Author's note: Sorry this is rather late, but I've been pretty busy with assignments! But this was a nice chapter to write and YES I deliberately split the conversation between Clarisse and Joe up…just so you could see how Mia was going!
The Princess Diaries doesn't belong to me- it belongs to Meg Cabot and Disney.
It was a very quiet meal- Charlotte and Shades had gone down to speak to the police, and Joe had the feeling that both Nicholas and Lily were going to pace their rooms all night. Clarisse herself wasn't particularly interested in food, or conversation, although she smiled at him occasionally. Joseph was beginning to think that the shock was finally beginning to hit her.
After barely touching her meal, Clarisse wandered listlessly towards the bedroom.
"Where are you going?" Joseph, more than a little concerned, asked as he followed her to the doorway of the darkened bedroom. She turned and gave him a weary smile.
"I think I might go to bed early, Joseph. Today has been….and I think I'm going to need all the rest I can."
"Do you want me to join you?"
"No, no, it's probably very early for you. I'll see you in the morning," she said as she kissed his cheek tenderly, and disappeared into her dressing room, closing the door gently behind her.
Joseph looked at her closed door for a moment, and then walked back out into the living room. She was very tired, obviously, but she still hadn't given in to her emotions, which was what was really worrying Joseph. He sat down on the couch, and turned on the television, staring mindlessly at the images on the screen.
Clarisse had been so steadfast and calm throughout the afternoon- even her reserved nature had controlled the moments of emotion she had almost caved into- but he wanted her to let her anguish and distress out.
She had been trained from birth not to show emotion, and her long marriage to Rupert had only cemented the thought into her mind. There had been very few times Joe himself had seen her break down, Phillipe's death being one of them, but since their marriage, she was beginning to open up, and release some long repressed emotions.
"I have just been trained since I was young girl that emotions should never been shown," she had explained to him one afternoon. "It's not that I don't feel, but I was taught and constantly reminded that royalty must never show their emotions- publicly or privately."
Being the obviously warm and caring woman he knew and loved, her marriage to Rupert must have been a nightmare, he thought to himself as he watched the cartoon on the screen. His Majesty had been kind and friendly to everyone, but no one had ever known what he had thought or felt- not his mistresses, not his sons, and most especially not his wife. He had been a man's man, in a man's profession, and with a parliament that firmly believed that emotions weren't necessary.
"Joseph?" he heard a soft voice from the doorway, and he looked up from the television screen to see Clarisse standing there, beautiful in a pale blue nightgown, and almost shaking.
"What is it, sweetheart?" he asked, turning the television off before standing up and walking over to her.
"I know I said that you didn't have to come to bed now, but I….I don't want to be alone…" she looked at him a little nervously, and he pulled her close for a hug.
"Don't worry, darling. I wasn't watching anything on television, anyway. I was just about to come to bed anyway."
He quickly undressed, switched off the light, and climbed into bed next to her. She moved closer to him, and he put his arms around her protectively as she snuggled closer.
"I always feel safe when you're near by, Joseph," she said quietly.
"Well, as you said before, you are married to the best former security guard in the business. No wonder you feel safe- but I feel safest when you're around," he joked tenderly, and he was relieved to hear her laugh gently in the dark.
"Did you know that, when I was a little girl, I used to be afraid of the dark?"
"So was I , but if you tell anyone…."
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone…just as long as you don't tell anyone about me."
Her voice was warmer now, and she had stopped shaking. It was true- he did make her feel more secure whenever he was near, even when he had 'only' been her bodyguard. She had often felt safer with him then when she was with anyone else- or even Rupert.
"Have I told you lately that I love you?" he whispered softly into her hair, and she looked at him, her smile lighting up her face.
"Not since this morning…but I love you too…."she murmured as she laid her head against his chest, and her breathing slowly deepened. "Always…." She hummed sleepily, and Joe then realised that she was almost asleep.
He himself wasn't at all sleepy- Mia's kidnapping had him puzzled, and he was thinking- the police were looking into every lead they had but, at the moment, there were very few leads. It was less than a week before Christmas, temperatures were set to drop in the next couple of days, and whoever had Mia could even be hiding her in a basement!
He was already thinking of starting his own investigation, and he knew that he could count on Shades to help him…possibly even Sebastian or Nicholas, if he wasn't too upset. He would wait to see what the police had found in the morning, but he couldn't bear thinking of what could be happening to his princess, or seeing Clarisse in so much pain….
Just then, Clarisse suddenly twitched in her sleep- but she hadn't made a sound, so he wasn't worried. Clarisse normally didn't twitch in her sleep, but she may have had a cramp. After a brief twitch, it stopped…for a few minutes, then started again, only now she was murmuring softly….he couldn't make out what she was saying….
