#quincey has been kind of girlfailing in this one

[fischerfrey]

A Christmas Prince; The Royal Wedding

Chapter 5: The Breaking Point

Summary: Dawn investigates the situation in Alderly, leading to unexpected consequences.

Words: 5k

Characters:

Dawn Harvelle and Evander Alderly by @potionboy3

Quincey and Olympia Alderly, Tess Brandon

Rocky Weasley by @magicallymalted

Pandora Lovelace by @gcldensnitch

Also featuring:

Evan Harvelle by @potionboy3

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Want to read the first fic in the series, A Christmas Prince? Click here!

Chapter 5: The Breaking Point

Dawn was on a video call with Rocky and Pandora, while Rosa and The Queen argued about flower arrangements.

“We're on our way to the airport,” Pandora was saying. “See you in just a few hours!”

“It’s arse o’clock in the morning, try and get some sleep on the plane, okay?”

“I'm on vacation,” announced Rocky. “I'll sleep after New Year's.”

“You’re insane.”

“Your blog is what’s insane,” Pandora said. “It got like a billion hits in under ten hours but why did you take down all the photos?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Everything you put up is like, gone,” Pandora explained. Dawn minimized the call window and pulled out his blog.

“Vanished about an hour ago,” said Rocky.

“I didn't take it down,” Dawn said, confused.

“Someone did,” Rocky observed.

“I bet I know who…”

~

Pince’s new office was on the same floor as Dawn’s wedding hell, so it didn’t take long for him to storm there. The culprit in question was talking one of the palace aides, a man by the name of Mr. Gorski.

“May I suggest a little damage control?” said Pince.

“I shall have a word with my friends in the press,” said Gorski.

“Much appreciated.”

The aide left and gave Dawn a funny look at the door.

Dawn stepped inside. “Did you censor my blog?”

“With all due respect, I thought we had talked about this, and agreed that…”

“I never agreed to my work being censored!”

Pince sighed and turned her computer screen to face Dawn, with all the pictures he had taken on full display. Another tab was open on the background, something about a company called Meadowlark but Dawn didn’t get a good look, before Pince maximized one of the pictures. The one showing Olympia and Gaia goofing off.

“Do you really think that this is the sort of image the royal family should portray?”

“I saw that it's trending!” Dawn argued. “It had tons of positive comments.”

“It's also a breach of protocol.”

“I seriously doubt,” said Dawn and took a deep breath. “…that traditional protocols were set up for viral social media.”

“Times change, protocol does not.”

“Well, in this case–,” Dawn started but Pince simply said: “Your photographs belong to us now. It's just the way that it is.”

Dawn couldn’t think of a single thing to say. Maybe he should have cleared a permission to post the images. He’d have to have a word with Quincey about this.

“Now, shall we turn our attention to the royal portrait?” asked Pince. “It is to be rendered at 4:30 promptly.”

~

“I can tell something's bothering you,” Quincey whispered. They were posed for the royal portrait, which Dawn had to admit, was not the best position to have a conversation in.

“Can we talk about it?” Quincey asked.

“I don't know, can we?” he hissed back. “It seems like we need a royal decree to go to the loo.”

“Who's ruffled your feathers now?”

“I had a rather unpleasant conversation with Miss Pince today,” Dawn explained. “I don't appreciate being controlled.”

“It's a balancing act,” said Quincey. “At the end of a day, they work for us, but we need to play by the rules.”

“She deleted posts from my blog, without informing me.”

“Please, be quiet Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness,” said Rosa.

“Once we get through the wedding and you're officially Prince Consort, we'll be at a better place to pick our battles,” Quincey added quickly.

“’Once we get through it.’ Sounds like you're talking about a medical procedure…”

“Let's just go with the flow. Keep calm and carry on, for now. Okay?”

The photographer cleared his throat, and both Dawn and Quincey assumed their poses.

“Chin up, King Quentin, give me some regality.”

Flash.

“Watch the smiling. This image must exude solemnity and control.”

Flash.

