Running Around Royal (Prince Harry #4)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Sunrise came to the Berlin British consulate, and Meredith rolled over, eyes blinking. Harry was fast asleep beside her, tired after his long day yesterday. Today wasn't much better, but hopefully it was meant to be less political. The sun lightly hit his face, and she watched as his eyes moved under his eyelids. Nothing else gave away a nightmare, not even his chest, which was even. Meredith wiped his ginger hair back-- and Harry grabbed her hand gently.

"How long have you been awake?" she asked.

"A while." He kissed her hand. "I just didn't want to wake you."

"We have some time before we have to get up." Meredith sat up and took off her shirt. "If I may be so direct." Her hand moved down his body.

The corners of Harry's mouth tugged up, and a mysterious light came into his eyes. "You may." He planted a kiss on her lips, and Meredith took full advantage,. Rolling up, Meredith was above him, where the lack of a blanket left her skin rising in goosebumps. She slipped his shirt off, and he moved to her underwear. She let out a squeal as Harry--

The door opened. "Your highnesses, I th--" Jessica finally looked up from her notes and found the duke and duchess in a rather compromising position in bed. "My apologies, your highnesses." She stared at the ground, unsure what to do.

Harry glanced around his wife. "Is it an emergency, Jessica?"

"No, sir."

"Then get the fuck out, Jessica," Meredith commanded.

"Yes, ma'am." She curtsied and tried to take a step back, but she just hit the door. "Ma'ma, sir, your highness," she mumbled, just trying to get out the door without turning her back, as a sign of respect. The door squeaked as it finally opened, and she managed to escape. It closed behind her.

Meredith stared down at her husband, lips pursed, but Harry smiled fondly. His fingers ran through her blonde hair, but Meredith wasn't impressed. He wrapped his arms around her, arched his back up and tried to make her feel comfortable again. She shook her head. He let her go, and Meredith fell beside him again.

"What do you think she wanted?" Meredith wondered.

"She heard we were awake and probably--"

"Jessica!" Meredith yelled. "If you're still out there, get your ass back in here."

There was a pause but a shuffle of feet outside the door, but no one came in, like they were scared.

Meredith's eyes shifted over to her husband, and finally, Harry said, "Jessica, please come in here. We're covered."

A few seconds later, there was a knock at the door, and it slowly open. Jessica slowly poked her head in, making sure it was safe, and once she deemed it that, she entered the room and closed the door behind her. She curtsied to her charges, eyes barely meeting them. "Sorry to disturb you, your highnesses. How are you this morning?"

Harry glanced over to his wife, who pouted, and he responded, "Quite well. How are you, Jessica?"

"I'm well, your highness, I'm well." Her eyes glanced up nervously. "Well, um, I came in earlier because I heard you two-- sir, ma'am-- awake and thought we might get an early start on our day." Jessica's eyes shifted over to the duchess, who wore the same scowl, clearly unimpressed. "So, shall we?"

"We shall, Jessica, if you would give us a few moments."

"Of course, your highness." She curtsied and safely found the other side of the door again.

Harry leaped out of bed. "How long are you going to be angry at her?"

"As long as she feels bad," Meredith shrugged. Embarrassment had turned her face red long ago when Harry and her had been in the middle of things and people walked in. Nowadays, she expected it, especially since there no chances here. Even on the day off, there wasn't any time to have some romantic time. Meredith had to wait until the next free day.

Soon enough, Harry was out of the shower as Meredith was already getting ready for the day. Her hair was done but her makeup was a challenge. While a floral dress was laid out on the dress, half way through getting ready, Jessica came into the room and placed a nice pair of pants and a nice shirt on the bed. A smile spread across Meredith's face. Jessica curtsied and left.

"How long are you going to torture her?" Harry asked.

"To be honest, I'm surprised that she cares so much." Meredith looked over to see Harry not happy enough. "I'll tell her it's fine, don't worry. I'll make sure she knows I don't actually care too much."

When all was said and done, Meredith was happy to be in pants, especially as they boarded the airplane and were off to Luxembourg for a charity brunch with the members of Luxembourg royal family. Harry was dressed down as well, which made Meredith think that this whole thing was dressed down and how much did Jessica really do.

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor were welcomed by Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume of Luxembourg and his wife, Countess Stephanie de Lannoy. The two couples greeted each other formally until it became hugs as she re-met the countess, who she met briefly at her wedding. It was back to the driving of the royals, even though it was barely over ten minutes of driving. In a country so small like Luxembourg, it wasn't meant to take long to get anywhere.

Waiting for the British royals were Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg with his wife, Maria Teresa Mestre. Meredith spoke with them formally but did not do well at curtsying in pants, even flowy ones that she wore. Once inside Palais Grand-Ducal for the charity brunch, much of the rest of the family filed in, such as Prince Felix of Luxembourg and Claire Margareta Lademacher, his wife. Their children were nowhere to be seen. Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg and Prince Sebastien of Luxembourg stood among their siblings with Grand Duke Guillaume and Countess Stephanie joining them.

"We're missing one, aren't we?" Meredith whispered to Harry.

"Yes, Prince Louis. He's the black sheep of the family." Harry patted his wife's hand as they walked forward to meet the rest of the royals.

The even went smoothly enough as they walked around the room. Countess Stephanie personally escorted the duchess around, speaking all three of the languages spoken in Luxembourg: Luxembourgish, French and German. Once again, Meredith hid away the German. There were many times that people said Luxembourg was a small country, and land wise it was and population it was with a little over half a million people.

Countess Stephanie seemed to know every person in the crowd, and Meredith was taken on a ride as she desperately tried to learn it all. Meredith was also getting used to the lack of similar language. If people knew English, they used it, but most times, it was going through a translator.

After a few hours at the event, the duke and duchess wished them a farewell as they were loaded back on the airplane and headed toward Belgium for the afternoon and evening. Meredith yawned as she sat down in the chair, knowing it wasn't a long enough flight to Brussels, where Harry was meant to European Union and Meredith was meant to spend the time with the Queen of Belgium at a charity event.

The airplane took off, and Jessica came to stand by her side. "Apologies, your highness, but we must get you changed."

Meredith smiled and stood, feeling her bones creak as she did so. It was hard to remember how many days she had been doing this because it felt like a lifetime.