she kept her arm around my waist and I put my arm around her small shoulders.

"Yeah, I could do with a nice big meal, Heidi knackered me out with all that shopping, and before you ask, I'm not used to doing it in this heat. Plus I've been dying to get back to my Jazzy," She said with that same cheesy smile and dreamy look on her face.

"Yeah well don't forget to show me the ring later," I teased with my signature crooked smile.

Alice turned to look at me shocked. Her mouth was opening and closing like a fish and I couldn't help but chuckle at her. It wasn't every day you could make Alice speechless.

"You know? How do you know?" She whisper yelled at me, then looked around her to see if anyone had heard.

"Of cause I know! Jasper's my brother. I'm so happy for you Alice. If anyone deserves this it's you. As you actually love my brother, for the person he is and not is title. Plus I can't wait to gain a sister," I whispered. Alice beamed at me then hugged me again.

"Thank you Edward. You don't know how much this means to me. All I can say is I honestly can't wait to marry him." She whispered too.

"And what are you two whispering about?" Jasper questioned as he joined us again. He wrapped his arm around Alice's shoulders and I let go with a smile in their direction.

"About your pending nuptials," I answered with a smile.

"I know I can't wait myself. The sooner the better, I say," Jasper declared, while leaning down to peck Alice on her cheek, making her smile even more.

*RL*

The next couple of days were amazing. We all climbed Sydney Harbour Bridge. I didn't think that Alice would, but she surprised me and Jasper both by shouting "hell yeah" when we asked her if she wanted to join us. We had such a great time and the view was down right amazing. I don't know how many pictures I took, but it was a hell of a lot, that's for sure. We ended up going out to a club the next night and it was really good. I could have done without the women hitting on me, but apart from that it was a good night.

It was the 3rd of February when we finally did go out to the Great Barrier Reef. We did a little snorkelling, but Alec and Randall didn't let us to go far. We understood and listened to what they said. All I can say is the reef has to be THE most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life. All the colours of all the different type of coral were outstanding, and the fish…well I don't think I've ever seen so many colourful fish. Ever.

All in all I loved the experience, as did Alice, Jasper, Peter and Charlotte. Alice wouldn't stop talking about it all the way back to Sydney. I just laughed and smiled at her enthusiasm, it was just pure Alice, and one of the many things my family loved about her. Especially my mother, and my grandmother. They had to be Alice's biggest supporters, and I knew for one thing, my grandmother was going to be ecstatic about the news of Alice and Jasper's impending nuptials. Alice did show me her ring, and it was without a doubt, all Alice. It was big and sparkly and…well just her. Alice wasn't a flashy person by nature, but she always said that she'd like to have a big rock of an engagement ring as she doesn't ever wear much jewellery. So for the one thing she was going to be wearing permanently, and forever, she wanted it to stand out, and stand out it would.

It was almost dinner time by the time we got back to Sydney. We'd decided to go out for dinner with some of our friends that were still here after Benjamin and Tia's wedding. They had gone to Thailand for their honeymoon, the day after the wedding. We had asked Heidi and Demetri to join us, as everyone else had already left to go back home by now. We were due to leave on the 7th, so we'd have been her for two weeks in total.

Dinner was a laugh and I don't think I've been this laid back in a while. Especially in public. I think Australia was good for me. I was a lot more relaxed here than I was in the UK, but then again the press weren't so bad here. Sure we had press here, but we could still go about our day as normal and it wasn't overwhelming and suffocating.

We got back to the yacht just after nine that evening and I think it was safe to say, we were all knackered.

We had just settled into the living room of the yacht when my mobile started ringing. I frowned then leaned over to see who it was. It said it was dad; I smiled and picked it up. I hadn't spoken to him for two days, so I was happy to hear from him and to tell him about our day.

"Hey dad, I was just going to call you, we wanted to fill you in on the benefits of snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef. Honestly dad, I think you and mum would really enjoy it. The place is extraordinary, not to mention absolutely beautiful." I spoke in a rush of excitement. I sounded like a five year old rather than the twenty-six year old I was. Jasper, Alice, Peter and Charlotte were sniggering in the back round. I turned around from where I was stood and flipped them off.

"Edward…" I frowned at the sound of my father's voice. He sounded like a broken man.

"Dad? Dad is everything okay?" I asked now sounding a little worried.

"You need to come home, as soon as possible. You need to get back here. All of you. Leave now and head straight to the airport, the jet will be ready by the time you get there. Forget about your things, you just need your passports and a change of clothes. Everything will be packed and sent home in the next couple of days. But you need to leave now," My father said in a rush.

"What the hell is going on? Why do we need to leave?" I asked looked back towards my family and their spouses.

"Edward…now's not the time, just get to the private airport ASAP." I was even more confused now.

