Eloise
Two weeks later, I and my mother in-law— the former queen was having a walk around the garden. The dawn was still early and fresh for a new day start. I plucked a branch of rose when I walked past it.
"How are you settling into your new life, my dear?" my mother in-law suddenly asked.
Well, what more can I say?
I'm getting used to the palace and the new changes affecting my life everyday. Though, I'm the queen now. Only to the people here but I'm still my father's daughter on the other way round.
"Still getting used to the system, your highness." I smelled the rose in my hand. Roses are supposed to smell nice but maybe this one does and it's just my smell buds that are deceiving me.
These days, I just feel lazy and nauseous. I don't know if I'm sick but the weakness, the sense of smelling, everything just seems to be bland.
My mother in-law smiled, "I know, my dear. It's just a matter of time, you'll get used to it."
Yeah. I just hope so. Because right now, I'm missing home. I'm missing everybody. Mom and dad. Especially mom's old torture on me. I really wish those times could come back again. At least, for once.
Hey, it's not like I don't love it here. George is doing all his best just to make sure I love my stay here in England. And I'm trying my best to accept it. He already told me to stop thinking about home all the time. He fears that one day I might run off to Zürich.
Hahaha.
Hilarious.
Of course I will not do that. He was just hallucinating things because every night, I can't stop talking his ears off about home. While his own priority was having a baby and I swear whenever that topic comes up, the fear of motherhood kicks in.
I've never been a mother before and preparing for that was something that frightens me.
"You know...." She continued, grazing her hand over the flowers on the way. "I was once in your shoes. Not royal blood. No titles."
What?
I spun my head at her instantly.
Did she just say she's not from a royal family? How?
I was too dumbfounded to ask and she realised it. She knew when to start explaining things. And I was ever ready to listen to her side of the story.
She took a deep breath that tells me she was flashing back to memories. "Many years ago, I got into this palace as a maid. A pure maiden. You know what I mean?"
Yeah. I do. She meant she came in as a virgin. Just like me.
"My husband, the king's father was already married when I got here." She continued and my mouth dropped as I imagine the twist. He was already married before her? Does that mean she was a second wife? "I was innocent. An ordinary orphan. A commoner."
Her tone, her words and how she'd explain things carried gravity and pain. I could almost feel it all as she spoke. It must be her greatest secret. One of her hidden truth.
I didn't miss the sign of tears pricking in her grey eyes. "Things got crashed up in the palace. The king had a fight with his wife when he caught her sleeping with his right-hand commander."
I gasped. "Oh my world."
Is this a joke?
"His right-hand commander was beheaded right away because it was treason." She continued and I could almost imagine the scene. "Everybody in the palace was surprised: how could the king's wife cheat on him with one of his soldiers? They just got married not up to five days and that happened? Then, the truth came out. She said he wasn't performing his marital duties well, so she needed someone who could satisfy her whenever she needs it."
Abomination!
"What a shame." Such a disgrace to womanhood.
Send that woman to me now let me break her head. I hate rubbish. Nonsense.
"Then, it happened." She was quiet for a moment, staring into space as if the answer was there. "The queen was banished from the kingdom. The king was no longer himself. He became a drunk addict. He misses the court meetings and his three square meals. He locked himself indoors for days. Weeks and even a month."
"Jesus Christ." The words flew from my mouth in shock.
He didn't die? Was he trying to do some fasting and prayers all alone by starving himself to death?
The story didn't end there. The king's mother was ready to unfold more. "Until one day. It was my duty to clean up his room. I knocked a couple of times but he didn't answer. When I forced myself in, I saw him sprawled miserably on his bed. He wasn't like the usual king we all knew that held power and authority and all the kingdoms on his shoulders. He was long gone into a nobody."
She paused for a while, allowing the tears fall. "Then, I realised how much damage the queen had caused him. He had loved her but she never did. She betrayed him and broke his trust. The moment he saw me, holding my usual cleaning apparatus, he left the drink he was holding and called me by his ex-wife's name."
She paused again, swallow hard. "He thought I was her. He thought she was back. I corrected him but it was too late. He was coming close to me, hoping to hold me in his embrace but then, I took on my heels. I ran fast but he ran faster. He was insane at the moment. He was heavily drunk that he couldn't recognise people. Before I knew it, he forced himself on me."
Wait, wait, wait. I don't get it.
The king actually forced himself on his maid? Was that it?
"Long story cut short." She proceed. "He realised his mistake the next morning when he saw the blood stains on his bedsheets and the naked me sleeping beside him. I swear, I was going to run away until he made a vow right there, right that moment."
I'm trying to get this straight. "His majesty vowed to you the next morning on his bed?"
