Twisted-Games

A smidge of relief softened his expression. He’d probably expected more
of a fight, but the stress of the past month had drained all the fight out of me.
It wouldn’t do any good, anyway. Once my brother set his mind on
something, he didn’t back down.
Stubbornness ran in our entire family.
“We’ll wait until the furor’s died down over Grandfather’s
hospitalization. Maybe another month or two. You know how the news cycle
is these days. It’ll be old news by then. We’ll keep the engagement a secret
until then too. Elin’s already working on a press statement and plan, and—”
“Wait.” I held up one hand. “Elin already knows?”
A pink flush stole over Nikolai’s cheekbones when he realized his
mistake. “I had to—”
“Who else knows?” Thud. Thud. Thud. My heart sounded abnormally
loud to my ears. I wondered if I had a heart condition too, like my
grandfather. I also wondered what would happen if Nikolai abdicated and I
died right there in the saddle. “Who else did you tell before me?”
I bit out the words. Each one tasted bitter, coated with betrayal.
“Just Elin, Grandfather, and Markus. I had to tell them.” Nikolai didn’t
back down from my glare. “Elin and Markus have to get out in front of this,
politically and press-wise. They need time.”
A wild laugh emerged from my throat. I’d never made such a feral sound
in my life, and my brother flinched at the sound.
“They need time? I need time, Nik!” Freedom. Love. Choice. Things I’d
already had so little of, gone forever. Or they would be after Nikolai
officially announced his abdication. “I need the two-and-a-half decades
you’ve already had, preparing you for the throne. I need not to feel like an
afterthought in a decision that’ll change my entire life. I need…” I need to get
out of here.
Otherwise, I might do something crazy, like punch my brother in the face.
I’d never punched a person before, but I’d watched enough movies to get
the gist.
Instead of finishing my sentence, I urged my horse into a canter, then a
full-on gallop. Breathe. Just breathe.
“Bridget, wait!”
I ignored Nikolai’s shout and spurred the horse faster until the trees
whizzed by in a blur.
Bridget, I’m abdicating.