Grandmother

Her grandmother the Queen, has come here personally. Jo stepped carefully inside the office, her head was bowed and her aura submissive. She proceeded in performing a short curtsy in front of the Queen and waited for her to address her first.

In the room, the other royals were her mother Anne, Princess Royal along with her husband, her sister Zara, her uncle Prince Charles and Prince William, her cousin. Her mother and sister were sitting on the sofa by the window, the Queen was seated in an armchair next to them, Will was in his desk chair and the other two elderly men, were standing on their feet behind the Queen.

They were all fixating her with their eyes like a bunch of oil, life size, classical portraits. It was silent, no one moved or said anything. The Queen adjusted her position in the armchair and asked.

"You have created a great disturbance to the royal family, and a consistent amount from the yearly budget was allocated for your search. Now you appear in front of us safe and sound. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Jo felt a great pressure on her chest, she had longed removed this family from her life and heart. She convinced herself since she was eight years old, that she would no longer get affected by their words, but why was she still feeling this way, why couldn't she heal completely.

Jo took a deep breath and replied.

"I was deprived of my own liberty in China. All my belongings were taken away and I had no means of contacting anyone for help"

"Who is the organisation that held you captive?" Asked Will, at the hand signal of the Queen.

Jo looked at her cousin and relaxed a little bit.

"I don't know!"

"Then how did you escaped?" Asked her sister.

"I didn't escape, I woke up this morning on a bench in Paris. I found my passport and a credit card in my pocket, so I bought a plane ticket and came home!"

Jo didn't want to tell them about Lu Ye Ze, she would rather risk her life and lie to the Queen, than get him dragged into this matter. She mocked up a story, that was difficult to investigate, hoping this family of hers, would not meddle in her life anymore. Her story had a lot of lose strings though and the crowd she was dealing with at the moment, wasn't an easy one.

Despite their distant relationship, Jo had always had to show respect and obey the rules set by the monarchy, even though she was a royal herself and lived in a modern world, committing treason before Her Royal Majesty The Queen, was a sin punishable by death.

All the royal members present in the room understood immediately, that the girl wasn't willing to tell them what truly happened. The Queen was tired from her old age, she signalled her son to call the aids in and help her go back. Before she left she said.

"William, I trust you will resolve this matter accordingly!"

Will nodded and bowed in front of the departing Queen as everyone else. Prince Charles accompanied her mother and left his son in charge.

After the doors were closed a barrage of questions were thrown at Jo, all at the same time.

Jo closed her eyes and remained silent, the crowd was getting more and more agitated, so in the end she had to make a reaction, otherwise she would have been skinned alive.

"Can I please speak with Will alone? He can decide what to do after!" Jo said in a soft submissive voice.