They were ordered to turn this way and that, change hand positions, change sides, and Dawn was getting annoyed. He knew this to be a part of life as a member of the royal family but Pince censoring his blog had already burned away much of his already short fuse.

“How much longer will this take?” he asked after twenty minutes.

“The sooner we get it right, the sooner we can go,” said the photographer.

“It’s the necklace,” said Miss Pince. “Who approved this? You, Miss Yaxley?”

Dawn realized they were talking about Tess’s necklace, and he grabbed it protectively.

“I…” Rosa started. “I thought it had been agreed upon.”

“I chose it,” said Dawn.

“Well, it's absolutely wrong! Take it off.”

“I want to wear it.”

“It's inappropriate,” said Pince and snapped her fingers for Rosa to take the necklace. Rosa walked over to Dawn apologetically.

“I really want to keep this,” said Dawn.

“This isn’t about you,” said Pince. “It’s about the royal portrait.”

“Quincey?” Dawn attempted, turning to his husband-to-be.

“Miss Pince, is there really no way he could…”

“This is the official portrait, Your Majesty, I’m afraid I must insist on the removal of the necklace.”

“I don’t see–,”

Pince stepped closer. “You two don’t want to insult the crown now, when we’ve come so far. It’s crucial we do everything by the books.”

Quincey sighed and Dawn could see the fight draining out of him. “Alright.”

“What?” Dawn asked.

“It’s just a necklace, Dawn.”

Dawn felt like he’d been dumped into cold water. Silently he took the necklace off but instead of giving it to Rosa’s expectant hand, he carefully put it in his pocket. Then he got back into his pose, and it certainly wasn’t hard not to smile anymore.

~

The atmosphere was not quite merry, when the family gathered together in front of a fireplace to read Christmas cards sent by the Alderlian people.

“It makes us proud to have you as our royal family. May you be blessed with the happiest of Christmases. Love, the Potters,” Queen Isabella read from her big, throne-like armchair. “All the cards from well-wishers have to be my favourite part of the season.”

“I love hanging Christmas cards from my partners and customers on my office wall back home,” said Tess.

“Would you like some coffee with that whiskey, Evander?” asked Quincey when Evander sat next to him on the couch. Evander made a face at him. Dawn could suddenly see them as kids, bickering over toys or the front seat of a car.

“Dear Royals, while I'm sure you're having a dandy Christmas at the palace, the real working people of Alderly are suffering…” the queen stopped short and cleared her throat. “This one isn't very festive.”

“Keep reading, mother,” said Quincey.

Isabella hesitated, but went on: “I've lost my job, as the business I owned and worked at my whole life, but which was put out of business by your New Alderly disaster. Thanks for nothing but a big lump of coal in my stocking this year.”

Isabella lowered the card and looked distraught. “We are doing everything we can, aren't we? That man has no idea how hard we're working for the long-term well-being of the kingdom.”

Evan nodded encouragingly. “Some people just like to complain. It's like I always say: can't let the naysayers bring you down. Right, peanut?”

“Dad…” muttered Dawn.

“All hail, Prince Peanut!” said Evander, raising his glass.

“All hail, the village idiot,” said Olympia.

“Mr. Harvelle has a valid point,” said the queen. “Mustn't let a malcontent disrupt the season.”

“Read another one, mother,” said Quincey.

“Dearest royal family, sending you warmest wishes this holiday... and hoping for the best. Merry Christmas…”

~

Olympia came with Dawn to wait for the arrival of Rocky and Pandora. Quincey had sent a car to fetch them from the airport. They were coming together, since Jimmy couldn’t get away until the wedding due to his father’s magazine going out of business. Nymeria was also working until Christmas Eve, so Maxim had postponed his arrival, too.

“I think there’s more to these New Alderly problems than meets the eye, but I've been too caught up thinking about the wedding protocols,” Dawn told the princess.

“What do you mean more?” Olympia inquired.

“Call it journalistic instinct.”

Just then the car pulled up and Dawn’s friends filed out.

