The Queen of England

Chapter 10 Walk out

I curtsy to the queen like Cody told me to do.

"Mother, this is Brittany. The Danish princess." Cody says.

She smiles at me. "Hello dear." she says.

"H-hello." I stammer. Cody sends me a reassuring smile and I grin back nervously.

"Hello, your highness." I say.

"How are you liking England so far, Princess?" the queen asks.

"Oh I love it. Cody has been so great the whole time." I almost say.

But I can't lie to her.

"It's new, that's for sure." I say instead. There, that's the truth and still nice.

"I would think that the hustle and bustle of New York City would have prepared you for London. Why do you think it hasn't?" she asks.

"Oh, it's not the traffic or the crowds." I say quickly. "Just, well, I mean the cars are on the left side of the road, for example. And then there's the accents-"

"You have an odd accent yourself, miss Danish American." The queen interrupted.

This makes me feel totally unbalanced. She's being so rude! What am I supposed to do? My initial response is to get pissed, but this is the queen of England and Cody's mother I'm talking to. I can't just tell her off like some bitch.

I look at Cody for help. But he seems as shocked by his mothers actions as I am.

"Are you going to answer me, Brittany?" the queen demanded.

"Mother, do you understand how rude you're being?" Cody asks, saving me.

"I am not being rude." She replies, still looking at me.

"I-" I start, but Cody stops me.

"We can continue this later. I won't stand by and watch you treat her like this." He tells his mother. Then he grabs me by the hand and begins to lead me towards the doors.

"Cody, wait, surely this isn't a good idea." I whisper.

He doesn't say anything as we reach the big double doors.

"Cody, stop. I will be civil." the queen says.

He stops. "Why aren't you being kind to her anyway?" he demands, still holding my hand.

"I wanted to see if you would defend her." The queen says.

What?

"You were....testing me?" Cody asks.

"Of course. If you hadn't already begun to care for Brittany at least a little bit, I would have to settle for the Swedish Princess to be your bride." She says.

That pisses me off.

"So you think I'm not good enough for him?!" I demand.

"Britt." Cody warns.

"No. You chose me, forced me to grow up away from my parents and my twin sister, and turned my life around completely to marry your son and you would just replace me for a Swedish Princess?!" I demand, raising my voice.

The queen stares back at me and Cody does too.

Then I catch myself.

"I'm sorry, your highness. But I'm extremely insulted by your actions. I can't believe you'd do something like that." I say.

She smiles at me. "Well done, princess. You too, Cody." She says.

I look at Cody. Was he in on this?