The Destitute Queen || h.s. au

2. Harry

October 23rd, 1549

"Bye, Milena! Bye, Niall! I hope I'll see you soon!" I shout to my new friends as Louis pulls me away from them. I'm mad at Louis, but Father probably told him to do get me, so I'm not too mad at him. "Louis, why couldn't I have played with my friends a bit longer?"

"You can't have friends, Harry," Louis says. "It's not like you'll be able to see them. And Father wants us to see him work, he wants us to know what his kingly duties are."

I sigh. "But I don't want to, it's boring."

"If we don't show up, Father will be angry with us," Louis tells me. "Let's just get this over with, and then we can go back to the palace."

"But I want to see my new friends," I whine.

Louis glares at me. "I told you, you can't have friends. This is the first time Father's ever allowed us to leave the palace, and it will probably be the last time."

"I'll never have any friends," I cry. It's so lonely at the palace, I only have Liam to play with. Louis doesn't like playing with me, and Catherine just plays with her dolls all day.

"Who were those two, anyways?" Louis asks.

"Well, the boy's name is Niall, I think," I say. "And the girl's name is Milena."

"She was pretty," Louis says quietly, and I gag.

"Ew!" I yell, scrunching my face. "Don't say that, that's gross."

"When you're older, you won't think girls are gross," Louis says. I don't know what he's talking about. He's only ten years old, and I'm seven. I'm not that much younger than him.

After some time, we reach the end of the stone road and walk up to our carriage, which was right in front of a small house. The two guards who came with us were both inside the house, and Louis opens to door. We both walk in and look for Father. He's in the room with a few chairs and a fireplace, and Liam is standing next to him, looking sad. That's weird, Father's not wearing his crown. He always wears his crown. He is still wearing his nice, red cloak, though.

"You've missed too many payments," he tells the people in the room. There are two adults and two boys. The woman in the room turns to the oldest boy.

"Alex, take your brother and go find Milena. Stay out of the house," she tells him. Milena? How does she know her?

The boy nods and lifts the younger boy up into his arms. He carries him out of the house, and I look back at the woman.

She turns back to Father. "If you could please just give us a few more weeks, we'll have enough money to pay you," she pleads. Why do they have to give my father money?

Father shakes his head. "I've been too generous with you lately, but you need to pay up or else there will be consequences."

"But we have no money! How can you expect us to pay you when we hardly make enough to survive?!" The man yells. He steps back in fright when the guards come near him.

Father looks at him in disgust. "How dare you speak to me in such a manner?! Who the hell do you think you are?" He shouts. Then, he turns to the guards. "Take him away."

The woman's eyes widen. "No, please don't!" But the guards already grabbed him by the arms. I get scared and try to walk away, but Louis's grip in my arm is too strong for me to move. The man is struggling, and the woman is trying to pull the guards away from him. She turns to Father. "Don't do this!" She cries, tears falling down her face. I feel like crying, too. Why is Father doing this? That man didn't do anything wrong.