“Dawn!” said Pandora excitably and came to give him a hug. Rocky followed suit.

“Hi guys,” said Dawn. He was very happy to see the two of them, especially after the insane stuff that had been going on in Alderly.

“You must be Princess Olympia,” said Pandora and curtsied. Dawn felt proud.

Rocky bowed and said: “It's an honour to be a guest of the realm.”

“Uh, excuse Rocky, this is his first royal wedding.”

Olympia laughed. “The realm welcomes you both. Abide, and you will avoid the dungeon.”

Pandora and Rocky exchanged glances.

~

Dawn showed his friends around. Their reactions were pretty much in line with Dawn’s own.

“Oh, my gosh, can you believe this place?” said Pandora. “It's amazing.”

“You think if we just moved in, they'd even notice?” Rocky asked.

“Let's give it a try.”

“Where are the knights in shining armour?” Rocky continued. “When's jousting? I want to joust.”

“I want wenches serving mead,” Pandora announced.

“There are no wenches in my kingdom,” said Quincey, who had appeared at the end of the hall. He walked up to them, smiling. He’d spent more time with all of Dawn’s friends throughout their engagement and they got along nicely. Dawn was willing to wager that Pandora and Rocky had more goodwill for the king than he did, at the minute.

“Quincey,” said Dawn. He was still pissed off about the necklace, but he didn’t want to start an argument when his friends had just arrived.

“My King!” said Rocky.

“Good to see you both again,” said Quincey.

“Good to see you, too,” said Pandora.  “You have a beautiful country.”

“So many dignitaries about, too,” said Rocky. “I never get to meet dignitaries at the Noodle Chalet.”

“I wish I could come have some fun with you three today, but sadly, my day is far from over. mother has the new accounts for us.”

Of course she did.

“Well, I’d love to stay and help but…” Dawn started.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t postpone our celebrations?” asked Pandora, looking between Dawn and Quincey. Dawn, however, had other plans in store.

“It’s quite alright, you should show your friends the sights of Alderly. But think of me when you're having fun.” His tone was a little off, so maybe he wasn’t completely unaware of Dawn’s hurt feelings.

“You heard the King, it's party time,” said Pandora.

“It's your bachelor night!” said Rocky. “We're gonna get it going!”

Quincey rolled his eyes at them in amusement and left. Dawn turned to his friends, half a plan formed in his mind.

 “Actually, there's something I was hoping you two could help me with.”

“What kind of something?” asked Rocky.

“A lead I want to follow up on.”

“A lead?”

“More of a hunch. Potentially a source.”

“Wait,” said Pandora “A lead for what? A scoop?”

“Discrepancies in the kingdom's finances,” Dawn explained.

“That sounds way more fun than a bachelor party,” said Rocky, sarcastically.

“Should've seen this coming. It's just days to your wedding, your best friends just flew in to celebrate, and you want to work?” asked Pandora.

“Yes. There's something going on in Alderly that doesn't make sense.”

“What does Quincey say?” asked Rocky.

Dawn scoffed, annoyed at the mere thought. “He's too busy going with the flow. Please, I need your help. There's someone we need to find tonight.”

~

Dawn’s plan involved finding the Christmas card sent by the displeased subject. It was from a man by the name of Aberforth Dumbledore. Tess agreed to help, too so they had four people combing through the cards instead of three.

“Let us search the realm for one Mr. Dumbledore,” announced Pandora.

“We should at least bring our sunglasses,” Tess said as a clear dig at Dawn for his disguise at the airport. “Having the Prince-Consort-to-be spotted roaming the city without any security might be a bit risky.”

“I’m security,” said Pandora but Tess was not convinced so they all dressed up as incognito as possible. Dawn put on a hat for good measure. He was aware of the risky nature of his plan, but he had started to seriously doubt the court’s ability to handle this situation.

~

The four of them went to the most popular pub in town to start with. The Three Broomsticks it was called, and they had it on good authority that it might be a place to find this Mr. Dumbledore.

