Freedom 15
Alex had felt slightly better after they had teleconferenced in with his parents, Leo, Zahra, and Shaan. It had turned out that listening to Henry and Dicky immediately getting along with one another, Alex realized exactly "who" Leo's cousin was.
Alex felt as if his heart was still racing. So far, he had been in control of his emotions while Henry had panicked, but now, Henry was back in control of his emotions. It was his turn to spiral.
Henry asked, looking over at his boyfriend. The short, sharp gasps of air were what had alerted him that Alex was no longer okay. "Love?" he said, trying again.
Henry could see the panicked and worried look in Alex's eyes. His eyes were glassy, and Henry knew from his own experiences that this was the beginning of a panic attack. "I'm okay," Alex managed to get out, but Henry wasn't buying it.
"Come here, A," Henry whispered, pulling Alex into his arms. It wasn't often that he was the strong one in their relationship. Normally, it was Alex who was the strong one. But Henry had always been there for Alex, just as Alex had always been there for him. "It's going to be okay. We're okay. We're safe, and we're together. That's all that matters."
Dicky, Leo's cousin slipped out of the room discreetly. He had wanted to comfort his cousin's stepson, but they were still strangers. That was better left for Henry, his boyfriend. The least that Dicky could do, whilst he waited for Alex to regain his composure was speak with his security team who had conducted the sweep of their island and apprehended the intruder.
"Report in." Dicky ordered to the head of his security, as soon as he entered his own office. He was looking at the management group of his security team. But only the head of his security was to speak. They all knew that. Dicky only ever hired the best of the best.
"We apprehended two men. Their identifications were forged, but they were still forgeries." The big, burly, ebony-skinned man spoke up. "One confessed that he was a freelance photographer. We confiscated his camera and storage cards. He had been tailing them since their arrival. After a short interrogation, he confessed he had received the intel that the First Son and HRH Prince Henry would be on the island. He was staying on the next island over. The man with him had been begging the photographer to keep his mouth shut. A more thorough interrogation of the second man found that he had been sent by an unnamed source to harm the First Son. A search of the house they had commandeered, and the vessel we found two pistols – 9mm Glocks with silencers, rope, tarp, cinderblocks and bleach. I sent a team of four to hand the two men over to the CIA at the designated meeting point in Athens, as promised."
"Good work, Michaels." Dicky praised the head of his security team. "We are expecting a seaplane tomorrow morning at 10am precisely. The two occupants will be Trent Dalton, pilot and Shaan Srivastava, HRH Price Henry's equerry. Both men are to be granted immediate access to the Prince and First Son. Until then, both of them are under our protection. Do not let me down."
"Yes, Sir." Michaels answered, automatically.
Bea felt it. June said she felt it too, as did Nora. Pete said he wasn't familiar enough with the White House to form an opinion, but agreed wholeheartedly that something felt off in the atmosphere of the people surrounding them.
Seeing Zahra heading her way, June snagged Zahra's arm tightly, physically stopping the President's Joint Chief of Staff from walking any further. "What's wrong?" she demanded to know, locking eyes with Zahra. "Something is up; we can all feel it."
"Shit," Zahra swore, looking at the expectant expressions on the faces of Nora, Beatrice, and Percy, as well as the look on the First Daughter's face. "Okay, we received an SOS message from Henry and Alex. They said they had unexpected company and needed help."
At the shocked look on Bea's face, Pez pulled her closer to him and held her tightly. "I'm sure they're ok. I don't think Ellen would have kept any news like that to herself." Pez murmured, trying to calm the worry in his best friend's sister down.
"Leo, he has a cousin who was nearby. Leo's cousin and his security team managed to get them to safety before the unexpected visitors could get to them." Zahra confessed, she had been hoping to get another update from Leo and Ellen, before June had caught her and demanded an update.
"Where's Shaan?" Bea demanded to know. "Shaan should have been with Henry. If he doesn't have his Royal PPOs, then his safety is Shaan's responsibility."
