Princess Darrel Crawley | A Downton Abbey Fanfiction

Chapter Forty-Six | Scared

     Meanwhile in the servants' hall, they waited for the guards to allow them back upstairs.
     "How much longer do you think they'll be?" Andy groaned. "I'm exhausted."
     "They need to be thorough," Daisy reminded. "Somebody tried to hurt Lady Darrel."
     "The poor girl, she must have been so frightened," Mrs. Hughes sighed.
     "It wasn't aimed at me, and I'm still rattled," Mrs. Patmore added.
     The others nodded in agreement as Allen entered the hall and everyone got to their feet.
     "Can I help you sir?" Thomas asked in a stiff tone.
     "We finished searching the attic," Allen informed. "You may all go back up now. Her Highness leaves tomorrow morning. But if any of you see anything suspicious, please tell us."
     "Yes sir."
     The rest of the servants filed out of the servants' hall and headed to their rooms. Thomas stayed behind and paged through his notebook. Allen sat down next to him and closed the book.
     "I need to work," Thomas reminded, opening it back up.
     "We need to talk," Allen replied. "I'm leaving tomorrow and I don't want us to part on bad terms."
     "You're right. I'm sorry."
     "You're sorry? I was going to apologize to you."
     Thomas gave him a small nod. "I didn't understand how serious your job was earlier today. But with everything that happened this evening, I realize that Lady Darrel is in danger. And you need to be with her at all times."
     "Thanks Thomas," Allen smiled. "I'm sorry I wasn't more sympathetic. It must be hard to see your friend have a target on her back."
     Thomas swallowed hard and set his notebook aside.
     "Sorry, that was too harsh," Allen sighed.
     "No, it's true," Thomas agreed. "But it's difficult to hear."
     "I know. Before I became a Royal Bodyguard, I thought my job was going to be easy. After all, I never heard of many attacks on the monarchy."
     "Are there a lot of attacks?"
     "Not a lot...but there are events that the palace chooses to cover up. It makes them look stronger."
     Thomas nodded and looked down at the table.
     "It's always hard to step into the real world," Allen pointed out. "I hope this isn't too hard for you and the rest of the household."
     "If you can do it...so can I," Thomas nodded.
     "It was nice to meet you Thomas. I hope we can see each other again."
     "So do I. Do you think we can keep in touch?"
     "Of course we can."
     Allen stood up, and so did Thomas. Allen extended his hand, and Thomas shook it.
     "Thank you for being my first real friend," Allen smiled.
     "It's been an honour," Thomas said.
     "Take care of yourself. I'm sure we'll meet again."
     "Stay safe."
     The bodyguard gave the butler a final nod then headed back upstairs to the library. Thomas grinned to himself and got back to work.

     Later that evening, Sebastian woke up from a troubled sleep. He sat up on the couch and looked around. He saw JF standing by the window, attempting to read by moonlight. The prince got to his feet and walked over to his cousin.
     "Can't sleep either?" JF whispered.
     Sebastian shook his head as he sat down on the window sill.
     "We should have brought more guards with us," Sebastian sighed. "This is all my fault."
     "That's not true," JF replied. "Darrel only has three guards when she should have at least five."
     "It's not her fault. There's no way she could have known that she would be in danger."
     "The King and Queen should have sent more guards with her. Besides, a good guard would have swept the grounds and placed someone under her window."
     "So it is Allen's fault. Then why did you stop me from yelling at that guard earlier?"
     "Because everyone's scared and stressed. They don't need to hear you get upset."
     Sebastian shrugged. "Well, as soon as we're back in London, I'm getting him sacked."
     JF gave him a disapproving look and was about to say something when Darrel awoke. She bolted upright, gasping for breath. Sebastian rushed to her side and knelt down in front of her.
     "Darrel, what's wrong?" Sebastian asked, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.
     "Nothing...bad dream," Darrel explained. "I'm sorry for waking you."
     "Don't worry, we were awake."
     JF approached the pair and perched himself on the arm of the sofa. Sebastian took Darrel's hand in his and planted a kiss on it. Darrel gave him a small smile.
     "Is it almost morning?" Darrel inquired.
     "I'm not sure," JF shrugged. "But it's still quite dark. You should try to get back to sleep."
     "I got as much sleep as I'll be able to. I will sleep when we return to London."
     "You need to rest. It will help with your healing, and your nerves."
     "He's right," Sebastian nodded. "You try to sleep, and I will be right here. You're safe now, and everything will be okay."
     "Alright," Darrel smiled, "thank you Seb."
     Darrel gave him a kiss then lay back down. Sebastian stood up and headed back to the window as JF poured them both drinks.
     "Here," JF offered.
     "Thanks," Sebastian replied, taking a sip. "Isn't it bad to drink when you're already drunk?"
     "We can worry about drinking later. I want to keep you calm so that you don't have another emotional outburst."
     "You know me so well...but we should give Lord Grantham some money to pay for all the alcohol we drank."
     "We're practically family, it's fine. Also, you've most likely deduced this, but you can't tell her about how you want to abdicate," JF whispered. "You can't worry her more than she already is."
     "You're right," Sebastian sighed. "I'm going to try to get some sleep."
     Sebastian finished his drink, clapped his cousin on the back and headed back to the couch. JF watched the couple for a moment then walked towards the door and opened it.