Chapter Seven
A.N. Thank you for reading, following and writing reviews, I really appreciate it and I hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. :)
King Simon and his brother, Prince Cyrus were sitting at the breakfast table and talking about the events of the ongoing Bosnian War.
"I don't see the point of sending troops there if they can't fight." – remarked Cyrus and took a sip of his coffee.
"Our soldiers are there in order to make peace." – answered the King.
His brother snorted with disdain.
"They shot our airplane. Apparently, they don't want this peace as much as we do."
Simon wanted to react, but his wife entered the room and her presence distracted the conversation. That was the day of her first public appearance since the birth of the twins and also the debut of her new style. The King was speechless when he saw her, he barely recognized her. She used to put on colourful and floral clothes with simple accessories, but now she was wearing a pale peach dress with an enormous diamond necklace and earrings.
"You hate it, right?" – Helena asked as she walked to the table and stopped before her husband.
"No… You look beautiful, it's just… it's not you." – stuttered the King who didn't want to hurt his wife.
The Queen doesn't seem to care much about it as she replied in a bored tone.
"Why should it be me? I'm the Queen of England. I have to radiate elegance and glamour."
"Well, it's certainly very queen-like." – said Simon trying to cheer her up a bit.
"Enjoy your life as the newest addition to the Royal Family Museum." – added Cyrus.
Helena rolled her eyes and sat at the table.
"So what did you talk about?" – she asked to change the subject.
"War." – mumbled his brother-in-law with his mouth full.
"Ah! I don't understand why we have to involve in this… local conflict. It has nothing to do with us. We should let them solve their own problems." – the Queen expounded her opinion.
"Then, it's not your lucky day, my love. We are going to send there more troops." – remarked her husband with a smile.
Queen Helena almost dropped her teaspoon as she thought about Alistair who somehow stayed out of this war until now. She was now afraid that this luck may have ended. However, she managed to remain calm.
"When?"
"On Monday." – came the answer from Cyrus.
Helena couldn't stop thinking about Alistair. She remembered her last encounter with him almost a year ago and she was worried about what another deployment would do to him. She knew she had to at least talk to him before letting him go.
"I will give a garden party tomorrow to honour our troops." – announced the Queen after a moment of thinking.
"Tomorrow?" – asked the King surprised. – "Isn't it a bit sudden? Besides, I thought you were against our involvement in the war."
"This was my personal opinion. As the Queen of England I must support our soldiers." – replied Helena without batting an eye. – "As for the time frame, don't you remember Cyrus's engagement party? I had only ten hours to organize it."
"Yeah. Even that was longer than the marriage itself." – remarked his brother-in-law.
The Queen gave a meaningful look to Cyrus and said:
"Tomorrow will be a great opportunity. It may be a smaller event, but I bet that everybody, especially our journalist friends will be very interested."
Rachel came into the room to inform the Queen of her mother's arrival.
"Perfect! I have exactly ten minutes for her." – Helena replied and followed her assistant out of the dining room.
"Mother! How was your journey?" – asked Helena as she kissed her mother on the cheek.
"Long." – replied the Duchess in a sarcastic tone. – "Let's hope it is worth it."
The Queen forced herself a polite smile and she opened the double doors of the nursery before her mother. They quietly admired the sleeping twins for a while then the Queen broke the silence.
"How is Father?"
"The same, Helena, you know that." – came the resentful answer from the Duchess of Oxford who seemed very annoyed by this question. – "That stroke trapped him in his own body forever. And as for me, it trapped me in a marriage with a vegetable."
"Mother, please!" – cried out Helena and she raised her hand before her mouth. She quickly turned away when she felt that tears began to form in the corner of her eyes.
"What is wrong with you?" – asked her mother more confused than worried as she stepped toward her. – "Oh come on, you won't cry, will you?"
The Queen felt embarrassed in front of her mother. However, she managed to calm herself down and continue to speak in a firm voice.
"No, I'm fine. It's just lately I have sometimes this feeling to cry, but I can control it. You taught me very well how to restrain my feelings."
The Duchess looked at her suspiciously.
"I'm glad I did." – she finally said.
Princess Eleanor woke up and Helena was about to take her out of the crib, but her mother was faster than her.
"You are the Queen of England, you can't afford that people see you like that." – continued the Duchess while she was rocking her granddaughter in her arms. – "Besides, why on earth would you be sad? You are rich, young, beautiful and you just had such lovely babies!"
Helena was surprised by the sudden affection that her mother showed toward the twins. She was never that kind neither to Robert nor to her when she was a child.
"Aren't you a beautiful little Princess?" – babbled the Grand Duchess to Eleanor. – "Yes, you are. I'm your grandmother."
The Queen had to smile as she saw her mother talking like this for the first time.
"You didn't pierce her ears yet." – remarked Lady Alexandra addressing her words to her daughter this time.
"Sorry, I didn't have time for it." – replied Helena without any sarcasm.
The Duchess didn't take her eyes off of her granddaughter as she said:
"Well, let me know if you did. I want to buy her first diamonds." – Then she added. – "I never thought that you would have twins. I don't appreciate that you didn't tell me, but it was a pleasant surprise. It's so strange… We never had twins in our family and I don't recall any in the history of the royal family. Well, maybe in the side branch…"
"Keep your voice down!" – Helena suddenly snapped at her mother. – "Walls have ears in this palace. If you are suggesting something like this…"
"I'm not suggesting anything." – answered the Duchess and she seemed truly confused.
