Ever After | Book 2 of the Selected Series

9.

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"Get my car ready immediately." The King's dry tone was no reassurance faced to the situation. Everyone was in shock, blankly staring at their screens, the large intent of these words slowly being processed

He couldn't possibly...

He didn't mean...

"Lindsey, I said get my fucking car ready!" A loud bang echoed in the silent room, all three women jumping in their spot. King Arthur's fist remained clenched on his wooden desk, eyes furiously glaring at the Royal Assistant. She murmured some apologies, shaken to her core, before sending a request to the royal guards. Lindsey herself couldn't comprehend, couldn't believe what she just read. How could he?

"Arthur-" The Queen tried, but her husband was blinded by utter rage, almost disgust.

"I'm going to London; I also need my jet to be ready by the moment we arrive. Lindsey do you hear me?" His booming voice resonated in their bones and without a word, Lindsey complied. Silence fell again over them like a thick blanket, drowning them in uneasiness as they watched the King leave his office, the click of the door locking behind him sounding like a bomb taking off.

It's all it needed for Madison to burst into tears, her body trembling in aching pain. She felt as if her heart was ripped away from her ribcage and shredded into pieces, leaving her with this painful emptiness that made it hard to breathe. She just wanted to curl into a ball and be swallowed whole by the ground, she wanted to disappear and not face anyone ever again. Never see him again.

Lindsey stared at the Queen and the future princess, eyes dry but heart thundering. Her initial shock had passed and her mind was running a thousand miles per second, trying to understand how this could be reality. She looked at her tablet, opening Prince Harry's letter and reading it over and over again. Something was definitely not right, she could sense it. She'd known Harry since he was a newborn, saw him grow, been through his tougher times. But never, ever did she expect something like this to come from him. A twitch of disappointment made her frown, but was quickly replaced by the ever growing bewilderment. She had to understand what was going on and standing here was not helping, with a curt nod toward the Queen, which was obviously ignored, she left the room swiftly and headed to her own office. Something was just not right.

The Queen did hear the heavy door close again, but she didn't give it any attention, eyes set on her intertwined fingers holding her phone. The screen was black, but she could picture the letter again as if it was tattooed on her eyes, engrained in her brain. She couldn't believe it. How could he, her own son, disown himself out of the blue. How could he do this to her, to his father. Vivian knew for sure this wasn't how she raised him. She knew Harry wasn't a quitter, she knew he was stronger than this. He went through worse than paparazzi's shoving cameras' in his face, and she couldn't comprehend what went through his mind. She didn't know if he was alright, she didn't know if he was safe. But something was happening to him and she wasn't there to help him.

1:30PM, London, UK. DAY 6.

"For Christ's sake, Harry, stop shooting me."

"Stop being a sore loser, Lou." Harry chuckled, eyes fixed on his side of the screen as he aimed his digital gun at Louis' character once again. "And...dead." He smirked, watching the soldier groan in pain as he collapsed, the game then being over.

Louis sighed, throwing his controller on the couch and rolling his eyes. "If killing me over and over again is all it takes for you to get over things...Says a lot about what I mean to you." He said sarcastically, earning a grimace from the prince.