Princess Darrel Crawley | A Downton Abbey Fanfiction

Chapter Forty | Threats Pt. 2

Previously...
Sebastian bit his lip, trying to think of something to say.
    "But I do," he said after a few moments of silence. "I know how important the Crawleys are to Darrel, and I also know how important our marriage is to the two of you. As Darrel's fiancé, I intend to make sure she is happy. If she does not have contact with the Crawleys she will be unhappy, so I will have failed my job. I cannot stay with her if I can't make her happy.
    So, if you do not allow her to see and have contact with her family, I will end our engagement."

    "Are you out of your mind?" King George cried. "You're going to end your engagement with the princess? That is ridiculous."
    "No it's not," Sebastian replied. "Anyway, I have made my position clear. It's your move."
    Their Majesties glared at him, but Sebastian returned their glares with an icy stare.
    "We need time to discuss," the Queen said after a few minutes of silence.
    "I leave for Spain in three days," Sebastian informed. "You have until then to make up your minds."
    Without any formal dismissals, addresses, or bows, Sebastian swept out of the room. His actions left the King and Queen of England speechless.
    "What are we going to do?" King George demanded. "This is a disaster."
    "Let's get rid of him," Mary of Teck suggested. "If we give in, then Elizabeth will keep using him to do her dirty work."
    "It's too risky. Their engagement was a blessing, and we'd be foolish to throw it away. Who else could we marry her off to?"
    "I don't appreciate blackmail."
    "Neither do I. But let's not do anything we may regret later on."
    Mary of Teck nodded and went to sit back down.
    "Well, you know my opinion on the matter," she replied.
    "Yes, but at the end of the day, it's not up to you," King George reminded.
    "I thought we were a team."
    "We were a team. But then you had an affair with Robert Crawley."
    Queen Mary of Teck's jaw dropped. Since coming clean about her one-night stand with Lord Grantham, the two of them had never spoken about it.
    "I thought you had moved past that," Mary of Teck sighed.
    "I never said that," King George snapped. "I said I would look past it since we had an important situation on our hands. But, I do not think I can ever move past it, nor will I ever forgive you for it."
    "George..."
    "You ruined our lives! You never should have told me."
    "I couldn't lie to you."
    "You had no problem lying for the past fourteen years of our lives."
    Mary of Teck let out a heavy sigh, stood up, and tried to take her husband's hands in hers, but he rejected the gesture.
    "I don't like this situation anymore than you do," she said. "But Elizabeth is our daughter...and given the circumstances; the throne is hers."
    "Elizabeth will never be good enough to become the Queen of England," King George retorted.
    "So you would rather have the Prince of Spain calling all the shots? That's ridiculous!"
    "No. What is ridiculous is that you would ever have an affair with Grantham. What is ridiculous is the idea of Elizabeth sitting on my throne!"
    "She's still your daughter..."
    "She is the bane of my existence."
    His wife opened her mouth the speak, then thought against it.
    "Good god, you like her, don't you?" King George V cried.
    Mary of Teck shook her head.
    "You're very unconvincing," he snapped.
    "Do you know how hard it was for me these past fourteen years?" Mary of Teck snapped. "Knowing that I had a daughter and couldn't acknowledge her? Knowing that we had another child?"
    "So you do like her," he said, shaking his head in disapproval.
    "Now that she is back in my life, I don't know if I want to send her away so soon. We can have her trained. We could make her queen-worthy."
    "No. That girl is damaged goods. She could have made a great queen. But thanks to your actions, she will never measure up."
    A tear ran down Queen Mary's cheek as the King stormed out of the library. She sat back down and dissolved into tears.

