The group was relatively silent as they followed William out of The Throne Room and into the halls of Buckingham Palace. Maddie stayed tight to Harry's side; her hand tucked through his arm as they moved. They went up a set of stairs, rounded a corner and stepped into one of the many magnificently ornate rooms. Crossing to a large fireplace, the group slowed to a still; all eyes forward. Maddie looked up at Harry with quizzical eyes. His smirk was smug, his eyes dancing with all he knew lied ahead of them. William, leading this particular leg of the journey, stepped forward, twisted a candelabra counterclockwise. And then, with a light push to the wall behind it; the entire wall began to move. Maddie's eyes flashed wide and she leaned to whisper to the man who had brought her to all of this.

"Zoinks Shaggy, that was amazing..." Harry cracked a grin as his family shuffled around them.

"Come on, love," he pulled on her hand; stepping through the low archway into what was, for all intents and purposes, a hidden passageway.

"This is straight up Scooby Doo stuff. You know that right?" Maddie tugged on his arm and he laughed as they moved through the corridor. For more than a minute Maddie was certain she was dreaming, that she had slipped into some alternate reality, some time in history when hidden tunnels and escapes were the norm. When they reached the end of the small corridor, there was another push. With two small steps, they were standing in a large game room; complete with couches and TVs, a fully stocked bar, a billiards table, shuffleboard, darts. There was music playing, food out on the bar and a few doors to other rooms; a bathroom, maybe a bedroom. Maddie wasn't entirely sure. In the middle of the room as a large, comfortable chair that Maddie just knew was for her. There was a small table next to it and all of the other seats were positioned towards it; like an audience to a stage.

"Okay," William clapped his hands together, more relaxed now that they were there. "Maddie, would you join me over at the bar?"

As if I have a choice, Maddie thought as she let go of Harry and smiled wide. "Absolutely."

"We're going to start off with a drink," his hand reached out to her shoulder; pulling her in. Jack, Kate, and Mike had all rounded to the other side of the bar and in front of them were three overturned silver buckets, the kind that normally had ice and champagne in them. "Jack, Kate, and Mike were the last three to marry into the family and they have each created a cocktail for you underneath these buckets. You get to choose which one you want to start with."

"Hmmm..." Maddie tapped her chin with her finger as she scanned the three of them; noticing the slightly wicked look in Mike's eyes, the bright way Kate was smiling at her. "I'm going to go with...Kate." Her hand reached out to tap the bucket as Kate clapped her hands in excitement.

"I am so glad you chose my drink because it has some meaning behind it." Kate's eyes were bright and cheery as she pulled her silver bucket up dramatically. "Champagne. In a flask."

"A flask!" Maddie bounced on her feet, remembering the baby shower they attended where they would have easily given all they had for a flask of something. Reaching for the beautifully designed flask, she read the inscription along the bottom. "Oh Baby! Hahahaha..." Maddie's laughter was joined by Kate's as she pulled an identical flask from behind the bar.

"Our names are along the bottom so that we can tell them apart..." Kate lifted them up and Maddie grinned noticing that she had inscribed them as Kate and Maddie—not Catherine and Madeline. It warmed her soul that such details were coming out of this night; the champagne from the year she was born, the flasks with their nicknames instead of their royal ones. It made the night more than just a hazing. It made it a welcoming.

"Thank you so much," Maddie leaned across the bar to hug her. When she pulled back, Kate unscrewed the lid to her flask and lifted it to Maddie.

"Welcome to the family, sister."

"Thank you," Maddie lifted hers and, tapping the flasks together, the two women drank down some of the wonderful champagne stowed inside. "Okay..." Maddie spun around, facing the rest of the family as they situated into the chairs circling the main chair. "Hit me. What's next?"

"Right this way," Beatrice waved Maddie over to the very chair she had assumed was hers. As she moved forward, walking through the other family members, she felt Mike pat her on the back, she heard Kate wish her luck, she saw Harry offer a wink from his chair in the back where he would watch the whole thing unfold.

Maddie moved to the chair and took a seat, stuffing her flask into the pocket of her bib overalls. As Peter and William arranged some shots onto the small table next to her chair, Beatrice began her explanation. "We have a list of questions we're going to ask you—they are quite different than the ones asked of you this afternoon..."

