The Queen of England

Chapter 7 Drunk

My mother is now asleep. She had a spell earlier where she coughed too hard and began to vomit blood. But the nurses were able to help her and settle her back down. After that they sedated her.

I hold her hand and watch her sleep. Since my brother left and my father passed, she's all I've had.

She stirs now, her frail body twitching. I prepare to call the nurse.

"Cody?" She asks quietly.

"I'm here mum." I say, leaning in so I can here her.

"The Princess. Is she here?" mum asks.

I am surprised by her question. "Yes, she's here." I say.

"Is she as beautiful as she was the day she was born?" mum asks.

"She's lovely, mum. She has the most beautiful green eyes, and her smile makes me smile with her." I say. My mother is probably the only person I'll tell this too.

"That's wonderful. You needed someone to be beautiful for you." she says.

"Brittany is." I say.

"But that is not all you need. You need someone to make you smile, and to help you rule England when I'm gone. You need someone to kiss you and make you happy when you're sad or mad. Someone to make the rainy days light again. Someone to be your wife and the mother to your children. Can Brittany do that?" she says.

"I think she can." I say.

"I want to find out." says my mother.

"Of course. I'll bring her in to meet you tomorrow." I say.

"No. I will meet her on my throne. Tomorrow. At noon." She says.

"No, no Mother. I cannot allow you to put yourself in that kind of danger. You're not strong enough to leave your bed." I say quickly.

"I wasn't asking your permission. As long as my heart beats I am still queen. And what I say goes. I will meet her on my throne at noon tomorrow." she says.

Then, as if exhausted by talking alone, my mother falls back asleep.

*****

I wake up and it's dinner time. I'm still exhausted, but I force myself up and go back to the dining room. Cody isn't there, and I am unexplainably disappointed.

Oh, who am I kidding?

I like him.

As in like like him.

But he clearly doesn't like me.

I sit in my seat and the waitress brings me a plate with steak and pasta on it. "Will this be okay?" she asks.

"Yes, yes. And I'll just have water tonight, if you don't mind." I say.

"Of course. I'll bring it right out."

Where is Cody? This morning he was ready outside my bedroom door to lead me to the dining room, and now he's not even here. What has changed?

The waitress, Livia, brings me my water and asks me if I need anything else. I shake my head no and thank her.

I begin to eat as slowly as possible, hoping Cody might walk in as I eat. But, after an hour and a half, I'm sure even the slowest eater would be done by now.

And I'd bet that the kitchen staff are pissed at me right now.

I finally put down my fork and drain my water. Who was I kidding? why the hell would Cody want to eat three meals a day with me?

The clean up crew comes in, and I thank them automatically.

"Shall I draw you a bath, madam?" asks one of the maids outside the door. I think I know her name, but I can't think straight enough to come up with it.

"No. No thank you. I'll take a shower in a little bit-I'm going outside to get some air." I say without looking at her.

I find my way out a door and into a tiny garden behind the palace. There are guards lining the edges, but they leave me alone. I'm glad. I don't want to talk to anyone.

Why am I so hurt?! Cody is just a spoiled, stuck up prince who is only marrying me because his mommy wants him to. Why should I even care what he thinks of me?

Maybe I'm overthinking it. I mean, there could be a totally different reason why he skipped dinner. Maybe he fell asleep like I did.

I hear a crash and I whirl around, almost screaming but catching my breath just in time. I see the guards tense in the corner of my eye, but there is no one outside the gates.

I look up. A light glows through a window about four floors up. Someone is in that room, and they are throwing things. The person picks up a lamp now, staggers, and chunks it out of sight. Then he turns again, swaying a little, and I can see his face.

And it's Cody.

"He must be wasted again." I hear a guard say.

I gather up my skirts and run as fast as I can back inside and up the flights of stairs. By the time I get to the top, I have shed my shoes and my hair has come loose from its braid.

I find his door-because I hear another crash come from the room behind it- and begin to knock on it.

"Cody?!" I call, breathless.

Nothing. And then another crash.

I knock a little harder. "Cody!" I raise my voice.

The sound of shattering glass. I bang on the wood as hard as I possibly can.

"Cody!" I scream.

Silence.

What am I doing?!! Im from New York City! I can get this door open!

Backing up, I raise my bare foot to the spot on the door below the doorknob. Counting to three in my head, I rear back to kick and-

He opens the door.

I gasp and try to catch myself, but Cody does it himself by wrapping his arms around me and pulling me into the room.

"I need you," he says in a low voice, "to distract me."

"Let me go." I say.

"Why? You're mine. I can do what I want with you, when I want to." He says.

"Because you're scaring me." I blurt.

He freezes and then backs away. "Britt, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-are you alright?" he says.

"I'm fine." I whisper.

He moves in and touches my cheek.

"I'm sorry." he repeats.

"It's okay." I say.

He then takes me in his arms and holds me tightly.

****

After a few hours, Cody finally speaks.

"Britt, I wanted to ask you something." He says.

"What is it?" I ask.

"I want to be your boyfriend. Would you let me do that?" he asks.

"W-what?"

He doesn't say a word.

But I know what he asked me.

"O-okay." I stammer.

He smiles. "Wonderful." He says.

Then he surprises me again.

"Stay with me tonight?" he asks.

And then i surprise myself.

"Yes." I say.