The Throne (Prince Harry fanfic #6)

Chapter Thirty-Four

The children opted to stay upstairs as Harry returned downstairs after the discussion. He had been up there for over an hour, answering all questions that he could. Harry had lack of answers, though. The girls didn't quite understand, as being they were almost six. Some things just didn't make sense in his head. It made it that much harder. Henry stayed silent the whole time, with Freddie holding his younger brother's hand. Everything that Freddie knew, he tried to pass it on to his younger siblings; it just wasn't enough.

Henry and Freddie wore sadness. Confusion about when Mum was coming home was on all faces. To the girls, she was just on a business trip; she'd be back in a couple of days. That was what they got out of it. Hugs and kisses and love wasn't enough, when their lives were already changed.

Nanny stayed with them, when Harry wished to be with them. However, William called him downstairs. Harry still followed orders from the King, like he always did. Waiting at the bottom of the stairs was all agents and last family members to be brought over. But that wasn't the reason Harry was called down. Catherine and her children went upstairs, leaving William and the agents with Harry. Robert and Simon were now silent, replaced by more important people.

"What?" Harry demanded after seeing their faces. "What is the problem? Have you found Lucy's body?"

"No," William responded.

"Is that good or bad?"

William had no response for that. "You have been called upon to do your duty."

"What?"

"The leader of the anti-monarchists would like to speak to you."

"That's not allowed." Harry at least knew the rules.

"He will only talk to you."

Harry laughed. "Is this your other ways?" he asked. "I thought you meant other ways in torture and threats. But you send me instead." His blue eyes landed on his brother. "You've already tried, and he hasn't given anything up."

"This is a delicate situation, Harry, and we have time restrictions. The agents here given us three more hours at the most before something drastic happens, whether it is her death or something else." William stepped forward. "Harry, you don't want Lucy to die."

"You wouldn't mind," Harry snapped.

Tension grew in the room. "Leave us," the King said, and everyone filed out of the hallway, heading to the dining room. The doors shut. This just left the two brothers.

"You are doing what is best for the monarchy," Harry said, "so you don't care if Lucy dies or not. We gain sympathy if Lucy dies. If she's hurt in anyway, we gain sympathy. Our poll numbers rise again. But if they use her against us, like she agrees to something or she tells every security code, she hurts us." Harry held William's gaze. "No, you're not scared of those things. Wills, you're scared that she'll spill all of our deep dark secrets-- all of the monarchy's secrets that she's learned over her years in this place."

"You'll go and speak with him, Harry. You get us the information that we need. You'll report back. Your wife will be saved." William paused. "Everyone wins." He walked away.

Rushing forward, Harry grabbed a hold of his older brother and spun him around. "You used to be something, William. You used to believe in something. But you don't anymore. You mean to protect the monarchy at any cost."

"It is my duty, Harry."

"Your duty?"

"I must protect the monarchy, our life and our history." William towered over his brother, anger boiling. "You don't understand because you are not King."

"I do not understand because I'm not King?" Harry knew how much William hated having his own words thrown back at him. It was just another reason for William to dislike Lucy, who did it constantly. "I grew up in this life. I know the sacrifices. I know what to deal with. I understand."

"You do not, because while you were off playing Party Prince and Harry and Lucy, I was doing actual work. I was creating a future for my children and for my someday grandchildren. I was paving a way for the monarchy to stay within the twenty-first century, when all other monarchies are falling."

"Maybe it is time for the monarchy to fall."

William shook. "That is why you don't understand, Harry. You are blinded by your love of Lucy. You don't do your duty anymore."

"If I am blinded by my love of Lucy, you are blinded by the power of the monarchy." Harry breathed deeply. "We used to be on the same team, William. We used to have each other's backs. We used to fight everyone and everything together."

"We can still do that, Harry, if you see the error in your ways."

"No, William, because I don't want this out of my life. I'll choose Lucy and my children over the monarchy any day. I have been choosing Lucy since I met her. I saw the women paraded in front of me, saying look at this one and this one; this one comes from a royal family and has money; this one at least has some class. I heard what they said, but you were on my side back then, William. You knew love." Harry regained his composure. "You believed in Lucy. Why not now?"

"It didn't pan out, did it?" William asked. "She undermined us. She tried to change."

"We all have to change! When we were young, we understood that. It's only as we get old that we become content. Contentment kills."

"Something you learned from Lucy, of course."

"It's okay to be different. The world changes, and it's good to change."

William sighed and shook his head. "You're stressed, so I won't have this discussion with you now. Neither of us will agree." The King placed a hand on his younger brother's shoulder. "You'll go talk to him, and then we'll find Lucy. And you both will fit back into the box." William walked away quickly, moving as he could out of the room.

Watching him go, Harry stood still. It wasn't until these stressful moments that he realized how far both of them had come. Age and situations change people. Harry disagreed with how William saw things, but the older brother wasn't wrong. Harry wasn't wrong. Both had been hanged by different things. Lucy shaped Harry's life. He didn't regret a moment that he spent with Lucy.

A phone ringing pulled Harry out of his thoughts. Pulling out his mobile, Harry glanced at the screen. It was a number he didn't recognize. Realization hit him. He answered the call. Harry pressed the phone to his ear and said, "Hello."