Running Around Royal (Prince Harry #4)

Chapter Sixty-Nine

At nighttime, the airplane touched down in Yogyakarta, a city on the island of Java in Indonesia. While Jakarta was the capital of Indonesia, this visit to Yogyakarta was meant purely for monarchy purposes. The queen hadn't traveled in a long time to Indonesia. While Indonesia had never been part of the Commonwealth, the queen did meet with other royals. In this case, it was the Duke and Duchess of Windsor meeting with the royal family on the queen's behalf.

In Yogyakarta during nighttime was lit up, like any metropolis was. It shone bright and through the windows at the five-star hotel that Harry and Meredith were at. Though Harry was better, especially because his fever had gone down, he was still sequestered in his own room. If he was good in the morning, then he was going to join his wife.

In her own bedroom, Meredith was tired, and her throat was still sore for the violent throwing up she had done earlier. Jessica was keeping a close eye on her, and Meredith wasn't sure she liked the weight of that gaze. This wasn't to be mistaken for the amazing work that Meredith had done over the past two days. Doing the work alone and with other royals wasn't easy, but Meredith had done it with grace and beauty, like any almost princess.

Getting ready for bed, she climbed in. The most difficult was going to be Meredith learning all the names and getting to know every person in the royal family. In bed, she pulled out a file that Jessica had prepared. There were pictures and names, long facts about each of them. Meredith chose to read this rather than going in blindly. Harry sometimes went in blindly, just going off his basic knowledge of the family. Harry had met almost every royal at least once in his life. Not having that knowledge, Meredith went to work.

When she felt enough prepared, she climbed over the covers and pulled them up to her chin. Immediately, she felt too warm and kicked them off, and then it was too cold and she pulled them back up again. It went like this for a while as Meredith tried to get comfortable. Last night, it had been easy to fall asleep, but now, it was difficult in this open bed. Something-- or someone-- felt missing.

Tiptoeing, she opened the door and looked down the hallway. Dim light made shadows in the hallway, but there was no one lurking inside. Even then, a terrible thought of Jack Campbell popped into her mind. She criticized herself for that, reminding herself that he was locked up and he wasn't able to do anything. However, like always, something didn't feel right in the pit of her stomach when she thought about him. Ignoring it, Meredith went into the other bedroom.

Harry stirred awake. "Mere?" he whispered into the dim light.

Meredith's only response was climbing into bed next him.

Curling an arm around her, Harry held her close. "Did you miss me that much?"

"You think so highly of yourself."

"I have been told that is an issue for me." Harry kissed her head. "Sorry if I made you sick."

"I think you already have," Meredith mumbled.

In the morning, Jessica was not excited to find Meredith in bed with Harry when he was supposed to be sick. The concern was that Meredith was going to get sick as well, but Jessica had other concerns as well. Jessica woke Meredith to start her morning routine, and when Harry got up, he was much better.

After breakfast, where Meredith ate nothing, Harry and Meredith were on their way to Kraton Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat, also known as ꦏꦿꦠꦺꦴꦤ꧀ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠꦲꦢꦶꦤꦶꦔꦿꦠ꧀ or the Royal Palace of Yogyakarta. In the vehicle, escorted by the military, Jessica was giving a quick rundown on the country and monarch. Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, also known as Hamengkubuwana X or HB X, had been sultan since 1989. In 1998, the Suharto regime-- the counter Hamengkubuwono's regime-- fell, the government stated that elections needed to be held for the governor of Yogykarta. In 1998, Hamengkubuwono X was democratically elected. It was only in 2012, where the government and Yogyakarta finally allowed put in place that the sultan becomes governor.