Execution [Book 2 of The English Lion]

XXVIII. Elizabeth

Isabelle and I sat next to each other in the dining hall at breakfast, like always. We were talking to one another until Douglas walked in, looking grim. He bowed. The family looked at him expectedly.

"It's about the Prince of Wales, sir..." Douglas started.

'What did he do?' I immediately thought.

"What is it, Douglas?" Papa asked - looking concerned. Everyone looked at him, with mixed emotions.

"I- He's..." Douglas started. Isabelle immediately stood up and set the cloth aside, before walking away. Douglas looked exasperated as I stood up and followed Isabelle. Douglas followed shortly behind me.

"Isabelle! Wait!" I called out, and when Isabelle walked into Alexander's room, I stopped Douglas.

"Let's give her some space, Douglas..." I told him, who nodded. I walked back to the dining hall, looking troubled. I sat down at my seat, not touching my breakfast. Antony looked at me, worried. It was another moment before I would eat.

Antony and I would be in the library after breakfast. I rested my head on his shoulder as we sat at a couch, each of us reading our own book.

"I understood why he did it... But he never told us when, did he?" I asked Antony.

"I don't recall him doing so. If he told us when he feared that one of us would rat him out to Papa," Antony replied.

"Hm... We wouldn't. But Margaret might," I told him.

"I know, sis, but there's a load of things that we don't know about Alexander. I mean... he was gone most of your life because of school. But hell... you and he were close and inseparable when he came back for the holidays," Antony told me, "There's a side to him that he doesn't show to a lot of people. That's both of us. It's quite rare when he actually lets us have a glimpse of his other self."

"Yeah..." I mumbled under my breath, "I miss him, Antony. I miss our elder brother. The fact that he knew he was going to die... It came as a shock, you know. Now, I couldn't fathom the fact that he's gone... It seems like he was..."

"Happy but distant in the recent months?" Antony offered. I nodded. The rest of the day, both of us would neglect our royal duties as we just hung out in the library, only going to the dining hall for both lunch and dinner. We both just talked, among a number of other things that we did as we hung out in the library, refusing to do our duties for the day.