Chapter Twenty-Seven
It was the ten years jubilee of King Simon's reign. To mark this occasion, the King and the Queen decided to go on a trip to the Commonwealth countries. At Rachel's suggestion they chose to travel by ship, not by plane so more people could see them on their way.
King Simon was ready to go, but his wife didn't seem to care much. She was still giving the last instructions to the staff and simultaneously saying farewell to her children.
"Helena, we are in thirty minutes late. You can't keep the whole ship waiting for us." – the King cried out from the bottom of the stairs.
Helena rolled her eyes and shouted back to him.
"Are you sure? Because the last time I checked I was still the Queen of England."
Simon swore under his breath, then he made one last try to persuade his wife to go:
"At least, hurry up, please!"
Queen Helena finally finished her discussion with the employees. Prince Robert and the twins bored themselves to death by the time their turn came and they entertained themselves with a pillow fight.
"Those are antiques! Put them down immediately!" – the Queen snapped at them, then she continued tenderly. – "Come here, darlings."
The three royal children obeyed without a word, not even Eleanor protested.
"I know it was a long time ago that we were away for such a long time, but we will be home sooner than you think." – Helena reassured them.
"How many nights do I have to sleep until you come back?" – Eleanor asked.
The Queen frowned and quickly rattled off the unpleasant answer:
"Thirty-two."
Prince Liam almost cried while he hugged his mother, but the Princess remained calm.
"Okay." – she said indifferently.
Helena lokked at her suspiciously, then turned to Robert.
"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" – she asked him while she was carressing her other son.
"No, thanks." – Prince Robert answered firmly. – "Are you afraid to be locked in a ship with Dad for a month?"
The Queen didn't appreciate this joke very much.
"Of course not." – she hissed.
King Simon made a last effort to urge his wife who acknowledged his words with a frustrated sigh.
"Would you go downstairs and tell your father that I'll be right there?" – she asked her older son.
Prince Robert delivered his mother's message and now he stood in awkward silence next to his father.
They didn't have much to talk about. Robert didn't know if it was because he was the heir to the throne or because he was clearly his mother's son but the King always treated him differently than his siblings.
"What are your plans while we are away?" – his father finally asked.
"I will do some charity work. I'll visit a nursing home and a youth center for underprivileged children… and I'll go to the Chelsea Flower Show." – the young Prince listed his programs.
King Simon shook his head and said with a slight disappointment in his voice:
"Yes, these are your mother's plans for you."
"I don't mind." – Robert interrupted him quickly because he felt that he had to defend his mother.
As he expected, his father didn't appreciate this gesture.
"I know you don't mind…" – he began impatiently. – "…but what would you like to do?"
Prince Robert felt a growing pressure as he tried to think an answer that the King might like.
"I invited Beck and some other boys to play football with us. We'll be Manchester United and Liam and his friends can be Arsenal or Chelsea…" – he started uncertainly.
He noticed that the King was happy with his answer so he continued more confidently:
"And I promised Eleanor to do a puppet show. It will probably be long project since we are going to make the puppets and write the story for ourselves. And maybe if I have time, I will go to the Aviation Expo. There is said to be an aircraft from 1909 which is still working! I'm very excited about that."
"Really? That sounds great. I would go to this exhibition if you could wait for me until I came home." – Simon said to his son with a sudden enthusiasm.
Robert smiled at him and nodded in agreement.
"Sure, Dad."
During the month-long sea voyage, the King and the Queen planned to get to the coastal territories of Australia, India and some of the countries in Africa that were part of the former British Empire.
Queen Helena had never been on the board of a ship for so long before and she didn't count with the bad weather, nor did she know how it would affect her. One moment she was drinking coctails with Rachel and the next a huge storm broke out. The ship rippled in the strong wind and Helena felt a wave of nausea sweep over her. After she realized that it wouldn't stop, she decided to go back to her cabin and lie down.
King Simon was looking for his wife at the bar, but he only found her assistant sitting there and flirting with a waiter.
"Did you see my wife?" – Simon asked her, feeling a bit uncomfortable because of the intrusion.
Rachel turned away from the waiter and answered the King willingly:
"She didn't feel well. She went back to her cabin to lie down."
Simon quickly went to the Royal Suite which was the biggest cabin on the cruise, famous for its large windows with a great view to the sea. It consisted of a living room with a separated bar area, a swimming pool and two bedrooms. The King found his wife in the second bedroom, lying in the large double bed with her arms crossed on her forehead.
"There is no air in here." – he remarked as soon as he entered the room.
"I don't care." – the Queen mumbled.
Her husband walked over to the bed and took the blanket off her.
"Come on, get up! I'll take you out." – he said firmly and tried to pull her gently in a sitting position.
"Nooo. What are you doing?" – Helena shouted angrily.
"As unbelievable as it is, I'm trying to help." – the King replied resentfully.
