Chapter Twenty-Four
The next big event in the Royal Palace was tenth wedding anniversary of King Simon and Queen Helena. There were expected to be so many festivities and public celebrations to honour the royal couple that it was difficult for Helena to keep in mind all of them.
As if it was not enough, she had to endure Simon's constant whining about why they couldn't celebrate more privately and her mother's unsolicited advice and requests.
"So on a scale from one to ten, how much do you insist that your father should come to the party?" – Lady Alexandra asked her daughter over the phone.
Helena knew that the Duchess just called to ask something again and she was not ashamed to use her husband as a bargaining chip.
"Ten." – came the quick answer from the Queen, who got straight to the point. – "What do you want in return?"
Her mother let out a light laugh.
"Well, you know, it's not easy to travel with him. His wheelchair, his medication, his nurses…" – she began, but Helena interrupted her.
"I will send a car with two men... two young men to help."
She could hear that her mother is not happy with her offer. She didn't hide it much longer.
"It would be more comfortable if you sent the royal plane." – Lady Alexandra suggested in a firm voice, which sounded almost like a threat.
Queen Helena knew very well that she couldn't lend her mother their private jet because she needed it for another reason.
"Mother, it's not... Let me get back to you." – she replied with a sigh and helplessly sunk into an armchair.
Five minutes later her husband found her in the same position.
"Are you all right?" – he asked her in a worried voice.
"My mother wants the plane or she won't bring my father." – the Queen said in one breath.
King Simon frowned in confusion.
"So?"
Helena looked at him reproachfully.
"I need it for someone else… Uhm… The… Crown Prince and Princess of Spain would like to attend the celebration. I promised to send the jet for them."
"Let them use their own jet." – the King remarked with ease. – "As much as it seems to be otherwise, this is still our anniversary party. Your father is much more important than any royalty."
The Queen's eyes were full of gratitude.
"It's not so easy, but thank you, Simon. I wanted to tell you this years ago: you are making this palace a so much better place." – she said sincerely and kissed her husband. – "I promise I will give you the best party of your life."
King Simon couldn't hold back a bitter smile.
"I bet you will, my love."
Helena saw his unhappiness behind his smile, which only make her more excited. He knew nothing about her little surprise for him.
The Grand Duchess of Oxford arrived the day before the anniversary party. She ordered the nurses right away to take her husband, the Grand Duke to his room while she went to meet her daughter and grandchildren.
The King, the Queen and their children were all lined up in the main salon to greet Lady Alexandra.
"Eleanor, just remember, you don't have to tell her everything." – Helena whispered to her daughter before the Duchess entered the room.
"Duchie!" – the Princess shouted as soon as she saw her grandmother.
Lady Alexandra hugged her granddaughter, then backed away from her so she could have a better look on her.
"How are you my darling? Let me look at you." – she cried out cheerfully. – "You are even more beautiful than the last time I saw you."
Helena snorted in disdain which she quickly tried to turn into a cough. Unfortunately, her mother heard her.
"Don't you agree?" – she asked offensively.
"I didn't say a word." – the Queen remarked in mock ease.
The Duchess looked intensely at her, then she turned back her attention to Princess Eleanor.
"How is your throat?" – she asked in a caring tone.
"Good." – the little Princess replied, then she added teasingly. – "You promised you would bring me presents when I get well."
Lady Alexandra let out a genuine laugh.
"Did I ever break my promise?" – she asked with a wink. – "Of course I brought you presents."
Eleanor's eyes widened in excitement. She climbed up to the sofa where her grandmother sat and knelt beside her.
"What did you bring?" – she cried out happily.
"Evening gloves, for your mother's party. A friend of mine in Milan made them just for you." – the Duchess answered as if it was the most common thing in the world.
The Princess squealed with delight and put her arms around her grandmother's neck. She could catch a glimpse of dissatisfaction or even jealousy on her mother's face, which gave her more confidence.
"Mum doesn't let me choose my dress." – she announced in a solemn voice to the Duchess.
"Really?" – Lady Alexandra asked scornfully.
The Queen shook her head to warn her daughter, but Princess Eleanor continued without hesitation:
"She wants me to wear pink."
"How boring!" – her grandmother remarked with disgust. – "What is she going to wear?"
Helena had enough of the situation and quickly answered the question instead of Eleanor:
"Black."
"Black?! On your tenth wedding anniversary?" – the Duchess cried out theatrically.
"I want to please my husband on our anniversary, so I let him choose my dress. What a horrible person I am!" – she said in a sarcastic tone.
"You are not horrible, you just don't have taste." – Eleanor remarked with a grin because she knew that a mean quip was always appreciated by her grandmother.
The Queen managed to hide her feelings better this time as she said with ease:
"Speaking of taste. I have to taste the cakes for tomorrow." – she began, then she turned to her two sons. – "There are so much of them, it will be so difficult to choose…"
Robert understood the hint right away.
"I can help!" – he cried out with enthusiasm and rushed to her mother's side.
Queen Helena nodded in satisfaction and looked at the younger boy.
"What about you, Liam?"
She didn't have to ask twice. A moment later Prince Liam stood beside her mother too, ready to go. They were about to leave when he finally asked:
"Can Eleanor come too?"
