𝐷𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑡𝑜𝑛. ʙʀɪᴛɪsʜ ʀᴏʏᴀʟ ғᴀᴍɪʟʏ

13 ♔♕ 𝗮 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗼

𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝟸𝟶𝟶𝟷

"Mr Carter says that I should join the polo team, apparently they need another player." Bella said between mouthfuls of salad. The four of them were at Highgrove for the weekend, all currently sat around the dining table for lunch.

"Can you play polo?" William asked with an interested grin, Harry and him often played with their pa but Bella was usually too busy being their groom to actually have a go.

"Probably." She replied, "I can play hockey and I can ride, it's just doing both at the same time that I haven't done before."

"Why don't we get the ponies out after lunch, I recall that Harry needed some practice anyway..." Charles replied with a chuckle that only increased at Harry's reaction.

"It was one goal I missed pa! One!"

♔♕

It turned out she couldn't play. Much to her annoyance.

They had brought the ponies out after lunch, her brothers revelling in very slowly explaining everything to her which Bella just responded to by rolling her eyes every five seconds.

Then they had gotten on the ponies and had practised turning and chasing each other up and down. They even had a race which Bella came second in.

It was all looking very promising until she took the mallet in her hand and tried to knock the ball away. She missed.

"Oh." Bella said, looking down at the mallet with confusion.

"It's okay Bella, try again." Her father suggested, still looking at her promisingly.

She did. And then again. And again. And every time she missed.

"Maybe try backhand Bella." William suggested, just about managing to keep himself from laughing at her as she grew more and more frustrated.

That didn't work the first time she did it. Or the second. Or even the fifth. She did manage to hit it sometimes, she wasn't that bad. But she never got any good hits, they were always either not powerful enough, too powerful, which sent the horse scattering off, or on an awkward angle that made the ball end up going in the completely wrong direction.

By this point she was unbelievably frustrated. Her long blonde hair was making a valiant attempt to escape the plait she had put it in, mud had begun to cake itself onto her and her face was flushed with the exertion and frustration, making her look as though she had just been involved in a fight with a bush and the bush had won.

Harry had taken himself off to the edge of the field, shaking with laughter, and was still trying to calm himself down, not helped by the fact that Bella was still trying her best to actually hit the ball to her father who was still sat on his horse 50 yards in front of her, patiently waiting for her to hit it in his direction.

"Maybe it's because we're stood still." Bella said with a huff as she watched William chase down the ball she had just hit in the opposite direction than she was meant to.

"Perhaps it is." Charles said, trying to be as encouraging as possible. He turned to his eldest son who had begun to canter back towards them, gently knocking the ball forward as he did so. Ignoring his daughters mutter under her breath of 'show off', he shouted to him, "William, we're going to come towards you, see if Bella can do it whilst we're moving."

The two of them set off, Bella manoeuvring her horse to the left so that she would pass William with her right hand and be able to knock the ball forwards.

Standing up in her stirrups, she lent down slightly and swung the mallet, a smile spreading on her face as the thwack of the ball reverberated up her arm. Her father cheered next to her as they both watched with huge grins as the ball rolled to a stop, in a straight line, just in front of her.

She lent down again, more confident now, and swung. The thwack this time however, was slightly later than she was expecting. And made a different sound.

Bella glanced back over her shoulder just in time to see her father fall off his horse, going down like a sack of spuds. "Oh my god!" She cried, pulling her pony up, she jumped down and ran over to her father whilst at the same time shouting to her brothers, "I've hit papa!"

"Pa?" She exclaimed, panic rising in her chest at the sight of their father. He was laid flat out on his back, his hat knocked off his head whilst a small cut on his forehead began to bleed.

"Don't move his head." William said firmly as he knelt down to his side, matching his younger sisters position. "Harry, go get someone, quickly!"

Bella heard Harry gallop off, too busy staring at her father to watch him. Tears were filling in her eyes as she stared at his face, watching intently for any signs of movement, "oh my god, what if I've killed him, what if I've killed pa!" Bella blurted out, the tears beginning to fall as she sat there.

"You haven't killed him don't be silly." Her eldest brother replied in a very matter of fact way, "he's breathing."

She sighed briefly in relief before another idea came to her, "Oh!" She cried, "What if he is in a coma for the rest of his life though."

"Then you've put our father into a coma."

"William!" She sniffed briefly, her gaze still fixed on their fathers face, "that's not helping."

Ignoring her, he lent down closer as Charles's face began to twitch, "Pa? Pa can you hear me?"

He groaned in response, twisting away from his eldest and youngest children who were hovering over him. "Oh thank god!" Bella cried, leaning down to attempt to hug him as best as she could whilst he was lying flat on the floor, "I thought I'd killed you."

"No." Charles replied gruffly, grimacing in pain as he tried to lift his head up, "just given me a serious head injury."

♔♕

"I can't play polo." Bella said with a sigh as she sat down at the table. The three siblings were with their grandparents for lunch.

"We heard." Phillip replied with a chuckle.

"Did you hear what she did to pa though?" William asked as he lent to grab the salad bowl.

"Yes." Elizabeth answered with a small smile in the direction of her granddaughter. "How is he?"

"He's got a headache but apart from that fine." Bella responded seriously.

"Nearly beheaded him though." Harry added with a grin.

"Oh stop it," She exclaimed, "I feel awful. I can't believe I actually hit him."

"The best thing is though," William began, "Bella nearly kills papa and guess what...she's still the favourite!"

Their grandparents chuckled at the three of them as they began to bicker playfully. "Well." Phillip began after they had told them both the story of how it happened, "I was going to offer to take you out and try to teach you, but on second thoughts...I think I'd quite like to keep my head."

♔♕

𝗔/𝗡: 𝘀𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗶 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁! 𝗛𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗼! 𝗫