Chapter Three
The King's funeral took place ten days later. The roads from Buckingam Palace to the church were closed because the Royal Family decided that instead of arriving by car, they would honour the deceased King by walking from the palace to the sanctuary. The Dowager Queen was escorted by his two sons, King Simon and Prince Cyrus. They were followed by the young Queen and her mother.
After the service, the King and Queen shook hands with the people who gathered on the street outside the cordons, then they went back to their car. Rachel stood by the vehicle and as she opened the car door, she whispered to the King:
"I informed the chauffeur about the change of the itinerary."
"And my son?"
"The Prince is already in there."
The King nodded and smiled at her.
"Thank you, Rachel. Enjoy your day off!"
"What was that about?" – asked the Queen as they got into the car.
"Hi Mom!"
Helena started at the voice of her son.
"Robert? What are you doing here? You should be at home. Simon, what's going on?"
King Simon giggled like a little child, who was caught doing something bad.
"A little change of plans. We don't go straight back to the Buckingham."
His wife gave him a blank look.
"Why?"
"Because I want to spend some time alone with you two, with my family."
"Simon, you can't do this." – cried out the Queen.
"Just a few hours."
"But everybody is expecting us… The burial feast…"
Helena sighed when she saw that she couldn't bring her husband to reason.
"We'll be back to the reception, don't worry." – said the King and kissed her on the cheek.
Half an hour later the car stopped.
"So where did you bring us?" – asked Helena as she got out of the car. – "Oh, a forest! That's… very original. I wish you would at least have let me change my clothes before you kidnapped me."
Robert laughed at her as she tried to pull her high-heels out of the mud.
"Don't worry, Mommy, I brought you trainers."
She smiled at him.
"Well, it's undeniable that you are the cleverest man in this family."
A moment later their security details joined them with blankets and a picnic basket. The King took these items from them and sent them away.
"Thank you. We walk from here, you can leave now. I'll call you in a couple of hours."
Soon, they arrived at an opening. They laid down the blankets and settled down on the lawn.
"How does it feel?" – asked Helena as she lay down on her husband's lap. – "How does it feel to be the King of England?"
Simon put his hands on her slightly rounding belly. She has never done such thing with her husband before, the picnic was always their thing with Alistair, but now it suddenly seemed natural.
"Overwhelming, I guess." – answered the King. – "My father just died, a great king, and now everybody is watching me. I know I shouldn't have had to run away, but… I needed one more day. One more quiet day like this. What about you? How does it feel to be Queen?"
"I don't know… I always thought that this day would come when we were old. At least my mother is finally happy. Is it true that I have to redecorate the whole Buckingham Palace?"
"I'm afraid so." – sighed King Simon. – "I'm going to miss Kensington, I love that place."
"Yeah, me too." – said the Queen.
"Fortunately, Cyrus will be there."
"Cyrus? I didn't know that he is moving in with us, why don't…" – started Helena, but something stopped her in the middle of her sentence.
After he successfully removed his father's shoes, little Robert tried to pull off his mother's too.
"…Robert, what are you doing?"
"A castle."
"A shoe castle?" – asked Helena kindly, but she suddenly realized the meaning of her words. – "Oh my god, where did you put my Jimmy Choos?" – she screamed referring to the pair of high-heels which she forgot to put in the car before it drove away.
"You may not want to know that, my love." – remarked Simon, who was watching his son's actions for a while.
"Are you mad, Mommy?" – asked the little boy with an innocent look in his eyes.
"I'm not. Just don't take off your own, okay sweetheart? I don't want you to catch a cold." – said the Queen and she looked up to her husband.
He smiled at her and she smiled back. His warm hand was stroking her stomach and she suddenly realized that she still didn't tell him about the twins. The thought of the babies reminded her of Alistair again. If at least it has been the best sexual experience of her life… but it was awful and humiliating and he wetted her all over with his tears… Yet, the moment she saw him she knew that she still loved him.
She suddenly felt very tired. She tried to fight her weariness, but she couldn't anymore. She was already half-asleep when she decided:
"Alistair has to go. No matter how much she loves him. It's too late. He is her past, but he will never be her future." – She thought and she fell asleep.
When she woke up, it was already dark and chilly. She realized that she was still lying in her husband's lap. She slowly sat up and muttered in a sleepy voice:
"Simon? What time is it?"
"Half past seven." – answered the King.
"What? We are going to miss the reception. Why didn't you wake me up?" – she asked angrily and now fully awake. – "Where is Robert?"
The little Prince was on the other side of the blanket and slept as an angel until his mother's voice woke him up.
"Come on, darling, we are going home."
"Why?"
"Because it's late."
She turned to her husband to urge him when she realized that he couldn't get up.
"Simon, what's wrong?"
When he looked at her, the King couldn't retain his smile.
"I was sitting here for two hours while you two were sleeping. On me. I can't feel my legs."
