Her Grace

36.

"Do we HAVE to go straight back to the palace?" Chloe grumbled while sat in the carriage with Ryan, Harry and Anne a few weeks later

They'd spent the afternoon out in the meadow having a lovely picnic but it had begun to get colder so harry and Ryan decided they had best go back, much to the dismay of their wives who seemed to actually be starting to get along miraculously

"Yes, Chloe, we do" Harry replied simply, not leaving it open for discussion and yet she wasn't quite finished

"Whyyy? They won't miss us for a little while longer" she tried to point out but just watched as Harry shook his head and looked out the side of the carriage, hoping the discussion would be over

"Harry, just a small stop for a bit of fresh air?" Anne asked hopefully, thinking if they both petitioned him then he'd let them spend a little more time free from the restraints of court

But no, Harry stood firm on his position and Ryan backed him up, they declared it too cold for the queen and the princess of England to be prancing around outside

Little did they know this was the best decision they could have possibly made for had they have arrived back at the palace any later than they did, the outcome of what was about to occur could well have been even worse than it ended up being

But they weren't to know yet that anything was wrong at all as they continued on their journey home, talking for a short while until both women fell asleep upon their husbands shoulders

It was not long however before they were awoken, nearly at the palace, still not expecting anything to have happened during the afternoon they were away

Both women met a rather rude awakening as shouting quickly spread around them, as they awoke, what was being said did not become much clearer

Chloe could hear people yelling for them to stop, to not go further, to not go through the gates, she didn't understand why, was court under attack? Was there a coup?

The answer to both was no, something much more horrific was happening

"What is it?!" Anne asked, clearly worried, her voice trying to mask her fear as she instinctively grabbed Harry's arm, hoping for support

"Well go see, stay here with the guards, we'll be back in a minute" he told her as calmly as he could, scrambling to get out of the carriage to see what the commotion was, Ryan on his tail

Both women remained in the carriage in fear, seeing guards come up to stand on either side of the carriage, hands on the hilts of their swords

Anne reached her hand out for Chloe who took it, squeezing it in support as both women steeled themselves in preparation for whatever they were about to hear

"Why now? Why of all times now?!" Anne burst out with as they waited impatiently for their husbands

Chloe couldn't help the confused look upon her face until she caught sight of something which allowed her to or it all together

No wonder Anne had dropped her defensiveness, she had no reason to fear Chloe's power over the king anymore

The queen was with child as well

"You're pregnant?" Chloe asked her sister in law, shocked by the discovery

"Yes...I was going to tell Harry tonight" Anne told her, the distraction doing them both some good

But then back came Harry and Ryan and immediately they could see it was bad, very bad

Both women got out of the carriage to find out what was happening and Harry quickly cut to the chase