"Shaan left this morning to go to them. He will be bringing Alex and Henry back with him, but they won't be staying here in DC, very long." Zahra replied to the Princess. A cacophony of noise erupted from the four young adults erupted from them all at once and Zahra had to hold her hand up to halt their voices from assaulting her ears. "Pack your things. All of you. The six of you, and Oscar are headed to the Lake House, with a whole posse of Secret Service agents. There will be no venturing into town, no shopping. No leaving Oscar's property. All food will be brought in. June, Nora, I am sorry. There will no jeep ride to the house, like you all usually do. It's armored cars and Secret Service agents. Do I make myself clear?"
Zahra hoped her 'do not mess with me' tone was clear enough that even the prince's best friend and princess understood. "But Zahra..." Nora started to argue, but let it trail off when she felt June's arm hold her back.
"No arguments." Zahra hissed. "Someone broke into a secure island, planning to kill your brother and kidnap the prince. That is not going to happen. End of discussion. You will follow my orders to the letter, or do I have to get President Mom involved? As for you two, I am under orders from the future queen of England, to not let the two of you out of the sight of the Secret service. They came after your brother and Alex, who's to say the princess and heir to the Okonjo fortune aren't next? Have I made myself clear?" At their silence and their nods, Zahra added. "Now, go pack."
Catherine found herself an ally. She had met with Zahra's cousin Sara, who had immediately agreed to get to work. Catherine found Sara easy to talk to. More importantly, Sara came with a way to get in the ear of the politicians at number 10 Downing Street. Sara was currently the mistress of the current sitting Prime Minister. That in itself should have been a red flag, but Sara and Catherine had already come to the conclusion that they needed to play the dirty game of politics, if they were to succeed.
So that very evening, they met in Henry and Bea's flat at Kensington Palace, to avoid detection. There was a state dinner already scheduled to take place at Buckingham Palace in five days. Catherine would get Sara put on the guest list and seated near her, claiming that her and Sara had become dear friends and Sara would be coming as her guest.
While all of that was happening, Philip was to be away from Hamer Hall, leaving Martha on her lonesome (alongside Philip's staff) so Catherine would call upon her, as her mother in-law and suggest a turnabout the garden, away from the prying ears of her son's staff. She would speak with Martha, subtly at first, before being direct. They didn't necessarily need Martha for her plan to work, but having her on their side, ensured that Philip would be easier to break.
The only thing that Sara and Catherine hadn't been able to come up with so far, was a plausible excuse for why Henry and Beatrice were missing. As it was a state dinner and it was hosted by the Queen, as working members of the royal family, they were expected to attend.
But for now, time was of the essence and first thing the following morning, Catherine's driver took her along the roads that lead her to Hamer Hall. Catherine's phone buzzed with an incoming text message from Ellen. Percy and Beatrice being taken with June and Nora to ex-husband's lake house for safety concerns. Henry and Alex to follow. Ex-husband Oscar will be with them. Attached was a contact card for Senator Oscar Diaz. She clicked on the icon of Ellen's ex-husband's contact card and saved it to her phone before clicking on a new text message and quickly sent him off her details.
Martha was surprised to be called on by her mother in-law but managed to hide it well. It didn't take long until Catherine was suggesting a turnabout the gardens. As soon as they were as far away from the house as possible, without causing a scene, Martha turned to scrutinize her mother in-law and future queen. "You have to help me, Catherine." She begged, feeling now that there were no onlookers who were waiting for the moment that she cracked, just to run back to her husband and the Queen. "Pip, he is out of control with power and greed. I swear he was not like this before we wed."
"That is actually why I am here." Catherine said softly. "I recently became aware that Pip has been terrorizing Bea and Henry."
