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Philip rolled onto his back and let out a sigh. He glanced to his left and could see the rays of moonlight poking through the edges of the curtains, however they were not the obstacles between him and a decent night’s sleep. It was his own mind. The Duke of Edinburgh had his duties and discharged them without question, and every now and then he would pay the price through a mind that would not wind down.
...Cabbage would describe it as a horse running around a field frightened and it would require time and patience to bring it back down again...
Philip envied Elizabeth, his Cabbage, in that moment. She had her own room beyond the dividing doors and would have a peaceful night ahead of her, refreshed in the morning and sharp while reviewing her schedule for the day, making a few tweaks here and there. He knew where his place would lie upon the death of her father, the late King George VI. He was Queen Consort, a Duke and nothing more. As Bertie himself said, Elizabeth was the essence of Philip’s duty.
He sighed, sat up on the bed and Philip reached behind him to fish for the silver case he had hidden beneath his pillow. While the habit of smoking could easily be linked to the death of his father-in-law, Philip doubted one cigarette every now and then would be harmful.
The Queen of the United Kingdom required rest as she was as human as her subjects at the end of the day and Philip’s mind still running at daytime capacity and preventing him from sleeping was his own problem and his to deal with. Elizabeth would sleep soundly on.
Or so he believed.
There was a sudden and sharp gasp from her end of the bedroom and then the exclamation of his name.
“Philip!”
At first Philip was alarmed, not from the fact that his hand was resting on his silver case and there was a sudden risk of him being caught, but that his precious Elizabeth could be in danger. Some fool could’ve broken in...
...into Buckingham Palace? Come on!...
That thought was extinguished when the sound of her door crashing open could be heard echoing through the dividing hallway and then followed the pattering of Elizabeth’s bare feet across the carpeted floor. It was urgent enough for her to neglect to don her slippers, but she clearly wasn’t trapped against her will.
Philip firmly slipped his silver case back under the pillow and got to his feet, just in time to witness Elizabeth bursting through his door. Her chest was heaving from intense breathing and her blue eyes glowed in the intruding moonlight, which was creating bright reflections on her forehead. She’d been sweating and no one had taken liberties with the Palace heating system.
There was a look of shock on her face, until she’d laid her eyes upon Philip and Elizabeth’ s expression turned emotional and vulnerable. She dashed across to her husband and leapt into his arms. Philip didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms firmly but not too tightly around her. He rested his chin on top of her head, feeling her dark hair scratching against his cheek as he tilted his head.
“A nasty dream, Cabbage?”
Elizabeth nodded. “About you,” she whimpered, sniffling.
“What happened, if I may ask?”
“I’d l...lost you!” she added, and as soon as she finished speaking, the emotions which caused her to stammer then led to the floodgates of tears giving way and she sobbed into his chest.
Philip planted a kiss on her head and rubbed her back while maintaining the warm and firm embrace. He could feel the growing stickiness created by sweat filtering into her white gown but it didn’t bother him. Elizabeth needed comfort and Philip always felt honoured to be the man who would be by her side at all times, both in public and in private. The latter was far more preferable, as they could be themselves, rather than the stoic faces behind their titles.
“You’re quite shaken, darling,” he sighed.
“Yes and I’m sorry for barging in on you like this, you must’ve been in the midst of subconscious paradise. It’s so pathetic of me to be bothered by a mere dream,” Elizabeth mumbled, with shame in her voice.
“There are dreams and then there are nightmares, Cabbage. You can always come to me when you experience one. They make our worst fears so real in the moment and we don’t know what’s real and what isn’t when we awaken.”
“Losing you is my worst fear, I simply cannot bear it!”
“Well, I’m here and I’m not going anywhere. We can talk about the nightmare in more detail if you wish, right here?”
“Can you just keep holding me for now?” Elizabeth begged. “That’s working wonders more than you know. I can hear your heart beating this way.”
“Certainly,” Philip chuckled in a whisper and turned to look at the moonlight to his left, resting his cheek on her head. He and Elizabeth stood there, holding each other for what felt like an eternity but that would never be a bad thing in his mind. He would hold her right there all night if necessary!
“Tell me a joke, darling.”
“A joke?”
“You know I love your...peculiar...sense of humour, dearest. Please?” Elizabeth pleaded, her voice partially muffled by his pyjama top.
“Very well,” Philip verbally shrugged.
“In a classroom, an RAF pilot was speaking to a group of schoolchildren about his experiences during the Battle of Britain. In the midst of his story, he explains ‘...and as we broke free of the clouds, there were these three Fokkers...’ and the children naturally burst out laughing with reddening faces.
“The teacher was alarmed of course and interrupted with; ‘Children, now would be a good time to mention that the Fokker was a Dutch-German aircraft flown by the Luftwaffe during the war, so that’s all it is.’
