Chapter Text
Mom, do I really have to go to that pompous wedding? I am trying to say...."
"Sugar, I'm busy with the campaign, if we want to win the elections. You will go in my place and you won't do strange things, you won't cause trouble, you arrive, say hello, smile, talk about nothing and you will leave. Everything is already organised, you will leave tomorrow morning , you arrive, you settle in, you rest and you leave the next day. Do you think you can make it or will I have to be anxious the whole time?!" And with a hug to her 'baby', Ellen bids him farewell.
Shortly afterwards June joins Alex in his room.
"So ready to meet your great love?!" June teases
Alex throws a pillow at her "Oh, shut up! I hate it. But I don't have to meet him right? I mean, there will be a lot of people, I'll just avoid it. Easy isn't it?"
"Alex..."
"What?!!"
"Behave, don't be an idiot and don't drink too much. We know what happens if you lose control,” and June rolls her eyes.
“Nora, when do you think we can retire?!”
"Alex, we just got here! Don't start..."
"Oh, here is his majesty. He has finally deigned to arrive. Will he be able to smile?"
"Alex!!! Shut your mouth and smile" Nora whispers.
Alex prepares to shake Henry's hand, but...Henry very elegantly passes by, doesn't look at him and walks away. Someone observed the scene with curiosity and smiled.....
Alex closes and opens his mouth two or three times, trying not to let out what he thinks. Simply incredulous and angry.
He didn't look at it. He didn't stop. He didn't shake his hand. He left, just like that. It made him look bad in front of everyone and screw what anyone else thinks.
He approaches the drinks table and drinks some sparkling wine in one gulp, then another and another. He doesn't know why he's so angry. The snooty prince ignored him, perfect. But then why does it bother him so much. He doesn't know and this makes him even more angry. A waiter passes by serving glasses of liquor. He grabs one, throws it down and immediately grabs another.
He sits down, better yet plops down on a sofa, and observes the guests, looking for a person. He sees it. He's talking to someone. And then he's alone. He gets up, balancing a little precariously and reaches him.
"Oh oh, here is his majesty alone"
“He is your Royal Highness, by the way.”
"Exactly, what do you have against me. Do you dislike me? You don't even know me. I have nothing against you" and Henry blushes slightly, thinking that she has loved him, for years and has to ignore that feeling. And Alex apparently hates him.
"You ignored me before. You moved on! And in Rio, you even asked to remove me?! What the fuck?!"
Henry thinks about it and then remembers and parts his lips slightly.
"You...it happened years ago! Are you still mad about that?!" and Henry doesn't have time to continue before Alex comes closer, a little shaky. Too close to the cake. He wants to look him in the face. He leans on the table and touches the cake with his hand. It's still lucid enough to think that Zahra might kill him for this. He reaches out to grab Henry and smears cream on him. Philip also notices and calls Shaan agitated.
Henry moves away, Alex holds him back. He loses his balance, is tripping over Henry. Henry tries to push him away. They both fall on the cake table. Everyone turns around, intrigued by the scene.
The cake wobbles, both desperately trying to hold it. It does not work. The 70,000 euro cake falls on them. Henry instinctively tries to cushion Alex's fall to the floor and protect him from the cake at the same time. He hits his head very hard.
He hears his brother calling him angrily. Obviously.
He pulls himself up together with Alex or at least tries with all that weight on him. He sees blurry and shakes his head. He continues to see blurry. He feels his head muffled and someone picking him up and leading him to the rooms to clean up he imagines. And the same is done for Alex.
Shaan is by his side and asks if he is fine. He closes his eyes for a moment to recover, but when he opens them again....
"Shaan! Shaan I can't see! I can't see anything! What's happening!" and his breathing immediately becomes heavy, the panic attack is coming. Silent tears flow down his face, he is scared.
The palace doctor is immediately called, who after a careful examination, judges that the blow to the head may have caused temporary blindness and recommends rest.
Alex in the meantime is taken away by Cash and helped to wash and change quickly. He notices a commotion two rooms away and thinks he hears Henry raise his voice in fear. He feels his heart pounding in his chest, he wants to run and see if he's okay. Then he thinks he has Shaan, his family, is safe. Yet he would like to see him for a moment, he is not at peace. He takes deep breaths to regulate his heartbeat. He asks Amy if she can find out how Henry is doing.
And after minutes of waiting that feel like hours, she reports that Henry isn't very well at the moment and there's no way to know anything else.
Alex closes his eyes, sees the scene again, there was no blood on Henry, he had gotten up, he seemed fine. He feels guilty. If he hadn't drank so much, the cake would still be standing now and so would they. And he knows that Zahra will kill him. And his mother soon after...