Chapter Thirteen
…They heard another gunshot and the same car door opened again. But it wasn't their security detail who came back. The man wore a black ski mask and his gun pointed straight to the Queen.
"Give me the Prince and leave the car!"
"On a cold day in hell!" – shouted Helena while she hid Robert behind her back and turned against their attacker.
Rachel pulled closer to the Queen so the man had no chance to reach the Prince without removing them of the way.
"What do you want?" – asked Helena in a chillingly calm voice which concealed her panic.
"10.000 pounds." – hissed the man between his teeth.
The Queen slowly backed away from him and almost pressed Robert against the car door while she spoke:
"I can give you that. Let us go and I give you the money."
The masked man laughed, then spat on her.
"You are lying." – he shouted and with his shaky hand which held the gun, he aimed at the Queen.
He seemed to scare by his own behaviour, so he lowered the gun and added with more self-control:
"If I let you go, you call the police and I can't let that happen. I have to take the boy. I don't want any trouble. You pay the ransom, I give him back."
Helena kept the conversation going on to stall for time while she tried to find the door handle behind her back.
"You are an intelligent man. I know that we understand each other. Therefore, I trust you will understand that as his mother, I can't let you take my son."
Her words seemed to affect the kidnapper because he continued in a soft almost begging voice.
"What else can I do? I don't want to hurt you, please just get out of the car and let me go with him. I won't hurt him, I promise you, I would never hurt a little boy."
Queen Helena knew that only the necklace she wore was worth more than 10.000 pounds, but in order to take it off and give it to the man, she must let go of the door handle she just found. Suddenly she felt Rachel's hand on her hand and she knew that it was their only chance. She released the handle and raised both of her hands to her neck. She unclasped the pendant and slowly put it on the seat between herself and the attacker.
"Take this. You can get at least 20.000 pounds for it." – she said and she looked straight in his eyes.
"No way. You are joking, right? You wouldn't wear something that valuable around your neck. It's a fortune." – the masked man exclaimed in genuine shock.
Helena let out a dim smile after his reaction, although she still felt her heart racing in her chest.
"I'm the Queen of England. I wear expensive jewellery every day."
The kidnapper reached for the necklace. As soon as he touched it, Rachel opened the door and pushed Robert out on the street, then she quickly closed it back behind him. After their attacker realized what she has just done, he raised his gun and shot her without hesitation. Helena screamed and crawled to her assistant. The man was frightened by the scream and the blood that leaked from Rachel's shoulder. He immediately dropped the gun and started to cry.
"Is she all right? Is she all right?" – he asked in deep shock.
Finally, the door opened and after some yelling two policemen dragged him out of the car. Moments later, the door opened on the other side as well and the two women left the vehicle.
As soon as she got out of the car Queen Helena was blinded by the sunshine or the flashing lights of the cameras, and she had to cover her face. She winced in fear when she felt that something bumped into her and clung to her legs. She looked down: it was Robert. Helena didn't feel enough strength to lift him so she knelt down and wrapped her arms tightly around him.
The Queen was still under shock when they were escorted back to the Palace by a group of policemen and special agents. Robert didn't want to let go of her leg so each step she made was very difficult. As soon as he saw them, King Simon rushed to them. He hugged his wife, then he picked up his son.
"Thank God, you are here." – he whispered and he couldn't stop stroking and kissing his son's head. With his free hand, he gently touched his wife's shoulder who stood still in the middle of the room. – "Are you all right, my love?"
Helena looked at him without really seeing him.
"Where are the children? I want to see my children. Where are they, Simon?" – she mumbled.
Two maids ran out of the room right away to find the twins.
"They are all right. They are safe now." – said Simon reassuringly and pulled Helena into an embrace.
However, she only calmed down when she finally saw the two babies wrapped in towels in their nannies' arms.
"Why are they wet?" – she asked suspiciously as she stepped closer to them and her eyes widened in fear. – "What happened to them?"
"They got dirty after playing in the tunnels, Your Majesty. We had to bathe them." – replied Liam's nanny.
The King walked behind the Queen and completed the woman's explanation.
"We had to go down to the tunnels for safety reasons, but we are fine. Everybody is fine."
Helena finally seemed to believe that and let the nannies go to finish the twins' bathing. Followed by the pitying glances of her husband, she walked over to a small coffee table. She tried to pour a drink from the crystal decanter, but her hands were shaking too much and she had to ask a maid to do it for her.
"Mommy?" – Robert cried out already half-asleep in his dad's lap.
"I'm here, darling." – Helena answered him wanly and walked back to him.
She slowly realized that the policemen were still in the room waiting for her. She motioned for them to sit down while she sat on the sofa with Simon and Robert.
