Chapter Sixty-Four
All she could hear was screaming. It took Ruth a moment to realize that she was the one screaming.
"Shh, I've got you, you're alright."
Harry's voice was soft but cut through her screams. His words calmed her almost immediately. Harry had that way about him. If Harry was there, everything would be alright. Harry would make sure everything was alright. No matter what happened, Harry always knew what was going on and what to do. Harry would save the day. Because after all, if there was one thing in the universe that Ruth trusted without question, it was Harry.
Ruth felt herself gasping for air. Her vision was dark and she couldn't see much of anything, but she realized that it was because her face was pressed down on the floor of the podium where she'd been giving her speech. Jesus, she had been giving a speech in Albert Plaza for Emancipation Day, what on earth had happened?!
There was a weight on her. Something pressing her to the floor. "Harry?" she whispered.
"I'm here, darling," he answered, just as soft. And then he let out something like a whimper and a cough.
She wasn't sure what was going on. Had she hit her head? What was happening? The sounds of chaos around them came to her ears. And then she felt it. Something wet against her legs. "Harry, what…?"
Ruth never finished that question. All of a sudden, the weight of Harry on top of her was lifted away, and she herself was lifted as well. She blinked at the sudden brightness, seeing Dimitri with his arm around her protectively. "We've got it, Your Majesty," he assured her.
She looked around wildly, seeing people running and screaming in every direction. A group of Royal Guards were in a clump right by the front of the podium, shouting and giving instructions. Policemen were trying and failing to direct the chaos of the crowd. "What happened?" she asked sharply.
"Assassination attempt. Sir Harry tackled you down just in time to take the bullet for you," Dimitri explained.
"WHAT!?" Ruth screeched, whipping her head around to try and find Harry.
"Just my leg, Ruth, I'm fine," he shouted, being carried by Zaf and another guard whose name Ruth needed to learn as soon as possible.
"Harry, you've been shot!?" She tried to turn and go to him, but Dimitri wouldn't let her. "Let me go!" she shouted at him. "My husband has been shot!"
"We have to get you to safety, Your Majesty," Dimitri protested.
"I am safe now, you have to let me see my husband," she ordered.
Her uncharacteristically demanding tone seemed to catch everyone off guard. Ruth ripped herself away from Dimitri and went to Harry's side as he was carried by the others. "Listen to Dimitri, Ruth, I won't have you in danger," Harry tried to tell her.
"I think the time has passed for that," she said dryly. His voice was weakening, and he was wincing quite a lot. Ruth knew this was not the first time he'd been shot, not by a long shot. But it was the first time he'd been shot since he left active military service and the first time since Ruth had known him. And he had been shot protecting her from an assassination attempt.
Her mind whirled. Her body protested to every single step she took, her stomach threatening to make her vomit from panic and fear and whatever else, her eyes pricked from tears that threatened to fall. Her chest was tight and each breath was a struggle. Was she shaking? She felt like she was shaking. But while her body felt the same chaos of the crowd running every which way with that same panic and fear, her mind was surprisingly clear.
She snapped into focus. "Zaf, you and…I'm sorry, what's your name?" Ruth asked the other guard.
"Alec White, Your Majesty."
"Right. Zaf and Alec, you get Harry to the hospital and into surgery as quick as possible. I don't bloody care what he says, I'm your queen and you answer to me. I'm holding the two of you personally responsible for making sure my husband walks again," she commanded.
Ruth heard the sirens and turned to see the ambulance drive up, and she let out a shaky sigh of relief. She watched, shielded by Dimitri and a dozen other guards, as Harry was hauled into the ambulance. When it began to drive away, she turned back to Dimitri.
"I need to get back to the palace. And Jo…where's Jo?" she asked.
"Evacuated with everyone else already," Dimitri explained.
In the back of her mind, Ruth vaguely found it strange that she had been allowed to stay. Was that because she was protected by Harry? Or because she'd scared them off from carrying her away? She'd ask later. "Fine. I need to get to the palace and I need to talk to Jo as soon as possible. I want a television crew there within the hour. I'm going to give a speech in the front courtyard. I want it broadcast live."
"A speech!?" Dimitri asked incredulously. "You Majesty, I don't think…"
"It is exactly the right thing to do," she snapped, interrupting his well-meaning protest. "An attempt has just been made on my life. The monarch was threatened. But I am alive and well and other than being a bit shaken and having a terrible headache, I am unharmed. I don't want rumors to spread. I want the people responsible for this to know they failed. And I want to show that nothing—nothing—will topple House Everard. And I want to get the message out right away so I can see my children and go to my husband's hospital bed. God help anyone who stands in my way, Dimitri," she warned.
