Hawthorne

42 - Chance

Vincent Hawthorne

"Are you finally going to tell me how the hell she ended up being the heiress? Queen?"

Edgar quirks up an eyebrow, knowingly. I am talking like I don't know shit while I do. These past few days, since the proclamation happened, I've scoured the entire internet and all the newspapers—so has our mother, the papers at least. The media also camped outside the gates for a couple of days, fishing for gossip.

In the end, I made an official statement, showing my full support to the Queen. How could I not?

By now, all the juicy information, everything there is to be known, I've read. So it's not like I am a stranger to the situation, what doesn't fit in my brain is the why. Why did she choose this path? This life? It never seemed like something she aimed for.

"You know she's Joseph's secret child with the housekeeper-her mother. What else is there to add?"

Thank you, Edgar, for stating the obvious.

"When did she figure it out? Why did she act on it?" I grit out.

Edgar deadpans, giving me the silent answer I was hoping to avoid. Deep down, the why is obvious... It's the how that's irking me. I had no fucking idea... And she gave nothing away!

"Are you seriously asking me this Vince?"

"Yes," I answer. "You know I'll drink up every word you've got to tell me about her."

"Come one brother... Staying here and sulking won't change anything. You need to do something."

Right. That's out of the question now. I just need to understand... When did she learn the truth? Think Vincent... Think!

The only time she-

That month! That whole month she had distanced herself... I believed she was afraid to lose me, fearing our impending end. That is part of what has made this process so hard... Knowing she'd be worse than I would be.

"If she knew before everything went down... Why didn't she tell me? It would have changed so much, Edgar," I sigh.

"Well... I understand her position though. Alone and afraid, it will make you take precautions... Just in case."

"None of this would have happened if she had told me. I wouldn't have given in to mother's blackmailing!" His gaze is concerned and understanding, but he keeps quiet.

My little brother has shown more maturity and emotional intelligence than I'd ever find him capable of. He has been in and out of the Manor, reportedly, to answer summoning from Her Royal Highness, the Queen. They've been spending even more time together now, than when she lived here.

However, when he's in, he's been busting my ass to find my balls and go tell her what happened. He knows everything now.

That night... After watching her on that balcony, it moved something inside of me. There had still been some hope there, that I'd find a way to explain everything to her and just... choose her. Once again, the choice has been robbed of me. It broke me, in a way not even my mother was able to.

Edgar found me crying like a little bitch and for the first time since I broke her heart, he took pity on me and allowed me to let it all out. I told him.

For the first time in a while, I saw empathy in his eyes. Our mother on the other side...

The manor suffered a hurricane on that day. Bulging eyes and a reddened face, she was frozen looking at the TV for whole five minutes, with her hands gripping tight on her hair. She almost ripped it out. But she stayed there, motionless like a statue, glaring at it as if it was guilty of murder. I mean, it was, her dream of being royalty--mother to the King, had just been murdered. Anihilated.

For a second there, I feared she'd get a heart attack from it. She didn't, and I have been feeling guilty for the relief I'd feel if she had. She is still my mother, no matter how evil she is.

Ever since she's been cooped up in that bedroom she has claimed as hers in my house. She comes outside only for three things: meals, bark orders to my staff and yell about everything they do wrong. I have ordered them all to ignore her and her whims because they answer only to me.

It's been a nightmare honestly and I have been this close to kicking her ass out.

However, mother dearest is never just sulking. She has to be planning something, a way to get the upper hand. I can feel it in my bone and just as my father taught me: "Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer." So, unfortunately, I need her close to know what it is.

"Have you tried talking to her?"

"Like it'd make a difference, Edgar," I answer, my tone salty.

"Brother, you know Camilla. She's a soft heart."

She is. Deep down, she'll always be. That's why I know she'll be a much better ruler than I'd ever been. If only her taking this step wouldn't make things even worse... By doing this, she sent my mother and me a message. Fuck you and your arrogant and entitled arses.

I heard it. Loud and clear.

If before I was the one unreachable, now it's her. How the hell do you reach Royalty? They reach you. That's how it's always been, the maximum you can do is send word to the Palace and she'll decide to answer or not. To even see it or not.

The ball's in her court even if it's me who has some making-up to do.

"As if," I scoff. "She wouldn't even let me set a fucking foot in her Palace." The words feel bitter on my tongue, even though I know very well she has every right to.

The fact that she is the heir. The Queen. It changes everything. There isn't a reason for my mother to keep a hold on me anymore. She could still leak everything but the Consortium would never let something alike get to the tabloids. The new ruler's image is the most important to keep intact and she has the best reputation.

Humble worker for the nobility for her whole life, not knowing the huge secret that was her ascendency. Camilla also graduated with honours, a PhD in Biology and a Master's in Systematics and Evolution. She is the perfect example to bring credibility back to the Royal Family. Someone from the people who had the fortune of finding her place.

Except, I know it isn't. She never wanted anything of this. And I can only imagine how hard this must be... For her to choose this over a quiet calm life like she wanted, in this Manor. It shows how much we've wronged her.

"Well... Maybe there is a way you could get in there?"

"What are you on about?"

"This..." Edgar stands up and fishes from the back of his pants a pastel blue envelope.

He hands it to me to the back facing up. The first thing I notice is the wax sealing it. It's bright golden, shaped with the royal insignia and her monogram. My finger grazes it for a long second before turning it around. On the front, there's Hawthorne's coat-of-arms, thin gilded lines pressed into the thin paper. I used to be proud of my family, my name... But now? I despise it.

"The Lord Chamberlain is commanded by The Queen to invite,

His Grace, the Duke of Hawthorne, brother and mother to the Coronation ceremony of Her Majesty, in Buckingham Palace, on the Lord's day, Sunday, the First of May, 2022 at 10 am."

She didn't even do this herself. A void and impersonal piece of paper, after everything we've-

"Brother," Edgar cuts off my spiralling thoughts. "This is your way in. Your one shot to make things right. Don't waste it."

His words echo inside my mind, convincing me to go for it. I fucked up once too much and now I need to make things right. The last thing I want is to let her go but I know, this will go one way out of two options: either really good and I win the girl back, or shit hits the fan and it will all go down the drain.

Either way, I'll risk it. I'll take the chance.