Chapter Eleven
A.N.: I pulled out one sentence about the long line of secret spa dates because it sounded too fatal regarding our royal love triangle.
Last night the Queen had just enough strength to go to her bedroom and lie across the bed, then she fell asleep immediately. She was woken up by the ringing of the phone.
"Hello?" – she yawned, suddenly not realizing that only two people were allowed to put on the bedroom phone with her: Rachel and her husband.
"Good morning, my love!" – said the King happily which felt like a loud scream to his wife.
Helena held the receiver away from her ear.
"Simon…? What time is it?" – she asked weakly.
"Here or there?" – asked back the King more carefully.
"Anywhere…" – mumbled the Queen. – "Where are you?"
Simon began to realize that he handled the time difference a bit too loosely.
"In Vancouver. I'm sorry to wake you up, but you said that you can't sleep so I could call you any time…" – he apologized.
"Not today. I have a hangover…" – moaned Helena.
King Simon chuckled softly.
"I can hear that…" – he said, then he changed the subject. – "I just finished watching your Fashion Show. I wanted to call you right after."
The Queen tried to sit up slowly as her head was still spinning.
"Did you like it?" – she finally asked and she took a deep breath.
"It was amazing, I'm so proud of you." – cried the King, still with a bit too much enthusiasm to his wife's ears. – "It was more than just a fashion show. I think it really meant a lot to the people."
"I hope so." – whispered Helena.
Simon cleared his throat as he asked:
"How are the children?"
"They are fine." – answered his wife and she briefly told him about how they were doing. – "Liam finally begins to show some interest towards… anything. Eleanor is still fussy. The nanny says that maybe her tooth is coming in, but I think it's too early for that. Robert misses you…"
"I miss him too, I miss all of you." – the King interrupted her.
"Just a couple more days." – sighed the Queen. – "Are you having a good time, though?"
"Yes. The Prime Minister took me to a hockey game yesterday. I had a lot of fun." – remarked King Simon joyfully.
"I bet. You love all the sports." – giggled Helena.
"I guess you are right, my love." – agreed her husband.
They both remained silent for a moment, listening to each other's breathing. Then he finally asked:
"Anything interesting at home?"
"Not really." – answered Helena after a little thinking. – "Your beloved sister-in-law… ex-sister-in-law, Courtney was here yesterday. She showed me pictures of the children. I'm telling you, those girls look weird. I'm not surprised that Cyrus never goes to see them. What else? We have a missing kitchen girl. The maids are freaked out and they want me to…"
"Stephanie?" – the King cut her off with his question.
"I don't know. Why?" – asked back the Queen, uninterested.
"She came with me." – said Simon with ease.
Helena thought she heard wrong.
"What?" – she asked more in shock than in anger.
King Simon didn't seem to understand the reason behind his wife's outcry as he answered the question:
"She wanted to visit her grandmother so I invited her to join me."
"On the royal plane..." – groaned Helena in a painful tone. – "Just please, make sure that you are not photographed together. We don't need a scandal."
"You don't really think that there is something between us, do you?" – asked Simon indignantly after he realized what his wife's words meant.
"It doesn't matter what I think." – replied the Queen avoiding to give a straight answer.
"It does to me." – argued the King loudly.
Helena flung the receiver at the mattress by her side, then she raised it to her ear again.
"What am I supposed to say to the staff?" – she snapped at her husband.
"The truth?" – he asked back in the same tone.
"Of course…" – hissed the Queen, then she added sarcastically as if she would speak to the staff already. – "'Don't worry, the missing maid is not missing. She is with my husband.' "
The King had to force patience on himself and take the high road.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you." – he started, but he couldn't stop adding a nasty end to his sentence. – "I would have never thought that you would be jealous."
"Is this the only thing that you caught from what I said?" – asked Helena angrily.
"This is the only part that I'm interested in." – her husband replied more honestly this time.
However, it didn't impress the Queen.
"I hope you are not planning to bring her back." – she remarked in a menacing voice.
"Then how is she supposed to come home?" – asked Simon who was fed up with his wife's childish and heartless attitude.
"I don't know. Buy her an economy class ticket if you insist, it will be more than enough for her…" – said the Queen and she decided to end the conversation. – "Listen, I have to go."
"Now? We are not finished." – began the King, but Helena interrupted him.
"Sorry, I have thirty freaked out maids who just can't wait to hear the good news." – she said scornfully and hung up the phone.
After her husband's early phone call, the Queen fell back asleep. By the time she woke up, her assistant was already waiting for her in the study.
"What is it, Rachel?" – asked Helena, pale and ruffled, not even trying to hide her hangover.
"If this is a regular thing from now on… – started Rachel gesturing toward the Queen's face with her raised hand. – "… we'll need to hire a makeup girl."
"Fuck off! You sound like my mother. Just tell me what you want, then walk away." – said Helena annoyed.
Rachel handed her a couple of tabloids, which she hid behind her back up to now.
" 'Queen of Fashion'... 'Long live the Queen'... 'Britain is Great so is her Queen' " – mumbled Queen Helena as she read the covers.
"It looks like your efforts and sleepless nights paid off, Your Majesty. They adored your Fashion Show. You really showed them. And nothing proves this better than the fact that the Queen Mother approached me…" – remarked the assistant with a satisfied smile.