She nodded, sealing it up with a victorious smile. "Yes, my dear Eloise. He proposed to me. I had no idea how or why he did that but I think he did it out of shame, sympathy and guilt. Not love. From a maid to his bride and then, his queen. But as time goes on, after we had George, the sympathy and guilt he had for me became something stronger. It turned into love and not long after, Gabriel came and then Alice."
Wow.
What a twist of story.
I sighed sadly, "That was really challenging for you, your highness. I'm so sorry that happened to you."
"God forbid, my child." She laughed, dismissing my weird empathy. "Don't be sorry for me. Be happy for me because I bore your husband and if I hadn't married his father, you wouldn't have become his queen either."
Yeah, true talk.
I wanted to say something but then, I felt this tingling bile growing up to my throat and I couldn't resist it.
I cork my head quickly to the side and throw everything I've had since yesterday and this morning on the ground.
My mother in-law noticed. She smiled knowingly and took my hand in hers. Softly, I heard her say something like: "Life blesses us faster than we expect. You carry more than just a crown now. The king would be so happy to find out you're with child."
I coughed out the last drop and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. "With...child?"
What is she talking about now? Another crazy story?
Her grey eyes beamed like florescent bulbs. "Yes, Eloise. You're pregnant."
What?
Just like that?
How?
But...
George and I only did it once— okay, maybe twice when we had it in the bathroom but it wasn't often. How did I manage to conceive so fast?
My mother in-law was super excited at the moment. She couldn't contain her happiness. "Your womb is blessed, my dear. Just two weeks after your wedding and coronation? Ah! The whole nation must hear this. They'll be so happy to welcome the future heir of this great kingdom. And my husband is going to prepare a royal banquet feast for the nobles tonight. I must tell him and the king right away."
Before I could even say: Bingo, she had disappeared. Leaving me all alone in the garden.
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Months later...
Time jumps: the palace bells ring, the kingdom rejoices. A new generation has been born.
After three hours of intense labor and pain, I welcomed a set of twins. A boy and a girl. I looked at my little babies, sleeping softly in the royal nursery. They look exactly like the word 'Peace' and from the depth of my heart, I smiled. The tears kicking in. I've never been so emotional over anything than this.
My mother in-law was there with me the whole time. Even throughout the delivery. She watched my midwife clean me up and changed me into a simple gown.
Not long enough when I started feeling sleepy, the announcer suddenly proclaimed something from the outside, "His royal majesty. The king of great Britain and Ireland."
And when the door flung open, I saw him.
He was on his best element when our eyes meet. The joy boldly written on his face as he matched in elegantly with his majestic aura.
"My Queen," He kissed my forehead and went over to the royal nursery were our babies were. I saw the tears falling off his eyes with the clouded smile. It was tears of joy. "They're so cute and chubby." He looked to my side, chuckling. "How did you do that, honey?"
His mother playfully jerked his hand off the cot, "Hey, young man. Can't you see that my grandbabies needs rest?"
I laughed at the mother and son moment.
"Okay, okay. Fine. I heard you, mother." George raised his hands in brief surrender and turned to me. "Hey, wifey. What's up?" He walked to my side and sat on the edge of the bed. His hand over my shoulders. "You look a bit tired, huh? Should I give you some head massage?"
Head massage, keh?
Before I could answer to that, his mother had already jumped in for me. "Naughty boy. Even with her condition, you want to still play hanky-panky."
I laughed so hard my eyes welled up.
George's eyes popped like he was caught right-handed on something. "Geez, come on, mom. You're thinking it the other way round. What I meant was cuddle not sex." He rolled his eyes and shook his head. His eyes fell on me again, and then the smile came out. "You good?"
I nodded weakly. "Yes, your majesty."
When he leaned down to kiss my forehead, his mother knocked his head. "Ouch. Mother? I am your king."
"And I am your mother, your majesty." She dragged the last word like a mockery. "Do the right things at the right time. Now, come over here and give my grandbabies some names."
I couldn't contain a bit of my laughter when I saw George dragging himself over to the royal nursery like a grumpy child.
I sat up a bit, my back resting on the headboard as I watch George overwhelmed with joy, holding both babies in his arms and declaring them his legacy.
Our babies tiny cries filled the chamber, soft yet commanding, as though destiny itself had spoken.
He named our son after him: George Arthur III. and our daughter Christabella.
My mother in-law looks at me, proudly saying with the tears in her eyes: "You have given the kingdom not just a new empire and empress, but hope."
I smiled. My eyes welling up too.
Looking at George, at Christabella, at little George Arthur III, I finally understood what destiny meant. Love had led me here, fate had crowned me, and now my children would carry the torch of tomorrow. The future of the empire rested not just in our crowns, but in our hearts.
And as I let the tears slip freely, I finally understood—there truly was no escape for the uncontrollable heiress. The path I once feared had become the very home my soul had been searching for.
~~~~THE END~~~~