𝐷𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑡𝑜𝑛. ʙʀɪᴛɪsʜ ʀᴏʏᴀʟ ғᴀᴍɪʟʏ

5 ♔♕ 𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹

Balmoral was her favourite place.

She got to be with all of her family, to run wild in the surrounding countryside, to spend the days riding or playing games or reading. There was nothing better.

Until it all came crashing down.

♔♕

𝟹𝟷𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝟷𝟿𝟿𝟽

The first thing she felt was the dip in her bed as her father sat down next to her. Gently stroking her hair, he whispered her name, making her eyes flicker open as sleep left her.

It wasn't quite light yet, not properly anyway. Normally she wasn't woken up until it was properly light, the long days spent running around playing with her cousins tired her out meaning she was left to sleep in the mornings.

This morning however, it was her father that had woken her up. "Hello darling," he stared at her softly before leaning over to the end of her bed where her dressing gown was resting, after passing it to her he said, "put this on Bella, and your slippers, the floor will be cold." He watched as she followed his instructions, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"What's going on pa?" She asked sleepily, holding his hand tightly as he led her to her brothers room. They were both already awake, watching with confusion as their father sat down at the end of Harry's bed, silently telling Bella to sit opposite him on William's bed.

"Pa?" William asked, becoming more and more worried about what was going on.

"I'm afraid something terrible has happened." Charles began, toying nervously with his signet ring he glanced at each of his three children, who were now all staring at him with wide eyes. He had never imagined himself in a situation where he would have to tell his children that their mother had died. Not sure how to break the news, he thought that the best way was to probably just say it, this was not a time to start beating around the bush.. "Your mother, she's um, she's been in a car accident-"

"-Is she okay?" Harry interjected, leaning forwards with worry. Charles looked up in shock, how was he supposed to answer that? But apparently his face did it all, out of the corner of his eye, he saw William's shoulders sag and a barely audible "no" escape his lips.

"I'm so sorry." Charles replied, watching with an unbelievable amount of sadness as the realisation dawned on his sons faces.

"What?" Bella asked with a frown on her face, her bright blue eyes wide with confusion, "what's happened?"

It hadn't occurred to him that his daughter hadn't realised. He broke his gaze from Harry, who had begun to cry, to Bella, who was also becoming upset as she tried to fathom out what had happened. He stood up from Harry's bed, taking the two steps over to William's he sat down, pulling his only daughter towards him. He was about to ruin her childhood, to take all the innocence out of those blue eyes that were now staring at him with confusion and worry.

"Bella...I'm afraid mummy has died."

Tears welled up immediately, but she shook her head in refusal, not allowing herself to believe it, "no."

"I'm so sorry darling." He replied, wrapping an arm around her to try to console her.

"No!" She repeated firmly, but it was in vain. Deep down she knew it had to be true, her father wouldn't lie to her. As she finally let go, sobbing into her father, she felt her brothers come to sit on either side of them, Charles stretched his arms out wide to encompass his three grieving children. And they all cried together for what they had lost.

♔♕

"Ah, there you are..." came the soft voice of her grandmother, making Bella turn and offer her a small smile. She had hidden herself away in the library at Balmoral, preferring to be surrounded by the calm of books than the madness of what was going on outside.

"Grandpa's going to take your brothers deer stalking, do you want to go too?"

"No thanks." Bella replied quietly, bending down to stroke the corgis that had preceded her granny.

The Queen just watched with a sad smile on her face at the sight of her grandchild. Her eyes had lost their usual sparkle and were instead red rimmed and glassy, and the usual fizz of energy that she emitted had disappeared, dulled by grief. She had grown up. Her childhood had disappeared as soon as she had been told the news of her mother's death, and she knew that was something that would stay with her forever. Bella had lost her mother at the beginning of a crucial period in her life, and that would effect her for the rest of her life.

She was so engrossed in her thoughts that it took her a few seconds to realise Bella was talking. "When will Pa be back?" She asked quietly, still focusing all her attention on the Corgis.

"Tomorrow." Elizabeth replied, noticing how Bella's mouth tugged down even more as she nodded her reply. "Come and sit up here," she instructed, motioning to the sofa she was sat on. Her granddaughter silently obliged, giving another small smile as the Corgis followed her and sat at her feet. "Have you had something to eat?"

"I had some toast this morning."

"Good." She paused, sensing Bella was wanting to say something, "what is it?" She asked softly.

Bella swallowed thickly, meeting her grandmother's eyes for the first time she asked, "what happens now?" her voice breaking slightly as she did so.

Elizabeth gave a small sigh at her granddaughter's words, her heart breaking slightly as she looked at her. Gently she took hold of Bella's hands that were toying with a loose thread and clasped them tightly in her own. "We're going to go back to London on Friday...and then the funeral will be on Saturday." She watched as Bella nodded slowly before looking back up at her with those big blue eyes that looked far too grown up for her age.

"And then what?"

She hadn't been expecting that. And most of all, Charles hadn't told her what to say to that. He had told them all to be honest with his children, well as honest as they thought best, but how could she even try to begin to explain to her granddaughter what her life would be like now. It would never be the same. She had lost perhaps the most important figure in her life, there would be no way to explain that to a 10 year old.

She squeezed her hands again, using the time to try to fathom how she would reply. "Well...I'm sure your papa has thought about that, why don't we ask him when he gets back." Elizabeth knew it wasn't a good enough reply but it was all she could think of to say to her grief stricken granddaughter.

"Will I have to move schools?" Bella asked, eyes still shining with unshed tears. She was supposed to be starting her final year at Pembridge Hall school in a few weeks time but if she was to live with her father all the time now, then it wouldn't make any sense to go to school opposite Kensington Palace, not if she'd be at Highgrove.

"No." Her grandmother replied firmly, this was no time to start creating even more unrest by changing her school, not for her final year. "No, there's no need to worry about that." She could see her relax slightly at that, so that was good. At least she had helped to put one of her granddaughter's many worries to bed, she wasn't sure how the rest would be dealt with though.

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