A/N: Read/Enjoy/Review!

The days that followed Ophelia's return were a mess of details and change as everything began to take shape and new truths were brought to light. Eleanor kept to herself and out of the way of everything going on given that there was a lot going on that she had no say in, but Jasper slept in her room almost every night, holding her in her sleep. She still could not trust him, completely, yet…but he had been there when most everyone else had walked out on her, including Beck. And that meant something to her.

After the first week had passed, she and Liam were summoned to her mother's office. Eleanor dressed in a pair of jeans and a band shirt before going in and sitting down. Liam came in shortly after, sitting beside her.

"Any idea what this is about?" he asked.

She shrugged. "My guess is as good as yours. But it's probably the paternity test."

"You would be right," their mother said, walking in with an envelope in her hand. Rachel was right behind her, carrying her phone and other agenda information.

"Oh, well…let's get this over with then, yeah?" Eleanor was anxious all of a sudden and didn't know why. But she'd been through this disappointment before, so she was hoping for the truth this time around.

Their mother sat at her desk and looked at them. "My instincts were right. Both of you are Simon's children, without a doubt."

Eleanor breathed a sigh of relief as she no longer had to live with the question of who her real father was. It was the man who had raised her all along. She still held a deep sea of regret that she had bucked against him for so long and held him at arm's length when she was deep into drugs and alcohol. If he could see her now, things would be different. She was two weeks clean and sober, which was the longest she'd gone in a long time. It didn't mean that she didn't still have the urge, especially when she was under stress, but she was learning to manage it differently.

"What happens now?" she asked, looking from her mother to her twin brother.

"Now we push Cyrus' privileged ass off the throne and reclaim it in the name of our father," Liam answered. "And give the people something to believe in again."

"Well I'm all for dumping Cyrus' ass off the throne and sending the half-wits we call our cousins packing," she said, knowing her uncle just needed to disappear into oblivion while he shriveled up and died of cancer.

"Patience, Eleanor," her mother reminded her. "We don't want to play all the cards in our hand yet, now do we? We want Cyrus to think he has a false sense of security right now given I just sent away his only son."

"Still one of your better ideas, Mum," she praised. "Cyrus doesn't need to raise another spawn to turn out like him. Or worse."

"So what happens now?" Liam asked.

"I'm going to take this knowledge to Parliament to change the order of succession back to the original, with you and Eleanor both on it as heirs," Helena explained. "Once that is done, I'm going to have Cyrus arrested for treason and fraud. He'll be going right to prison or if he's lucky and I'm feeling sorry for the bastard, the cancer ward of some far away hospital."

"Whatever you decide, just do it quickly before I have to sit through another event with him on the throne," she groaned, getting up from her chair. "I can only take so much before I might stab him with scissors myself."

Excusing herself from the room, Eleanor left and walked down the hall with the newfound knowledge that her Dad was her father and nothing was changing that. Biology didn't lie and she now knew that the qualities inside of herself that she actually liked did come from her Dad. And that was the biggest relief of all. She stopped in front of his portrait, looking up at him. The painting was regal, just as it should be, but didn't capture the real man that she, Liam, and Robert knew. She had photographs for that. Her favorite was one she kept in a frame on her vanity, once hidden by drugs. It was a photo taken when she was about four-years-old. Her mess of dark hair was all over the place, but she was happy as she sat in her Dad's lap while he was reading a book to her.

"He was a good man and a great King," a voice said from behind her, causing Eleanor to jump. She turned to see James coming toward her. "I never met him personally, but I respected him for who he was."

"He was a good King," she agreed, smiling a little. "And an even better Dad. I miss him."

"The ones we love never really leave us. They may not be in the same place for a little while, but they're still here guiding us."

"I just hope to make him proud of me because before he died, I know he wasn't terribly proud of the person I was before he died." Eleanor looked at her hands, reminded of one of the last conversations she'd had with her Dad before he was attacked. He had expressed disappointment in her because of the life she was choosing to lead and he had been trying to teach her a lesson about choosing another path.

"Parents often express disappointment not because we don't love our children, but because we do love them and want them to be better…to do better," he offered. "Your father knew that you were capable of great things, Your Highness, but felt you could not see that."

"Everything has changed so much since he died…I hardly recognize myself sometimes without the drugs," she admitted. "It's not easy to stay away from them, but I have to choose this life every day to make him proud and to keep going."