Meanwhile in Darrel's bedroom, Sebastian was recounting his interaction with their majesties.
    "Have you gone mad?" Darrel exclaimed, once he'd finished.
    "What do you mean?" Sebastian asked. "This marriage is too important to Their Majesties. There's no way they'll turn down my offer."
    "They would rather have me die, than let me see the Crawleys again. They've lost their minds, and so have you!"
    "They wouldn't have let you die."
    "Are you sure about that? They let me go five days without food, knowing very well what happened last time. Plus, they made the guards check to see if I was having anyone sneak food in."
    Sebastian took a deep breath, and sat down on Darrel's bed.
    "I'm sorry Darrel," Sebastian sighed. "I had no idea."
    "How were you to know?" Darrel shrugged, sitting next to him.
    "I wouldn't have threatened them if I'd known."
    Darrel nodded, then turned to look away.
    "Are you mad at me?" Sebastian asked.
    "I could never be mad at you," Darrel replied. "But what if our engagement ends? If I'm stuck here, without you, and without the Crawleys..."
    "It won't come to that."
    "You don't know that."
    Sebastian pulled Darrel into a hug.
    "Everything is going to be fine," Sebastian assured.
    "You don't know that," Darrel snapped.
    "Yes, I do. If they end our engagement, and they keep you here, I promise that I'll come back for you. I'll take you to Spain and we can get married there."
    "Promise?"
    "Promise."
    Darrel gave him a forced smile and they shared a brief kiss as the door opened. They stood up as King George the Fifth entered the room.
    "Your Majesty," Darrel and Sebastian greeted, curtseying and bowing respectively.
    "I do not appreciate the way you two work," King George informed. "I don't enjoy threats of a dead princess, or a scandalous end to an engagement. Whether you agree with me or not, I am still the King of England. Do you understand me?"
    "Yes Sir."
    "That being said, I accept your terms. Elizabeth, you may keep in touch with the Crawleys, and the two of you will remain together."
    Darrel grinned and hugged Sebastian, who kissed her with passion. When he realized the king was still in the room, Sebastian moved off to the side, blushing.
    "Thank you sir," Darrel nodded.
    "I have one condition," King George the Fifth informed.
    "What is it?"
    "While I recognize that the Crawleys are your family, I do not want the public to see it that way. So, anytime you return to Downton, you will bring guards."
    "What? That's ridiculous."
    "It will remind everybody that you are the Princess of Wales, and not Darrel Crawley."
    "Can't I be both?"
    "No. This is non-negotiable."
    Darrel was about to protest, but Sebastian put a hand on her shoulder.
    "She accepts," Sebastian replied.
    "Good," George V said and left the room.
    "Why would you say that I accept?" Darrel hissed.
    "I don't want you two to get into any more arguments," Sebastian requested. "Until our marriage, it's worth being civil with Their Majesties. Besides, you are the Princess of Wales, you should have guards with you at all times. There will be people who want to hurt you. If word gets out that you visit Downton without guards, it won't be safe for you there."
    "Fine," Darrel sighed. "You keep me sane."
    "Do I? In the few days we were apart, you almost starved yourself to death."
    Darrel smirked and hugged him.
    "I'm going to miss you when you return to Spain," Darrel informed.
    "Then come with me," Sebastian suggested. "I can introduce you to the people of Spain. Besides, my cousin wants to meet you."
    "JF? I've already met him."
    "Well, he wants to re-meet you. As my fiancée."
    Darrel rolled her eyes.
    "Another time," Darrel assured. "I want to go see everyone at Downton. Besides, you've been gone for months, you don't need any distractions."
    "What if I want a distraction?" Sebastian smirked.
    "I promise I'll come next time."
    "I'm going to hold you to that. Now, I better be getting back, or my father will have my head."
    Darrel laughed and gave him a final kiss.
    "I'll take you out to dinner the night before I leave," Sebastian informed.
    "I look forward to it," Darrel smiled.
    Sebastian hugged her then left the bedroom.

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Author's Note:

Hello everyone!
Thank you so much for reading this chapter, I hope you enjoyed.
This book now has over 12k reads! I can't believe it, thank you all so much. When I first started writing this story years ago, I never thought anybody would read/like it. I appreciate all of you who are reading this story.
Until the next chapter!
-Writographer