This takes place right after the Season 4 finale of The Royals. The plan is to make this a sort of Season 5 of the show, and I'm planning on making it around 15-20 chapters. Most POVs will be in Eleanor's POV, but if there are any requests for any other POV's, let me know and I'll see if I can.
Eleanor took a deep drag of her cigarette, the hot air warming her from the chilly cold air of the night. She was sat upon the bench outside the palace, near the gardens, and she had begun to think of this place as not just hers, where she used to come to get high and to cry, but as her little family spot, with her mother, Helena, and her brother, Liam.
It was where she had some really good and fond talks with them.
Which was especially needed after that shit show of a wedding between her other brother, Robert, and his now wife Willow.
Eleanor shook her head as she thought back to that horrible day which happened just yesterday.
"I do," Willow said, smiling at her newly wed husband, Robert.
Eleanor was sure she hadn't heard her right. What happened to the grand, epic speech that Willow was supposed to say to bring to light all the evil Robert had done? To make him step down as King, and have Liam take his rightful place as the King.
The words Willow spoke kept echoing around the church, and inside of Eleanor's head. I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do...
How could she?
After everything that had gone so wrong, Eleanor had so foolishly hoped that perhaps this time life would go right for her and her family. But perhaps, all of their sins from the past, had finally caught up to the Henstridge's. Perhaps they didn't deserve a shot at redemption, even though they tried and planned to do right this time.
Eleanor could feel herself begin to hyperventilate, and out of the corner of her eye she saw movement, and turned to see Liam, beginning to ascend the steps towards the newly wed couple who were currently kissing, while the crowd around them applauded lightly, and the music swelled to a majestic high.
She saw Jasper drag Liam by the back of his uniform, talking quietly and quickly into his ear. She could imagine Jasper telling her brother to relax, that they'll figure out where to go from here, that it'll be alright because it would be, right?
It had to be.
Eleanor closed her eyes, and tried to breathe slowly and deeply, but she couldn't stop the panic from rising in her.
She needed a drink. Or ten. And a smoke. Or ten.
She opened her eyes to see the happy couple, wave at everyone, as they descended the stairs and strolled down the aisle, arm in arm, and suddenly everything went still and quiet.
As Willow and Robert passed by her, Robert cut a look towards her, one full of cunning and mirth, with victory sketched at the edges of his smile, while Willow gave her a pleasant, but blank, look.
Eleanor tried to convey as much betrayal and anger as she could in her own look, but Willow looked away the next second.
A headache was pounding at her temple, and while everyone shuffled around her to go out after the couple at the entrance of the church, Eleanor brushed past her mother to go out the exit near the stage where no one else was.
Jasper caught her eye, but he still had a hold of Liam who looked pissed, and she glanced away before he could say or do something to stop her, and as soon as she was at the door, she was out and running, running so fast and hard, feeling the muscles in her thighs burn, feeling her blood boil, feeling the adrenaline thrum through her entire body and it burned so good.
The pain cleared out the white noise in her head, it cleared out the betrayal she felt in her heart.
She ran and ran until she reached the lake near the palace. She stopped at the bridge which oversaw the lake, and she turned to the left so that she could look at the palace. Her home.
It didn't feel like her home. Jasper felt like home. So did Liam. Sometimes, even her mother felt like home, too. But the palace was huge and cold and empty.
It had consumed her, that emptiness, until she felt just like the palace herself.
She turned her back on it. She looked down at the body of water beneath her, so calm and richly blue. Inside of her, all her turmoil and chaotic feelings, began to subdue and she felt like she could breathe.
She continued looking at the water, feeling calmer by the second, but life as a princess had never been calm. She had never been good at dealing with calm. She thrived in the chaos and glamour of the life of the monarchy.
So, she looked down at the water, and she got on top of the bridge, and jumped in her red and glamorous dress.
She expected to come up, splashing and coughing up water, but hadn't realized the dress would come up around her, like a balloon, suffocating her. The lake was only around fifteen feet or so, and she hadn't thought she was in any danger, she just wanted to jump and swim, but the damn dress.
She pushed her arms out in front of her, trying to get the material to go down, but it was all around her and everytime she pushed it down, the force of the water pushed it back up. She struggled to gather breath into her lungs, only the lakewater dragging into her lungs, making her entire chest burn.
She continued fighting though. Her arms kept flailing out in front of her, trying to rip a hole into the fabric, to get it out over her head, but she couldn't breathe and soon, she felt too tired to fight. Her arms stopped moving, but her lungs kept burning.
The darkness and coldness became too much for her, and with one more lungful of water, she let the water win.
It almost felt like letting Robert win, for which she felt sad about. She would have fought, even after the disastrous wedding.
She wanted to cry out into the world, not for help, but that she would have fought, but instead, the darkness won and she fell, deep, deep, deep, into a void no one ever really got out of.
Hands crushed into her chest, and Eleanor opened her eyes as a mouthful of lakewater spewed out of her aching, and curiously, dry throat. It felt raw and scratched up, as if she hadn't drank anything for days and was stranded on a dry desert.
