Chapter Thirty-One

It was a long day behind Queen Helena. The newly elected President and First Lady of the United States were coming to dinner to the Palace and everything had to be perfect. The day passed so quickly and the Queen barely had time left to get ready for the evening.

"Shall we go?" – she asked her husband after she made the final touches on her makeup.

King Simon walked out of the bathroom and looked at his wife in horror.

"Whose idea was to dress you up like Marie Antoinette?" – he asked laughingly.

"Marie Antoinette… not bad." – Helena mumbled with a dim smile. – "Robert says I look like the Witch from Narnia. Anyway, the designers always go crazy when I'm pregnant. They know they won't be able to dress me properly for six months and they overcompensate."

Simon stepped closer to her and put his arms around her.

"You suffer for the greater good, my love." – he said teasingly and kissed her.

Helena let out a soft chuckle.

"If they cast me in Narnia, it will definitely worth it."


Fifty people sat around the huge dinner table, the majority of them British and American diplomats. The President sat at the head of the table with the King on one side and the Queen on the other. The First Lady was seated next to the Queen. As their husbands began to talk about football, the two women engaged in a different conversation.

"Your children are beautiful and they are also very polite." – the First Lady remarked.

Helena didn't want to contradict her so she just thanked her instead.

"They must be under a lot of pressure because of all the attention they get from the people." – the woman continued.

The Queen shook her head.

"No, they are used to it. After all, they were born into the Royal Family." – she said proudly.

She could see the look in the First Lady's eyes and it didn't take a genius to figure out that she was worried about her own children. Helena wanted to say something reassuring for her.

"It will be different for yours, but children can adapt easily." – she said, then she added. – "How old are they now?"

"Peter is fourteen and Jessica is nineteen." – the other woman replied and her face lit up immediately.

She began to talk about her children and apparently, she wasn't short on words when it came to them. As Helena was listening to her, she suddenly felt a twitch in her abdomen. She tried to ignore it, but it only became worse.

"… And Jessie. She is a grown-up woman now. She started college this year." – the First Lady said and she finally stopped talking.

Helena hissed in pain, which she managed to turn into a surprised cry.

"Really? You must be relieved." – she remarked with a faint smile. – "It's always more difficult with a girl."

The First Lady clapped her hands, which made the whole table look at them for a moment.

"Finally someone, who understands me." – she cried out laughingly. – "Everywhere we go and you know we have been to a lot of places lately, I'm telling about my kids, of course, and people are always saying how hard it must be with a teenage boy and I'm like… What are you talking about? I have a daughter!"

"Exactly!" – the Queen agreed loudly. – "I have more problems with Eleanor than I have with the two boys together."

"Let's hope that the new one will be a boy then." – the First Lady replied and gave her a wink.

Helena let out a chuckle and smiled at her.

"Oh, I hope so. Just don't tell my daughter, she wants a baby sister."

As if the baby heard what she was talking about, another wave of pain hit her. Stronger than before. As the Queen quickly pressed her hand on her stomach, she accidentally hit the President's arm with her elbow. The man turned to her:

"What are the ladies talking about?" – he asked in a smooth voice.

"Not sports so you would probably not be interested, honey." – his wife replied teasingly.

The President raised his forefinger and playfully threatened her.

"You think so little of me. I bet that Her Majesty could make even the weather an exciting topic."

"Actually, here in England the weather is always an interesting topic. You can never know what to expect." – Helena remarked with a forced smile.

The twinges gave way to sharp cramps and the pain was now almost unbearable. It was more and more difficult to pretend that everything was all right.

"For instance, I usually plan to hold five-six garden parties a year." – she continued in mock ease. – "How many of them are actually held in the garden? Two… or three if we are lucky. Most of the time, we are forced to stay inside because of the rain."

The maids cleared the plates and they were about to serve the dessert. The Queen knew that she had to hold on for only fifteen minutes before the dinner was over. After that, everybody would be mingling in the ballroom and she would have a chance to disappear.


Helena almost made it to her bedroom. She collapsed in front of the door. Her bodyguard ran to her and helped her up.

"Are you all right, Your Majesty?" – he asked in a worried voice.

"I am. Thank you, Ralph. It's just this dress… It's very uncomfortable. Would you please zip it down for me?" – the Queen said weakly.

She turned her back to the bodyguard and brushed her hair away from her neck so he could reach her dress more easily. Ralph did as he was asked, then stood beside the door.

"Go to the end of the hallway and don't let anyone in here. I will be right back." – Helena ordered her security detail, then she entered her room and shut the door. She rushed to the bathroom and slumped to the floor.

Ralph could see that the Queen was not well at all and he was worried. He wanted to go after her, but he didn't dare to defy the order. After thirty minutes passed and she still didn't come out of her room, the bodyguard decided to alert the Queen's assistant.

Rachel was there in two minutes and she wasn't as shy as her colleague. She entered the room without hesitation, then she went to the bathroom, but it was locked. She knocked on the door, but there was no answer.

"Your Majesty?" – she cried and knocked again.

"Go away, Rachel." – the Queen shouted back from the other side of the door.

The assistant let out a nervous sigh.

"You know you are not allowed to lock the door. It's against the protocol. Let me in, Helena!" – Rachel cried out again. – "If you don't open the door, I will call the King and have the guards break it."

