Third In Line

Chapter Three - Smile and Wave

The back of the Rolls had seats facing backwards and forwards, and large clear windows on the rear, sides and front. We might as well be travelling in a glass box on wheels, she thought, there's no place to hide from them. They were steadily driving down towards the gates, with Kensington Palace slowly fading in the rear window. She was being driven further from safety, and closer and closer to the shouts and screams of the media and public that awaited them.

Ellie was sitting on her own with her back to Ben, hoping that facing away from the cameras as she drove towards them would give them less time to film her. Knowing Ben, he'd probably reverse the car out the gates so she still ended up facing the cameras, but on a day like this he was expected to drive normally.

Her parents sat on the back seat together and were facing her, almost as if they were a panel of royal experts waiting to see how she acted in front of the cameras. All she could feel was dread, but in the back of her mind she knew she wouldn't make a fool of herself.

"I love how she still tries to hide after all these years," her dad said with a sly grin.

Ellie turned to her parents. They were smiling at her with the same mischievous looks in their eyes. She shifted nervously in her seat as the car stopped at the gates, and tried her best to block out the shouts of "Princess! Princess!" and "Ellie!" which could only be slightly muffled by the Rolls' thick windows.

"How many times have we driven out of the house like this?" her mother asked her father with a smirk.

"More than I can remember" he replied. They were both chuckling at her expense, and she could even hear Ben quietly snickering behind her.

But I wasn't dressed like a big hotdog on any of those occasions...

"Pffft" was all Ellie could muster as a reply. It didn't sound as defiant as she'd hoped.

"Although, she probably won't remember the times when she was a baby." Kate said.

Ellie could see her mother's eyes glaze over and could easily guess that she was thinking back to when Ellie was a baby. She knew that look so well because it would always appear on her own face whenever she looked back into her past, wishing she was that young again. That was something she did more and more often as she got older, and the burden of expectation grew.

She shook herself out of her thoughts, although she wished she didn't. They were still waiting by the gate. Her curiosity got the better of her and she decided to steal a quick glance over her shoulder, but that only added more to her dread. The police and security were arresting two or three members of the crowd who'd somehow gotten through the police barrier, whilst the rest of the crowds were straining every limb to get closer.

It was like staring right into the lions den, and all Ellie could do was sit and wait, rubbing her palms on her knees. It was almost cruel being made to wait like that, as if they were stuck at the top of roller coaster, just before the big dip. Even if she wouldn't experience extreme g-forces driving out that gate, she'd certainly feel like she was.

"Thinking about the roller coasters again pumpkin?" her father was already chuckling by the time she looked at him.

"How d'you know?" She asked.

"How did you know?" her mother politely corrected.

"Sorry, Mother. Father, how did you know?" Ellie repeated sarcastically.

"You're always thinking about roller coasters, just after you start rubbing your hands on your knees" he gave her a knowing look.

Ellie was completely boggled, and her confusion appeared in her expression too.

"Don't give me that look, I know my daughter" He quickly moved to join her on the backward facing seat, and took her hand in his, whilst he placed his free arm around her shoulders.

Ellie suddenly felt surrounded in an impenetrable cocoon of warmth and love, and her dread seemed to fade as she rested back against her father. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, and it was all she needed to calm herself down. One touch from her parents was like a drug, seeping into her system and relaxing every inch of her body. They just seemed to have this natural ability to remove her fears, to make her feel safe and free of any burden.

They'd been overprotective of Ellie and her sister for their entire lives, always doing their best to keep their children's minds clear of their status and the expectation that came with it. Eleven years of doing so and it was as easy as flipping a switch. They were experts.

"You always get so nervous, that you end up forgetting how many times you've done this before." Kate said. She looked up at her mother, who leaned forward and placed her hands on Ellie's knees. "And you know what?" her eyes were piercing into her soul once again. "You get better at it every time"

Ellie relaxed even more, allowing herself to smile as her body seemed to swell with pride. Her anxiety told her that her mother had only said that to make her feel better, but she didn't need to believe that. She knew that her parents were right, she knew she'd done this many times before without incident.

The gates slowly opened and the Rolls was moving again, the crowds were screaming even louder, and their hands were reaching over the police barriers like claws trying to scratch at her. The car edged out slowly onto the road, and by then there were cameras, flashes and screaming people all around them.

She felt like a layer of armour had been removed once the gates closed behind them, and all that separated her from the crowds was a police barrier and the car itself. Her plan to face away from them wasn't working at all, and in the back of her mind she knew it probably never would have worked. Waiting for part of the police escort to drive ahead of them wasn't helping, if anything the cameras were getting more footage of her this way.

Her mother had her back to most of the cameras, who could only really see the sides of her face. She had the best seat to hide from the bloodthirsty photographers, and with that smug look on her face, she was obviously enjoying it.

I'll remember to steal her seat next time, she thought, I just hope I don't get nervous and forget again.

The car started turning, and the crowds were now closer. They were driving right alongside the pavement, and the police barrier seemed to vanish beneath the car windows. She could almost feel the people standing right next to her, and the glass of the window felt like it was getting thinner and thinner.

"Ellie" her father whispered in her ear and gently squeezed her hand. She paused to listen to him, but when he didn't seem to say anything, she suddenly remembered what she wasn't doing. She had gotten so nervous that she'd forgotten to actually wave at the public. Not the media, the real people in the crowds that weren't holding cameras. She put on a small, shy smile and began to lightly wave her hand at the crowd. Her mother had just finished another round of waving and was eyeing her closely, a proud gleam in her eyes.

"Just smile and wave," she said. "That's all you have to do."

The actions were slowly becoming instinctive to her by now, but she still had a long way to go before her body would perform the classic wave and smile automatically at the right moments, just like everyone else in her family could.

Her father kept his arm around her shoulders, and his hand holding hers. He was only smiling out at the crowd, but was letting the two ladies in the car have all the attention as he sat back and relaxed. Ellie leaned back and rested her head against her father's chest as the car began to speed away from the crowd and Kensington Palace, and he kissed the side of her head as the crowd finally started to thin out.

"Perfect" he said softly.

"Perfect" her mother echoed.