The Prince Chronicles
Find: Chapters 3-...
Home
What's Been Updated
In Their Eyes (Poems)
What's In a Kiss, William?
Prince Charming's Brother
The Frog Prince (Ribbit!)
First Impressions
Trapped in Time with a Prince
Untitled
Guardian Angel
Till the End of the World
The Secret Behind the Smile
The Clock Strikes Midnight
Girls @ Eton
You're Not the Wills I Knew
Broken Glass Slippers
Daddy Wills
My Soul Will Find Yours
A Twice-Told Love Story
The Day He IMed Me
Links

Chapter Three
"You're going to break something," Emma warned as William touched some of the displays.
"My dad will pay for it if I do," he said breezily, almost knocking down a chair.
Emma helped him up. "So that's where all of Britain's taxpayers' money goes to! I've always wondered."
William went over to the window. "Hey, there's a graveyard out here!"
"Great, a graveyard," Emma muttered, laughing nervously. She called softly under her breath. "Harry... I need you..."
"C'mon, you have to see this," William waved her over excitedly.
Reluctantly, Emma came next to him.
Outside the tower there were rows and rows of tombstones in a small plot. The moon made them cast long shadows against each other giving them a more eerie desposition. Ancient oak trees decorated the small plot.
"This is so cool," William announced.
To you, Emma thought. Because you're strange.
"I think I see a ghost!"
Fearful, but more curious Emma looked at where William was pointing. She was relieved to find nothing. She let out the breath she was holding in. "It's just the moonlight," she told him.
"You have no imagination," William told her, taking off down the hall.
Emma hurried to catch up with him. "And you have no pity."
"I don't know. If you were my girlfriend, I guess I'd act a little nicer to you."
Emma saw the tease for what it was. "Oh, William grow up!"
"Hey look here." William crossed over a velvet rope to another display. It displayed swords in a rack.
"They're imitation," Emma sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Made out of rubber."
William knocked a pole over in the dark and it crashed into the swords. They made loud clanging and banging noises as they fell in a disoriented heap on top of one another. The sound echoed gratingly "I don't think rubber makes that sound."
"William!" Emma scolded.
"Ease up. I'll fix it." He went over to one of the swords and attempted to lift it.
Emma watched him. She raised an eyebrow.
William bent over giving Emma a good view of his behind. He tugged at the weapon. Shifting his position he lifted at another angle. "It appears to be heavy," William explained needlessly.
Emma came over and helped. Between the two of them they managed to clean up the clutter.
"Shall we find a bed now? Or would you like to make another mess we have to clean up, Your Highness?" Emma hissed, more than irritated now.
William skipped out of the display and down the hall. "Here we go," Emma heard him announce.
She followed his voice.
"William, this is the Duchess and her boyfriend's room!"
"I know," he wiggled his eyebrows.
"Ew! No William, I'm not sleeping there."
"Fine. Go ahead. Do whatever you want." He jumped into the bed and proceeded to snuggle under the covers. And mock-snored excessively. "Yup. Yup. So good," he pretended to sleep-talk.
Emma looked at him and murmured to herself. "And I wonder why I chose Harry." She got into the bed with him. "Stay on your side!" she ordered.
William laughed, opening his eyes. He bounced on the bed a little. "I have another idea. Let's conjure up some spirits."
"William, sleep. Now!" Emma ordered.
"C'mon! It'll be fun. Spooky castle, stormy weather. C'mon. C'mon."
Emma closed her eyes and tried to block out William's voice.
"Ooooooo," William howled in her ear, making ghost noises. "Ooooooo."
Ten, nine, eight, seven,
"Oooooo," William continued to have fun with her.
...six, five, four....
"OoooooOo."
...three two...
"OOooOOOoooo."
"William, shut up!" Emma tossed a pillow at him.
"C'mon, Em. We might never get a chance like this again."
Emma sat up straight and fixed her hair. She wasn't going to be able to sleep anyways. "What do we do."
William was pleased looking like he won a jackpot. "This is going to be great."
"Yeah, whatever," Em mumbled, slapping the sleep off her face.
William sat across from her. And they held hands. William tried to remember what the boys did in Eton when they did this. "Okay, I think we pray first," William said.
"Okay..." Emma gripped his hands tightly with her owns as they both mumbled aloud the ritualistic phrases.
"Whew," William said when it was over. He met Emma's eyes, grinning. "Now, we concentrate."
Concentrate, Emma thought, wondering why she was going along with this. She didn't believe in this jazz. She was much too practical.
William took another deep breath and closed his eyes.
Emma wanted to tell him he looked silly.
"Spirits," William addressed them. "Are you there?"
A wind blew into the room.
Emma looked behind her.
William opened his eyes.
"That was just a coincidence," Emma reasoned.
"Spirits," William murmured. "I ask again. Are you there?"
Another wind blew, stronger this time.
Emma glared at William.
William laughed. "Are you just one or many, Spirits?"
There was a small breeze.
"I'll take that to mean one," Wills looked at Emma.
Emma shrugged.
William cleared his throat and adjusted his shoulders."Can I ask you your name?" William asked.
There was a wirlwind going on between them. Too forceful to have just come from the window or something natural.
William and Emma both looked at each other. William tried not to show his fear. He hadn't expected this. They both looked panickedly around the room to find an explanation. They wind seemed to stop when they looked at the mannequin of Willhelm. Emma and William looked at each other again.
Emma dropped William's hands. "Okay. This is sooo not funny."
"It's just a game, Em."
"Well, can we stop?" Emma asked.
"Ok." William told her. "Ok."
He took her hands in his again and murmured a few words. Just for formality. "Get some sleep," William told her.
"Sure," Emma growled, slipping into her side of the bed wither her back turned to him.
"Look, it was nothing really," William assured. "Just a game. Just the wind."
Sure, Prince, say it enough times and maybe you'll believe it yourself.
 