“If this Aberforth guy isn't here,” said Pandora. “Can we please do something fun?

“Yes, something that resembles a bachelor party,” agreed Rocky.

“I spoke to Mr. Flitwick, and he said that Mr. Dumbledore’s been here almost every day since he lost his job.”

“Notice how he didn't answer my question,” grumbled Pandora to Rocky.

“Well, at least it's a bar…”

~

The bartender was an older lady with magnificent, light brown curls. Her name was Rosmerta and Tess went to ask her about their mystery man so as to protect Dawn’s identity. While he waited, a man walked up to him, clearly well into god knew how many pints.

“Why are you wearing sunglasses inside?” he demanded. “It’s dark as a dungeon in here.”

Dawn, not wanting to cause any kind of a scene but being well aware of how drunk people were capable of causing a fight from nothing, just said: “I have a light sensitivity disorder.”

The man did a double take and squinted his eyes at Dawn. “Do I know your voice from somewhere?”

“I gotta go, sorry,” said Dawn and joined Tess at the bar. He very much did not want to be discovered here.

Rosmerta pointed them to one of the corner tables, where an elderly chap was sitting, nursing a pint of ale.

Dawn approached, his companions behind him.

“Aberforth Dumbledore?”

“Who wants to know?”

“I’d like to ask you some questions.”

Aberforth did not seem particularly forthcoming when he asked: “What kind of questions?”

“About your work situation.”

“You some kind of reporter?”

“Well, sort of,” said Dawn and removed his sunglasses.

“Merlin’s beard,” said Aberforth, obviously recognizing Dawn. “What the devil are you doing here?”

“I want to help,” Dawn said. “The situation is getting out of hand, and I think I might be able to do something about it. Not that King Quentin isn’t trying his best, he’s barely slept since I got here.”

“And I'm supposed to feel sorry for him?” asked Aberforth. “How much sleep you think I've been getting?”

“I'm sorry, Mr. Dumbledore, that's not what I meant,” said Dawn, backpedalling. “It's just that they... that we are all trying to find the best solution.”

Aberforth scoffed. “But you're one of them. Why should I trust you?”

To be fair, Dawn probably hadn’t thought this thing through. He wasn’t used to not being the underdog himself so having it thrown to his face made him hesitate. Still, he pressed on: “Why else would I be here? I want to understand what's going on, too.”

Aberforth sighed and motioned for them all to sit down. Maybe because he actually believed Dawn or maybe because he figured if he cooperated, they’d all leave him alone sooner.

“This whole New Alderly initiative, it's a fraud. It was supposed to be a way to get the country to invest more money back into itself. That be the case, the money should actually stay in Alderly.”

Dawn took out a tiny notebook and a pen. He wasn’t going to fumble what might very well be his last chance of doing some actual investigative journalism.

“I owned a pub called Hog’s Head Inn for 45 years before we were shut down.”

“If local businesses like yours aren't getting a piece of the pie, then who is?” asked Dawn.

“Well, a new company, Meadowlark. They bought out many local businesses and there simply weren’t enough customers to stay afloat. They could afford lower prices.”

Meadowlark grabbed Dawn’s attention. It was the name he’d seen on Pince’s computer this very morning. This, however, was the first time he was hearing anything about a big corporation buying out local businesses.

“An Alderlian company?”

“Well, on paper, maybe. But them and another couple of companies formed at the start of the initiative. All a bit fishy, if you ask me.”

Dawn wrote down everything he thought relevant as fast as he could. Aberforth eyed him and then asked: “What are you planning on doing anyway?”

“Getting to the bottom of this.” Dawn said determinedly. “Thank you for your help, Mr. Dumbledore. It's a good start.”

Aberforth nodded. “I never did like being called Mr. Dumbledore. Aberforth will do if you happen on these parts again, Your Highness.”

“Alright, Aberforth–,” Dawn started, when suddenly someone yelled across the room: “There he is! With the hat!”

“I think we got trouble,” said Rocky, standing up quickly.