Suddenly she started shaking terribly, and calling out "NO! NO! Leave her alone!"
"Clarisse?" he whispered, gently shaking her, but she continued dreaming and shaking, before she sat upright in bed.
"NO! Not Mia!" she literally screamed, tears pouring down her face. She looked around, momentarily disorientated, before Joseph had her in his arms, holding her close.
"Oh, Joseph…I had…had….the….most….horrible dream…." She sobbed, burying her face into his pyjama shirt as he rubbed her back soothingly.
"It's alright, my love, it's alright…I'm here now…and it was only a dream…"
He reached over with one arm, and turned on the bedside light, before wrapping his arm back around her.
"Why? W-w-why her? She's only just begun…who have….had….something against her?" she continued to sob, her whole body wracked with tears.
The nightmare had been horrible- she had dreamt that someone (she didn't know who) had placed a gun at Mia's head, and then shot her.
"Joseph….why would….someone do that? To their own….Queen? A beautiful girl? Why? I don't want to lose her!"
She looked up at him with tear filled blue eyes, and Joseph felt a mix of love and compassion for her- it was finally coming out. The shock had hit her, and he was so glad that it was in the privacy of their bedroom, and that no one else was around.
"I have no idea, darling," Joe said honestly, continuing to hold her and pat her back softly. "But I'll tell you something," he tipped her face to his.
"We are going to find her….she is going to be found."
His resolved had strengthened after seeing his wife's tear stained face. She loved Mia more than anything, and if anything happened to her…he almost shuddered to think what that would do to Clarisse.
"Thank you… I know that you and Shades will help them as much as possible…I just want her back safe and healthy…"Clarisse sighed shakily, and leaned up against the bed head, Joe's arm still around her.
"It's just that this brings back a lot of memories…."
She trailed off, thinking of the pain she had endured when Phillipe had been killed but, as usual, Joseph had been by her side, listening when she had wanted to talk, and even holding her close for a hug, as a friend. She wouldn't have made it through that without him, and she doubted she could make it through this without him.
"Thank you," she said softly, running a hand down his cheek, as he looked at her in surprise.
"Thank you for what?"
"Just thank you for being here when I needed you."
"I'm your husband, Clarisse. This is what I'm here for- I will always be by your side."
"For which I will always be very grateful."
There was a silence, and then Joe asked the question he didn't want to ask, but he had to know.
"What was the dream about?"
He expected tears again, but she only shuddered and huddled closer to him, like a frightened child.
"I dreamt….I dreamt that she was shot."
Meanwhile, far away and in a dark room, Her Majesty Queen Amelia Renaldi slowly opened her eyes….to more darkness. This was unusual, she thought to herself, that her maids hadn't opened her curtains this morning, or that Lily hadn't bounded in and jumped on her, as she had this morning!
She couldn't see anything- the room was completely black- but, as she tried to move, she was surprised to feel that she wasn't in her bed….she was sitting in a chair, and her arms and legs were positioned awkwardly, as if they were tied to the chair somehow…Who on earth had tied her to a chair, in her own palace? It wasn't a practical joke, surely!
Suddenly, everything had come rushing back…she, Lily and Nicholas had been shopping when there had been an explosion, and the store had been filled with smoke. She had been separated from the other two, and two unknown men had escorted her out the side entrance instead. As she had realised that the two men hadn't worked for the palace, they had gagged and blindfolded her, and helped into the car- she could still remember one man hissing
"You won't get hurt if you do everything we say."
She couldn't remember anything from then, but her head felt sore, and she suddenly realised that they had knocked her on the head with something really hard, and she had passed out…the pain was excruciating, and Mia wished if she could feel a lump.
"HELP!" she suddenly screamed out- if she was hidden somewhere, it would only be a matter of time before people would be looking for her. She shivered slightly- it was cold, wherever she was, and frightened, but she wasn't going to let her captors see that.
"HELP! IS THERE ANYONE THERE? PLEASE HELP!" she screamed again, and as she paused, she heard chairs being scraped against the roof of her prison…she was in the basement of a house, she quickly surmised.
"HELP! HELP!" she shouted again, completely forgetting her grandmother's rule that Queens never shouted- Mia was perfectly sure that, if Clarisse was in the same position, she would be doing the same thing.
As she thought of Clarisse, Mia felt a little guilty about the joke she had made at lunchtime- although it had been in jest, she could tell that it had upset Clarisse deeply. Mia had been touched at their concern, but she now understood that their fears for her safety were more than reasonable, and deeply rooted.