"I won't do anything until you tell me what the hell is going on? Is it mum? Is she okay?" I asked really worried now. Jasper stood up and came closer to me as did Peter.

"Edward…this isn't something I think you should hear over the phone," he all but whispered.

"Carlisle you need to tell him. He needs to know…please don't let my children find out through the god damned press, please Carlisle…you have to tell him," I heard my mother's tearful voice say in the background.

"What's going on?" I shouted, now feeling my good day slipping away and been replaced with fear.

"I'm so sorry son…so, so sorry," I couldn't believe it; my father was sobbing into the phone. I'd never heard him like this ever.

"Okay you're really scaring me now dad…please just tell me what's going on?" I pleaded while nervously pulling on my unruly hair.

"It's your grandmother…" He whispered, my eyes went wide at his words.

"What about her? Dad? What about her?" My voice raised as the panic started to settle in.

"She had a Stoke this morning son…Edward she didn't make it. She passed away about fifteen minutes ago. I'm so sorry, the doctor didn't think this would happen…he said there was a good chance she'd survive…but…she had another Stoke and…oh god!"

I stood there shocked. Tears filled my eyes and started slowly rolling down my face. This…this couldn't be happening. Not my grandmother. She was made of iron that women…she was supposed to out live us all.

No. No. This can't be happening.

Why? Why now?

She had so much to look foreword to. Alice and Jasper's wedding. The Olympics in 2012. Her diamond jubilee. My mother and fathers 30th wedding anniversary. She was supposed to see it all.

And now she won't.

Why? Why did this happen?

"Edward? Edward what's going on, mate talk to me, Edward?" I snapped out of it and looked toward Jasper.

How the hell do I tell my brother and my cousin that our grandmother has died?

"We'll be home as soon as we can…I…dad I don't know what to say?" I whispered to him, the tears flowing freely now.

"I know son…I'm the same. Just…please come home…we need you," He whispered.

"We're leaving now…will be home in about 22 hours." My voice was suddenly very hoarse.

"Okay…be safe we love you, tell your brother, Alice, Peter and Charlotte that we love them too…just come home safe please," I nodded even though he couldn't see me.

"We love you too dad, give our love to everyone…we'll be home soon…bye," I put the phone down and looked to the concerned faces of my brother and cousin.

"Edward? What's going on? Is mum okay?" Jasper asked frantically.

"We need to leave...just passports and a change of clothing; the rest of our things will be shipped home for us. The cars will be waiting outside to take us to the private airport…please be quick and don't be picky…we needed to live like yesterday," I said, and then rushed to my room to grab what I needed.

I simply grabbed a white dress shirt, some jeans, black boxers, my trainers, and my black leather jacket as it was going to be cold back in England, then on a second thought grabbed my laptop so that I could know what was going on while in flight.

Once my bag was packed I went out to living room, everyone but Alice was there.

"Jasper, we don't have time for this we need to leave." I sighed running a hand through my hair.

"She's only in the bathroom…she'll be out in a sec…Edward what's going on? And don't give me some bullshit answer. I want to know what the hell is going on now," I looked up at him and everything was a blur as my eyes filled with more tears at what I had to tell my brother.

I paused for a moment and felt my bag get taken from my hand and looked up to see Alec, he gave me a small smile, clapped his hand on my shoulder then walked over to Alice who had come into the room and took her bag from her too. I guess he already knew.

"Today Edward. I want to know what's going on," Jasper was getting angry now. I nodded, he needed to know. I had to man up, be the big brother and tell him. Looking up and right into his eyes.

"Gran had a stroke this morning," I watched as his eyes went wide, a wayward tear fell down my cheek. I angrily wiped it away.

"No…dear God no!" Jasper pleaded moving closer to me, I nodded.

"Please Edward...don't say it. For the love of God don't say it…"

But I had too…

"She didn't make it...she passed away about a half an hour ago," I whispered.

"Oh my God!" Alice wailed she grabbed on to Jasper as her knees buckled under her.

"This…can't be happening," Peter whispered. I nodded. Charlotte wrapped her arms around him and he sunk into her and his body started to shake with his sobs.

For five minutes nobody said anything. We just stood there and sobbed. Alice had grabbed for me and somehow got me in an embrace with her and Jasper…who was an inconsolable mess.

Somehow we ended up in the SUV that was taking us to the privet airport. Then onto the private jet. It was all just one big huge blur.

All I knew in that moment was that all our lives were going to change.

And even though I didn't know it yet.

Especially mine.


A/N:

Soooooo what do you think?

So REVIEW! They never fail to make me smile :)

This is an update of the 1st chapter, as I now have the means to go through my grammar and spelling, but some things might slip through so I'm sorry if they do.

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Alicia xoxo