Chapter 12

An eternity later, Doc Weston emerged from the room he'd been hidden away with Clarisse in. Joseph jumped to his feet. "How is she?"

Doc Weston took the seat Joseph vacated and let out a long breath. "Stable." He looked up at him, his intense grey eyes piercing Joseph's blue ones. "If you hadn't got her out when you did, I'm not sure I'd be able to say that."

Joseph leaned against the wall and thanked God for saving his wife. Begrudgingly, he also silently thanked Jacob for the water he brought and for taking her to safety. He'd reserve judgment on everything else until Clarisse was awake and could tell him what happened. "She going to be okay?"

"Physically, I think she will recover. She was in excellent health prior to this though the dehydration had started to affect her organs. She'll need to be on IV fluids for a while until we're sure she's out of the woods."

He nodded. "And emotionally?"

The older man shrugged. "I won't know until she's conscious and can tell us the extent of the trauma."

"I'll make sure she makes an appointment to see you once she's better."

Doc Weston laughed. "If she wants to, that will be fine. You and I both know forcing her to do anything she doesn't want to is merely an exercise in frustration."

Joseph turned away. "I suspect that's what got her into the mess she was in, in the first place."

"What do you mean?"

"From what I could surmise, they wanted her to make a video to get Mia to rescind the decision to allow women in Parliament. She, of course, refused."

"Would the Queen have given in to the demands, even if made by her grandmother?"

"No."

"Then why not make the video and save herself some pain?"

Joseph went back to holding up the wall and closed his eyes. "Because that's not who she is."

"Indeed."

"Can I go sit with her?"

Doc Weston opened the door. "As long as you agree to let her rest. She'll wake when she's ready. Her body needs time to heal."

"Understood.

Hours later…

"Joseph?"

At the whisper of his name, he startled awake and sat up. Taking her hand, he kissed it. "I'm here my love."

"Thank you for rescuing me."

He shook his head. "I didn't get to you in nearly enough time."

"In just enough time." She squeezed his hand. "Could I have some water? I know they're giving me fluids, but I kind of missed feeling the liquid on my tongue."

"Of course." He grabbed the cup with the straw and poured some ice water in it.

A few moments later, he watched as she enjoyed the simple act of sipping water. Guilt punched him in the stomach thinking of how much she suffered. Once she had a few drinks, she handed it back to him.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Are you hungry? Maybe some tea?"

She shook her head. "Not yet. I want to see how the water settles first."

"Makes sense." He paused unsure how to proceed.

Clarisse smiled, "Anything you want to ask me?"

He chuckled. "I'm that easy to read, eh?"

"Only to someone who's known you as long and as well as I have."

Kissing her hand again, he smiled. "Better than anyone."

"Shall I start from the beginning?"

"Please. If you feel up to talking about it. Doc Weston is worried about your emotional state."

She chuckled. "He's always worried about one thing or the other. I'll assure him I'm fine."

He pulled the hand that he still held close and moved it over his heart. "Are you, really? Please don't try to protect me. I need to protect you." His head lowered. "Seeing how I failed so miserably last time."

Joseph exhaled a slow breath as he felt the warmth of her palm cup his cheek and lift gently so he could look into those beautiful blue eyes that had slowly started to shine again. "There is no way anyone could have known they would be so brazen in their efforts to force a change. Neither Amelia nor I ever believed we would be in danger. That's why we were so insistent for the extra protection for Charlotte."

He turned his head to kiss the softness of her palm. He wanted to just touch, kiss and breathe her in every opportunity he had. "Speaking of Charlotte…."

"I know. After you and I speak and I feel a little stronger, please ask her to come for a visit."

"She's been sitting outside in the hallway since they brought you here. She refuses to leave."

Clarisse felt a small trickle from the corner of her eye. Relief washed over her that Charlotte hadn't given up on them and for the simple fact that her body was being replenished with the water necessary for life and expressing emotions. "Perhaps I can see her first and then provide you with the debrief I know you're desperate to hear."

"Only because I feel this is important for both of you to heal. Right after that, though, I need to know."

She nodded and closed her eyes as Joseph kissed the top of her head before sharing, "I'll send her in and secure some broth and tea for you just in case you feel up to it afterwhile."

"Thank you, my love."

A moment later, Charlotte walked in. Clarisse's heart broke at the tear stains she could see on the young woman's face and the worry that knotted and tensed the muscles in her small frame. Clarisse lifted her hand. "Come here, my dear. I'm so sorry…."

