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“What do you mean you’re abdicating the throne soon?” Emma said, narrowing her eyes on Katherine. “Did you know about this?”
“I am only hearing about this now too,” their mother said, lifting her eyes to stare at her husband. “When did you come to this conclusion? Why did you not consult me on this?”
The King took a deep breath, avoiding looking at anyone. Richard focused on the small biscuit on his plate and his unfinished toast, unsure if he was hungry anymore. This morning had filled him with such a headache, he would need to sleep for an entire week to recover from this.
“I had a stroke. Last week.”
The words lingered as shock took shape on everyone’s features.
“You had a stroke?” The cutlery fell on Emma’s plate. “Why didn’t you tell us anything? Why?”
“For starters,” the King focused his attention on her, “I didn’t want to worry you.”
“Right.” Emma rolled her eyes. “You didn’t want to worry us about your health, but you had no problem calling us back home to tell us about our miserable brother’s arrest.”
“That was an unfortunate coincidence,” he said. “We were only informed of his arrest this morning. I called you here to tell you about my abdication.”
“Did you know about this?” Richard whispered to Katherine, narrowing his eyes on her. “How many people know?”
“Just us and father’s doctors,” she said, shaking her head. “A few of the staff too, but they swore to secrecy. This will come to light eventually. It’s hard to keep secrets in this palace.”
Richard could agree with that. In between these walls, it was even hard to keep his thoughts to himself.
“What did the doctors say?” Richard asked, shifting his focus back to his father. “Are they the reason you are choosing to abdicate?”
Richard had always known his father as a King. In his head, he couldn’t picture him as anything else. At every event, he was the main attraction. At every inauguration, he was the guest of honour. He was everything to Tudal. A symbol. A sense of pride and stability.
Abdicating the throne would change that. Not to mention that he would be the first one to do so. All other Kings before him died while on the throne. Some people might see it as an act of cowardice. Richard couldn’t help but think of it that way.
“They advised me to reconsider which events I decide to attend,” he said. “They say that my current schedule is too packed for someone my age and that I should tone it down. Find someone to fill in my shoes every once in a while.”
“They’re just telling you to tone it down,” Richard said. “It does not mean you have to abdicate the throne. I’m sure Emma and Katherine could fill in your shoes every once in a while.”
The King scoffed, his eyes burning into Richard. “And you? Would you not fill in my shoes?”
Richard opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again. “My life is elsewhere.”
“You’ve been in America for less than a couple of years and you’re already thinking of moving your entire there.”
“I never hid from you that I did not want to stay here,” Richard said, trying to keep his voice down. This was a topic that always led to a heated argument, and he couldn’t lose it this time. “I believe there is more out there than there is in Tudal, that’s all.”
He wasn’t being entirely honest with his father, but he wasn’t sure he ever would. How could he let the King know that his place of birth had always suffocated him? Richard was never allowed to do anything as the third in the line of succession, and now, as the first in line, it would be even worse.
Not to mention that he would make a terrible King. He didn’t love Tudal as Emma or as Katherine did. To him, it was just the place where he was born, a place he could never escape.
He would never be just Richard. He would always be Richard, the prince of Tudal. It made his insides boil.
“I believe you should get proper training now that you’re the next in line,” his mother said, her cold eyes on him. She was dejected about Ollie, but she was probably more disappointed that it would be him who would take the throne in his place. “You should prepare.”
“I am not ready to be King,” he said, a nervous laugh escaping his lips. “There’s a chance I never will.”
Emma rolled her eyes and shoved her mouth with some more croissant before taking a sip of her coffee. His father kept his eyes on Richard, while his mother rested a hand on her husband’s shoulder. Next to him, Katherine spread some orange jam on a piece of toast and dropped it on his plate before picking another one up and preparing herself one.
“I am not expecting you to give your life to this place right away,” his father said, “not when so much needs to happen before that can take place.”
“Yes,” his mother nodded in agreement, “he must be properly prepared for the royal life. There’s a lot of etiquette and protocol he doesn’t know.”
