The first thing she remembers the next morning is the American shaking her shoulder.
"Leave me alone," she mutters in protest, pushing the hair off her face.
He didn't stay after extorting some hate sex from her last night so at first she's confused as to why he's there.
"Get dressed," he instructs her. "I'll take you to see your Dad."
That makes her sit up. She feels underneath the sheets to find she's only wearing underwear.
"Turn around," she tells him.
He rolls his eyes. "You do remember last night?" he questions. "I have seen you naked before."
"Very little of it. You were perfectly forgettable," she lies, just to spite him. In fact he was everything but forgettable.
His jaw tightens in anger. It seems to have worked. "I'm pretty sure you're lying," he fires back at her.
"Turn around," she repeats again. "Otherwise we'll never going to get out of here."
This time he complies, turning his back on her.
"I'm decent," she announces a minute later.
"Based on the tabloid headlines I've read about you I think that's debatable," he replies, smirking as he turns back around to face her.
She glares at him, narrowing her eyes. "Are you always such an asshole?," she demands.
He considers her question. "Essentially yes. But to be fair you're far worse than anyone I've had to deal with in the military so that does need to be taken into consideration. All your life you've been surrounded by people who like to lick your boots and never challenge anything you do so you probably have no idea how infuriating you can be in person."
Eleanor stares back at him, mouth open. Aside from her mother no one has ever spoken to her like that. No one would dare.
"I'm the-"
"Princess. Yes we've established that before," Jasper interrupts her. "Now do you want to see your father or not because if you do we need to go now before anyone else wakes up. You're not supposed to have contact with the rest of your family."
He unlocks the door and gestures her towards it. She's started thinking about the possibility of escape when he clamps an arm on hers firmly and effectively shuts down that train of thought.
They move down the hallway to a room three doors down where a soldier is sleeping against the wall. Jasper steps forward and fishes a key from his pocket then unlocks the door.
They step inside and Jasper quietly closes the door.
Her father is asleep on the bed, fully clothed and covered in a blanket.
She goes over to him and sits down on the bed. "Dad," she shakes his shoulder gently.
It takes a minute to rouse him from sleep.
He sits up, blinking his eyes. "Sweetheart," he says, using the name she remembers from childhood. "What are you doing here?"
"He let me come and see you," Eleanor says, gesturing to the American. She narrows her eyes and glares at him for a moment just to make sure she doesn't give off the impression she likes him or something. "Don't tell your guard because I'm not supposed to be here."
The King draws his daughter into his arms. "Well I'm pleased to see you. Are you ok? No one has hurt you have they?" he asks with concern.
His daughter is 21 and beautiful and the dozen soldiers he was faced with yesterday morning look like likely lads. He sincerely hopes none of them have laid a finger on her.
"Of course not," Eleanor assures him. "Nobody has done anything to me," she lies with ease. The last thing she wants her father to find out about is her guard extorting her for sex in exchange for cigarettes because that would make him very mad. And she couldn't bear the thought of her father getting hurt or injured by one of the soldiers for attempting to protect her.
It's just as well its not her mother she's talking to because she hasn't been able to shower yet and American's cologne is still clinging to her from last night. Her mother can sniff the scent of sex at a few yards but her father is perfectly oblivious, thank goodness.
"Dad are you alright here? Are they feeding you enough?" she questions, her eyebrows furrowed in concern.
He nods, "three square meals a day. Are you getting the same?" he asks.
She nods back, making a face. "Yes, but awful stuff. Dinner tasted like the had put brussel sprouts in there and they're only fit for pigs," she declares.
He smiles back at her. "That won't do you any harm. You make sure you eat everything up you're given."
Eleanor lowers her voice. "Dad why do you think they're keeping us here? What do you think has happened?"
He sighs. "I've been thinking about that a lot and I honestly don't know. It's possible there's been another demonstration that's gotten out of hand," he suggests.
There have been several protest in the capital over the past six months as the economic situation has deteriorated and jobs have been slashed and two of these have ended in violent clashes between police and protesters.
"Perhaps if there was a TV or if we were allowed our phones back we could work out more about what's going on," her father adds. All of their phones were confiscated by the soldiers in the trucks.
"I hope we'll be allowed to go home soon," Eleanor confides, resting her head against her father's shoulder. "This is like prison here. Only more boring. And with less drugs."
The King smiles to himself. "Eleanor, you've never actually been to prison, you know."
"Yes but I know what its like from the TV programmes and the movies," Eleanor explains earnestly. "And trust me, its a lot like this only with more fights and more excitement and lots of drugs. The food seems pretty similar though," she adds, considering.
Eleanor looks up with a thought. "Dad are you taking your medication here?" she questions.
Her father is under Doctor's orders to take medication each day for his blood pressure.
He shakes his head. "I don't have it with me. It's usually in my pocket but I think I lost it. It may have fallen out while we were in the trucks," he tells her.
"Oh Dad, you have to take your medication," Eleanor replies, the worry evident in her voice.
She turns to the American and addresses him for the first time, oblivious to the fact that he's been listening to their entire conversation. "My father may have lost his blood pressure medication in one of the trucks we were shifted in. He has to take it each day otherwise he could get sick. Will you please check and see if it in one of the trucks?" she asks in her most polite voice.
He looks back and her and then nods. "I'll check it after I've taken you back to your room Your Highness. We do need to head back now," he tells her.
Eleanor nods reluctantly. "Of course," she stands up. On an impulse she bends over her father and kisses him on the cheek. "I love you Dad," she says softly. She wants him to know that in case anything does happen to them.
"I love you too sweetheart," her father replies back, hugging her. "And your brothers and your mother. Be sure to tell them that if you see them," he adds.
"I will," Eleanor promises. It flickers across her mind that probably the only way she will get to see anyone else in her family anytime soon is if she lets that awful American screw her again. And that idea evokes a strange mix of distaste and vague longing, so she immediately squashes the thought down inside her.
As she steps towards the door her father addresses the American who has his hand on the door. "Captain," he says, taking in his rank from his uniform. "Please take good care of my daughter. She's precious to me."
The American looks back at him and meets his eyes levelly. "I'll do my best Your Majesty."