“Dawn! Dawn Harvelle!”

“For cock’s sake,” Dawn swore and slipped his notebook back into his pocket.

The four of them retreated to the very back of the pub but paparazzies had already been alerted to their presence. Suddenly someone grabbed Dawn by the arm, and he jumped.

“Follow me,” said Evander of all people. “I know a way out.”

“What the hell?” asked Dawn.

“Or you can stay here and be picked clean by the vultures,” Evander said urgently.

“What… You tipped these people off, didn't you?”

“If I tipped them off,” Evander demanded. “Why would I be trying to help you escape? Let's go.”

“I don’t see any other way out of here,” said Tess.

“Fine,” Dawn relented, and they all followed Evander out from a side exit.

~

Once outside and away from the earshot of any paparazzi, Dawn asked: “Did you follow us here?”

“We're fighting on the same side here,” said Evander.

“I don't know what angle you're playing, but I know you're playing one.”

“This is my car, come on,” he said, ignoring Dawn’s comment. It was tiny and old, and Dawn couldn’t place its model. All he could do was ask: “What happened to the Lamborghini?”

“It was a Ferrari and I told you I had to sell it,” Evander said. “Now get in unless you want those people to catch up with us.”

They filed in, Dawn stubbornly in the back while Tess took the front seat. He didn’t appreciate having to be rescued by Evander.

“Thank you,” said Tess.

“Why on Earth did you think it was a good idea to go snooping to town?” Evander asked and he was clearly talking to Tess, made more evident when he added: “Dawn’s the most famous person in the country right now.”

“In my defence,” said Rocky from the right side of Dawn. “I didn’t think it was a good idea.”

“We wanted to help,” said Tess. “And I think we might have found something worthwhile.”

~

“Not much on Meadowlark Enterprises…” Dawn said later back at the palace. He’d pulled out his laptop and was trying to find out any information he could about the mysterious company. “Just a public web site with no physical address. It's like someone's scrubbed the records. There's no footprint.”

“Is that the best you can do?” asked Evander.

“Remind me again why you're here?”

“I rescued your asses from the paparazzi,” said Evander. “And I know more about the economic situation than you.”

“Really?” asked Dawn. “Here I thought you were just a waste of space.”

“You have such a way with words,” said Evander.

“Well, I am a writer.”

Rocky drew Dawn’s attention back to the computer screen.

“Hey, check that out,” he said. “Looks like Meadowlark is getting the lion's share of the contracts with these two other firms: Geller Inc., and Houghton Alexis.”

“Those must be the others that Aberforth was talking about,” Dawn mused, examining the screen.

“Do you know anything about those companies?” Tess asked Evander who looked slightly surprised at being asked a direct question.

“No, but I do know that any company involved in public works projects has to register their financial information with the Hall of Records database.”

“How do we get in there?” asked Dawn.

“You're the one with the King for a fiancé,” said Evander.

“I don't want to ask Quincey about this. Not unless I really have to.”

“Why not?” asked Evander, smugly. “Do I detect trouble in paradise?”

“Wipe that stupid look off your face,” said Dawn.

“Guys,” said Pandora. “Can we stay on subject.”

“Right,” continued Evander. “We could break into the Hall of Records. Or kidnap the records keeper, toss him in a dungeon, and hope he gives up the passcode.”

This solicited a few chuckles from everyone around the table but Dawn.

“Or we could hack it,” said someone by the door. Olympia walked in; arms crossed.

“How long have you been out there?” asked Dawn.

“Long enough to get the gist,” Olympia replied. “Chances are Alderly's public firewalls aren't exactly state of the art.”

“Are you saying you could do it?” asked Dawn.

“No, she’s not,” said Evander, looking at Olympia in equal parts surprise and suspicion. “Remember how I said I went to Oxford for Economics?”

“Vaguely.”

“I minored in computer science.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” asked Dawn.

“No, he isn’t,” said Olympia. She didn’t seem at all happy about having spoken this idea out loud but if there was a chance they could get to the bottom of things this way then Dawn had to admit that it wasn’t entirely bad.

