Chapter Fifteen

A.N.: Sorry, I got caught up in this storyline, there is no scene with the children now. They will be in the next chapter, I promise.


Although her speech made her even more popular among the people, Helena seemed to talk the talk, but not walk the walk. King Simon tried to convince her to go out somewhere or just to talk to him about her feelings, but he failed miserably. In his final desperation, he did something he has never thought to do.

"The things we do for love." – he mumbled as he dialed the number of his mother-in-law.

Judging by the barking of the dogs, the Duchess of Oxford took the call in her garden.

"Simon! What a surprise!" – started Lady Alexandra, but suddenly someone other than the King grabbed her attention. – "Oh for Christ's sake, Christopher! How many times should I tell you? Don't pour the tea yourself. Wait a minute and I'll do it for you."

King Simon quietly listened to her for a while, then he said in confusion:

"I can call you back later..."

"The King of England offers me to call back later. That is very funny." – the Duchess remarked with a laugh. – "No, it's not necessary. It is just my husband. Tell Helena that the doctor she sent is very effective. After all these years… He made real progress with him, but now he is more stubborn than ever. He wants to do everything by himself. She could come here to talk a little sense into him."

"I will tell her. She will be very happy." – Simon replied a bit impatiently.

His tone didn't escape Lady Alexandra's attention, who decided to cut to the chase.

"So why did you call?"

"It's about Helena." – the King answered willingly.

"It always is, it always is." – came the snarky response from his mother-in-law.

King Simon began to doubt the rightness of his decision, but he continued anyway.

"I'm worried about her. She still doesn't want to leave the Palace."

"And how can I help from here, the North Pole? – asked the Duchess scornfully. – "Do you want me to talk to her again?"

Simon shook his head, then he said in a worried tone:

"I don't think it would be enough. I hoped you could give me some advice, but it was clearly a mistake."

That little confession only made his mother-in-law more cheerful.

"So you need my advice. I remember how vehemently you claimed that I don't know my daughter at all and getting rid of me was the best thing that ever could have happened to her."

"I don't remember saying those exact words…" – mumbled Simon, ashamed.

Lady Alexandra considered that as an admission of defeat and it was enough satisfaction for her. She didn't torture her son-in-law further and she was ready to give him the much wanted advice.

"You shouldn't have let her immerse in self-pity, she is dangerously good at it. The only thing you can do now is not being part of the problem."

"What do you mean?" – asked the King, confused.

"Don't force her to talk about her feelings, it won't help her." – the Duchess continued with ease. – "If she wants to talk, then she will, but if she wants to keep it to herself, you need to accept that as well. I, for one, never encouraged her to share her thoughts with me. We don't believe in this kind of therapy. Maybe that is why Helena appreciates deeds more than words."

The King heard the voice of his father-in-law in the background groaning something incomprehensible for his ears. Apparently, Lady Alexandra had no problem with understanding it as she answered to him:

"Yes, I will tell, but I'm not talking to her right now." – she said, then she turned her attention back to her son-in-law. – "In some ways my daughter still works like a child. How should I say this? You need to prove to her that you can ride the bicycle, otherwise she will never get on it."

If he wanted to be honest, Simon didn't fully understand what the Duchess meant by that metaphor.

"But I did leave the Palace and I offered to go with her to her charities…"

"Yes, but that is her fear." – cried Lady Alexandra. – "It's not a big deal for you to overcome her fear. There must be something you are afraid of… Show her that you are capable of overcome your fear and then she will try to do the same."

King Simon had to acknowledge that he underestimated his mother-in-law. Her advice sounded reasonable in terms of Helena and it suggested a pretty good knowledge of her.

Simon hurried to his wife's study, but he didn't find the Queen there.


Queen Helena headed to her brother-in-law to ask him if he found out anything about the attacker. She was about to knock on his door when she found herself facing her husband's security detail.

"What the hell are you doing here? I thought I was clear when I fired you." – cried Helena indignantly.

"With all due respect, Your Majesty, I take my orders from the King." – answered Ted Pryce, who was just as delighted about their meeting as the Queen.

"How convenient!" – Helena mumbled. – "And what about those who take their orders from you? Those who should have protected me and my son?"

The bodyguard tried to keep a respectful tone as he answered:

"If you are referring again to that unfortunate incident, I can only tell you the same. Agent Hopkins ran away to call the police while Agent Banks tried to secure His Royal Highness."

"Except he didn't do that. I secured Robert! Rachel secured Robert! He just left us alone in the car!" – shouted Queen Helena.

"He only followed the protocol required in such cases." – Ted said, or wanted to say because he only got halfway through his sentence.

Suddenly the Queen's hand struck his face, very unexpectedly for both of them.

"Your Majesty has become quite a fighter lately." – hissed the bodyguard, rubbing his cheek where her heavy wedding ring left its mark.

"Do you have a family Mr. Pryce? I wish that you experience the same fear of losing them as I did. As I do every night."

Prince Cyrus, who was lured out of his room by the sounds of the argument, stood in the doorway and witnessed the whole scene. Now he decided to join the debate on his sister-in-law's side:

"Bravo Sis'! Slapping and cursing! You have the temper of Queen Elizabeth and the tongue of Margaret Anjou!"

Helena looked at Cyrus in surprise, then she glanced at her own hands with guilt.

