Above All Else

Chapter Thirteen

"Henry, you can't get anywhere near this," I whisper as he stands up abruptly. I stand as well. "Henry... this could destroy you. Backing him could destroy you."

"I have to, Mia! Otherwise, our entire life gets screwed and we get trapped in that palace again- this time indefinitely! I would have to rule! Our son, god, our son would go through this, Mia!"

I'm close to hyperventilating. "Henry, no. We can figure out another way. You don't have to defend him! If you do, you risk them turning against you too! Turning against all of us!"

"I'm not discussing this, Mia! I will say whatever I fucking have to to clear his name!" He storms away, back towards the stairs. I let out the breath I had been holding, bracing myself with a hand on the couch. I grit my teeth.

No. I run up the stairs, shaking my head. No, there's no way he can defend him on this. Richard may want to tarnish his name but not Henry. He doesn't deserve that kind of life. They'd want him off the throne too.

Henry is lighting a cigarette on the balcony when I open the door, stilling.

"Henry, don't," I whisper, knowing he's going to regret smoking later. He's finally just stopped.

"Mia, just leave me be so I can think!" he growls, without looking back. I purse my lips, disapprovingly. He stares out into the dark forest, but doesn't bring the cigarette to his lips. I know he doesn't want to.

"Take all the time you need," I mutter, shaking my head.

I turn, walking back into the room.

"M-Mia," I hear him utter as I shut the door. It opens within moments. "Mia, stop."

I do, turning reluctantly. He's standing in the doorway, his hands empty. "I'm- I'm sorry, baby. I can't take this out on you."

I'm not even angry. I walk to him, wrapping my arms immediately around his waist. I feel his lips on top of my head.

"I understand your fears, Mia," he says, after a moment. "They are warrented but as horrible as he can be, he is still my brother."

"I know he is... and I know you love him. But Henry, if you publicly try to defend him, you risk him still being abdicated and you going onto the throne to a hostile country. People aren't going to be forgiving for this. He lied to them. Nicole lied to them."

Henry pulls back, grabbing my hands instead. "If someone asked you to turn your back on Ida, if you knew she needed it... would you? Would you walk away and let her take the punishment of her actions alone?"

I don't really know what to say to that. I look away, realizing I can't answer.

"You and I both know what it's like to lose parents, Mia. When my mother's affair came out nearly fifteen years ago, I watched as the world tore apart our family. My father turned cold and divorced her publicly, stripping all of her titles and kept us from her. He died just a year after that and Richard and I were stuck in Kensington on our own, watched by Sarah. Our mother got sick years later and we didn't even know about it. She had been dead an entire week before we even got the news." He shakes his head. "I loved my father... and I loved her too. She may have made a mistake but she didn't deserve that abandonment."

I shake my head as well, piecing together slowly why Henry has never truly told me about her.

"Richard and I were unseperable then. He took care of me. He wasn't what you see now, this man so consumed in his own vanity and fear. He could put others before himself. I always believed he would have been the best king. I thought he was ready... but he's not. In fact, I think he hates it. I think he feels just as trapped in that palace as we did."