"I told him to leave Henry and Bea alone." She huffed out, angrily. "Especially poor Henry, what happened to him, and his boyfriend was truly awful. I know that the Queen and Philip were outraged by the email leak. But how did they not know Henry was gay? I first met Henry, back when Pip and I first started dating Henry and it was obvious to me. Besides, you can't tell me that Henry and Mr. Claremont-Diaz smashing into our wedding cake wasn't some kind of flirtation or pre-cursor to their relationship. The unresolved sexual tension in that ballroom was stifling. I overheard Bea telling Henry the day of our wedding that she thought the President's son was attractive. Even I could tell, she wasn't expressing her own opinion, she was riling her little brother up, in a way that only an older sister can."
"Yes, I believe that Beatrice knew of their relationship since almost the beginning." Catherine smiled at her daughter in-law. "I imagine my son has not been pleasant to live with in recent days."
"Since the media leaked Henry's emails, no." Martha admitted, looking around, worried. "The more time that he spends with ... at Buckingham palace, the worse he becomes."
"I feared as much." Catherine grimaced. "Would you like the man you married back? And not this man who is currently your husband?"
"Yes." she hastily answered Catherine. "But I fear..."
"No, my mother is going to be taken care of." Catherine vowed. "In five days, I can assure you that my mother will be stepping down from the throne and your husband will be having some intense therapy to realign his appalling behaviour. He will have to make amends to you, to his siblings and to me. He will not be under her thumb any longer."
"I fear that Philip and James are planning something to drive a wedge between Henry and his partner." Martha managed to get out. "I overheard them in the Pip's study last weekend. I believe that James is to be standing in as Henry's equerry while his is on vacation. Pip said something to James about making sure that 'if Henry is indeed as gay as a maypole, then he must be gay with the right sort of fellow. James, you do like men. Seduce that brother of mine and make an honest man out of him. We can't have the likes of that Claremont-Diaz fellow in our family. He is all sorts of wrong.' I am worried. Beatrice and I do, on occasion talk. She mentioned at that summit in Scotland that Henry and Alex, is it? That they are rather 'nauseatingly in love', I think was how she phrased it. I am not even mad about the cake. It was not the wedding cake I even wanted. Philip had tried, but the choice of cake had already been made by Her Majesty. I was told in no uncertain terms that I could not refute her choice. Honestly, when I look back on the day now, and realise what eventuated out of it, I find it funny and a tad ironic."
"Thank you for telling me about that conversation with James." Catherine grimaced once more. "Now, I need something from you. I need to know if you are brave enough to stand up to Philip. This is not the son, Arthur and I raised. Arthur would be rolling over in his grave if he saw the man that Pip has become. This is my mother's influence on him, and I will not stand for it. I am sure that Alex and Henry are sorry for the cake incident. But as long as Philip and Henry are at odds, I highly doubt that they will be able to apologise to you."
"I am more than willing to stand up to Pip. I am not one to be forced into a gilded cage, no matter how much they want me to." Martha stood defiantly, stretching her spine to make her stand taller. "I am a modern, 21st century woman, we drink, we smoke, we curse, and we can stand up for ourselves when our husband is being batshit crazy, excuse my language. As for Alex and Henry's apology, they don't owe me anything. Both men did send formal apologies at the time, and I was forbidden from seeking them out to speak with them and accept them, by Her Majesty. She was treating them as if they were naughty boys and didn't want anything to stop their 'friendship tour'. Philip explained it to me that if I accepted their apologies, I would be feeding into their bad behaviour and they'd never grow out of it. He made it sound like forgiving them, would be a step in the wrong direction."
"It won't be like that under my rule." Catherine promised. "But for now, the next five days, I need you to come and stay with me. I do not trust Philip to be with you, now that I have removed Beatrice from his grasp. I need to know that you are safe from him too."
"I will tell him that I will be staying with you as we are teaming up for a charitable cause which will make the Crown look good to the people." Martha explained. "He will not care what I am doing, as long as it is good PR for the crown."