"I would imagine," Maddie sighed into her chair as the group chuckled.

"We will take turns asking questions. Everyone has at least one and anyone can tap in and change places at really anytime. Whoever is holding the scepter..." Beatrice lifted this large, gold monstrosity from the chair across from Maddie and waved it in the air. "Whoever has this is the interviewer." Maddie nodded her understanding. "You must answer every question with absolute honesty. Anyone in this room can call bullshit on your answer. You can make an argument and the interviewer will make a judgment. If he or she decides that you were lying, you have to take a shot. If he or she decides that you were not...the one who called bullshit has to take the shot. Does that make sense?"

"Yes," Maddie nodded again, her smile stretching even further as she looked at the shots lined up; wondering exactly how the others who had been in her position had done in this particular seat.

"Oh!" Zara rose from her chair and waved a small, white handkerchief. "This is your free pass. You only have one but you can use it to avoid answering one of the questions, if you wish."

"Yes, thank you," Beatrice smiled. "If you wave the white flag, your lovely fiancé will take over for that question." Harry waved his hand at her.

"Use it well," Zara winked as she handed the piece of material over to Maddie.

"Thank you," she snatched it and stuffed it into her pocket next to the flask.

"Okay..." Beatrice took her seat as everyone else settled; drinks in hands, smiles on faces. "Any questions? Need anything?"

"Nope," Maddie shook her head, sending a look in Harry's direction. "I'm ready."

"Let's begin," Beatrice laid the scepter across her lap and looked down at the notecard in her hand. "We've all heard the story about how you and Harry met. We were wondering...even though you didn't recognize him, did you fancy him right away?"

"Ha!" Maddie couldn't help the laughter that burst through her lips, jumpstarting the laughter from the group. Her eyes met his as she thought about it. "I don't know that I did. I...he was a good looking guy. He is a good looking guy. I just...I wasn't even thinking about stuff like that at the time."

"So it wasn't love at first sight?"

"No, I guess it wasn't."

"What can you do?" Harry shrugged as Beatrice continued.

"We know that you asked him to unload a truck full of food..."

"Ordered!" Harry called out, opening a bottle of beer and taking a swallow.

"Anyway," Beatrice rolled her eyes. "How soon after that did you find out who he was?"

"Immediately. My friend Ella recognized him and came over to tell me what a fool I was."

"Once you found out he was a prince...did that help or hurt his image?"

"Hmmm..." Maddie squinted; her mind working to get back to that time in their lives. "I don't know if it did either, really. It didn't change much to be honest. I guess...I don't know. I guess that knowing that he was a Prince and that he still unloaded the truck and that he wasn't pompous at all with me...that was a good thing. So maybe it helped?"

"Okay," Beatrice nodded; taking a breath. "Who would you say made the first move?"

"He did." Without a doubt.

"Bullshit," Harry called out. The crowd chuckled as they turned to him.

"Excuse me?!" Maddie sent an accusatory glare his way. "You did."

"No, no, no." He shook his head with a gotcha look on his smug face. "You kissed me first and you know you did. You even made fun of me about it afterwards..."

"She didn't ask who kissed who first. She asked who made the first move; two different things." Maddie looked to his cousin with raised eyebrows.

"Hold on. Now...Maddie...you kissed him first?" Beatrice's focus was divided for a moment.

"I..." Maddie sighed as the others began to chuckle amusedly. "Yes. I kissed him first. But only after he dropped everything and flew to Bendal to do just that." Harry shrugged, leaning back in his chair. She was right. He would own that.

"So...when you say he made the first move..."

"He did."

"Explain," Beatrice waved her hand.

"The first time I met him, I told him what my favorite candy was and when he came back the next time..." She turned to Harry then; the others snickering at them. "Listen, Ella had been in Bendal for years and she had only seen you visit once and then you met me that day and you were back in Bendal in a month. And you were there for a whole week. And you brought me a bag of my favorite candy. And you asked for my phone number. And you..." She shook her head at the cocky look on his face and turned back to Beatrice who was grinning wide at the exchange. "He made the first move."

"She's right," Beatrice decided with a nod. "Come and get your shot Henry." Applause rang out as Harry moved through the crowd. With a wink to Maddie, he lifted a glass from the table and swallowed it back.