Now that she thought about it, Mia realised that her father had been killed in an accident, and while her uncle was still alive, he was generally inaccessible, being in Italy.
Thus, Mia reflected with growing understanding, she was Clarisse's closest relative…. She couldn't imagine how Clarisse be feeling at the moment, with Mia missing! Thankfully, she had Joe with her and Mia knew that he would take good care of her grandmother…yet, the thought of them, Lily, Nicholas and her mother made Mia more determined to get out of this situation.
She stopped thinking as she heard the sounds of footsteps above her, but they quickly stopped once she had stopped shouting again. It was hopeless, Mia realised unhappily, so she tried to wriggle around in the chair, hoping that the ropes would loosen. However, the ropes only held firm, and she soon realised that she was giving herself rope burns on her wrists.
"Ow!" she muttered to herself, before trying the ropes tied around her legs, but quickly realised that the battle was futile. Whoever had tied these ropes was an expert.
She sighed, and leaned back in the chair, feeling the difference between this and her comfortable chairs- in fact, they reminded her of the chairs they used to have at school…only this one was wooden. She hoped that Lily and Nicholas had sounded the alarm when they realised she hadn't appeared- she felt like such a fool to believe the men who had helped her out of the shop, but they had been dressed in the royal bodyguard uniforms, and the smoke had been beginning to overwhelm her, so she had simply not questioned it.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a squeaking of a door from above her, before a click of a switch suddenly filled the room with light, and she had to blink a few times to get used to the light.
She took a quick look around the room- it was a basement, although there was a narrow bed just a few meters away from her, which was obviously meant for Mia to use, before turning back to her captor. However, they were dressed in black clothes, their face was hidden by a mask, as they placed a tray of food on a table in front of her.
Mia looked at it disdainfully for a moment, and then back up at her captor.
"Who are you?" she said calmly- she may have been frightened, but she wasn't going to let them know that. Clarisse would have been proud of the way she was handling the situation.
There was no answer, as the captor moved to stand behind her and, she could feel, was beginning to untie the ropes binding her hands.
"Why have you taken me?" but, still, there was only silence.
"How long are you going to hold me captive?"
More silence- and Mia was getting frustrated at the lack of communication.
"You do realise that everyone will be looking for me, even at this very moment?" she said regally, trying to stare them down as her hands became loose, and she rubbed her sore wrists and shoulders.
The person only shrugged, and moved towards the stairs, before climbing them. It was just about to close the door behind them when she heard muffled voices from nearby and, instead of closing the door, he stepped aside and in came two more, masked people, who walked easily down the stairs.
"What do you want with me?" she asked, but couldn't help but feel a shiver of fear pass down her spine- they obviously meant business, but she hoped that they weren't going to kill her as they walked towards her.
"I'm sure there is some way we could…." She began slowly, before stopping as the two stood in front of her, and slowly removed their masks.
She gasped loudly when she saw who they were- this couldn't be happening! She couldn't believe it…..
"YOU!"
"You dreamt what?" Joseph gasped, unable to believe what he had just heard.
"I know," Clarisse said softly, tears threatening in her eyes. "But while I was Queen, I was constantly reminded of the fact that someone could get through the security and shoot either myself, Rupert or the boys. Not a very nice fact to tell a newly crowned Queen," she said with a wry smile. "But it was part of the protocol to warn the royal family of any potential threats."
"And it was in your memory until now…" Joseph held her closer, and stroked her hair softly.
"Yes…I was always afraid that something was going to happen to the boys….but Mia…" she choked back a sob, and reached for a tissue from her bedside cupboard.
"Why did it happen, Joseph?"
"I don't know, Clarisse. But there are going to be a lot of people looking for her from tomorrow, and they wouldn't have been silly enough to try and get her out of the country…."
He stopped, and looked at her thoughtfully. "Are you hungry?"
She looked at him, surprised. "Why did you ask me something like this?"
"I think you and I should go and raid the fridge- we haven't done that in a while- and I can imagine that, after having no dinner whatsoever, you will be feeling hungry."
"Actually," she began with a shy smile. "I am a little hungry now…and I think your plan is a good one."
Joseph hopped out on his side of the bed, and reached for his dressing gown. "Then let's go!"
Ten minutes later, clad in their warmest dressing gowns and slippers, and after sneaking through several secret passages, Clarisse and Joe arrived in the still warm kitchen.
"It's still warm in here," Clarisse said in wonder as she sat down on a chair at the table, as Joe walked over to the heating system, and turned it on.