"What do you want to know?" – she asked, more composed.
"You would greatly help in our work if you could just tell us briefly what happened, Ma'am."
The Queen took a deep breath, trying to gather her thoughts.
"We just turned into the street of the Children's Hospice… What is the name of the street?... And then we stopped and we heard two gunshots… Or we heard the shots and then we stopped… Sorry, I can't remember… Rachel can tell you better than me… Where is Rachel?"
"She is in surgery, but she will be fine. Fortunately, her injury is not so serious." – Simon replied and squeezed her hand.
"I have to see her." – said Helena firmly.
The King shook his head.
"Not now. You need to rest. You can go there tomorrow morning."
The Queen resigned to his decision and she only said a few words addressing to a bodyguard next to her:
"I want hourly updates and one of you standing in front of her room non-stop."
"Yes, Your Majesty." – said the man and left the room to fulfil the order he got.
Prince Robert who fell asleep in his father's lap, now woke up fully awake.
"Mr. Tiger is still in the car, we have to go back to her."
"Of course." – said Helena, and stroked his son's hair, then she turned to the policemen. – "Would you call your colleague to fetch the tiger for us?"
The two men looked at each other and one of them said:
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty. It's not possible. The car is under investigation."
Queen Helena suddenly got angry and she spoke in a threatening voice:
"My husband, the King of England is the head of the police service. You either get that fucking tiger right now or start looking for a new job."
Everybody in the room was shocked by the Queen's outburst. The ringing of the telephone brought an end to the awkward situation. A maid picked up the receiver and said shyly:
"The Grand Duchess of Oxford is on the line."
"I take it in my study." – Helena replied after a short hesitation and left the room in a hurry.
As she got to her study, she sank into a chair and let out a sigh before picking up the phone.
"Hello, Mother!"
"Finally!" – came the answer from Lady Alexandra. – "I can't believe I say this, but it's good to hear that irritating manly voice of yours. Oh, I was so worried, I had two new wrinkles on my forehead. It's a disaster. Thank God, they have already captured that man."
Helena smiled at her mother's complaint, but then something ran through her mind.
"Do you think he was alone?" – she asked anxiously.
"What do you mean?" – asked back the Duchess, who was probably more interested in her wrinkles than in the conversation.
The Queen nervously began to scratch her nail polish off as she blurted out the question.
"What if it was them?"
"It wasn't them." – replied her mother with ease. – "And for God's sake, leave your nails alone."
It wasn't enough reassurance for Helena.
"How do you know that it wasn't them?"
Lady Alexandra let out a weary sigh.
"It was the first thing I checked after I heard what happened. They are gone on a vacation. The whole Stewart family. Mother, father and their teenage boy."
"They could have hired someone." – argued the Queen.
"What makes you think that? Did you get another threat from them?" – asked her mother, who finally seemed more interested.
Helena shook her head.
"No. Not since the twins were born."
"See? Besides, he didn't want to kill Robert. He just wanted some money. At least that is what they say in the news." – remarked the Duchess.
Queen Helena was on the verge of crying as she recalled what happened.
"Yes, but he had a gun. He could have killed him."
"But he didn't." – said Lady Alexandra, who suddenly found herself feeling sorry for her daughter.– "Listen, Nellie. You are scared now and it's only natural…"
Helena winced at the mention of her childhood nickname. She couldn't remember when was the last time her mother called her that, if at all. She quietly listened to her voice as she continued:
"… but you need to calm down. Your son is fine. You saved him. You were clever and strong and I'm proud of you. But you can't be weak now, the people are still afraid. You are their Queen, you have to be strong for them as well."
Queen Helena felt the rage boiling in her when she realized that after everything her mother's only concern was the monarchy.
"I'm the Queen only because you made me." – she screamed at her. – "I agreed to your plan, but I never signed up for this. If anything had happened to my children… If anything happens to my children, it's on you! And I will never forgive you!"
After she slammed the phone down, she noticed her husband standing in the doorway.
"What was that?" – he asked indignantly. – "If you know anything, you must tell the police."
Helena looked at him terrified guessing on how much he heard from her phone call. After a long pause, she answered to him:
"I know nothing… except the fact that if I wasn't your wife… if my son wasn't your son, this would have never happened."
She realized immediately what she said and she looked contritely at her husband.
"I'm so sorry, Simon. I didn't mean that… I'm sorry…" – she mumbled, trying to swallow her tears.
The King walked over to her, sat on the arm of her chair and softly whispered to her:
"Don't hold back. Just let it out. Here we go. Let it all out." – he said while she buried her face in his chest and indulged into an uncontrollable sobbing.