"How are you doing love?" He sat the empty glass down.

"Pretty good Sunshine." Laughter rumbled around as Harry made his way back to his seat. The family was clearly enjoying this portion of the night.

Bea laughed and continued with her questions. "Now this kiss. Was it good?"

"It was okay," Maddie shrugged defiantly. His family rumbled with laughter.

"Bullshit!" Harry called out with a smirk and a shake of his head. "That was an amazing kiss and you know it."

"That's fine," Maddie shrugged again, reaching for one of the shots in front of her. "I'll take a hit for that one." With a smirk she drank the shot. "The kiss was okay. I'm sticking with that answer."

"Fair enough," Beatrice turned to the group. "Next?"

"Me," Autumn rose to her feet, squeezing Peter's hand before dropping it and moving to the hot seat. There was scattered applause as she kissed Bea's cheek and took the scepter from her. "Maddie."

"Autumn," Maddie smiled sweetly; having liked and respected Autumn since the day she met her at the polo match.

"Speaking of kissing," Autumn's grin was Cheshire like as she settled into her seat.

"Oh here we go," Maddie sighed.

"Geographically speaking, what would Harry say was the most unusual location the two of you ever kissed each other?"

"Hmmm..." Maddie's lips pressed together as she thought; her eyes watching Harry as though she could pull the answer from his mind. "Unusual? I...We've kissed in Bendal. Off the coast of Greece...Australia...I don't know. I'm going to say at thirty-thousand feet in the air. We've kissed quite a bit in the air; over the Atlantic, over the continent of Africa..." Autumn glanced to Harry who nodded with a smile; that was an acceptable answer.

"Great. Now. You do know that your wedding is going to be in London..."

"So I've been informed," Maddie kidded.

"If you were in a different situation and the two of you could control more of your wedding details, where would you be marrying?"

"That's a good question," Maddie's facial features grew soft. "We haven't really talked about it but...we went to this beautiful wedding on the coast in Australia right at midnight on New Year's Eve....I would say something like that. A destination wedding with our families and our dearest friends. That would be nice."

"It would," Autumn smiled warmly.

"Or you know...London and a thousand of our closest friends..." The laughter that ignited at Maddie's casual toss out was full of sympathy and understanding. The enjoyment in the audience continued to increase with every question that was asked and answered. Maddie took another sip from her flask.

"What would Harry say is the one thing you could do to make him the happiest man on Earth?" Maddie's cheeks flushed slightly and the snickers among the group only made it worse.

"Easy now," she rolled her eyes. "Everybody stand down..." She met Harry's eyes and he winked at her—he knew what his actual answer would be—she had already done it. "I'm going to say...." She winked back and went for it. "Eight babies."

The room went up in a roar of laughter as Autumn's eyes grew wide. Among all of the chaos, Harry held her eyes; despite Mike's light punching of his shoulder. Maddie lifted a shot glass from the table and raised it to him in a toast. With his bottle of beer in the air, he nodded to her and they drank to that.

"Please. Please Maddie, look at me..." Autumn leaned forward, forcing Maddie's eyes to hers. "Spend the weekend with my two before he makes you sign anything." And the laughter increased. Maddie barely had time to pull herself together before Mike was sitting across from her, scepter in hand.

"Mr. Tindall." Her cheeks felt warm, flushed—probably from the long day, from the alcohol intake.

"Doctor," he grinned and Maddie relaxed. She had always felt a special affinity for Mike.

"What do you have for me?"

"What does Harry do that makes you laugh the hardest? The thing that never fails?" Maddie's grin stretched out her cheeks; flashing her teeth and making her eyes crinkle at the corners.

"He raps."

"Raps?"

"Raps. With an American accent and everything." She could see Harry biting his lip as he shook his head.

"Raps what?" His whole face twitched at this new bit of knowledge.

"Old school stuff; Run DMC, The Beastie Boys. A little Jay Z..." Maddie shrugged, her eyes lighting up as she drew up images from memory. "He does an excellent Shoop by Salt-n-Pepa."

As Harry turned bright red, his cousins were rolling with laughter; clutching their sides. Mike, trying desperately to hold onto his control—saving his chiding for later—shook his head and bit his lip.