“If I can create a network interface that catches the traffic to the legitimate server, I can backdoor the access.”

Everyone looked at Evander like he’d just spoken a completely different language.

“An interfacing server-traffic-catcher,” he said. “Never heard of it?”

“Of course,” said Dawn, sarcastically. “So obvious.”

“Do you think you can crack this?” Tess asked Evander.

“Yes, but it's going take some time,” he said as Dawn handed his laptop to him. “Perhaps all night.”

“No problem,” said Pandora and then turned to Rocky. “Are you thinking what I'm thinking?”

“Bachelor party?” asked Rocky.

“No,” said Dawn.

“I would appreciate it if you let me work in peace so by all means, go have your little party,” said Evander.

“I do not feel comfortable leaving him alone with this,” said Dawn. “He has my computer, after all.”

“I’ll keep an eye on him,” said Tess. Dawn squinted his eyes at her. He wasn’t sure why Tess was suddenly so nice about Evander.

“Alright, fine, but no partying” he said. At least he knew he could trust Tess.

~

Olympia led Dawn, Rocky, and Pandora upstairs.

“Alright,” said Olympia. “The coast is clear. Now.”

“Where exactly are we going?” asked Dawn.

The princess reached a door and tried the handle. It was locked, so she produced a key from her cardigan pocket. “Since we’re not throwing a party, we might as well do something fun.”

Olympia let them in. It was a standard palace bedroom and Dawn couldn’t immediately tell to whom it belonged.

“Olympia, whose room is this?” he asked and then noticed a framed photograph of Evander on one of the nightstands. Had they entered the lair of some secret Evander fan-club or did this man seriously have his own picture on his nightstand?

“Evie’s, of course,” said Olympia as innocently as she could muster.

Dawn walked over to the bed and picked up the picture frame. “I would’ve guessed his mother.”

Olympia chuckled and began to search around the room for something.

“What are we looking for?” asked Pandora.

“I happen to know that Evander has a collection of quality sheet masks somewhere in here,” Olympia explained, opening drawers and cabinets. “We’re going to… borrow a few.”

“Sheet masks?” asked Rocky, as if he hadn’t heard Olympia correctly.

“Yes!” the princess said. “It’ll be fun, trust me!”

Dawn got to looking and soon enough discovered a stash in one of the drawers of Evander’s closet. “Oh, wow, these are like… posh posh.”

“I know right,” said Olympia. “Everyone, take your pick.”

Pandora and Olympia chose masks for themselves, but Dawn was still stuck on the price tag.

“He had to sell his car but he’s still sticking to these…”

“Priorities,” muttered Pandora and examined her mask’s package.

“He does have a very soft-looking skin,” said Rocky, grabbing one for himself.

“That’s so true,” Pandora said.

“Is there anything else we could nick?” asked Dawn. He was definitely interested in mildly inconveniencing Evander in any way he could.

“I mean,” started Pandora. She looked around the room. “He’s basically poor, now, right?”

“He’s still a count,” said Olympia. “He might be exaggerating his struggles a little.”

“His car did truly suck, though.”

Rocky cleared his throat. “He is currently trying to help the country… Maybe. Just a friendly reminder.”

“Let’s just grab the masks and go,” suggested Pandora.

Olympia looked at Dawn. “Hmm, what do you think? Has Evie deserved our mercy?”

“Well, with a quick glance we didn’t find anything particularly evil…” Dawn said.

“Yeah, alright,” said Olympia. “Masks it is.”

“Actually,” said Dawn, still holding Evander’s picture. “I’m taking this. It’s a good Christmas present for Quincey.”

Olympia laughed. “I’m sure he’ll love it.”

“I’ll place it in our bedroom… His bedroom…? Do we have to sleep in separate bedrooms?”

“Not once you’re married,” said Olympia. “Propriety rules, and all.”

“In The Crown they have separate rooms,” said Rocky.