"Rachel, please, give me a minute." – Queen Helena replied faintly, begging to her assistant. – "One minute, then I will be your Queen again, I promise. Just give me one minute. Okay?"

"Okay." – Rachel said reluctantly.

She pressed her ear to the door and listened. She could hear Queen Helena loudly sobbing. Then, a minute later, Helena opened the door and just as she promised, she was the Queen again. The assistant gasped as soon as she saw Her Majesty's light blue dress soaked with blood.

"I'll call an ambulance." – she mumbled after she recovered from the shock.

"There is no need for that. It's over now." – Helena replied flatly. Then, she suddenly changed her tone and became more focused. – "We have to clean up this mess. The Americans are still here, no one should know about this. Don't look at me like that, find me another dress."

Rachel stared at her in astonishment.

"Do you want to go back there?" – she stammered.

The Queen shrugged her shoulders and replied emotionlessly:

"The President of the United States visited England and met the King. This should be on the news tomorrow, not me.

Her assistant silently nodded and looked at her in admiration. She, too, needed one minute to be Rachel again, but she didn't want to let down her Queen. She walked over to the closet and quickly chose a similar blue gown and gave it to Helena.

"I'll call a Silent Mary to clean up the bathroom and I'll send all the photographers home. I'll call Dr. Taylor and put him in a guest room so you can see him in case you need him." – she said in a firm voice.

"Thank you, Rachel." – the Queen answered with a dim smile and looked gratefully at her assistant.


Pretending to be still pregnant, smiling and talking about the baby like everything was all right was more challenging, both physically and emotionally for the Queen than she thought. By the time she and the King got back to their room, she was so exhausted that she fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

Queen Helena found herself on a waste white land covered with snow. She could barely see in the blizzard. Suddenly a sleigh appeared with a woman in it.

"What is this place?" – Helena asked, shivering.

The driver slapped her whip on the two reindeer who pulled the sleigh and stopped the vehicle.

"Welcome to Narnia! Get in!" – she ordered the Queen.

Helena obeyed and sat next to her. Now she could finally see the woman's face under the big hood she wore and recognized her immediately.

"Where are you taking me, Dominique?" – she asked her.

Dominique Stewart smiled at her, but she didn't answer. Soon, they arrived at a castle, which was made entirely of ice. Dominique stopped the horses and got out of the carriage. She entered the castle and motioned Helena to follow her. She led her to an almost empty room. The dim light of the torches lit a cradle in the middle. The Queen stepped closer and she saw a baby girl lying in it.

"Give her back!" – she ordered the other woman.

Dominique gave a loud laugh.

"Alice, right? She belongs with me now." – she said scornfully.

"I'm her mother. You have to give her back to me." – Helena answered in a firm voice and tried to take her daughter out of the crib, but the other woman was quicker. He waved her whip and the Queen instinctively drew back.

Dominique didn't hide that she enjoyed the situation.

"I was waiting for her for so long." – she remarked thoughtfully. – "She was supposed to be mine. Everything you have supposed to be mine. This is just the beginning. I will take them all away from you."

"I won't let that happen." – the Queen shouted at her.

She tried to approach the crib again, but this time Dominique didn't just threaten. The whip hit Helena hard on the stomach and she fell on the floor.

The other woman stepped closer and looked her in the eye.

"I will come for all of them."

"No!" – Helena cried out and she jumped to her feet.

She suddenly grabbed a torch and waved it in front of Dominique. Her long dress caught fire immediately and she screamed in pain. The Queen looked her with a triumphant smile and she failed to notice her next move. Dominique touched her ankle and pulled her onto the ground. Helena felt the flames reaching for her and burning her body….

That was the moment when she woke up.

She was still hot and she realized that it was because of her husband, who wrapped his arm around her in his sleep. His warm hand on her stomach made her feel like she was burning. She carefully removed his arm from her and got out of the bed.


She wandered the empty corridors and rooms of the Palace until she reached the kitchen. She grabbed a bottle of champagne that was left from the dinner and without thinking she made her way to her brother-in-law's room.

"I was sleeping. What are you doing here?" – Prince Cyrus asked in shock when he opened the door.

"I'm here to celebrate." – Helena answered in mock ease, waving the bottle in her hand and walked into the room.

Cyrus rubbed his eyes to fully wake up.

"Celebrate what?" – he asked, uninterested.

"Your place in the line of succession. You are still the fourth and it will stay that way." – the Queen explained with forced happiness in her voice.

Her brother-in-law needed a little time to process the information, but he finally understood.

"For God's sake, Helena, have more decency." – he cried out angrily. – "It was your child."

The Queen shrugged her shoulders and sank into an armchair.

"I thought you would be happy." – she mumbled and lowered her eyes.

Prince Cyrus snorted in disbelief and looked at her with pity.

"Does Simon know about this?" – he asked softly.

Helena shook her head, struggling to hold back her tears.

Cyrus opened his liquor cabinet and took out an unlabeled bottle. He poured a drink for his sister-in-law and said:

"Homemade vodka from the Russian ambassador. It will knock you out until morning or give you the courage to tell your husband what happened."

Queen Helena took the glass and downed its content.

"You can't allow yourself a breakdown. You are the Queen of England." – Prince Cyrus remarked in a firm voice.

"I know." – Helena replied and stood up. – "Thank you, Cyrus."