Eleanor looked around wildly, feeling every single nerve and bone in her body ache and burn.
Panting above her with a wild expression was James Hill. The Head of Security.
"What were you doing, Princess?" He was out of breath, but she could still detect the angry tone beneath it.
Breathing hurt, and she would imagine so would speaking, but she tried to do so. She swallowed, which burned like a bitch, and said, "Trying to amuse you?"
He didn't smile or laugh like she hoped. Instead, he gathered her up in his arms, and began a steady job towards the palace. Every single jostle hurt her, but she stayed silent and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Now that she thought about it, her jump into the lake was pretty idiotic. Some might see it as suicidal, which it wasn't.
A thought occurred to her and she pulled her head back a bit.
"I didn't try to kill myself, you know?"
He didn't say anything, but his lips did press into a tight line. She bit her lip, uneasily. There was no way James didn't tell her family. Or Jasper.
She was so screwed.
She laid her head back down upon his shoulder.
"Where are you taking me?" she asked him after a while. They were almost to the palace now.
"Right into the heart of the reception."
"Why?" she asked. Couldn't he tell her family after the shitty reception? Did he have to embarrass her right this second?
"I figured I'd save everyone from the awkwardness happening in there right now." James had a dark humorous grin upon his face.
"Well, I guess I can sacrifice any dignity I have to save people from a terrible party." Eleanor joked with a small laugh that honestly hurt the shit out of her lungs.
"You gonna carry me in?" she asked him.
"Yeah. Or at least as long as it takes for Jasper to see you and come rushing to your aid like the Knight in White Armor he thinks he is," James said.
Eleanor smiled a bit.
The palace guards, upon seeing them, began running down the steps.
"It's the princess, is she okay?" asked one of them. She gave a thumbs up.
James told them, "The princess is fine. I'm going to take her to her room, so that she can rest."
The guards hesitated. "Wouldn't it be more prudent for you to take her around the left, into the secret tunnels? The reception is still going on in the Red State Room." Which was exactly where she wanted to be, to disrupt the party.
She wasn't sure she could face Robert and Willow, though. Not without wanting to rip their lying, traitorous faces off.
But really, she was too chickenshit to face Jasper. He was going to have so many questions about her wet dress, and she wasn't sure he would understand that she wasn't trying to drown herself.
"No," James said simply to the guard, brushing past the palace guard and up the steps.
They were at the palace front doors when James stopped and asked, in a quiet voice, "You ready, princess?"
She nodded, and hid her face a bit deeper into his embrace.
The doors opened, and bright lights streamed over them. James stepped over the threshold and into the palace. He walked straight for a bit, before turning right, into the Red State Room where there was light chatter and laughter, which stopped abruptly at the sight of James carrying a dripping wet Eleanor.
Eleanor didn't peek out, too emotionally drained to deal with anyone right now.
"Jesus," said a familiar and warm voice, and Eleanor was soon transferred from James' arms into Jasper's. She held tightly onto him, wounding her arms around his neck until she was certain she was suffocating him, but he didn't complain.
"Oh my god, honey, are you okay?" Eleanor felt hands patting down her soaked hair, caressing her.
"Leave me alone, mum," she managed to get out.
"What happened to her?" asked Liam. Eleanor could hear their steps behind them, hear their whispers and concerns, but she just wanted her bed and Jasper. She'd deal with her fucked up feelings and thoughts tomorrow.
"Eleanor, come here." It was Robert's strong and authoritative voice, commanding her. She sank in deeper into Jasper's embrace. She couldn't deal with Robert tonight, she couldn't. Tomorrow, she'd put on her most badass attire, with her fiercest makeup, and then, only then, could she take on Robert.
But not now.
"Take her to my office," Robert said, and there was no room to argue. Not with that tone.
Jasper pressed a featherlight kiss to her forehead and asked, quietly, "Do you want to? Because I'll take you anywhere you want to go, all you have to do it ask, Lenny."
Eleanor sighed. If he didn't take her to Robert, she was sure her brother would find some way to hurt Jasper. She wouldn't put him past him to revoke his Knighthood.
"It's fine," she said.
They stepped into Robert's office and Eleanor heard the door lock behind them. Gotta face the music sometime, she thought. She wiggled to get out of Jasper's arms, even though that was the last thing she wanted to do.
Straightening up, she looked around the room. Next to her side, holding her hand tightly, was Jasper, who was staring straight at her with his focused and intent stare that she loved so much. But right now, it was too much. She looked away and standing next to Jasper was her mother, looking worried, Liam, looking a cross between angry and concerned, and her Uncle Cyrus.
She scowled at the last person.
"I guess all those swimming lessons your parents paid for, didn't pay off, huh?" Cyrus said with his signature smirk.
She rolled her eyes and flipped him off.
Next to Cyrus was James, and next to James, leaning against his desk, was Robert. Willow stood next to him, staring at the ground.
"What happened, Eleanor?" asked Robert in a concerned tone. Acting brotherly.
Eleanor shrugged. "Like Cyrus said, the lessons didn't pay off."