"Oh, I think she is having fun with her grandmother." – the Queen replied wickedly. – "I'm sure she wouldn't leave her here alone… And she probably hates cakes anyway. But if she wants to come…"
Eleanor recognized the trap that her mother made for her and it required all her strength not to walk in it.
"I stay here." – she said firmly and hugged her grandmother tighter.
Princess Eleanor knew that she was defeated and her only hope was that her grandmother would reward her for her loyalty and choose the perfect gown for her. However, after thirty minutes of intense searching in her wardrobe, they had to accept the hard truth:
"This is the best dress. Unbelievable!" – the Grand Duchess cried out in shock.
"Yes. And it is perfect with my new gloves." – Eleanor remarked, disappointed.
Lady Alexandra turned to her granddaughter with a sudden anger:
"Wait! Are you saying that you see this dress for the first time?" – she asked indignantly. – "You were just bluffing earlier!"
"Yeah." – the Princess nodded in agreement, then she frowned. – "What is bluffing?"
Her grandmother sighed resignedly.
"It's pretending to know the truth when you have no idea how this goddamn dress looks like."
"Oh that! Then I'm bluffing a lot." – replied the little girl.
They sat quietly on a pile of clothes in the room-sized closet of the Princess, not knowing what to do. Finally, Eleanor broke the silence:
"Maybe mum's taste is not so hopeless."
"Well, we can't tell her that, can we?" – Lady Alexandra remarked bitterly. – "We have to settle for the second best dress."
Princess Eleanor shook her head and looked at her grandmother reproachfully.
"You can settle, I want the pink dress." – she said firmly with her head up high. – "I will swallow the bitter pillow and apologize to Mom."
The Duchess let out a scornful chuckle.
"Just be careful, don't choke on that pill-ow."
The two Princes unspeakably enjoyed the rare opportunity to eat as much sweets as they could. They got so much energy that the nannies and maids weren't able to put them to bed until late night. Queen Helena, however, got bored with the cake tasting very soon and left Rachel in charge to help the boys choose the desserts for the party.
She was more concerned about her father, Sir Christopher and she decided to pay a visit to him. When she entered his room, Helena let out a dim smile. Despite the fact that he was in a wheelchair and it was still difficult to understand him, it was unmistakably her father. He shouted with the poor nurses, who were seemed to be scared to death of him.
"What is the problem?" – the Queen asked straight her father.
The nurses didn't give him a chance to speak as one of them quickly answered:
"He refuses to take his medication."
"Why?" – Helena asked, still talking to Sir Christopher.
In his struggle with the words he moaned something incomprehensible. Helena listened to him very carefully, but she could only understand the verb 'sleeping'. She had no idea how her mother was capable of understanding every word of him.
"Why would you give him sleeping pills? It's still early in the afternoon." – Queen Helena turned to the nurses, touching the root of the problem.
The two women looked at each other before they answered the Queen's question.
"Order of the Grand Duchess. When we are at home, Lady Alexandra usually has visitors at this hour and she prefers if her husband is not awake." – the younger one remarked confidently.
Helena was convinced that her mother could not surprise her anymore, but this was a new low.
"Get out!" – she shouted at the nurses and she didn't have to ask twice.
The Queen followed them with her eyes until they left the room, then she turned back to her father.
"Damn bitches!" – she mumbled in disdain. – "Tell Mother that they stole from you. That way, she will definitely fire them and I can get you new ones."
Sir Christopher smiled slowly at his daughter.
"Go-ood ttto s-s-see y-you, Ne-ne-nellie!"
"It's good to see you, Dad. Even if it cost me dearly that you are here now." – Helena remarked with a scornful smile, thinking of her mother's demands.
Her father lowered his eyes with guilt and braced himself to tell another sentence.
"Yuuur sa-s-sacree-sacrifi-ficed a… a… a lot."
The Queen knew immediately what he meant. Since he got sick he was inclined to live in his memories, and that was all he could see when he looked at his daughter. Helena could read his mind and she quickly said to him:
"No, please, we don't need to talk about that. It was ten years ago."
"Sell-selfish." – Sir Christopher moaned and pointed at himself.
Her daughter shook her head.
"It was my choice." – she replied softly. – "Mother may have pushed me, but it was my choice. I wanted to help. I wanted to save the farm and that's what I did."
Helena saw the saliva leaking from her father's mouth because of the great effort and she quickly wiped it off with a napkin.
"Di-didn worth ittt." – he mumbled.
"Maybe… but how could we know it back then?" – Queen Helena asked theoretically. Then she became more serious. – "I wish I didn't go to your room that day, the day before my wedding."
Sir Christopher cried out desperately:
"No!"
Helena looked at him bitterly before she continued:
"I wasn't strong enough. I thought I couldn't get married without love. I went to your room, I was crying and begging you the whole night and you said no. And two weeks later you got a stroke and Mother sold our land. Do you see now? If I had been strong enough for just one more day, this wouldn't have happened. You got sick because of me, because of the guilt you felt for me."
"So-so-sorr-ry." – her father moaned.
The Queen shrugged her shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile.
"Don't be." – she said with a sudden ease in her voice. – "Like I said, it was ten years ago. I wanted you to be here tomorrow at the party so you can see that I'm all right. Because I am, Dad. You can finally let go of the past."
