The Prince's Secret (Prince Harry Fanfic)

Part 63 - A Tale of Two Princes

Harry

I tried to leave on my own after the gala, but my father took Meg's arm and walked her to the car, held the door open for her, and then slammed the door, shutting us in together.

"I thought it was a lovely evening," Meg said, leaning against my shoulder. "It's so good to be together with you again as a couple, like we should be."

I'd had a steady series of drinks over the course of the evening but I wasn't drunk. I was, however, just buzzed enough that my well-trained veneer of manners was slipping, and the anger I had felt all evening was breaking through the barriers.

"Clarence House," I barked suddenly at the driver, leaning forward. "We're going to Clarence House. Not home to Kensington."

"But why?" Meg asked, with the pretty pout I knew from experience meant either tears or a tantrum were soon forthcoming.

"We are a couple only for the sake of convenience—the Queen's convenience," I growled, "and I am not taking you back to Nott Cott. If my father is so fond of you, he can listen to your tears."

Meg began to cry then, as expected. "Why are you so mean to me?" she asked between sobs. "Even if you don't love me any more, you have to understand that we are having a baby together! We are going to be married in May. You have to face the facts and learn to live with them."

"I'm not learning to live with anything until I know the facts are true," I snapped. "Why is it taking three weeks to get in to see a doctor? He knows who you are. You could get an appointment first thing in the morning if you wanted to. But you are either dragging this out to torture me, or you know for a fact that you are not pregnant and you are keeping that truth from me as long as possible."

"I am not lying to you! I am pregnant!" she blazed. "Let's go to a drugstore and buy one of those home pregnancy tests and I'll pee on the stick and show you! Will that make you happy?"

It was tempting, but it was late and most of the stores were closed, and I did not fancy driving around London with her trying to find a chemist's that was open. "Nothing about this makes me happy," I said, "and we're not stopping. I'm taking you to Clarence House and having a word with my father."

The windows of Clarence House blazed with light as the car pulled up. I stalked into the house, leaving Meg to follow me, and caught up with my father as he headed upstairs.

My father and I did not have the best relationship in the world. I had never forgiven him for the way he treated my mother and cheated on her when they were married, or his insistence that I walk behind my mother's coffin in the eyes of millions of people the day of her funeral, or his marriage to Camilla. For years we had barely spoken and exchanged only the most general of pleasantries when we were together at events and holidays. His support of Meg was just another in a long line of traitorous acts that lay between us.

"I'd like to speak with you," I said. "In private." Meaning, of course, without Meg or Camilla listening in.

The Prince of Wales turned towards me, and I could see that he was tired. "Must we do this tonight?" he asked. "Why don't you come back in the morning and we can talk over breakfast?"

That would have been the sensible thing to do, especially since I had been drinking and was not in the best frame of mind, but as the newspapers always pointed out, being sensible was not one of my strongest skills.

"No," I said. "We need to do this now. I need to do this now."

My father sighed and came back down the stairs. "You were always the demanding one, Harry. Always the one your grandmother and I worried about. And just when I thought you were going to settle down and act like a Windsor, you go off on another tear, wrecking all the plans that were made for you. If we must have this conversation tonight, let's go into the library."