The Unexpected Journey-A Prince Harry Fan Fic

Chapter 79

The group was relatively silent as they followed William out of The Throne Room and into the halls of Buckingham Palace. Maddie stayed tight to Harry's side; her hand tucked through his arm as they moved. They went up a set of stairs, rounded a corner and stepped into one of the many magnificently ornate rooms. Crossing to a large fireplace, the group slowed to a still; all eyes forward. Maddie looked up at Harry with quizzical eyes. His smirk was smug, his eyes dancing with all he knew lied ahead of them. William, leading this particular leg of the journey, stepped forward, twisted a candelabra counterclockwise. And then, with a light push to the wall behind it; the entire wall began to move. Maddie's eyes flashed wide and she leaned to whisper to the man who had brought her to all of this.

"Zoinks Shaggy, that was amazing..." Harry cracked a grin as his family shuffled around them.

"Come on, love," he pulled on her hand; stepping through the low archway into what was, for all intents and purposes, a hidden passageway.

"This is straight up Scooby Doo stuff. You know that right?" Maddie tugged on his arm and he laughed as they moved through the corridor. For more than a minute Maddie was certain she was dreaming, that she had slipped into some alternate reality, some time in history when hidden tunnels and escapes were the norm. When they reached the end of the small corridor, there was another push. With two small steps, they were standing in a large game room; complete with couches and TVs, a fully stocked bar, a billiards table, shuffleboard, darts. There was music playing, food out on the bar and a few doors to other rooms; a bathroom, maybe a bedroom. Maddie wasn't entirely sure. In the middle of the room as a large, comfortable chair that Maddie just knew was for her. There was a small table next to it and all of the other seats were positioned towards it; like an audience to a stage.

"Okay," William clapped his hands together, more relaxed now that they were there. "Maddie, would you join me over at the bar?"

As if I have a choice, Maddie thought as she let go of Harry and smiled wide. "Absolutely."

"We're going to start off with a drink," his hand reached out to her shoulder; pulling her in. Jack, Kate, and Mike had all rounded to the other side of the bar and in front of them were three overturned silver buckets, the kind that normally had ice and champagne in them. "Jack, Kate, and Mike were the last three to marry into the family and they have each created a cocktail for you underneath these buckets. You get to choose which one you want to start with."

"Hmmm..." Maddie tapped her chin with her finger as she scanned the three of them; noticing the slightly wicked look in Mike's eyes, the bright way Kate was smiling at her. "I'm going to go with...Kate." Her hand reached out to tap the bucket as Kate clapped her hands in excitement.

"I am so glad you chose my drink because it has some meaning behind it." Kate's eyes were bright and cheery as she pulled her silver bucket up dramatically. "Champagne. In a flask."

"A flask!" Maddie bounced on her feet, remembering the baby shower they attended where they would have easily given all they had for a flask of something. Reaching for the beautifully designed flask, she read the inscription along the bottom. "Oh Baby! Hahahaha..." Maddie's laughter was joined by Kate's as she pulled an identical flask from behind the bar.

"Our names are along the bottom so that we can tell them apart..." Kate lifted them up and Maddie grinned noticing that she had inscribed them as Kate and Maddie—not Catherine and Madeline. It warmed her soul that such details were coming out of this night; the champagne from the year she was born, the flasks with their nicknames instead of their royal ones. It made the night more than just a hazing. It made it a welcoming.

"Thank you so much," Maddie leaned across the bar to hug her. When she pulled back, Kate unscrewed the lid to her flask and lifted it to Maddie.

"Welcome to the family, sister."