Eleanor left her mother's room heading for the sanctuary of her own. "I desperately need to shower and change clothes before I can go back to the hospital," was all she could think. Once news had broken of her father's condition, the hospital was the only place that she had wanted to be. She couldn't even remember the last time she had showered. Plus, she needed a few minutes to just be.
Opening the door to her room, the princess was met with a surprise. It took Eleanor a brief second to process what she was seeing. There on hands and knees, were her cousins Maribel and Penelope, measuring her room with a tape measure.
"What the hell do you think you're both doing?! Shouted Eleanor as she walked into her bedroom.
Fate had dealt them the worst hand possible, as they had been fathered by none other than Cyrus. Their poor mother had long since left the picture, leaving them to be raised more by servants than their father, and even that wasn't a saving grace as both were genetically inept.
Penelope, stammering, tried to explain. "We were, em, we were just,' she trailed off.
Eleanor reached and grabbed an arm of each cousin, "you were just getting out, is what you were doing." She gave them a final shove out the door and slammed it behind them.
"Unfucking believable." she said aloud to no one in particular. "I find out I"m not really a princess and before the day is over my room is being redecorated."
Eleanor walked over to the chair and collapsed. "God it would be so easy to take a hit right now," she thought. "But today is not the day to disappoint dad anymore."
She could still hear him telling her that he was disappointed, that he knew she could do better. "Do better tomorrow," as he had told her.
"When you pull through, I will show you dad. I can make you proud." Eleanor whispered to herself.
With that, she went to get ready, she needed to get back to the hospital. If her mother had fixed it to where she would be able to see her father, then she was going to spend every minute there that she could.
"Mr. Moorefiled, thank you for agreeing to see me on such notice," greeted Queen Helena warmly. "Please have a seat."
"Well, it's not every day the Queen of England requests ones presence. And please call me Nigel, ma'am."
"I'd rather not Mr. Moorefield. I asked you here to discuss something of importance. As you know, the king was attached."
Before Helena could go any further, she was interrupted. "You don't think I had anything to do with that do you? My group may not believe in the monarchy but I can assure you we had nothing to do with the attack!"
"Mr. Moorefield. While you do have shifty eyes, you also look very cowardly. There is not even a doubt in my mind that you had nothing to do with the King's attack. There has never been, nor will there ever be a king brought down by anyone named Nigel," Queen Helena stated matter-of-factly. She continued on, "I need to talk to you about the chain of succession. I need your help."
"I don't understand your highness?" Questioned Nigel Moorefiled, "I don't even see how I could help you. I'm against the monarchy; I want it disbanded."
Without missing a beat, the queen started to explain, "With the King's health questionable at best, and the recent news of the Prince Regent's parentage, the next in succession is Cyrus. But what happens if something happens to him? Have you ever met my nieces Mr. Moorefield?
With that, the queen signaled for them to be brought in. "Mr. Moorefield, allow me to present Princess Penelope and Princess Maribel."
Queen Helena watched as Nigel Moorefield's expression went from one of shock to horror. "Probably trying to decide what the hell they're both wearing," she thought.
"I'd love a little more of you in my field," said Penelope, with laugh.
"Walk away, now." demanded the queen. Waiting until they exited the room, Helena turned back to the man beside her.
"My God." was all he could say. "That is the next in line?!"
"Yes, now back to what I want to discuss. I need your help. See, If something were to happen to Cyrus, I want parliament to vote to allow me to be next in line to the crown. And if that happens, I will help you demolish the monarchy forever." Finished the Queen.
"That would make you the last monarch of England. Would you really do that to your family?"
Queen Helena looked him directly in the eye, "My family is all but gone Mr. Moorefield, this may be my last chance at salvaging it. If I can't, then they are gone for good, and when I'm gone, you can burn it to the ground for all I care."
Nigel Moorefield remained silent, shocked by the Queens frankness.
"Do we have a deal then," she asked?
"Yes ma'am, I believe I can help you if it comes down to it."
"Thank you for stopping by Mr Moorefield. I knew I could count on you. You can see yourself out."As Nigel Moorefield exited by the front entrance to Queen Helena's study, her assistant Rachel entered through the back.
"Ma'am, is there anything else I can do for you besides the update on your husband?" asked Rachel.
"Yes, I need to know where Cyrus is. I have a few things that I need to discuss with him immediately."
Without hesitation Rachel replied, "He's in his office, as he's now calling it. He has some tailor fitting him for new suits. Apparently, as the new Prince Regent, his clothes aren't elaborate enough."
"Hmmph. I'll bet they're not." Helena remarked. Then under her breathe she added, "bastard."
"Now, what is the update on my husband? I want him moved here as soon as possible, Rachel. Mr. Pryce is already aware, but I want you to stay on top of his doctors and make this happen sooner rather than later. He'll be safer here."
"Understood, your majesty. As for his condition, he is still on a ventilator to assist with his breathing, as well as being in a medically induced coma. The doctors do feel that they can start to decrease the sedation at this point to see if he will wake up on is own. It may take a few more days before they can remove the ventilator. There is also a chance of infection due to the stab wounds. So he is on preventative antibiotics." explained Rachel.
Queen Helena listened intently as Rachel repeated what the doctors had told her. Then nodded her head in understanding; she dismissed Rachel.
Hearing Simon's update bothered her almost as bad her talks with Eleanor earlier in the day. "I really have made a bloody mess of things," the queen thought. "And he may not wake up to hear me apologize. The last thing that he even said to me was in anger."
Helena pictured the scene from days before, when Simon had caught her scheming with Cyrus. He had yelled that her affairs were over, all before calling her a bitch and walking out.
"Well, he had that part right," she thought. "No, he will wake up. There is no if about it. And when he does, I'm going to make things right with him too. I'm going to prove that I can be better to my children, and to him.
Now, to find Cyrus.
Helena gracefully walked the halls of the palace on her way to find Cyrus. He had never had an office before, mainly because he never worked and seemed to care less about anything other than drugs, alcohol, and whatever fling he was having at the moment. God how it pained her to see him in a position to become king.
Queen Helena couldn't help but wonder how she had ever thought helping him become king would be a good idea. But what was done was done, now she just had to figure out how to clean up the mess.
As she approached the entrance to his current "office" she could hear voices; Helena couldn't help herself, she paused and listened.
"But dad, it's our room now, she had no right to throw us out! And she literally grabbed us and tossed us out of it! She's not even a princess anymore. Make her leave it."
Helena couldn't even distinguish which of her wretched nieces it was, but she caught the just of what was going on. Eleanor had thrown them out of her room. "Good for her!" she thought.
Before Helena could make a step into the room, she heard Cyrus' reply. "She is a princess, more so than either of you. If you want her out get her out yourselves."
Something clicked into place as Helena heard him speak those words. She wasn't sure if it was the tone of his voice, or the way that Cyrus had said it, but she knew. Her children were royal; somehow, he had fixed the blood test.