Her Royal Secret

Chapter 2: Part 2

The messages had started coming in last week, at a time when I was still shaken up by Ted's betrayal. When I first read them I believed that someone was fooling around because why not kick the royals when they're down? But the more persistent the messenger grew, the more I realized that this wasn't just someone playing a prank on poor little Len.

My gut told me that it was very real.

'Eleanor I have some information for you. It's about your brother Robert.'

'You need to know the truth about what happened. Don't trust anyone, nothing is what it appears to be.'

'Robert loved you the most Len. He'd want you to do this for him.'

'You've been so brave Len. You need to fight just a little longer, for Robert's sake.'

'Robert didn't kill himself and his death isn't what it seems. You need to dig deeper, you need to think harder, come on Eleanor think about it.'

'It's so much more to this than royalty, Eleanor. It's personal, it's family and it's up to you discover who wronged you.'

"Eleanor what on earth are you doing?" I jumped up in fright and my phone fell to the floor but luckily I didn't hear the sound of it smashing. I had been in the middle of reading the string of text messages again when I had been rudely interrupted. Mother walked into the library and startled me. I grabbed my phone and she eyed me suspiciously.

"You've been acting really strange, more so than usual." She walked closer, squinted her eyes and studied me closely.

"Are you feeling okay?" She raised an arched eyebrow.

"Of course, I'm perfectly fine." I answered way too quickly.

"Right, since you do look rather energetic tonight how about we sit down and brainstorm a quick garden party for tomorrow. Rachel says it can't be done but I say, I'm the Queen of England and I can pull of anything. What do you think? How about we go with the classic Alice in Wonderland theme?"

"Mum, that all sounds great and I'm sure that you are more than capable of hosting hundreds if not thousands of people on these grounds dressed like a naughty Cheshire Cat but I can't stay to help I'm afraid."

She frowned, "Why on earth not? It's very important for your brother to have popular support, Eleanor. The people are afraid of Cyrus, nobody likes him and they love Liam. The more support we get, the easier it will be for him to become king. It's very important that not only you help me with this but I will also need you to attend."

"Don't you think it's a little problematic that you're trying so hard to make Liam king when, you know we're not even Dad's biological children."

She flinched but nothing really bothered my mother. There was nothing that she couldn't take care of, no situation that was ever truly out of control. Cyrus may have had the crown but the person really running the show? Yes, it was Mum.

I briefly considered showing her my phone and asking for her help but I remembered how one of the messages told me that the matter was closer to home than I had expected. The messenger said that it was personal and so I decided to keep quiet.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head Len, leave all of the important details to me." She chastised and patted me on the head before turning around to leave.

"I expect you to be there and try not to think of another costume than Alice, I'd like for us to not match." She called over her shoulder and I rolled my eyes.

I wouldn't be attending any more tea parties.

And it was if the fates themselves had decided that for me since my phone buzzed with an incoming text and it was him! It was the secret messenger who had been missing ever since I had confined in Jasper. At first I was scared that by telling someone else, by having his number looked into, I had scared away the messenger but here he was again. Making sure that I was alone, I pulled up the message and read.

'I think it's time that I answer you question Eleanor, I know you'll have plenty. Meet me tonight, where Robert would help you sneak out from.'

If I wasn't sat down already, my legs would have given way. I read re-read that one line and tried to make sense of it. How did he know? How could he possibly know that about me and Robert? My heart started to pound, I broke out into a sweat and my vision began to go blurry.

I realized I was about to pass out when someone strode through the doors and called my name.

That was the last thing I heard before it all went black.