“I think there are more pressing matters than to know with which fork to eat dessert, mother.” Emma shrugged at her mother’s shock. “It’s true. For instance, Richard isn’t married.”
“He doesn’t even have a girlfriend,” Katherine added to the delight of their older sister. The two exchanged a smile, while Richard’s eyes jumped between their amused expressions. “Or maybe he does, and we just don’t know about her.”
“If you do have a partner, you must let us know,” his father said. “So we can speed up the process.”
“What process?” Richard asked. He was only trying to make it through this meal at this point so he could leave this dreadful place at this point.
“Your engagement, of course,” his mother said. “So you can conceive an heir to the Tudalian throne.”
Richard swallowed the small piece of toast in his mouth, the sound loud and uncomfortable. His eyes jumped from the certainty in his mother’s eyes, to the clear understanding of his father’s gaze.
“You can’t be serious.”
“They are serious,” Emma said, then turned to Katherine. “Can you pass me the strawberry jam? It looks delicious.”
“I am not marrying a princess from another country.” Richard shook his head. “I’m not going to lose everything over this stupid throne.”
“Careful with your words, son,” his father warned. “You may not like it, but this is how things must be. You must accept it. It is your life’s destiny to become Tudal’s next King.”
“Don’t make it sound like it’s a noble thing because it’s not. The only reason why I have to become King is because you want to abdicate the throne like the coward you are, my older sister had to abdicate the throne because she was in love with a woman and my older brother turned out to be just as bad as the press always said he would be.”
“Richard,” Emma called his name softly. “Stop, okay? We get it. You’re angry because now you can’t be a rich man elsewhere and you have to be stuck in this minuscule country ruling people who couldn’t care less about you, honestly. You’ll be a symbol, not a God. Stop acting so dramatic. It’s not the end of the world.”
“For you, it isn’t.” He couldn’t even take a deep breath. “You got to marry your wife, and now you get to live the life you’ve always wanted. I never wanted any of this.”
“The best rulers never want to be leaders,” Katherine said, placing her hand on top of Richard’s fist. “They just so happen to be good at it. I’m sure you’ll be good at it too.”
Was Katherine right? Would Richard ever be a good leader? It seemed such a farfetched idea that he couldn’t wrap his head around it. It was bizarre to even think about it.
Richard shouldn’t have to be thinking about this because this shouldn’t be happening in the first place.
“And if your concern has to do with marrying someone you choose to love rather than someone chosen for you to love, that can be arranged.”
Emma raised an eyebrow at her mother. “Well, do tell, mother. How would you arrange such an event? Planning on interviewing every bachelorette in Tudal? Maybe the world would be better since my brother—”
“She would have to be Tudalian,” the Queen said, holding Richard’s gaze. “Your father and I won’t budge on that.”
Richard doubted the King had any say in this, anyway.
“And to answer your question,” his mother smiled at Emma, “we will bring back one of the Tudal’s most loved traditions.”
Katherine’s eyes shined as she giggled in her seat. “Are you thinking of throwing a ball in the palace grounds, mother? Is that it?”
“A ball?” Emma frowned. “Seriously? That’s your master plan to find him a wife?”
“It could be worse,” the King said.
“It could be better,” Richard added. “I don’t want a ball to find a wife.”
“Until you have a crown in your head, you have no wants or needs, Richard,” his mother said. “You will do as your father and I say, and I will not hear one more word about it. We will throw a ball, and we will announce then that you are the next in the line of succession. Today, we tell the press about your brother and our commitment to the safety and prosperity of Tudal. Soon after, we will announce the ball. It is perfect.”
“So innovative, mother,” Emma said, rolling her eyes. “Do we really have to stoop so low? Can’t we be better than other monarchies when dealing with scandals?”
“Diverting attention is a well-known tactic in these kinds of situations,” she said. “If it works for our purpose, why try to invent the wheel again?”
The King laughed, kissing his wife’s cheek softly. “This is why you are my Queen,” he said.
“Of course.” She smiled back at him. “A King always needs a Queen.”
Before focusing back on her breakfast, his mother glared one final time at Richard, her eyes carrying the words she did not need to say out loud.
Now, it’s time for you to find yours.
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