“ She then turns to the pilot and asks if she’s correct in saying so. He nods. ‘Yes, ma’am, that is correct. However in this instance, these three Fokkers....were flying Messerschmitts’ .”
Elizabeth stunned both herself and Philip by snorting in response, followed by an innocent giggle. She brought herself back to look up at him and while there were tears in her eyes, she was biting her lower lip to fight back further giggles. Philip snickered and kissed her on the forehead.
“Papa would’ve loved that one,” she sighed, rubbing his arms, assuring herself that she was no longer stuck in her subconscious and she was, in fact, in the arms of the love of her life.
“He preferred limericks, did he not?”
Elizabeth nodded. “And filthy ones at that.”
“Any you can recall?”
She scoffed and shook her head. “Margaret would be the one to turn to about such matters.”
“I’ll be sure to remember during our next encounter.”
Elizabeth beamed, before leaning up and kissing Philip softly, moving her lips to his cheek and then the side of his neck, running her hands across his back and they entered another embrace.
“You dreamt I died the same way His late Majesty did, correct?” he concluded with a sigh .
There was a momentary silence before Elizabeth found the idea of denying it ridiculous and pointless. She just nodded and brought herself back to look up at him again, placing her palm on his cheek and then stroking his temple. She found the serious interest he was showing in his eyes heart-warming.
“Uncanny similarities. I dreamt that I woke up to a typical morning with a bright sunshine but with no assistance from my usual servant. I got myself out of bed and looked around, only to find them all banging on your door with grave concern in their voices. Somehow I was able to open the door without difficulty and the staff all screamed in horror while I walked further in.”
“And what did you see?”
“You were... there ,” she whimpered, her emotions surfacing once again while she glanced over at Philip’s bed and pointed. “Head back and partially tilted to one side. Your eyes were closed but your skin had turned cold and grey. I refused to believe what I was seeing until I felt your wrist, there was nothing...just ice!”
Philip held her once again to allow the next round of tears to escape and added occasional kisses to the top of her head, with strands of her hair slipping into his mouth but he didn’t care.
“And that was when you woke up?”
She nodded. “When I felt your wrist I just screamed your name repeatedly and tried to wake you up...but you wouldn’t.”
“I’m awake now, Cabbage and I’ll stay awake as long as you need me to.”
“Would you be alright if I stayed with you tonight? I can’t go back to sleep without you holding me, please?” she asked, using her eyes like Charles or Anne would do when asking for chocolate.
Philip beamed widely and brushed the tip of his nose against hers. “Command me... Your Majesty .”
She beamed back and took a step back, clasping her hands officially and clearing her throat, unable to fight back the everlasting smirk. “Her Majesty requests the comfort of the Duke of Edinburgh’s bed as well as the presence of the Duke himself and his... rather refined features. Would His Royal Highness be obliging?”
“Ah,” Philip nodded. “His Royal Highness requests that Her Majesty removes her god-awfully drenched gown so she could feel most comfortable.”
“That would be agreeable, under the condition that the Duke removes his clothing also so that we would remain on equal footing for the duration of the night. Does this satisfy His Royal Highness?”
Philip nodded, raising a naughty eyebrow and looking at a grinning Elizabeth from head to toe. “The nakedness of Her Majesty never fails to satisfy me,” he sighed, going for the top button of her gown, having to reach around her shoulders.
Elizabeth hummed Camptown Races to herself while undoing Philip’s shirt and assisting in the removal of his pyjama bottoms. The moonlight allowed them to view each other’s naked and familiar bodies momentarily before Philip lifted the corner of his duvet and took her by the hand.
Elizabeth rested her head on his shoulder before gripping his opposite side and pulling herself in closer. Her nose was now blowing warm air onto his chest which Philip wouldn’t admit aloud was tickling him. He pulled the duvet up over them and lightly curled his arm around her upper back.
“Tighter,” she whispered.
Philip moved his hand further to cup her shoulder and bring their bodies closer together. He could feel her nipples brushing against his ribcage. Her hair was scratching beneath his chin and he took a quick sniff to deduce the shampoo most recently to end up in her possession.
“How’s that, Cabbage?”
“Perfect, I can hear your heart now, dearest,” she whispered back. “Everything’s just perfect now.”
Philip remained quiet for about a minute and could feel Elizabeth’s breathing relaxing ever more and figured she’d be asleep within another thirty seconds. He suddenly realised his own mind had otherwise calmed down and that once Elizabeth was soundly asleep, he would be within another minute also.
“I love you, dearest,” Elizabeth croaked. “Always.”
“I love you, too, Cabbage,” Philip replied, placing his lips on her temple so she could feel them against her soft flawless skin as her subconscious rapidly approached again.
“Always.”