The rays of the early morning sun slowly began to inch across the room only to land on the form of a princess, lost in thought on the sofa. After tossing and turning for hours, Eleanor had given up on the idea of sleep and moved to the couch. In her lap, sat the photo of her and her mother. The same photo that on any given day could have found her snorting cocaine off of the queen's smiling face.
Thoughts of her mother's behavior, as well as their earlier conversation echoed through her mind, "you are more than the drugs on that table, Eleanor, you're more than all of that." The sincerity in her eyes as she spoke, had meant more to Eleanor than she cared to admit.
"Ugh, I never know what to expect from you, mum." Eleanor said to the frame before tossing it on the couch beside her, "Or what game you're playing at." Even as she said the words out loud, she knew they sounded hollow, because for once, she knew what her mother was up to and that scared her more than anything. For the first time in as long as Eleanor could remember, the Queen of England wasn't just pretending to be the doting and caring mother the people needed her to be, but was actually being the kind of mother her daughter needed her to be.
Instead of the sarcasm and disapproval she so often used when dealing with her troubled daughter, Helena had instead opened up and shared some of her own past, revealing how she had been pushed into the monarchy, something Eleanor was not expecting at all.
She reached over and picked up her phone to check the time, finding it to be only a few minutes after six. "Goooddd, I need to get high. Why did you have to decide to get all maternal now, mum?!" muttered Eleanor, glancing at the table in front of her and silently praying her mother had missed something. With Robert, the Referendum, her mum's new behavior; It was all too much. Yet again, her mother's words played through her mind, "You are more."
Slowly she shook her head before walking over to the mirror in the corner of her room and looking at herself closely. Touching the bags under her eyes, which were more pronounced than usual, Eleanor asked herself, "But am I?" Before realizing she hadn't been in so long. Try as she might, Eleanor couldn't recall the last time she went a full day without numbing her senses in some form, whether it be alcohol, sex, or drugs.
Eleanor was still staring into the mirror when she heard a light knocking on the door.
"Who the fuck," she muttered to herself as she moved towards the door. Opening it just enough to peak out, she was more than surprised to find none other than the King himself.
"Dad!" she exclaimed as she opened the door, "It's really early, is something wrong?"
"May I come in?" Asked her father.
"You're house." Quipped Eleanor as she took a step back so that he could enter.
King Simon took a seat on the couch, noticing the red streaks of paint on the walls, "I see you've redecorated. It's very colorful, Eleanor."
"Dad, as much as I'm glad to see you, I think it's a little early for you to be stopping by to talk about this," Eleanor gestured to the walls. "What gives?" she asked, taking a seat beside him on the couch, folding her legs beneath her as she did.
"I just wanted to talk to you; I'm sorry it's so early. I figured if I knocked lightly and you were still sleeping then I wouldn't bother you. And on the off chance you were awake, well here we are."
"Okaaay. Both parents in the span of a day. I'm not even going to know how to act." Eleanor stated with a smirk.
"That's part of what we need to talk about, Eleanor. I did speak to your mother, and I know things didn't go that well."
Eleanor tried to cut him off, "Dad."
The King held up his hand, stopping his daughter, "Just hold on, we are going to talk about your mother, but first I want to talk to you about the referendum." Eleanor looked down at her lap, not used to being scolded by her father.
Simon continued on, "Your mother wasn't supposed to tell you that I was moving forward with it, or really anything about it. I wanted to talk to you and your brother together, to explain. I'm not doing this to take anything away from you or Liam, Eleanor, I'm doing this for you. Even though you may not see it, one day you will. And the day you have your own children, you will completely understand." King Simon eyed her closely before adding, "I just need you to trust me, okay?"
Eleanor lifted her eyes, meeting her fathers, "I've always trusted you, dad. I just don't understand what this is going to mean for us, or why now."
The King smiled, "I know you've got tons of questions, and I probably don't even have half of those answers, but I will try to answer everyone of them you have. Just not right now. I want the rest of this particular conversation to take place as a family; we're going to have dinner together as a family, so don't make plans."
"As a family?" muttered Eleanor.
"Yes, Eleanor, as a family. Because no matter what happens, you, me, Liam, your mother, we're all still a family. And dammit we're going to start acting like it. Dinner will be good, I can explain my reasons to both you and Liam at once. I made your mother see my point of view, I'm hoping I can do that for you both as well."
"Yeah dad, okay. I'm just trying to figure out how you convinced "The Queen of England" that giving up her crown would be a good idea." Eleanor questioned, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice, before adding, "I'm pretty sure mum would cut you over giving up the diamonds alone."
This time King Simon laughed in response to his daughter. "You're probably right about that. As far as giving up her crown, I just had to remind her of a few things and appeal to her maternal instinct and love for her children."
"Maternal instinct?" Questioned Eleanor. "Dad, mum's a bitch, plain and simple. And she has no maternal instinct."