"You know..." Mike leaned forward, waving for Maddie to do the same. "If you want...we can make him do it now." Maddie laughed, loving the way he was willing to conspire with her. But she shook her head.

"Nah..." She sighed. "I think that's something I want to keep for me."

"Okay," he nodded, continuing on. "How long have the two of you been together?"

"A little over two years."

"Two shots for you." He moved two glasses out in front of her. "One for every year. Harry!" He called without turning to look. Maddie watched as Harry stepped up to her, applause following behind him. He lifted two glasses from the table.

"We have to do a shot for every year we were together?" Maddie looked up at him, pulling one of the glasses into her fingers.

"We do," Harry nodded. "You should have seen Will and Kate do this round. We about lost them both." As the group laughed at the memory, he held his glass out to her. Together they drank down two shots each and, after leaning to kiss her, Harry returned to his seat.

"Jesus," Maddie breathed. "I'm going to be toasted after this is over."

"That's the idea," Mike winked and asked his last question. "Could you tell us about your first date?"

"Yes!" Maddie clapped her hands together excitedly. "Officially, we went out in Tetbury on the motorcycle. We had dinner and drinks and we had wine in the tree house at Highgrove." She sighed happily at the memory.

"And unofficially?" Mike raised his eyebrows.

"Unofficially..." Her mind wandered. "The celebration of the new Community Garden in Bendal. The night I was shot." And the once chuckling room went completely silent. Drinks paused in the air, smiles faded from faces. All except for Maddie—who let out the tiniest bit of a laugh. Mike caught it and nodded thoughtfully—having always felt a special connection to her.

"Well. That was some first date." His face was classic; calm and collected.

"It really was." Maddie tried for stoic but failed; leading the group in a round of laughter. Smiles returned, drinks continued on their journeys.

"Thanks doll," he leaned to kiss her cheek. "I'm all finished."

"Thanks Mike," she grinned at him as he left his spot, handing his scepter off to Jack who smiled at Maddie apologetically. He was the newest to this and Maddie could tell it made him a little uncomfortable. She tried to make him feel more at ease with a grin and nod as he sat.

"I just have a few...generic questions," he shrugged. "They are easy and...kind of lame."

"That's okay," Maddie chuckled as Eugenie tossed a pillow in her husband's direction.

"Okay...if you were stranded on a deserted island...what three things would you take with you?" Out of the corner of her eye, she swore she saw Eugenie roll her eyes, but she focused on Jack and smiled at him—what a crowd this was. Thank God she was tough...a weak skinned person would have a difficult time with this group.

"Harry." To which she received groans. "Sunblock." To which she received a couple of nods and a knowing, shared secret glance from Harry. "And...a book."

"What book?" Jack followed up.

"I don't know. Anna Karenina? I've wanted to read it and I haven't really had the time. But if I were stranded..." She waved her hand and he nodded.

"Okay..." He looked down at his notecard. "If you could have a conversation with anyone, alive or dead, who would it be and what would you talk about?" Maddie's breath sucked into her lungs as the question settled over her. Her eyes flew to Jack's and she knew; he had no idea. There was a light murmur in the crowd and Maddie was instantly able to discern who among them knew about her father and who among them did not. It wasn't the first time she had thought of her father that day, far from it. Taking a breath, she forced a smile to her lips. Harry leaned forward in his seat; his beer completely abandoned as he focused on her face.

It all happened so fast. Maddie's mind spiraled. She thought about the question for a moment; knowing that Jack meant no harm, knowing he probably wasn't anticipating the way her heart stopped in her chest. For a moment she considered going with funny and saying Bishop—knowing it would get a rise out of Harry, knowing it would bring laughter to the group. She thought about going with an obvious sort of answer and saying George Clooney. Who didn't love George Clooney? Or maybe a great thinker who could provide her with some profound bit of knowledge.

But when she stopped searching for "the right" answer, the honest answer began to flood her heart. And Harry, watching her intently, saw the moment that it did. He saw the emotion on her face. Misreading it for upset about her father, he spoke up.

"Pass on the question Maddie," his voice was loud, clear, as he moved through the chairs towards her. "I'll answer it."

"No." She shook her head. She looked down at her hands and then up at Jack whose face had drained of color as he caught on; something was wrong.