“They used to have those here too,” said Olympia. “And I’m sure you could get one if you wanted to.”

“Do you think he wants that…?” asked Dawn, carefully.

Olympia looked at him quizzically. “Quincey? I very much doubt it.”

Dawn shrugged. Quincey was always so busy that Dawn thought he might’ve even wanted some privacy.

“Let’s go, then,” said Olympia. They all filed out of the room, stolen masks in hand. Dawn felt a bit good about it, even though he was well aware of the good works Evander was currently performing.

~

They went to Dawn’s bridal suite and put the masks on. Olympia also insisted upon mani-pedis, so that’s what they did. She had some glühwein brought up and they passed a pleasant evening. Rocky was very much looking forward to waking up with the world’s softest skin the next morning and Dawn didn’t think about his wedding drama all that much. But this, much like a lot of things in Alderly, wasn’t the night Dawn would have planned for himself, and if it had been Jimmy, Maxim, Rocky, and him, the night would have gone very differently. Probably something along the lines of beer-pong. However, all things considered; it was still pretty fun.

~

Dawn was woken up way too early by someone calling his name.

“Mr. Harvelle. Mr. Harvelle!”

“Rosa, go away…”

“I am not Rosa,” said the distinct voice of Miss Pince. “Now, get up, get dressed, and follow me to my office.”

Dawn sat up. Pince’s face did not promise good news. She left the room so Dawn could get dressed in peace but was waiting right outside the door. When they arrived at the office, Quincey was already there, looking slightly dishevelled. Pince had probably woken him up, too.

“Quince?”

“Dawn, what are you doing here?”

“I have no idea,” admitted Dawn “You don't know?”

“Not a clue. Miss Pince asked me here…”

“Your Majesty, thank you for coming,” said Pince and took a seat.

“What can we do for you?” Quincey asked. Dawn was starting to feel like his actions from last night were going to come back to bite him in the arse.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” said Pince and opened her computer so Quincey and Dawn could see the article displayed on it. “But we have been hit by a rather severe public relations snafu. This is exactly what we don't want.”

It was a front-page article proclaiming: The Prince Consort goes barhopping! Complete with several pictures taken at The Three Broomsticks.

“That's Dawn's bachelor party,” said Quincey but then he stopped and looked at the pictures more closely. “Is that Evander?” His tone was more that of surprise than disapproval though. Still, Pince didn’t look happy.

Dawn cleared his throat, he had better tell the truth than let Quiney think Dawn had invited Evander to his party. “It wasn't a party, we were investigating.”

“Investigating?” asked Quincey.

“Investigating what?” Miss Pince echoed the king.

“The discrepancies in the royal finances.”

“Excuse me?” asked Pince.

“What?” said Quincey.

Pince took a deep breath and said, more to Quincey than to Dawn: “I'm afraid that Mr. Harvelle does not understand his role within the royal family.”

Dawn, pissed off that he was spoken of as if he was a child or not in the room, said: “Oh, no, I get it. I'm supposed to smile, and nod, and do as I'm told. I understand, I just... I don't agree.”

“Well, I suggest that you cease from any further investigation and any activity pertaining to your blog immediately.”

“No way,” said Dawn.

“Your Majesty?” Pince implored.

“I…” Quincey started. “Look, Dawn, I think Miss Pince might be right about this. The approval ratings for the royal family are in the gutter and I–,”

“Really, Quincey?”

He couldn’t even say that he was surprised by Quincey not taking his side and that was probably the most disappointing thing about the entire situation.

“Just for a while.”

Dawn got up from his seat. He’d had enough of this entire bloody farce. He was beginning to think that maybe he wasn’t really cut out for this role and that maybe he had fucked up when he agreed to it in the first place. He stormed out of the room and could hear Quincey calling after him and Pince saying: “Sir! Give him some space. Let him calm down. And meanwhile, The Queen Mother has sent some notes for tonight's speech…”

tag list: @lifeofkaze, @gcldensnitch, @endlessly-cursed, @cursed-herbalist, @magicallymalted

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