The weight of the crown

Chapter 19

I stood quietly behind the long curtain until the ambassador left the room.

I tried to understand how it was the ambassador who I suspected, all the time looking like he was on my side, always thinking about England's good, could I be wrong about him?

I left the room immediately after him when I noticed a worried expression on his face as he looked around and walked quickly.

He held a rolled-up page that I was curious to know what it said.

At that moment I knew I could let him go his way, to examine the details more thoroughly before I jumped to conclusions, but I couldn't do it, I had to be sure and act on my intuition and my suspicions.

I followed him when I made sure he wasn't looking back and made sure my pace was not too fast to avoid arousing suspicion.

He went down the stairs to the bottom floor, so that after a few minutes he walked toward the garden that led to the exit from the palace, where the guards stood.

My eyes scanned his movements slowly as I hid behind one of the trees near where they stood.

"Ally" I heard a sweet, quiet voice behind me, I turned slowly when I noticed Laura. She looked at the confusion in my clothes and then at the French ambassador who walked toward the guards.

"What are you doing here, aren't you supposed to be in Ireland now?" She asked curiously, but she made sure to speak quietly.

She must have understood that I was hiding and didn't want to be noticed.

"It's a long story ... very long," I said as I looked toward the ambassador.

"What happened to me, you look worried?" She said, and I saw that her eyebrows were shrinking in wonder.

"I don't want to involve you in this , it can be dangerous," I said, hoping she would go and leave me alone.

I didn't want to involve anyone else in my actions and I didn't want to drag her into something I didn't know how it would end.

"I'm not leaving you alone if it's dangerous," Laura insisted, now raising her voice a little, "you have to stop it"

"Stop what?" I asked confused as I leaned against the tree trunk.

"Stop doing things yourself without the help of anyone"

"Laura ..." I sighed, wanting to keep talking, but I went back to standing as soon as I saw the ambassador leave the palace gates.

"Laura, I'm really sorry, but I have to go," I said, and started walking toward the wall that surrounded the palace.

"I'm not going until you tell me what's going on," she said, but I ignored her.

"Why are you wearing those clothes and why are you following me?" She asked.

"Laura, I really don't want to involve anyone in this, I don't want anyone to get hurt," I said as I approached a wall that was about a meter taller than me.

"And why now it looks like you're trying to escape from the palace?" She went on asking anxiously.

I put my foot on one of the stones sticking out of the wall.

"No one knows I'm in the palace except William, everyone thinks I'm in Ireland," I explained slowly as I climbed the various stones as I tried not to look down.

"Why hide in the palace instead of being in Ireland?" Laura asked as she watched me climb from below.

"Laura, I promise I'll tell you everything, but right now I've got to get to the other side so I can keep track of the ambassador," I said, panting.

"I'm coming with you," Laura said as she began to climb.

"No, you'll stay here in the palace, where I'm sure," I said firmly, although I had recently wondered if the palace was safe, if my house didn't seem safe to me, where would I feel safe?

"It's my decision Alexandra, and I'm not going to leave you alone," she said, and now she was as tall as I was, I didn't know she was good at climbing.

"When I was little I liked to climb the stone walls on the hill near the palace, it was dangerous and my parents did not like it, but I stopped doing it only a few years ago," she explained when she noticed my surprised expression.

"Why do you climb stone walls?" I asked her in confusion.

"The climb was hard at first, but the scenery was beautiful when I sat on the stones, I saw the fields surrounding the palace," she said. I smiled as I pictured Laura as a child climbing the wall until she managed to climb up.

After we crossed the wall, I saw the image of the ambassador wandering into the tangled forest. Laura and I walked at a reasonable distance from him so he could not hear or see us.

"Now you are ready to tell me what's going on?" She asked, "You don't have to tell me, but I'm worried about you"

"I suspect the ambassador is working with the Scots to hurt England."

"Why would he want to hurt England, Charlotte is married to Thomas, and Charlotte is also the Queen of France"

"I don't know Laura, all I know is that now there are all sorts of points I can put together, how the Scots entered the palace, why does the prince look so sure of himself, why-"

"Wait a minute, did you meet the Prince of Scotland?" She raised her voice.

"Yes, and it really didn't end well"

"You mean William's injury?" She asked anxiously.

"I know I am guilty, but I don't understand why he had to follow me and help me, why would he get hurt, we are only allies"

"And you're going to be husband and wife," she reminded me.

"Either he decides to marry someone else, anything can happen," I told her.

It was true, when it was royal marriage, things always changed, everything was so dynamic when it came to living in the palace. For some reason it hurt to think of William with someone else, even though the thought of marriage deterred me.

"Not your case," she said, with a small smile on her face.

"What do you mean?" I asked as I bent under a branch as we walked through the forest.

"I knew how he behaved when he was with other girls," she said. "He may have liked them but didn't treat them the way he treats you," she said, and I was about to interrupt her, but she went on talking, "even if you don't  Believe it, he fell in love with you "

"Laura, you're wrong," I told her as if I didn't hear those words, but at the same time, I wanted to believe they were true.

"He feels something fir you, he wouldn't risk his life if it wasn't true," she said, trying to look into my eyes as I continued to look ahead at the trees.

"You weren't with him after he was wounded, you don't know how much he cared for you"

"It's because there's an alliance between the countries and he knows how important it is and that's why he behaves that way," I continued.

She opened her mouth to speak, but another sound interrupted his conversation.

I looked at the two trees between them the Scottish flag and behind them were tents with equipment like weapons and clothes.

From among the trees came the Scottish prince, his eyes scanning the surroundings for a moment, and then he shook the ambassador's hand.

His fair hair glowed almost in the sunlight and a big smile came over his face. "Did you bring the document?"

The ambassador handed him the rolled-up page, "These are the notes that were in the king's room, he's sure you're going to attack soon"

"I can't say he's wrong," he said when an arrogant smile came over his face. I moved slowly to one of the bushes close to them to hear their conversation better.

"What you plan to do now, you won't be able to wait within the boundaries of England forever, you will have to attack"

"I'm waiting for the right moment," he said, "and you have to make sure we can enter the palace without being noticed"

"You can count on me," the ambassador said seriously.

"I know, but I also know that you should not doubt them, especially not in Alexandra," he continued, and his words caught my attention.

"She just Princess, why would she be a threat to you?"

"Because she is unexpected, and that's what worries me"

"Very soon three states will be under your control, and then no one will be able to stop you"

"Until then you will remain alert, and especially watch over William and Alexandra, I don't want any mistakes," said the Prince, nodding slightly and walking in the opposite direction.