The spirits waited for the two teenagers to sleep. It's easier to take over when the mind is resting and there's less resistence. The chant the two had done earlier was pathetic and held no power in the real world of cross-boundary communication. It was an impatient wait.
They watched as the boy placed his arm over the girls chest. He had a small smile of triumph. Without opening her eyes the girl lifted the arm up and tossed it back to the boy's side. The smile disappeared. Soon the sound of even breathing filled the room. Then soft snores of contented sleep.
Wilhem fit himself into the six-foot two frame of the prince. He held out the hand in front of him and stared at the long outstrectched fingers. A new body always took a while getting used to. Wilhem saw the girl rise out of her side of the bed, her hair spilling across her back as she did so. The girl raised her fingers up to her face to trace her pursed lips. Wilhelm knew his Emily was going through the same process. Every motion she did was elegant.
Emily smiled at her beloved staring at her. She went over and ran her fingers through his hair. Then she looked down. She wondered why she was wearing trousers. Everyone knew trousers were men's clothing. Not feeling like herself in the outfit she went to the mannequin and took off the dress...


Chapter Four
Harry Windsor parked his car next to William's. It was just the moment before dawn. Dressed in faded black jeans, a T-shirt and a matching jeans jacket he was a sight. He sighed as he got out, blowing out a small cloud of water vapor from his mouth. William was the older brother but why was he the one with the worries? "I'm too young for this," he said to himself, walking up to the building. He knew Emma was with William so when he heard about the storm he wasn't worried. But still, William had a way of getting around Emma's common sense of responsibility. Harry could only hoped those ways didn't involve lips. He knocked on the museum door.

"How much longer?" Emily whispered to Willhem, lying next to him on the bed.
Willhem looked outside the castle's window, witnessing the pink hue of dawn. "Till the sun rises, my luv." He placed his arm around her, pulling her closer, and gave her a kiss on her forehead.
"Not long enough..." the duchess sighed, snuggling against to him under the thick layers of cloth over and between them (Yes, you read right. BETWEEN). These are very proper ghosts here. They've spent five-hundred years apart and they were expected to be satisfied with a night that seemed to have went by only all to fast? The gods were cruel. Emily pressed her lips against Willhem's chest. "I love you."
He sweetly played with her hair. "I love you."


Eileen walked briskly, leading Prince Harry down the halls. "Are you sure they came here?" She couldn't see any reason why the two kids would come back.
"I don't know," Harry said shoving his hands in his pockets. His voice a note short of frustration. "They said they were coming here." Bur then again, on the way over they might've changed their minds. William could've taken her out for a late dinner.... All right, a VERY late dinner. The storm broke out. They found themselves at a motel... Harry shook his head.
Eileen led Harry around a corner.