"Eleanor," her father scolded again, "there's so much more to your mother than you know. Believe me when I tell you she knows how much she's failed you. I think yesterdays talk with you put into perspective exactly how much. And she has to live with that regret for the rest of her life, knowing that she missed years where she could or should have treated you better, been active in your life. But at the end of the day, she's still your mother and she's the only one you're ever going to have. There's also the fact that she loves you very much, Eleanor."
Before Eleanor could respond, the King added, "I know she wouldn't want me to tell you this but she was very upset when I found her yesterday. I'm not sure what all was said, that's between you and her, but don't think for a moment, Eleanor, that woman isn't wishing she could change things between you and have a real relationship. And I know, no matter how much you act like you don't care, you want that to. Too much time has already passed, kiddo, grab at the chance to change things while you can. I think Robert was proof enough our world could be turned upside down in an instant, don't take the chance of not mending fences."
Eleanor remained silent, so her father continued on. "You're more like her than you know. You're both strong-willed, aggravating as hell, determined, smarter than most anyone in the room, and as much as you may not want to hear this, you look just like her." Simon laughed as his only daughter rolled her eyes at the last comparison. "I don't ask a lot of you, but I'm asking you to give her a chance. If not for her, do it for me, because she is trying."
Eleanor nodded her head at her father in silent agreement.
Simon stood and kissed his daughter on the forehead, "I love you kid, and I think you're about to realize how much your mother does as well. Now, don't forget about dinner tonight, I'm thinking 7:30, so don't be late."
"Love you too, dad," Eleanor replied as she watched her father leave.
She sat somewhat in amazement for several minutes after he had left. Even after everything, her mother's attitude and neglect of the family, her intelligent and handsome father was still clearly in love with her to be able to defend her so easily.
"Just unbelievable." She whispered.
"But maybe," Eleanor thought, "If dad thinks she's trying and that I should give her a chance, maybe I should?"
As much as she hated to admit it, Eleanor knew that her father was right. If in nothing else but that there was more to her mother than meets the eye. That was evident in their brief talk yesterday. Hearing how her mother was forced to save her family by marrying the young king, a story Eleanor had never heard before had her almost feeling sorry for her mother.
"No wonder she turned into a stone cold bitch, it was how she coped with the scrutiny and public eye of this life. She picked her vice, and I picked mine." Eleanor thought, only to be met with another, "I'm loosing it, she's treated me like shit for so long, but I'm the one feeling sorry for her? What is wrong with me?"
It was then, that still small voice whispered, "Because dad's right, at the end of the day she's my mum, and heaven help me but I do need her."
Eleanor glanced at the time on her phone again, noting that it was now closer to seven a.m., a more reasonable time to pay the Queen a visit.
"Mum, mum wake up." Eleanor all but shouted at her mother. "I knocked but you didn't hear me."
"Mmmm, what? I'm up." Mumbled the Queen groggily, as she brought a hand up to rub her face.
Eleanor took a step closer to the bed, "Mum, I need to say something and I want you to listen, so are you awake?"
"Eleanor, darling, yes, what time is it, is everything alright?" asked the Queen, concern evident on her face.
"It's still early, but I was up most of the night thinking about what you said yesterday." answered the princess, before adding, "and what you did, you know, with the drugs."
The Queen eyed her daughter, "Eleanor, are you okay?
Eleanor shook her head, "Let me say this, okay? I heard you yesterday. I wanted you to know that I heard everything you said. About me, and us, about all of this. And I also know that there is probably no one here that has sacrificed or lost more than you have, but you don't talk about any of it. I learned more about you yesterday than I think I've ever known. Even though I told you we don't have the kind of mother/daughter, it doesn't mean that I wouldn't like to." Eleanor hesitated, looking to her mother for any kind of reaction.
Her mother was silent, so Eleanor continued on before she lost her nerve, "I would like us to spend some time together, maybe tomorrow? I didn't get much sleep last night so I think I'll just rest today, but I'd like to hear the whole story about how you became Queen, not just the condensed version we've always been told, but the rest of the one you started about how Duchie forced you into this. Would that be okay?"
Helena smiled, "I'd love nothing more, darling. Tomorrow would be perfect, maybe riding?"
"Yeah, that'd be great, mum." Eleanor returned the smile, "Anyways, I guess I'll see you at dinner tonight?"
"Dinner?" The Queen questioned.
"Yeah, dad said we were having dinner together as a family. He said he wants to talk to me and Liam about the referendum." Eleanor answered. "Shouldn't you already know about this?"
"He left early this morning, I'm sure he would have let me know at some point today." Helena replied.
Eleanor shot her mother a questioning look, "So things are really better between you two?"
"For the first time in years, I can honestly tell you that yes, we're getting there." Helena answered, an even bigger smile spreading across her face.
"Good. Okay, well I'll see you later then, mum." Eleanor turned to go.
"Eleanor? Get some rest okay." Helena offered her daughter before she could leave.
"Yeah, mum. Okay." Eleanor stopped at the door, "Mum, one more thing. In case you didn't know, no matter what happens between us, I do love you." Without giving her mother a chance to respond, Eleanor left.