Helena looked at her with interest. Rachel returned her gaze and nodded to confirm her last words. They looked at each other silently for a moment, then both let out a scornful chuckle.
"I didn't think that she would be so desperate…" – said the Queen in a musing tone.
Her assistant suddenly stepped toward the desk and rummaged into the newspapers. Finally, she pulled out a folded paper and gave it to Helena.
"Her desperation may have something to do with this." – she said.
"What is this?" – asked the Queen curiously and she unwrapped the note.
It was a handwritten letter or more like a report. Helena started to read it aloud.
"7:30 am. Q.M. packs her bags, short trip to the countryside, she says
7:50. am. P. C. still in bed, female guests gone.
7:55. am. Maids gathering: still missing maid. Panic increased!"
The Queen looked up from her reading.
"This is hilarious!" – she said with a surprised laugh. – "Who gave you this?"
"A member of the Silent Marys, the Queen Mother's personal network of spies. Apparently, they shifted their loyalties to you."
"Wow! I always wondered where she gathers her informations, but I never thought that she has actual spies." – sighed Queen Helena.
Rachel shrugged, then she took a deep breath before she began to speak again:
"There is an other thing. Your Majesty asked me to tell if it's safe to leave the Palace to meet with a certain person. I think there is no safer time than now."
"And?" – asked Helena a bit nervously.
"I made all the arrangements." – replied Rachel willingly. – "There is a building outside the city, halfway to Essex, owned by a friend of mine. It's a spa… well, at least daytime."
The Queen burst out laughing.
"So your plan is to smuggle me out through the tunnels, take to your friend's spa-slash-whatever it is and then…?" – she asked in disbelief.
"No. You have to use the main door. In that way nobody will care where you go. You also need a double so that there would always be someone to see you there. In the meantime, you can stay hidden in a room upstairs." – explained Rachel, then she asked the logical question: – "Shall I make the call to my friend and… your friend?"
"I guess I have no choice." – thought Helena, then she nodded in agreement. – "Yes, please call Alistair and your friend. Thank you, Rachel."
Five days later the King returned from his journey and the Queen decided to surprise him. Out of love, or guilt, or respect for the traditions, she revived a medieval habit of the Royal Court by summoning all members of the staff on the steps of the Palace to salute their monarch. Helena stood in front of them, wearing a pink dress so short that she would have never allowed to herself in the presence of the Queen Mother.
Simon was stunned and a little embarrassed when he got out of the car with a huge bouquet of roses.
"All the way from Canada?" – asked the Queen as she took the flowers from him.
"All the way from a Chelsea flower shop." – he replied and kissed his wife passionately.
There was loud cheering in the distance. A crowd of mostly tourists gathered at the gates waiting for the Changing the Guard.
"Lucky guys… I don't think they read about this kind of spectacle in the guidebook." – remarked Helena flirtatiously.
"Come on, let's go there." – the King proposed happily.
"Greeting tourists?" – asked the Queen in surprise. – "I'm not sure that it would send the right message."
King Simon burst out laughing.
"Are you afraid that the British people will be offended? After the Fashion Show you just did for them?"
He didn't wait for an answer. He grabbed her hand and gently pulled her down the stairs.
"Simon…" – Helena began when they were almost at the gates. – "Thank you."
"For what?" – her husband asked in surprise.
"For not bringing her home." – sighed the Queen.
The King suddenly stopped on the stairs which almost made his wife stumble. He grabbed her in time, putting his hand around her waist to help her regain her balance. He looked at her trying to figure out if there was any underlying meaning behind her words. She gave him a blank look, then she let go of his hand and walked down the steps. Simon followed her, confused.
"Konnichiwa! Konnichiwa!" – greeted Helena a couple of Japanese tourists while she shook their hands.
The King stood a meter away from her trying to understand a French couple who wanted to get into the Palace at all costs.
"Votre Majesté, laissez-nous entrer, s'il vous plait… Juste cinq minutes?... Five minutes, okay? Please!" – shouted the man.
Simon looked at his wife and spread his arms helplessly. Helena took a few steps towards him and turned to the Frenchman:
"Quel est le probleme?" – she asked with a forced smile.
"On voudrais visiter le Palais. Pourriez-vous nous laisser entrer?" – he repeated his daring request.
The Queen couldn't hold back a genuine laugh.
"Si seulement je pouvais… mais je n'ai pas les clés sur moi!" – she said and the tourist couple seemed to understand the joke.
"What did they want?" – asked the King curiously.
"He wanted to come in. I told him I didn't have the keys with me. Can we go now?" – whispered Helena in her husband's ears. – "I have a surprise for you."
"Really?" – asked Simon with a smile as they headed back to the Palace.
The Queen's surprise was something bedroom-related and it started with a bottle of champagne and some very expensive lingerie.
"I missed you, darling." – she moaned as they closed the bedroom door behind them.
"I missed you too." – he replied and he gently pushed her on the bed.
Helena let him undress her with his eyes and she pulled her closer. Before they would have continued any further, she reached for the remote control on the nightstand and turned on the radio. Nobody needed to hear what they were doing, although everybody knew it. – – –