ELITE | the royals [1]

chapter three

Shortly after the funeral was over, the royal family had a dinner. Charlotte sat next to Liam and her father. Her cousins sat in front of her along, with her Uncle Cyrus and her sister. 

"I was thinking of taking some time off of school," Liam blurted out at random. 

Charlotte looked at him curiously, "Why?"

He smiled at her, "I want to check up on Robert's charities." Charlotte smiled, she was proud of her older brother.

"I would've thought that your studies would be a welcome distraction" their mother said at the end of the table.

Eleanor smirked, "Speaking of welcome distractions." She saw Ophelia walking towards the table and towards Liam. Charlotte gave her a welcoming smile as she walked up. 

"I brought a guest," Liam said. He looked around the room to see their responses. He saw his sister Charlotte smile. She liked Ophelia, they were friends.

King Simon recognized her, "Ophelia Pryce, artist in residence."

Ophelia kindly smiled, "For his majesty's Silver Jubilee, I presented him with a very serious piece of artwork."

King Simon nodded, "I can recall. You were working in paste and yarn medium, at the time."

"I retired shortly after that."

"What is your focus now?"

Ophelia nervously answered, "Art History at Churchill"

Liam interrupted her, "Ophelia is doing a joint honors degree. Art history and dance." Charlotte remembered that Ophelia told her that before.

"Which is grand news indeed. Recently the Prime Minister himself, expressed a concern about the shortage of frolicking art historians. I am sure you'll be twerking your way into a great future." Helena stated with a tone that Charlotte did not like.

"She's dining with the future king of England and is friends with the youngest princess in England so she's got that going for her." Eleanor stated. Liam and Charlotte smiled at her. Ophelia gives her a thankful smile.

The food arrives and everyone begins to dig in. Charlotte notices that her cousins are on their phones. She scoffed at their tableside manners.

"It's good that you are here, Ophelia," Cyrus began to speak, "You can give us the common point of view. How's the public dealing with the news of Robert's death." After he said that, he saw that his niece, Charlotte, was glaring daggers at him. 

Liam noticed the tension and stood up, "I think we'll go-"

Ophelia stopped him, "Robert carried himself with nobility and grace that was easy to admire. He was inspiring and he was ours. But I can only speak from a commoner's perspective." Charlotte smiled at her friend, it was a brave thing to do.

"You said he was yours, but you are American." Cyrus stated with emphasis on the word American.

"Her mother was American, but she was born here and raised in the States because it was safer" Charlotte said, defending her friend.

Seconds of silence passed and Charlotte began to eat again. She saw in the corner of her eye Liam giving her a proud look and Ophelia giving a grateful smile. 

"Please stay, I appreciate the kind words about Robert," King Simon begins, "Robert joined the military because I did. Like my father before me and his father before him and so on."

Cyrus nodded, "Robert was killed by tradition, he died a hero's death. A noble death."

Charlotte glared at him, "It still means he died. Why?" Her mother began to stand up, "I seem to have lost my appetite." Liam holds Charlotte's hand to comfort her. He and Eleanor were giving Charlotte small smiles. She smiled back at them.

Her father stopped her mother, "I think you'll want to stay and hear this next part, love. I think you all will. Put away your phones and your drugs and your lust for the server." Charlotte looked at her uncle in disgust, he merely shrugged it off. 

"I'm considering asking Parliament for a referendum ... " King Simon said as all eyes turned to him, "To abolish the monarchy." Eyes around the table went wide in shock.

"Um... what does that mean exactly?" asked Penelope.

Eleanor rolled her eyes, "That means you'll have to get a job."

"A vote, idiots of my loins, to eradicate us. To erase us" Cyrus explained.

"Yeah, but who votes?" asked Maribel.

Charlotte answered, "The people."

Maribel looked shocked, "But they can't do that. I mean, they're people and we're us, you know?" Charlotte groaned at her cousin's idiotic words.

"They can and they have," Cyrus said.

"Ever heard of America?" Charlotte asked. Maribel and Penelope both looked disgusted. "But I do no want to be American. I don't want to walk around like Justin Bieber with shirt and my trousers hanging off."

Eleanor sighed, "He's Canadian."

Penelope gasped, "Even worse! They can't make us Canadian, can they daddy? Poor and Canadian like Justin Bieber."

Cyrus shook his head, "The British monarchy always has been and always will be-"

"Always will be, killed Robert." King Simon loudly interrupted. Cyrus argued, "The people need the monarchy." King Simon shook his head, "The people need bread, jobs, and decent wages."

Charlotte suddenly stood up and all eyes went to her. "The people do not need us." she stated. Afterwards, she immediately left the room with eyes on her.