Running Around Royal (Prince Harry #4)

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Meredith's head hurt, but every day it got better. That night in Mozambique, Meredith slept soundly with her head on Harry's chest, hearing his heart beat steadily. In the morning, she was sore, and her head was back to hurting. Jessica tried to get Meredith to take some drugs, but she refused. Meredith wanted to be alert for the rest of her time on the tour, even though tiredness threatened to drag her in.

Jessica continued to keep her distance, which was probably for the best. Meredith didn't have much to say anyway. Harry, on the other hand, was as formal as ever, which came with years of being taught how to be a good prince. Meredith, she thought thankfully, didn't have that training.

Mozambique was another interesting country in the history department, after having been colonized years back. At one time, Mozambique was filled with the Bantu people, who migrated in between the first and fifth centuries. In the late 1400s, the Portuguese colonized, which lasted until 1975.  The Mozambican War of Independence lasted for ten years. Independence lasted for two years before civil war broke out, lasting fifteen years. The new government was a communist regime and fought against pro-democratic citizens. The democratic era came in 1993. In 1995, Mozambique joined the Commonwealth of Nations; it was the first and only country to ever join the commonwealth without having ever been of the British Empire.

Harry leaned down and placed his head on his wife's shoulder. "Why didn't you study history? It's obviously your calling."

"You can't get jobs with a history major," she said.

"You can with a writing major?" he asked with a smirk on his face.

"It's a good thing that I didn't have to worry about it in general, since I became a duchess."

Harry chuckled. "You should've just failed all your classes."

"And been like you."

"I had a career to fall back on."

"I don't think we can count being a prince as a career." Meredith closed her book on Mozambique.

Much of Mozambique's economics came from tourism, especially eco-tourism. These were the parts that the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were seeing today. At least, Meredith got to wear pants, so there was a win. The royal couple traveled to Gorongosa National Park, which was four-thousand square kilometers of valleys and plateaus. Rivers from Mount Gorongosa made the environment rich. Throughout the region, there were grasslands, savannas an rainforests. Over 500 different types of birds lived within the region. Some animals in the area also weren't able to be found anywhere else in the world.

The cars were careful as they drove out, only going on premade roads that were meant for such travel. The caravan were too loud when it came to such a calming place as they rode through the valleys, making their way to Mount Gorongosa. Around 2000 people lived on the mountains for generations and refused to leave, even after it became a national park.

The duchess didn't want to go on much a hike, but the nice thing about the royal photographer, he always made it look like they went on longer hikes than they actually were. With three main peaks, the plateau created valleys. The duke and duchess stood under the peaks, which cast shadows down. After a tour around this area, the caravan cars started higher into the peaks, where thankfully it was cooler and wetter.

Of course, once the duke existed the car on the mountain, he immediately had to look over the edge. The idea almost gave the duchess a heart attack. "Harry," she hissed, and he laughed loudly, which just echoed across the valley.

"It's not that bad," he said. "I've seen higher."

"Not the point," she responded, closing her hand around his to pull him back toward the safe side. The tour guide continued on with historical, cultural and ecosystem facts, and they once again went on a small hike. The duchess did her best to stay away from the edge, but the duke, on the other hand, had a fun time seeing how far out he was able to go.

"Most people like to look over the edge," the tour guide said.

The duchess disagreed. "Some of us do not."

After Mount Gorongosa and the Gorongosa National Park, the duke and duchess headed back into the city, where they had lunch with its leaders. Much of Mozambican culture had been influenced by Portuguese colonial rule, which led to some of their food taking on that kind of taste. Cassava and cashew nuts-- both of Brazilian origin but Mozambique once produced the most cashew nuts-- were staples in the country. Popular bread was pãozinho, a Portuguese-style of French buns. Bay leaves, peppers, garlic, onions, paprika were introduced by the Portuguese, as was potatoes, rice and sugarcane. Common dishes of Portuguese descent were kebabs, inteiro com piripiri, prego, pudim and rissóis.

 The duke and duchess were served some of these foods with city leaders, and the duchess did surprisingly well as a picky eater.

After the late lunch, the duke and duchess were taken to Bazarunto Archipelago, which was a group of six islands near the mainland of Vilankulo. The islands were formed from sand deposit off a nearby river. The royal couple traveled to Santa Carolina, also known as Paradise Island; as a true rock island, there were deep channels with coral reefs and beaches nearby. All of this was part of the local marine national park.

The tour guide offered a wide variety of facts about this place, especially geography wise. The duke and duchess listened carefully and respectfully. 

Once again, the duchess removed her shoes and stood in the warm water that moved up her feet and onto her ankles. The sun started to set behind them, casting brilliant light onto the sea. Meredith had to look away when a wave caught the sun too much. Meredith looked back the first chance she had.

The duke came to stand beside her and whispered, "I should warn you: if you try to swim away, they are watching. There will be photographic evidence."

The duchess snorted  and threw her head back. The blonde waves of her hair flew back in the wind, managing to hit her husband in the face. The duke pretended to be hurt. "That's what you get."

"The wind is on your side now."

"Everything is on my side," she replied. "You're just getting the brunt force of it now."

"So you think the ocean is on your side?" the duke asked with that stupid but handsome mysterious smirk on his face. The duke stepped into the sea a bit more and bent down.

"Do you remember how this ended last time?" the duchess asked.

"I would win a white t-shirt contest, I know." The duke placed his hands in the water, threatening to throw it forward.

"You will regret this."

"Probably."

The duke tried to throw the water, but the duchess jumped out of the way, all the time where the photographer was watching and snapping photos. While most of the photos never ended up in the public eye, some did manage to escape when the monarchy needed something softer to show the public. These photos also made their way into the duke and duchess' home, and they had many memories on their tour so far.

The duke grinned ear from ear. The duchess' eyes narrowed as she glanced at the photographer. Her head still hurt, but she wanted to use that as an excuse, especially when the water looked so refreshing. Her husband looked rather refreshing as well.

"Come on, Mere. I know you want to." He kicked up water around him, and she wanted so badly to do so. "Come on, Mere."

She went.