He nodded resolutely. "Yes, Your Majesty. The car's here," he said."
Ruth turned to see her car screeching to a halt before them. Perhaps that's why they'd let her stay. The car—the special car with all the proper protections—was probably unable to get through the crowds quick enough. And besides, the threat had been eliminated by now. She was in no danger. Not as far as she could sense.
As she sat in the back of the car, Ruth felt herself shaking. She'd been shaking on her way to the plaza earlier, but that had just been nerves before giving her speech. Now, she was shaking from absolute terror. She tried her best to keep calm. If she let herself fall apart, she'd never get herself back together. God, she wanted nothing in the world so much as she wanted Harry to be sitting beside her and holding her hand. Everything would be alright if he was beside her. But he wasn't beside her now. He was in an ambulance being rushed to the hospital. The fact that he had been speaking to her after being shot in the leg did not do much to comfort her. He was alive, but he was more than likely in shock. His mind was protecting him from the trauma of his body. And Ruth had no idea how much blood he lost or would lose. No idea whether the bullet had destroyed his leg, whether he'd ever walk again, whether he'd even get to keep the leg. It was far too much to contemplate. And she couldn't let herself think about it now. There were other things to do. And Ruth knew without a shadow of a doubt that Harry didn't want her wasting her time worrying about him when there were other things to do.
As soon as the car arrived at the palace, she got out immediately. She did not wait for Dimitri to open the door for her as she usually did. "Jo!" she shouted as the footmen opened the front doors for her.
"Here, Your Majesty. Dimitri called ahead and told me what you said. I have a news crew on the way now. I have one of the speechwriters working on something for you, and it will be ready in about half an hour."
"No," Ruth said, cutting her off. "I don't want a speechwriter. I know what I want to say. And I want to see my children right now."
"They're in the nursery with Ms. Pearce," Jo told her. A worried look appeared on the woman's face that Ruth was happy to ignore for the time being. There were more important things to focus on.
Ruth went right upstairs to the nursery, ignoring Jo's protests behind her. She opened the doors to the nursery, desperate and half out of her mind with the need to see her girls.
"Mummy!" Emilia shouted upon seeing her.
"Hello, my little loves," Ruth said, bending down to open her arms to other girls. Charlotte came right behind Emmy to hug her. "Oh I'm so glad to see you, I can't even say." She kissed each of their beautiful curly heads.
"Where's Daddy?" Charlotte asked softly.
"Daddy is in the hospital. We'll go to see him soon," Ruth answered.
"We were watching the speech and I turned the telly off when…" Catherine said, standing a few paces away. Ruth looked up to see her pale and worried.
"We're alright," Ruth assured her.
"I didn't say anything," Catherine told her.
Ruth frowned at that. "Alright." It wasn't Catherine's fault. "They'll hear now. I'm going to have them with me when the camera crew arrives. Show of strength for the family."
Catherine's eyes went wide. "Ruth, are you sure that's a good idea? They're so little."
"We're not too little!" Emilia insisted, overhearing everything that was said around her, as usual.
Ruth looked down at her child. "No, you're not. I will answer all your questions later, but I want you to know right now that someone tried to hurt me today because I am queen and people sometimes want to hurt people in charge. But your daddy saved me, like he always does. He got hurt. The doctors are going to fix him up, and we'll see him later. Right now, though, we're going to stand tall and proud for the cameras, and I am going to tell everyone that we're alright and no matter how they try, the bad people won't beat us. This is the world we live in, and it is important for you both to know."
She wasn't sure if the girls understood or not. Emilia had a look of determination in her blue eyes. Her eyes were exactly like Ruth's own, as were Charlotte's. It was odd and wonderful to see aspects of her own face reflected in her children.
"Mummy," Charlotte said.
"Yes, Charlotte?" Ruth answered.
"You got messy." Even at barely four years old, Charlotte knew how to behave and dress like a proper little princess.
Ruth looked down and saw what Charlotte was looking at. Her dress was absolutely covered in Harry's blood. She hadn't realized until now. Suddenly that wet feeling on her legs from earlier made sense.
"Do you want to go change before the cameras get here?" Catherine suggested.
"No," Ruth answered resolutely. "Let them see. Let them know. I'll not hide the truth from my people."
And as she spoke those words aloud, the entirety of Ruth's speech to her people formed in her mind. She took each of her daughters by the hand and led them downstairs where the news crew would be waiting. She was ready. After all, she had no other choice.