"This will be warm in about 5 minutes, so we can be toasty warm while we're in here….I think I heard that the temperatures are going to keep dropping, right up until Christmas."
Clarisse nodded, her brows furrowing.
"I just hope that, wherever she is, Mia isn't feeling this cold air too much. I don't want her catching pneumonia or anything like that…."
"She wouldn't like it ruining her Christmas…" Joe teased with a smile, and Clarisse laughed.
"I know…do you remember the Christmas she was here, and she came down with the measles?"
Joseph, over by the coffee machine, stopped and thought for a moment, before grinning at his wife.
"That's right! She was grumpy the entire time she was in bed….made your maids lives a living misery…and then….
"Once she left, I came down with it," Clarisse said with a warm smile, remembering when she herself had been bedridden.
She had virtually run the country from her bed, and the only people that had been allowed to see her had been Charlotte, Joseph, Sebastian and her maids, all of whom had had the measles when they were children.
"You know, I don't think the boys ever had it- but I think Phillipe would have been a terrible patient."
"You weren't that terrific yourself, madam," Joseph teased as he took out two cups and saucers and brought them over to the table while Clarisse walked over and poured the boiling water into the teapot, and carried that over.
"I actually thought that I was very well behaved under the circumstances," Clarisse said mock haughtily as she sat down, and Joe laughed as he poured two cups of tea, before sitting down opposite her.
"Really? Well, I remember that you were always in a flurry when I came in, insisting that you were fully dressed when you saw me, and caused your maids no end of trouble! In fact, one day when you were trying to get dressed, you actually fainted and I caught you!"
"Yes, well….I was almost better then," Clarisse blushed, and took a sip of her tea. "Thank goodness I was only in bed for 10 days!"
"The longest 10 days of my life!" Joseph mock groaned, and Clarisse playfully slapped his closest hand before they sat in silence for a moment. Joseph could sense that her thoughts were going back to Mia, and he wanted to provide a distraction for her. He stood up with a flourish.
"So, madam…what would you like for your midnight…. (he quickly checked his watch)…."Yes, your midnight snack?"
Clarisse was momentarily surprised and then, sensing his motivation, had to laugh before joining in with the game.
"I don't know….what is in the refrigerator?" she asked regally, and Joe looked at her in surprise.
"Actually, I don't know….." he walked over to the fridge, and opened the door. "Let's see…..milk….leftover dinner from tonight….carrots….sandwiches….chocolate cake…."
"I'll have that, please," Clarisse smiled at him winningly, and he laughed.
"I don't like it when you do that- you do it so well, and completely captivate me," he said softly, walking back to where she was sitting, and giving her a long, sweet kiss.
"That's why I do it- how do you think I've got so many secret admirers?" she teased gently when they broke apart, and he only rolled his eyes.
"You and your admirers…you're not as irresistible as you think you are, Your Majesty!"
"Well, I only want to be irresistible to one person…and he's standing right here!" She beamed up at him for a moment, before breaking the moment.
"But, where is my cake? I'm starving!"
"Coming right away, Your Majesty!" Joseph hurried away back to the fridge, and he was soon placing a plate with a generous slice of cake in front of her.
"But what are you going to eat?" she looked at him in surprise, as he refilled their cups of teas.
"Well, unlike you, I actually ate my dinner….but I think I might have a tiny slice of that cake…."
Before long, they were both eating their slices of cake, and enjoying it.
"Feel better?" Joe asked gently, and Clarisse smiled at him
"Yes, and that was absolutely delicious….." she trailed off as she looked down at her tea for a moment, before looking back at Joseph, the smile disappearing from her face.
"Do you think that they will be able to find Mia? What did you mean by 'they won't leave the country with her'?"
"I meant that there is no way that they will be able to get her out of the country- the borders have been warned about it, as have all the ambassadors in all our European nations- even America has been alerted. The only ways people get out of Genovia is by plane or by car and, even then, there are checks….and Mia is a very high profile person in the country."
"But will they be able to find her?"
"Yes they will," Joseph said firmly- he didn't want to mention his plans to Clarisse, because he knew that if he went searching, she inevitably would want to come with him and, now more than ever, he wanted her safety to be top priority.
"I hope so…" Clarisse said softly, looking down at her hands. Joseph reached over and covered her hands with his, and she looked up at him, her eyes full of tears but she wasn't crying.
"Do you think you'll be able to go back to sleep now?" he asked as they put their empty dishes and cups into the sink, as Joseph turned off the heater, and they headed towards the door of the kitchen, the first secret passageway just opposite them.
"I think so…as long….."
"As long as what, my love?"
"As long as you're next to me."
"Of course I will be….don't you worry about that."
