The Sword (Prince Harry fanfic #3)

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Lucille, would you mind standing on that platform again?" Sydney asked.

Lucy stepped in before Harry could. "Why?"

"Well," Sydney hesitated, "I might have gotten a call from an U.S. Senator from the great state of Minnesota, who would like to speak to you about gun control."

"For or against?"

"For."

"When?"

"Monday."

Lucy specifically hadn't looked at her boyfriend, because she knew the face he wore. Harry said he would support her and he did. But he didn't like her in the public eye. Lucy didn't like herself in the public eye. This was different now because everyone knew Lucy and Harry dated. With this knowledge, Lucy at public places would cause more of a stir. Also, if Lucy went anywhere, Harry went with her. If she met U.S. Senator, Harry would come with her. More media would show up.

She decided, "Yes, I'll meet her."

"Luce," Harry warned.

Her gaze turned to him. "Later."

Sydney looked at the floor now, not liking the uncomfortable and tense air in the room. "Great!" Her voice was too high and too tight. "I'm going to go. Lucille, I'll email you the information. Harry... bye." Sydney couldn't get out fast enough, and Lucy locked the door behind her old friend.

"Okay, Harry, tell me," she said, moving more into the house.

He sighed. "I will support you in whatever decision you make."

Lucy arched an eyebrow. "Thank you, Harry, but now tell me what the problem is? Tell me what your concerns are. Tell me why I shouldn't do this or tell me why I should do this. Talk to me. Don't just accept it."

Nodding, he gained confidence. "I think... I'm concerned about your safety."

"You think someone is going to shoot me again?"

Huffing, Harry tried to think of what to say. "Luce, I love you, and I support you, whatever you do, but going in front of live cameras is hard. A speech will be expected. Every move will be watched. I want you to be careful. When the cameras are rolling, anything can happen. Anything will happen. You have to prepared."

Stepping forward, her arms curled around her boyfriend. She looked straight into his beautiful blue eyes. "You have one day to teach me how to be royal."

He froze in place. "It takes more than a day. It makes most females eighteen years. Kate is making mistakes constantly, but she is young and inspirational. No one bats an eye because she wasn't born royal. She is charming and beautiful."

"Are you saying I'm not?" she asked.

"You know I'm not," he said.

"Then have confidence in me."

"It's not a lack of confidence, Luce, but I'm telling you it's difficult. I'm a guy; I can get away with it. I'm Prince Harry; I get away with stuff. I was naked in Vegas and I'm still known at the perfect bachelor." He hesitated. "For women, it's more difficult because the eyes are always on you. They are waiting for you to screw up. If a hair is out of place, they will know. If you hesitate, they will know."

"Then give me the talking points: what do I need to know and how to do it."

Harry's eyes got wider. "Luce, you realize who also you're facing, right?"

Lucy shrugged.

"You're not just facing the British paparazzi who want to take pictures of you because you're my girlfriend. You're not even just facing the American paparazzi who want to take pictures of you because you're my girlfriend," he continued. "You are facing the whole American media as well as world media because your platform."

"Because I survived a school shooting? I took down the gunman?"

"Yes, and because you are dating me, publicly." His tone was tight.

"Is everything about you, Harry?" He gave her a look and she sighed. "I know. I know what lies out there for me."

"Do you?"

Lucy walked into the kitchen, away from the covered windows, upon the other side paparazzi waited for the young couple.

"Yes, I do. I know the cameras that are going to be following me. I know what the so-called journalists will be screeching at me. I know what the real journalists are going to be saying about me. Because, Harry, I've dealt with the media before too. The journalists didn't just magically go away after a week from the shooting. Some disappeared, and they all came back when I got out of the hospital. They all followed me when I got out of the hospital."

Harry followed her.

She continued, "I know what they're going to say to me, anything to get a rise out of me. And the so-called journalists, they'll say something about you. I'll ignore it. The real journalists, are going to ask me the real questions that'll make me want to yell. But I won't yell at them; I know better.

"The people that I might scream at and I'm going to need your help for it, Harry, are the people there protesting. They'll stand outside with their signs and they'll scream the loudest." Her voice shook. "I need you to stand by my side and hold my hand if I need it. And I need you to tell me it's going to be okay. I need you to be distract me from the angry people who are just going to make me angry.

"Those people will say whatever they want. They'll tell me I deserved to be shot. They'll say my family deserved to die and so did my friends and so did everyone else.... They'll say I'm no longer American. They'll say that gun control isn't necessary. They'll say more guns are needed. They'll scream racist and sexist and homophobic things. They'll do anything to get a rise out of me. They have done their research on me. If they get a rise out of me, it'll be them on the TV and in the newspapers. They'll be famous on YouTube.

"No one will care what I said that day, if I call those people fucking idiots and tell them to go fuck themselves.

"I need my words to mean something. I want something done. I don't want the past to repeat like it always has." Lucy swallowed. "Can you do this for me, Harry? Can you stand by my side?"

"I'll always stand by your side," Harry promised, "like I know you'll stand by mine."