Third In Line

Chapter Thirty Eight - The Game

The music was playing, the same old tune that effectively acted like a countdown to the start of the broadcast. The numbers on screen counted the seconds as they passed, five, four, three, two, one. It was almost enough to make the news exciting, good enough to rival any big screen film, but then the actual news started.

"Good evening and welcome to BBC News. I'm Gemma Kershaw and these are tonight's headlines." the brunette 40-something woman adjusted her papers as the camera slowly closed in on her, hiding the studio and everything else around her. Graphics came up on screen, showing titles and pictures of the story as she read them out.

"Rumours rampant. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have arrived in Paris to begin their four day tour of France, but without their young daughters who have not been seen in public for a week."

The video played behind the woman, showing Wills and Kate arriving at their first engagement in France. The crowd were all shouting, but there wasn't any sound being played when they were scrolling through the top stories. If there was, they would have been hearing them all shouting where the girls were.

"Why wont you help us? Karawian officials continue to struggle to deal with food shortages and rioting whilst Western powers keep their distance."

The video of her mother and father disappeared, replaced by footage from the west African country showing starving villages and pompous politicians arguing with each other in government. Once again it was only given ten seconds on screen as the other stories followed it, only the big talking points being touched upon. When she was done reading through the top stories, she returned to the top of the list and began the detailed report for each one, starting with Wills and Kate.

"Now. Our top story. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have arrived in Paris to begin their tour of France, during which they will visit hospitals, taste the local cuisine, help open two new school buildings and participate in a school sports day among many other activities."

A graphic appeared, detailing all that her mother and father would be doing while they were away. It listed all the engagements for four days, with pictures to show where they would be and exactly what time.

"The tour will last four days in all, which means the Duke and Duchess will not return home to their daughters until at least Monday. The girls, Eleanor and Alexandra, were expected to accompany their parents to Scotland, but their failure to attend has led many royal watchers to speculate on the health of the two young Princesses. Especially after the family made an unannounced hospital visit one week ago."

Here it comes.

Footage appeared on screen of their arrival at West Berkshire Community Hospital, and what struck her was how different it was from any of the usual footage she saw of her family on the news. There was hardly a face that someone would recognize, only bodies and the back or sides of heads. The protection officers were rushing and frantic, showing how unplanned everything really was. It was certainly enough fuel for rumours to start.

"The family of four arrived at the back entrance in a convoy of three black Range Rovers and were rushed inside, but without any statement from Kensington Palace, the public have been left in the dark as to the health of the third and fourth in line to the throne."

"Referred to as a number and implying the public have the right to know! HAH! Two points for me." Alex lightly punched her shoulder twice. Damn, I should have got those.

"Bookmakers had recently closed betting on the Duchess announcing a third pregnancy, but her healthy appearance in France has scuppered the belief that she was suffering from a severe form of morning sickness as she had done with her first two pregnancies."