Chapter Seven

A/N: Thanks to daydreaming87 for reviewing.

The evening after the near miss of another assassination attempt, Bertie and Elizabeth lay together in their bed, embraced in each other's arms as a means to remain strong, not only for themselves, but for all of Great Britain, including their fretful daughters.

The girls had taken many hours to become settled, as Lillibet had been so worried about the man she saw amidst the trees and Margaret fussing about the awful pain in her ankle, but they had eventually succumbed to the peace of slumber, something their parents were unfortunately unable to do.

For a reason she could not place her finger on, Elizabeth suddenly felt tears wet her face, flowing from her eyes and blurring her vision. The moment she felt this, she bit down on her lower lip, in an attempt to stop herself from sobbing, as she did not want Bertie to be disturbed. 'He is under enough strain as it was, without adding my silly fears to the mix.' she admonished herself, sighing through her bitten lip. Unfortunately, for all her efforts, her sigh was intercepted by a shivering sob, and the King finally looked down towards his wife, noticing at last his wife's delicate state.

"Liza? What on earth is the matter?" Despite the importance of the situation, the woman could not help but notice that her husband had not stuttered in the phrase, as he had used to do. Lionel Logue must have done him more good that she had expected, even after the broadcast at the beginning of the war.

"It's nothing." she responded, her words being betrayed by the tears brimming in her eyes. Bertie did not buy the façade for one moment.

"Liza? Tell me." the man responded. This time, Elizabeth knew there was no room for arguments. Bertie was a loving man, gentle and kind, but when he used the certain tone of voice he had just done, she knew that there was no chance that she would be able to remain silent.

"I just don't know why they are targeting us, that's all." she told her husband, speaking so quickly that he almost did not catch the majority of the sentence. However, from what he heard, the man had got the gist of it. "I'm just a little scared. Not so much for me, but for the girls, and for you. I don't want to risk any of you being taken away from me."

Bertie, understanding her concerns immediately, wrapped his arms even tighter around his wife, kissing her cheek as he did so. He knew how she felt all too well, as it was how he had felt for the past two months, while he was still unsure whether his love would live or die.

"Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Windsor… I will never let that happen. Not to you, or to the girls. I will protect you, I promise." The words held so much meaning and emotion in them that the woman nearly started sobbing afresh. Luckily, years of being brought up under strict guidelines in her household allowed her to keep the pain under control.

"Thank you. And that you don't even need to ask whether I would do the same, because you know I would do so in a heartbeat." she responded, holding him closer to her, as if to reinforce her promise.

"I know you would." he responded to her, with not a note of lying. After all, there was no cause to do so, so why should he even try to? His wife had always been truthful, with important matters at least, and she would never even consider lying about something concerning their darling daughters.

"Do you think that it will be alright, Bertie?" Elizabeth asked. She hated showing weakness, even if there was cause to do so, because, through after all their struggles with his stammering, she had always been the strong one of their pair. She hated allowing herself to give into the waves of emotion that flooded over her, but sometimes she just had to do so.

"I do think so, yes. I can't say for sure of course, but I do believe that we will come through this. After all, this country has been through worse than this before, as have we personally. We can do this, Elizabeth, I know that we can." Bertie used his best efforts to convince his wife, as he knew that she was very set on what she believed after she was convinced of it. However, she seemed to be listening, and seemed to be very aware of how much he believed in what he said.

"I suppose that you're right." she told him, leaning further into the man's comforting embrace. "We Windsors have been through two wars that spanned all of Europe, one that we are still fighting at this very moment. We can stand strong through something as terrible as this if we have fought through all of that."

Their conversation finished, Bertie and Elizabeth settled back into the pillows of their bed, their shoulders feeling lighter, as they had confessed what was bothering them to each other, sharing the burden of such a dangerous time between them.

"This is how we have survived all these years, you know, Bertie?" Elizabeth told him, after a few minutes of blissful silence. "Not by status, or by wealth, or by notability. Just by staying together, supporting each other. We survive by being a partnership."

"Yes, we do. And this is a partnership I shall trust for all my life, and with my life, for however long that may be." Bertie finished, leaning over to kiss his wife chastely on the lips.

That night, the pair slept peacefully, all worries of the man from the trees gone from their mind as they dreamt of a country not tarnished by war. They had not seen the man hidden behind the wall beneath their bedroom window.

That night, the mysterious figure would strike at their hearts.

A/N: Ominous! Please review!