Outside the tips of the sun's rays were appearing.
"I can't stand losing you again," Emily told Willhelm, holding him tight.
"When the moon comes up," Willhelm looked into her eyes. "We'll be together again."
The sun had risen.


When William heard the camera click he thought it was a dream. He closed his  But when he opened his eyes to meet a blinding flash, he covered his face. Oh man! He groaned inwardly.
"Gee, bro..." the familiar voice of Harry came through. "How many tabloids should I send this too?"
Emma woke up and laughed when she saw the old camera in his hand. It was an old joke they played on each other. They'd catch each other in the weirdest situations and whip the black box out and mention threats about sending the pics to the tabs. But it was perfectly harmless. There was no film in the camera. Why was Harry glaring?
"Ten? A hundred?" the usual teasing tone that came with the words was gone. He threw the camera at William.
William caught it, surprised.
Emma looked over to William
How did his arm get around her?
William looked at Emma.
They jumped ten feet from each other."Ah!"
"Harry..." Emma said called her boyfriend name, wrestling from the covers. She tripped over her long skirts.
Harry's bewildered look changed to petrified. What was she doing in that dress? What happened last night? Harry backed away. He didn't want to hear it.
William had other things on his mind to pay attention to those two. "So, Eileen," William said smoothly, sitting on the side of the bed. He winked at her, clicked his tongue, and gave her a half smile which he knew sent hearts racing.
Eileen knew exactly what was on his mind. She dealt with boys -- she dealt with men -- far more attractive and experienced in flirting than he. She bit her lower lip to supress her laughter as she said. "Your Highness..." polite smile... "You're wearing a feathered hat."
William thought of a curse word as he snatched it off his head.
Eileen patted Harry on the back. "Well, you've found them. I'll be in my office." She left and called over her shoulder. "Please, before you leave, kindly put the clothes back on the mannequins. They're authentic antiques."

Dressed in their own clothes, William and Emma followed Harry outside the building.
"Is he mad at us?" Emma whispered to William.
"I don't know," William hurriedly whispered back. His thoughts were on Eileen, how he kept making a  fool of himself in front of her, and what awaited at home if his father found out he had been out all night.
As usual, he wasn't listening. "I'm going after Harry," Emma announced, breaking into a run. She never saw him like this. She reached for his shoulder, before she was even close to touching him he shrugged her away. "Why are you walking so fast?" she demanded.
"We better get home soon... otherwise they'll find out," Harry mumbled the excuse, opening the car. The keys rattled noisily.
Emma opened the passenger's and got in, before he could object she slammed the car door.
Harry's hands rested on the steering wheel. He gripped it, his white knuckles turning whiter.
"What's wrong?" Emma asked.
Harry looked at her. She was so beautiful. How fond he was of her. He breathed heavily. "Nothing," he gruffed out the answer and pulled out into the road.
Behind them, William followed.

"... and X equals three, right?" Emma helped him with his homework.
William was watching television. Volume on low.
x = 3. Harry wrote in his answer book saying it outloud as well. He wasn't sure if x = 3. Or if he even cared if x = 3. He just wrote it because...what the hell.
Emma could sense something was wrong. "Harry look at me."
He ignored the sentence. "We're almost finished..." he reached for the textbook.
Emma touched his hand.
Harry sat down. What her touch can do to him.
"What's wrong?" she asked him again.
He turned away. "Nothing."
She persisted. "That didn't work with me this morning, it won't work with me now." She yawned. She wondered why her body still felt sluggish as if it had been awake all night. She had slept peacefully. Almost in a coma, now that she thought about it.
Harry brushed his hair up from his forehead. Then he looked behind him to make sure William wasn't eavesdropping. He outstrecthed one of his legs from the stool, facing her. "You know I think you're the best thing that's happened to me, right?"
Emma wondered what brought this on.
"I spend my entire day wondering if I'm living up to people's expectations. If I'm smart enough. If I'm handsome enough. Will people still like me if I'm not? I don't have to worry about that with you." Deep breath. Rub sweaty palm on theigh. "But..." Harry checked behind him again. "In that room. When I saw you with William..." he cracked his neck.
Emma waited.
"....I think I was jealous." he spurted out. "I'm sorry!" He turend back to his book and held the pencil in his hand, desperate for familiarity. What was the next problem? Two trains. One leaving Kensington at 60 miles an hour...
Emma kissed him.
Harry wondered what he had been so scared about.