With her words, Charlotte ran the rest of the way and allowed herself to be embraced in Clarisse's arms. "No, I'm sorry…so sorry. I was trying to protect you. It was foolish, I know. But it was all I had to give you… and I failed miserably at that."

Clarisse held her for a few moments and let her cry out the emotions until she felt her body calm some. Only then did she lift her slightly, "Women find our strength through bonding, not keeping secrets…especially from our best friends. I understand your motivation but feeling you didn't trust me after all these years and everything we've been through together pierced me to my very core."

Charlotte nodded. "It was short sighted of me. I was so afraid." She sat up but didn't move from her perch on the side of the bed, nor released Clarisse's hands. "I'm not brave like you or Queen Mia."

"Nonsense. You were incredibly brave. Your only mistake was thinking you had to do it on your own."

With a shake of her head, Charlotte answered. "For not one single, solitary moment throughout this entire ordeal have I felt incredibly brave."

"Oh I don't know, telling the reigning queen of Genovia that something is entirely her fault feels pretty brave to me." Mia shared with a smile as she walked in the room.

"Your Majesty!" Charlotte blushed a deep, crimson red. "I am sorry. I was out of my mind with worry."

Mia waved off her apology. "I'm just teasing you. Figured after all the tension, we could use some laughter."

Repeating her earlier action, Clarisse lifted the other hand to encourage Mia to join them on the bed. "Laughter is indeed a good thing. I was just telling Charlotte that we are stronger together. There aren't too many others we can be ourselves with."

Mia laughed. "Yup, not too many people have top level clearance around here."

Clarisse and Charlotte joined her with some laughs of their own before Mia turned serious. "Are you really okay, Gramma? I know you refused to make the demand video they wanted. You know I wouldn't give in to their demands, but I hate that they made you suffer because you refused."

Clarisse squeezed her granddaughter's hand tighter. "You couldn't. Amelia. You and I both know if you'd given into their demands, even if it was to spare me pain, that would open the gates to threats against you, the royal family, our staff, and all those we care about. It was for the same reason, I didn't take the easy way out. We will not be bullied."

Tears slipped from Mia's dark eyes. "My mind knows that, Gramma, but my heart was breaking with the possibility I might have to make that difficult choice. It kept me awake at night and had me worried sick about you."

Clarisse pulled them both into a hug. "I'm home now. We're all safe."

"Not with the order still out there." Fear and concern were interwoven in every word shard by Mia even though the sound was muted as she spoke them into her grandmother's shoulder.

"I have confidence that the leadership of that order will soon be handled."

Charlotte spoke this time. "How can you be sure?"

Both women looked to Clarisse for her answer. Her gaze was determined and there was an intensity in her expression they'd both come to know and understand. "Because someone promised me they would."

Mia shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "As much as I'd like to ask you a million questions about that statement, I'm not sure you would give me a straight answer at least not now." She sighed. "Duty calls, however. I'll be back to check on you soon."

"Thank you dear, both for doing your duty and, especially for not asking questions."

With a kiss on the cheek, Mia stood. "Understood, but I still have to do what I believe is necessary to hunt each and every one of them down and make them pay for what they did to you and to Genovia."

"I would expect nothing less."

Mia looked at Charlotte, "I know you have plenty of things you want to talk to Gramma about, but I'm hoping you're up for our two o'clock meeting."

"Of course, Your Majesty. Thank you for postponing it to give me time to well…"

"Family is far more important. Now that everyone is home safe…" she smiled at her grandmother, "we can resume our normal schedule."

Charlotte smiled and cut Clarisse a look, "She's sounding more and more like you every day."

"Alright you two, please go get some work done as we all can't stay in bed all day. Charlotte, will you send Joseph in please. I need to go over a few things with him and then I need some rest."

Mia waved, "See you later, Gramma. See you in a bit, Charlotte."

Once Mia left, Charlotte resumed her position on the side of the bed, still holding Clarisse's hand. "Will you forgive me?"

Clarisse squeezed her hand tighter. "Of course. Will you forgive me for not seeking you out and fixing this right away?"

"Of course. I should have never let it go on as long as I did. I just wasn't sure how to fix it."

"Lessons learned for both of us."

Charlotte leaned over and gave Clarisse one more hug. "I'll send Joe back in so you can talk to him and then rest."

"Thank you dear."

A few moments later, Joseph entered with a tray containing some broth and tea service. "Let me get you set up with a tray so you can eat and then you can feed my curious mind."

Clarisse nodded and sat up in the bed so could better accommodate eating and drinking. After getting something in her stomach, she started. "So this is what I learned about Jacob and the Order of the Crimson Pear…"