Her Royal Secret

Chapter 4: Part 3

"How is this possible?" Cyrus, whose health had already taken a turn for the worse looked even more sickly, if that was possible.

After the shock had worn off and everyone had the chance to calm themselves down, the time had come to discuss some serious matters. We wouldn't be the royal family if we weren't resilient and knew how to pick ourselves up whenever we fell down. Robert was back and that was our new reality, we had to adjust accordingly. Most of us were fine, Cyrus on the other hand was not.

My brother squared his shoulders and stared Cyrus down and for the first time in what seemed like forever, Cyrus seemed to cower. The man who said he had nothing to lose, had ruthlessly ruled and ordered us around for the last few months, literally seemed to shrivel up under Robert's scrutiny.

"I survived the crash, landed on some island. It took me a while to find my bearings. The impact I had when I fell made me forget certain details but the people who found me nursed me back to health. I stayed there recuperating but I was cut off from the rest of the world - no technology, no news. I didn't even get to hear about Dad..." he broke off but didn't let his emotions get the better of him. He cleared his throat and continued, "When I was better, I decided to come back to London but that was when Ted's betrayal became public and I decided to stay hidden."

"It wasn't safe, it still isn't." Mum sounded agonized, "I just...I can't believe you were here and we never found out."

"I did," I finally found the courage to chime in. Jasper and Robert looked at me encouragingly. "You all wanted to know why I was acting strange? Well, now you know."

It was purely due to the magnitude of the miracle that had taken place today that I wasn't immediately attacked by Liam and Mum. Instead they settled for some glares and a hurt expression from my brother, but I would make him understand, I was sure of it. For now, it was Robert's turn to tell his story.

"I got in touch with Len because I knew that Liam was in a more vulnerable position." He looked at Cyrus pointedly and continued. "He was already in danger, being the next in line for the throne and I didn't want to put him at a greater risk, especially not after Dad." "Len," He exhaled, "I knew that no one would be looking after her." The tone was almost accusatory, "And I was right. No one watched her or suspected her, you left her on her own."

"Robert..." I started, now wasn't the time for him to criticize Mum's maternal instincts or lack thereof when it came to me.

He shook his head, "Regardless, I've been working with Frost to tie up some loose ends. I know everyone here holds Pryce responsible but..."

"You think there's more to it? More to your plane crash than the Domino?" Liam asked

"I do and I realized that there was no better place to weed out everyone who has ever worked with them than coming back."

"So you think they are still among us? You think Pryce wasn't the only one?" Cyrus seemed to look paler, as though worried that he'd be the one they'd try to kill next.

"I'm neither denying or accepting that but I do want everyone to be on their guard. Whoever the enemy is, they're within us and we can no longer afford to be blind to the truth."