"Sobriety is never easy, but I think that you have won some major battles in the last few weeks that have proven how strong you are."

Eleanor smiled and nodded. "How is your daughter getting along now that you've moved?"

"She's doing well...she's very pleased to be closer to me and hoping to catch a glimpse of you, actually," James responded with a chuckle.

"You should bring her up for tea in my room. I would love to meet her since you talk about her so much," she said with a grin.

"She would like that very much. It would make her whole day."

Eleanor smiled and patted his shoulder as she walked by. James had been promoted to Head of Security in the wake of Ted's arrest and she couldn't think of someone more deserving than him. He would keep Liam safe and Jasper had been transferred back to her security detail…which was more or less because they were sort of dating, but not really. He slept in her bed every night, which meant she was safer than ever before. And she had never felt safer than in his arms.

She walked along the hall and went to her bedroom, closing the door behind her. It was quiet since she was the only one around, so she turned on some music and looked around. The paint from her tantrum was still all over the walls, so she decided that it was time to clean up another of her messes. She got a bucket from one of the maids and put some soap and water in it before starting to scrub down the wall and door. Some of the paint came off in a bloody pink mess, but the stain was still there. The door would have to be repainted and the wallpaper replaced, which were things she could have done. But the painting of her was beyond repair and would have to be thrown out and redone, if she wanted it redone. But for now, the room was clean and she was done as she popped off her rubber gloves and looked at her work, satisfied that she had done it herself. When the door opened, she looked as Jasper came in.

"Doing some remodeling?" he asked, looking at the bucket and then her.

"Just cleaning up a mess that should have been cleaned a long time ago," she replied, shrugging her shoulders before sliding the bucket out of the way.

Jasper looked at the door and the wall as he came in further, nodding in approval. "You did that yourself?"

"You sound so surprised," she scoffed.

"When have you ever done anything like that in the time that I've known you?" he asked.

"I do things for myself!" she defended hotly. Even though she was a princess, she knew that she could do things for herself and had done them before.

"Like what?" he challenged.

Damn him.

"I…do things," she said, waving it off and going to turn off the music on her phone. "We have important things to talk about."

"What things?"

"Liam and I are legitimate, meaning Cyrus will be thrown out on his ass any minute now and my brother will be crowned King," she said, sitting down on her bed. "The next few weeks are going to be critical and I want to be positive that you are going to protect my body."

Jasper looked at her and for a moment, she saw the old Jasper shining through; the man who constantly was spinning his wheels for ways to one-up her and get the upper hand in their situation. He was brilliant and always kept her on her toes. And even though she didn't appreciate the blackmail, she did enjoy the control and the intellectual discourse between the two of them. He challenged her and wasn't afraid to make her think on her toes or speak out of turn even though she was a princess, unlike anyone she'd ever met who kissed her ass or pretended to like her because she was royalty. Jasper actually, genuinely cared about her even though she was often a pain in his ass and vice versa.

"I would die protecting you," he finally said, moving closer to her. He stood beside the bed on her side and looked down at her, his fierce blue eyes cutting right through her.

"Why?" No one, save family, had ever been this dedicated to her or cared about her this much in her whole life. Not even Beck.

"Are you going to make me say it?" he asked, keeping his eyes on her.

She didn't respond because she wasn't sure if she was ready to hear it yet. In her heart, she wanted to, but she was also scared because people who had told her those words in the past hurt her. They had left her alone and walked away when things were hard or tried to change her before she was ready to make that change herself. Beck didn't understand that she had needed the noise and the distraction of her drugs and alcohol to deal with her father's death. Jasper understood that need and stepped away, but kept tabs on her when she was floating around from city to city in search of something…some form of distraction. As much as it annoyed her then, she understood those actions now.

"I love you, Eleanor," he finally said. "I'm so in love with you it makes me crazy sometimes. All I want to do is make sure that you're taken care of…it doesn't matter what happens to me."

Nodding, she moved to her knees on the bed and grabbed his hand, pulling him close. She framed his face with her hands and leaned in, kissing him for the first time in months. Even though she couldn't say it back yet, she felt it…deep down in her heart. She loved this man and he loved her. And that was all she needed to get her through the coming days. Through Liam's coronation and the future of their monarchy as it began with her and her twin brother. So long as she had Jasper beside her, she would be okay.