However, her daughter didn't believe her.
"Of course you are." – hissed the Queen.
"I'm not. Why would I?" – asked Alexandra innocently because it made no sense why Helena would be so frightened by her words. Then she realized. – "Unless they are… Helena?!"
"No!" – cried her daughter indignantly.
The Duchess couldn't retain her smile at the thought that Helena finally turned out like her cheating mother.
"It doesn't matter." – she said almost happily. – "At least as long as you keep your mouth shut."
With that last sentence the Duchess considered the topic closed and she put Eleanor back to her cradle.
As her sister fell asleep, Liam finally woke up and started to cry. His bottle was already prepared on the table by his nanny. Helena covered her expensive dress with a blanket and picked up her son. She sat on the sofa and gave him the bottle, but he didn't accept. Despite his mother's best efforts, he continued to cry even louder.
"Oh for Christ's sake, Helena! We don't have to listen to that. Just call his nanny." – cried the Duchess.
"Do you think that I can't do that?" – her daughter asked angrily thinking that she was being attacked. – "I fed Robert countless times."
The Duchess sighed and theatrically shut her ears.
"You are nervous and you are making him nervous too." – she complained, then she added. – "Animals, children… they can sense these things."
"You know what? Call the nanny or do whatever you want, I have to go anyway." – hissed the Queen angrily and put Liam and the bottle in her mother's arm.
"Where are you going?" – asked the surprised Duchess.
"To the Farmer's Market." – came the answer.
Lady Alexandra shook her head in disappointment.
"I always knew that you are a peasant deep inside."
"It is one of my charities." – answered Helena and she raised her gaze to the ceiling. – "And yes, God forbid, I actually enjoy it."
She almost left the room, but she heard her mother calling after her.
"He already looks very much like Simon." – said the Duchess, who was still holding her grandson in her arms.
The Queen was stunned by the sudden kindness.
"Thank you!" – she replied with a relieved smile.
Lady Alexandra didn't find the nanny, so she had no choice, but to stay in the room and trying to make her grandson stop crying. When the King entered the nursery, she was as shocked as his wife earlier at the sight of his mother-in-law with a baby.
"Thank God!" – sighed the Duchess as she saw King Simon. – "Here, take him. I got a migraine."
Simon took Liam in his arms and started to rock him gently. There was an awkward silence between the two of them after the baby finally stopped crying.
"How do you like your new castle?" – asked the King to break the ice.
The Duchess laughed at him scornfully.
"Like you care. You enjoy that you got rid of me."
"It was your choice, Alexandra. But you are right. Our life is easier since you are not here."
"Yours, maybe, but Helena needs me." – replied Lady Alexandra. – "She starts making mistakes when I'm not around. You will see."
"She is a good mother, a good queen… and she is happier than ever." – retorted the King to defend his Queen.
His mother-in-law just shrugged her shoulders.
"As you wish." – she said with ease.
"What is that supposed to mean?" – Simon snapped at her.
"Nothing." – came the answer. – "You are her husband, you probably know better."
The King knew that the Duchess wasn't serious and she only wanted to mock him, but he decided to let it go.
"I saw your footmen. Very impressive. And you have a hatchment." – he continued with a smile.
"I try to live up to my title. I never did anything halfway in my life. Look at me how far it got me. I'm the Grand Duchess of Oxford, thanks to you and my daughter is the Queen of England." – replied Lady Alexandra and her words sounded a bit threatening for a moment, even for a King.
Simon wasn't sure how to react to that, he finally ended up saying:
"And I'm thankful for your daughter every day."
"I'm glad to hear that. I worked for that very hard." – remarked the Duchess.
Now the King was the one to mock his mother-in-law.
"I know. I love her despite the fact that you brought her up.
Helena didn't leave straight for the Farmers Market after her meeting with her mother. Instead of that, she went back to her room and quickly scratched a note:
"Dearest Alistair! I know that I didn't respond well to our last encounter and I feel terrible for it. Letting you down and betraying you with my silence is unforgivable. Despite everything you must think of me now, I still care about you deeply, and please, please, please come to my garden party tomorrow, if not for my sake, then for the sake of that young girl who still kept your engagement ring…"
Her eyes skimmed through the words of her letter, then she quickly put it in an envelope. Before she closed and sealed it with the royal stamp, she picked up a little white pebble from the drawer of her bedside table and dropped it in the envelope as well. She took a deep breath and called Rachel.
"I need you to do something for me." – she started when her assistant came in.
"Of course, Your Majesty. Is this about the garden party?" – asked Rachel.
"No. It's something… personal." – answered the Queen and she looked down at the envelope in her hands. – "I need to know if I can trust you completely."
Rachel replied without any hesitation.
"You can. I think I proved my reliability and discretion toward you many times."
Queen Helena smiled dimly as she thought back to the memory of her coronation. She hesitated for a moment, then she finally gave the letter to Rachel.
"I didn't sign it..." – the Queen remarked. – "… but this letter could destroy me. Make sure that only the recipient reads it and that he burns it right after that."
"You can count on me." – answered Rachel firmly.
