Caught in a Lie ~ h.s.

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As much as I had hoped and prayed the news stations had lied about the events that took place that morning, they hadn't. My father had collapsed during a meeting with Parliament and was pronounced dead at 9:50 in the morning as soon as he was admitted into the hospital. That day was perhaps the worst day of my entire life.

My father was dead, Harry's heart was most likely broken, and I was, well I am shell-shocked.

The moment I was escorted into the palace there was a shift in the air. There were already hundreds of people lined up outside of the palace gates, weeping and placing bouquets of flowers onto the ground carefully. Women and men alike were reaching through the gates and waving their hands towards the palace and their hysteria only grew when my car approached.

I didn't look any of them in the eyes, I couldn't. I stared straight ahead at the back of the driver's head and tried to drown out the sobs and cries from the people. I didn't shed a single tear once we arrived in Weybridge, and that didn't change for quite some time. I had made sure to pull myself together before arriving as to maintain the image of strong princess... or, I suppose, Queen. My mind hadn't quite fathomed the fact that I was indeed now a queen. Just an hour prior, I was a princess with limited responsibilities in comparison with a queen or king and now I'm in charge of practically everything.

Staff members and guards looked anywhere but at me as I had traveled through the halls, whilst a few looked as if they had cried or were currently silently wiping their tears. I couldn't blame them for their emotions; most of the staff had been working within the palace since I was a kid, some even working before I was born. It was so quiet that you could almost hear a pin drop and that's what startled me the most. Normally there was such much life in the palace, but on a day like today there's was nothing but sorrow. Only when Niall led me to the third level of the palace did I hear noise again, and they were less than pleasant.

My mother sobbing uncontrollably with Gwen by her side and Violet curled up in her lap was the image that I was met with when I entered my parents' chambers. They each looked absolutely heartbroken, like myself, only they were given the privacy to cry, whilst I was less than fortunate. Gwen was still dressed in a pair of silk pajamas and robe that was wrapped tightly around her thin frame. As for my other sister, she too was in her pajamas, a pair of fluffy bunny slippers adorning her feet. My mother was the only one dressed and even her pink dress was wrinkled to bits and covered in tear stains.

When I entered, they all snapped their attention up to me, my mother pulling me into her embrace as quickly as she could. Even with my family all sobbing I didn't cry, I held it together. There was a time for tears and then was neither the time nor the place. I wanted to cry, but for some reason I just couldn't. The urge was strong, but not tears spilled from my eyes.

"Mother, I've got you." I swallowed the urge to cry as I had wrapped my mother in my arms, holding her tighter than I ever have before. Normally we weren't one to embrace, my mother and I, but that day was an exception.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Violet curl into Gwen's side. Gwen continued to cry as she looked up at me and all I could do was stare down at my two younger sisters at a loss for words. I didn't know what to say to console my family, wasn't that supposed to be my mother's job? Wasn't I supposed to be mourning and looking to my mother for comfort?

"I'm so sorry." I apologized, though none of this was remotely my fault.

I couldn't help but feel a bit responsibility for us all being here. Niall said that my father suffered a stroke at Parliament today. The doctors informed our head of security, who informed Niall, who then informed me that it was sudden but could have been linked to his hypertension issues. I knew my father suffered from high blood pressure, but I never thought something like this could occur. I know I didn't kill my father but I highly doubt our screaming match did any good for his previous health concerns.