Robert turned away from her and addressed James.
"Where did you find her?" he asked.
James gave her a swift apologetic look and addressed her brother.
"In the palace lake, Your Highness."
There was silence for a beat, and then...
"The fifteen foot lake. How the fuck do you drown in that?" asked Cyrus.
Eleanor scowled, really needing a drink now. She didn't want to explain herself, especially since her own feelings were all over the place, all muddied and confused.
She looked away, trying to focus on anything, when she found Liam's fists.
"Who'd you fight? A fucking saw?" His knuckles were bruised and beat to hell.
Liam shrugged. "Doesn't matter now. What happens to you did."
"Does it really matter now, during Willow's and Robert's reception."
"Apparently it did, considering you decided to dive into a fifteen foot lake." It was Willow who spoke with a soft tone. She still hadn't raised her eyes to look at Eleanor, or any of them, but she held hands with Robert.
Eleanor felt the betrayal, wicked as a knife, against her heart. She could barely keep her own face neutral, not with the rising emotions threatening to spill out of her.
"I'm tired, Robby." She figured using the name she affectionately used for her brother might give him a heart for half a second and let her get away from this interrogation. "Can I just go to my room and sleep. I'll explain myself tomorrow, okay?"
Robert stayed quiet, and she forced herself to meet his stare without disgust or anger.
"Okay," he agreed. "Jasper take her to her room and make sure she stays there."
Jasper nodded and tugged her hand gently. He opened the door, and closed it behind them, and then swept Eleanor off her feet. He carried her without problem, not even out of breath, as he walked with her in his arms.
She stared at him, tracing a finger across his face, lightly touching his intent, and focused eyes that she loved so much. She ran a hand through his neatly combed hair, tussling it, and usually he'd say something to her, but he was quiet.
They reached her room, and he opened and closed her door, all without jostling her too much. She expected him to set her down the moment they were in the room, but instead, he walked all the way to the bed and set her down gently.
He slid in right next to her and held her tightly.
"I'm only going to ask this once and I want your honest answer, okay?" he asked her.
She nodded.
He stared at her, his bright blue eyes oddly dim, and said, "Why did you jump in the lake? Was it to kill yourself?"
She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling like crying all of a sudden.
She opened them and said, "Would I really be stupid enough to try and kill myself in a fifteen foot lake?"
"Your soaking red dress tells me the answer is yes."
"No, it wasn't to - no, I didn't want to die. I just needed to, escape, for a bit. From everything. But not in a permanent way. I just wanted to jump and swim, but then my dress started suffocating me because it's so damn puffy and the water weighed it down and I just...I didn't think, okay? I'm sorry."
He closed his eyes, and his face was scrunched up in so much pain, Eleanor felt even more like shit than she already did.
"After all we've been through," he said, his voice low and rough with emotion, "Don't...just don't give up."
"I won't. I'm not. I won't give up on us, not ever." She promised.
"Don't give up on yourself, princess."
He said it quietly, but Eleanor still heard the crack in his voice, and that sound cracked her own heart.
She cradled her head onto his chest, settling into his warmth and love.
"I won't. Now shut up and let me sleep."
She heard him chuckle softly as she drifted off to sleep in his arms.
Now, here she was the next day, sitting on this bench, and not feeling any stronger or braver to face Robert for the day.
She heard footsteps approaching, and her mother and brother rounded the corner. She passed the cigarette to her mother without needing her to ask.
"Are you okay today?" Liam asked.
"Yeah, just getting ready to face the devil and the she-devil."
Her mother chuckled darkly at that.
"I can't believe Willow would betray us like that," Liam said. "I know her, she's a good person."
"Yeah, until she fell in love with the devil." Eleanor said, not wanting to hear Liam make up bullshit excuses for Willow.
Anger better suited her and she didn't want to feel any sympathy for the devil.
Or the she-devil.
Her mother passed the cigarette to her brother.
"Jasper and Cyrus will be meeting us here soon," said Helena.
Eleanor groaned. "Why the hell did you invite Cyrus?"
"Because he can help us," said Liam.
Before Eleanor could say anything offensive about her Uncle, he and Jasper rounded the corner. Eleanor smiled at Jasper watching as his usually neutral face lit up for half a second before returning to his impassive stare. He was sexy either way and Eleanor winked at him.
"Please, there are children present," said Cyrus, motioning Liam.
"Fuck off, Cyrus." Liam said good naturedly.
"How about we talk about the meeting we have with your brother in an hour?" asked Helena.
"We need a plan of action so we can prepare what to say to him, depending on what he knows, if anything."
Jasper had silently walked over next to her, wrapping his tuxedo jacket around her shoulders. She leaned into him as around them they began to figure out their next course of action regarding how to get Robert off the throne.
Without bloodshed or with.
God save the King.
Please Rate and Review. I appreciate every comment. Also, the next chapter is called "The Conversation", so let me know if you would want that in Eleanor's perspective or someone else's...maybe even Robert's. It might be interesting to get into that head of his. :)