William stared at his feet that he had propped on the coffee table. He was flipping channels. On the television glass he could see the scene happening in the back of him. He grabbed his glass of iced tea and went to his room. He couldn't stand it when his little brother and his girlfriend got that mushy.
 
 
*          *          *

William closed his notes folder and took out the museum pamphlet. His finger found the phone number and he dialed. "Hello. Is Eileen Farrow in?" he asked when someone answered.
"I'm sorry. She's quite busy at the moment. Would you care to leave a message?"
A message? "No... No..." He quickly added. "I'll try some other time." He hung up the reciever and placed the phone on its place on the nightstand beside his bed. He walked around and stretvhed his limbs. He sat back down on the dge of his bed and yawned. Keeping his eyes closed he rubbed them. Tears formed under them.
He set his alrm clock and decided to get some sleep. He had to wake up early to be driven to Eton in the morning.

Eileen looked up from the canyon of papers that was on her desks. "Who was that?"
"Some guy..." her assistant answered.
"Any message?"
"No," George answered. He walked around the aisle seprating their work spaces. "What's all this?"
Eileen groaned. "New shipment of letters that the museum bid on."
George rifled through some of them. "The Duchess?"
Eileen turned in her chair. "It's always the duchess." She bent over to massage her ankles and then went back to work.
"What is it about you and that ghost story anyway?" He poured her some coffee from the maker.
Eileen took a sip from the mug handed to her. Warm at best. Stale. But still good. Her hand held a pen that she gestured with. "I just feel that the story is too clean cut. Too Romeo and Juliet like." She massaged the back of her neck and groaned again. "Mmmm. feels good."
George proped hismelf against the edge of his desk. "You don't think that two people could love each other so much they'll die for each other?"
Eileen finished her drink and set the empty mug at the only space left on her table. "It's not that..." How could she explain it? "I just feel that something's missing."
George let his boss be.
Eileen studied the letter in her hand. Anastasia dearest...

Emma (boy a lot of E names here) looked over Harry's homework. The time on the clock said 10:38pm. She thought of the glass of warm milk she had earlier. Why couldn't she sleep? Why was it that every time she closed her eyes William's face floated in? She pulled the cover over her head. Finally, deciding to give she dozed off. So she thought of William when she slept. It wasn't as if she were cheating on Harry or anything.

Chapter Five
"Wills! Get a move on, we're going to be late!" Harry called to his brother's window. He leaned against the car and looked at his watch.
"I'm coming!" Wills yelled hoping that his voice was loud enough to be carried down. He opened his drawers and found out he had no clean black socks. Muttering curses he went on all fours to search under his bed. He reached under pulled out to bunched up ones. He lifted them to his nose and smelled. His face scrunched up. "Oh well," he shrugged, putting them on. When he stood up, he realized they weren't a matching pair. "Bugger to that..." He grabbed his books on the edge of his dresser, shoved his feet into his loafers and left.

Emma was leaning against Harry's shoulder. She avoided looking at Wills.
"Sorry," Wills apologized slamming the door shut behind him and signalling to the driver it would be all right to leave.
Harry said nothing. His arm was around Emma.
William raised an eyebrow then looked out the window. The last time Harry did it so pointedly in front of him was when Emma hadn't yet decided between the two of them. Man, one morning you wke-up next to your brother's girlfriend in a ridiculous plummed hat and all of a sudden he gets suspicious... what was this world coming to?
"Love to love you, luv," Emma told Harry sleepily before getting out of the car.
Harry repeated the sentiment. Another one of their repeated jokes.
They rubbed noses.
William looked away adjusting his legs.
Harry sighed and caressed the empty seat next to him with his palm after they drove off.
"Look, I'm sorry I was late." Wills apologized.
Harry nodded but didn't look up from the spot.
"She loves you," Willaim exploded.
More nodding. Harry tapped his fingers against the leather upholstery.
It was a silent ride the rest of the way to Eton.
Hary got out of the car without much of a backward glance at Wills.
Wills sighed, grabbing his bookbag. He wanted to apologoize to Harry again, but what would he be apologizing for? The first bell of Eton rang and his schoolmates rushed passed him. Maybe because last night he kept thinking of Emma? William felt doom beat against his chest in place of his heart. He trudged his heavy feet off to class. Maybe wearing mismatched socks was bad luck.

TO BE CONTINUED...

©Copyright 1998-2002 TPCstarrside