"You are amazing, I hope you know that." – laughed the Queen as she helped him up.
Simon smiled at her. A compliment was a rare gift from Helena.
They headed back to the car, but forty minutes later it was obvious that they got lost.
"Let's not pretend anymore that you know the way, Simon. Just call someone!" – begged the Queen, but in fact she enjoyed the unexpected adventure.
"I've already called them." – answered the King patiently. – "They are looking for us."
"What if they don't find us?" – asked Robert curiously.
"Then your Uncle Cyrus gets an early Christmas present and becomes king." – giggled Helena. – "Imagine the headlines: Royal family went MIA…."
"The runaway King…" – added Simon.
Helena continued the joking.
"I can't believe that we can't find the way out of this small forest. We don't deserve to be called the Prince and Princess of Wales.
"Then it's a good thing that we are not them anymore."
"Do you hear that, Robert? It's all your fault." – said the Queen playfully to her son and she kissed him.
A couple of minutes later they noticed flashlights in the distance. The bodyguards finally found them and took them back to the Palace.
By the time they arrived, everybody was there. The dinner was over, so the family and the guests were talking in the main parlour. Simon immediately sat down and engaged in a conversation, but Helena excused herself and left. She headed to their room to change her clothes and probably take a shower too, but she lost her way and got into the throne room.
"Twice in a day? Great." – she mumbled.
Suddenly she heard the voice of her brother-in-law from the other side of the room.
"All hail the King! And our pretty pregnant Queen, of course!"
Cyrus was sitting or rather lying on his late father's chair.
"You're drunk, Cyrus." – shouted Helena across the room.
"And high. Care to join?"
"No, thanks."
She shook her head, but she walked to him anyway.
"That's a shame. It would have been much easier…"
Helena didn't understand what he meant by that, but she had to experience it very soon. Cyrus quickly stood up, grabbed her arm and pushed her to the chair next to him, the Queen's chair. He leaned down to kiss her neck while he put his hand on her leg.
"Cyrus! What are you doing? Get off of me!"
But he didn't listen to her. He plucked at her dress and tried to tear down the fine black lace. Even so, Helena wasn't afraid of him. His movements were desperate rather than brutal. Suddenly, she heard him sobbing.
"What is wrong with the men that they all choose her lap to cry on?" – she thought and she was about to free herself from his weight when her husband's security detail entered the room. He ran to them and pushed Cyrus to the floor. When he tried to stand up, he hit the Prince on the face.
"That's enough, Mr. Pryce!" – said the Queen and stood between them.
The body guard shook out his hand and looked at Helena.
"Would you like me to take Prince Cyrus back to his room?"
"No, thank you. I'll handle it from here."
Her reaction surprised him, so he asked again.
"Are you sure, Your Majesty?"
"Yes. It's a family matter. Your services are no longer needed today."
He nodded and was about to leave, but Helena's voice made him stop.
"And Mr. Pryce, my husband doesn't need to know about this."
"As you wish, Your Majesty." – said the man and he walked out of the room.
Helena helped up her brother-in-law and slowly led him to his bedroom.
"Come on, Cyrus, let's get back to your bed."
"I'm glad you changed your mind." – whispered Cyrus with a painful smile on his face.
Helena shook her head disapprovingly.
"Don't even dream about it. You touch me again and I make sure that Simon banish you from the palace for good. Understood?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Good."
She tried to help him lie down, but he lost his balance and accidentally pulled her down with him to the bed. For a moment, they both lay there silently, trying to catch their breath, then Cyrus turned to her sister-in-law:
"Why are you doing this?"
"What?" – asked the Queen.
"Being nice to me."
Helena rolled her eyes.
"Because believe it or not, we have a lot in common."
"Such as?"
His stroppy question made Helena smile bitterly. Cyrus always reminded her of the bad things in her life.
"Once upon a time we both wanted something we couldn't get. You wanted to be king and I wanted to be free."
"Free for what?" – he asked, but he still played uninterested.
Helena sighed.
"For love… for making decisions on my own..."
"You are a fool if you can't appreciate the throne." – Cyrus snorted.
"You are a fool if you can't appreciate your freedom." – responded his sister-in-law.
They were silent for a while.
"Lady Alexandra is a real piece of work, isn't she?" – remarked the Prince.
"Yeah. Your mother too." – she answered after a long pause.
Cyrus suddenly cried out.
"They should just love us, no matter what."
Without a word Helena got up and headed to the door.
"Get some sleep, Cyrus."
His weak voice stopped her.
"Helena…?"
"Yes?"
"…Thank you!" – he finished his sentence very quietly.
She laughed as she turned to him.
"Oh! The most surprising words coming from your mouth! But I didn't do it for you. Just a matter of time and we have to move here. I want the transition to be smooth. I may need an ally."
The next morning a bouquet of orchids arrived for the Queen with a note: "Congratulations! You got yourself an ally."