"You may go now, Mr. Pryce." – she finally said trying to avoid any eye contact with the bodyguard.

Cyrus waited until Ted disappeared in the hallway before he spoke again:

"So… I'm sure there are other reasons of your visit beyond my entertainment with this lovely performance."

The Queen rolled her eyes.

"Of course. Did you find out anything about the attacker?"

Cyrus cast a quick glance at the room behind him and lowered his voice before he answered the question:

"I'm working on it. A very willing MI5 agent is waiting for me in my bed at this very moment. I should probably get back to him." – the Prince remarked with a sardonic grin, then he added. – "Now, if you please choose another venue for your next showdown and just leave, I would be grateful."

"Sure." – Helena nodded as she said: – "And Cyrus? Thank you."

"It's my pleasure. Literally." – her brother-in-law replied while he retreated to his room closing the door before the Queen.


Helena decided to get back to her room and try to occupy herself with a book until Cyrus finished his 'investigation'. However, she bumped into her husband in the hallway.

"What do you think?" – Simon asked her referring to the boots and leisure suit he was wearing.

"Hunting season becomes you, darling." – replied the Queen without taking a closer look at the King.

Helena was about to continue her way, but the voice of her husband stopped her.

"Except there is no hunting season right now. I'm going riding."

Queen Helena thought she misheard it.

"You?! Riding? A horse?" – she asked in shock. – "You hate horses. You are terrified even if you just have to watch me riding!"

Simon shrugged, but he couldn't hold back a smile seeing his wife's reaction.

"I thought I would give it a try. You like riding, eventually you will teach the children… Why should I be left out of the fun?"

Helena was so surprised, she still couldn't find the words.

"Has the cat got your tongue, my love?" – the King remarked with a genuine laughter. – "Why don't you join me to see my triumph… or my failure?"

The Queen finally recovered from the shock and looked at her husband.

"You won't fail if I'm there with you." – she replied with a flirty smile. – "Let me change my clothes and we meet at the stables.


King Simon turned out to be a very persistent student who tried his best not to show his fear in front of his wife while Helena taught him with angelic patience, repeating the same instructions over and over again:

"Straighten your back! Keep your centre of gravity low!" – she shouted.

The horse on the longe line slowly trotted around her in a circle with the King in the saddle. Finally, the Queen clucked her tongue and made the horse stop. She stepped closer and rubbed the animal's head while she whispered something into its ears.

"What did you say?" – asked Simon curiously.

Helena looked up to him and laughed.

"I told her that I'm grateful for her patience and apologized for putting her through the misery of a beginner rider." – she said with a guilty smile.

"I wasn't that bad, was I?" – her husband inquired in an insecure voice.

Queen Helena didn't know what to say to that. He was as bad as a beginner could be, but she didn't want to break his enthusiasm, despite how surprising and inexplicable was it for her.

"No, you were good…" – she finally said. – "…though Hippolyta did most of the work."

King Simon nodded in agreement, but he was unprepared for his wife's next move.

"What are you doing?" – he cried in panic when he saw that Helena untied the bond of the horse.

The Queen smiled at him as she dropped the rope on the floor:

"I thought you practiced enough to go on your own now." – she said teasingly until she saw the real fear in his eyes. It made her chill for a moment as the images of the kidnap attempt flashed in her mind. She quickly dismissed the thought and turned back to her husband. – "I was joking… Do you trust me?"

Simon was surprised by the question, but he replied rashly without hesitation.

"I do."

"Move over!" – Helena ordered firmly and the King slid back on the horse to make room for his wife in front of him.

Queen Helena gracefully climbed into the saddle and took the reins into her hands. After she made sure that Simon tightly hugged her from behind, she gave her horse a signal to move. Hippolyta patiently trotted away from the Palace into the bottom of the garden. A little later the King broke the silence.

"I never thought that this would be so good!" – he cried with joy.

The Queen frowned in confusion, but of course her husband couldn't see that.

"Why did you want to ride, then, if not for the fun?" – she finally asked.

King Simon was afraid that his plan would be found out so he answered as calmly as he could:

"For the fun, surely… but I didn't imagine that I was going to enjoy it that much."

Helena smiled to herself. She had a feeling that Simon was doing that for her, but now she was absolutely sure of it. Though she still didn't want to talk about the past, she was ready to share some of her concerns about the future.

"Simon…" – she started. – "I have to talk to you about something. This has been bothering me for a while… since the attack…"

The King felt that his wife tensed in his arms as she spoke about the kidnap attempt.

"Yes? What is it? You can tell me everything." – he said to her softly encouraging her to continue.

"It's about Ted Pryce. I don't trust him." – Helena finished with a sigh. – "I can't accept that he is responsible for my children's safety."

King Simon was a bit disappointed. He expected that she would finally tell him the whole story, but it would have been too simple. When it came to Helena, he always had to rely on the limited information she gave him to find out more about her feelings.

"You are right. I can't trust Ted with our children if you are not comfortable with it. We find someone else for Head of Security." – Simon decided and he kissed his wife's cheek from behind. – "But you need to know, my love, that even though you don't, I still trust him and I keep him as my security detail."

The Queen nodded in agreement.

"Thank you, Simon. For everything." – she said with noticeable relief in her voice. However, she couldn't hold back a sneer as she imagined the bodyguard's face after hearing the news.