The Queen wrapped the blanket around herself and curled up underneath it.
"Just leave me alone. I'm not feeling well." – she whispered.
The King gently caressed her shoulders and said to her patiently:
"Laying only makes the nausea worse. Trust me! I was in the Navy, I know a thing or two about sea sickness. I can make you feel better if you let me."
Helena looked at him suspiciously, then she slowly sat up.
"Okay." – she replied and gave her hand to her husband.
Simon led her out of the room and they didn't stop until they reached the deck. The storm was raging around them, but they didn't care. The King stood under the mast and pulled the Queen to himself. She leaned her back against his chest while he put his arms around her waist.
"Don't close your eyes." – Simon said to his wife. – "Do you see that big mountain over there?"
Helena looked at the pointed direction and nodded.
"Focus your gaze on it." – her husband ordered her.
She did what she was told and fixed her look on the mountain.
"Are you feeling better?" – King Simon asked after a while.
"A little bit." – she replied with a smile.
The rain didn't want to stop and the King began to feel a little uncomfortable.
"And now?" – he asked again.
The Queen let out a relieved sigh.
"It passed. Thank you!" – she remarked in astonishment.
"It was about time." – her husband remarked happily. – "Our clothes are soaked with rain."
"I'm freezing." – Queen Helena said after they got back to their suite and quickly threw off her wet clothes.
"Me too." – The King agreed. – "I think I will take a shower."
"Or…" – the Queen remarked flirtatiously and stepped closer to her husband. – "…we could warm each other."
King Simon didn't need much persuasion and one minute later they found themselves on the bed under the warm covers. They were still laying there peacefully when the beeping sound of a mobile phone broke the silence. Helena moaned in protest, then she got out of the bed to find her mobile.
"What is it?" – Simon asked.
"It's from Robert." – the Queen replied with a smile. – "He asks if we strangled each other in the water."
The King shook his head at his son's insolence, but he had no time to express his opinion. His wife slipped back next to him in the bed and held her phone above their heads.
"Come here. I'll send him a picture." – she said to answer his unasked question.
However, taking a photo without seeing the phone's display was harder than she thought.
"Damn it! They should really invent a frontal camera." – she remarked, annoyed.
"Is this really possible?" – the King asked in shock.
"Yes. The first phone with a front-facing camera. I have waited for it son long." – his wife remarked with a content sigh. – "I ordered one for you too, but I should have known that you wouldn't use it."
When the picture was finally taken, she sent it to her son with the message: "Proof of life."
Robert's reply arrived immediately.
":) :) You seem like having fun."
The Queen texted him back.
"Is everything all right at home?"
Her son gave her a short report on the ongoing situation in the Palace.
"Define: all right. Lenny wants to quit ballet. She cut her dress in pieces…"
"I can't believe this!" – Helena cried out and dropped her phone on the bed.
"What happened?" – Simon asked in a worried voice.
Queen Helena waited a moment to calm down before she broke the news to her husband:
"Eleanor quit dance."
The King let out a bitter laughter.
"Are you surprised? Piano, drawing, karate, spelling bee… She does this all the time. And why wouldn't she when you let her do it without any consequences?" – he asked his wife accusingly.
"Please. You know damn well that I can't make her do anything she doesn't want to." – Helena hissed angrily.
Her husband gave her a disappointed sigh and said:
"Too bad. Because she is so talented in everything."
"She just needs focus and control." – the Queen remarked firmly.
King Simon looked at her and answered with a hidden threat in his voice:
"Don't start it."
"Yes, I start it." – Helena snapped at him. – "Boarding school would do great for her."
Simon cried out furiously:
"Why do you want to get rid of your own daughter so much?"
The Queen didn't even consider to answer to this outrageous accusation. She decided to start a counterattack instead.
"Robert will go to Eton next year…" – she said softly.
The King didn't take this argument seriously as he replied with ease:
"That is different. It's tradition. I went to Eton, my father went to Eton and…"
"Exactly." – his wife interrupted him. – "And I accepted it. I have no say in Robert's education, but I get to decide about the future of the twins."
King Simon cried out indignantly:
"What about me? I'm their father, I also have rights."
Helena couldn't hold back a scornful smile as she said:
"Actually, you don't. It's in our marriage contract. Except for the first born, every children's upbringing is my responsibility."
Simon's eyes widened in shock. He forgot about the marriage contract a long time ago. It was quite a shock for him that his wife remembered it so vividly.
"Would you really use a stupid marriage contract against me?" – he asked in disbelief.
Queen Helena shrugged her shoulders.
"If I have to." – she remarked in mock ease.
The King gave her a pleading look.
"Please, just give her one last chance." – he asked her in a gentle voice.
Helena hesitated for a moment, then she nodded in agreement.
"All right, but I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you." – she said after her husband's grateful gaze met hers. – "It's very unlikely that something will suddenly make her change her attitude."
