Twisted-Games

stipulated the monarch must marry someone of noble birth. It was archaic but
ironclad, and as the future king, Nikolai fell under the law’s jurisdiction.
“No,” Nikolai said. “She’s not.”
I stared at him. It was so quiet I could hear the leaves rustle as they
fluttered to the ground. “What are you saying?”
Dread ballooned in my stomach, growing and growing until it squeezed
all the air from my lungs.
“Bridget, I’m abdicating.”
The balloon popped, leaving pieces of dread scattered throughout my
body. My heart, my throat, my eyes and fingers and toes. I was so consumed
by it I couldn’t speak for a good minute.
“No.” I blinked, hoping it would wake me up from my nightmare. It
didn’t. “You’re not. You’re going to be king. You’ve been training for it all
your life. You can’t just throw that away.”
“Bridget—”
“Don’t.” Everything around me blurred, the colors of the leaves and sky
and grass blending into one crazy, multicolored hellscape. “Nik, how could
you?”
Normally, I could reason my way out of anything, but reason had fled,
leaving me with nothing except pure emotion and a sickening sensation in my
stomach.
I can’t be queen. Icanticanticant.
“You think I want to do this?” Nikolai’s face tightened. “I know what a
big deal it is. I’ve been agonizing over it for months, trying to find loopholes
and reasons I should walk away from Sabrina. But you know what Parliament
is like. How traditional it is. They would never overturn the law, and I…” He
sighed, suddenly looking much older than his twenty-seven years. “I can’t
walk away from her, Bridge. I love her.”
I closed my eyes. Of all the reasons Nikolai could’ve chosen for
abdicating, he’d picked the one I couldn’t fault him for.
I’d never been in love, but I’d dreamt of it all my life. To find that grand,
sweeping love, the kind worth giving up a kingdom for.
Nikolai had found his. How could I begrudge him something I would
myself give up my soul for?
When I opened my eyes again, he was still there, sitting tall and proud on
his horse. Looking every inch the king he would never be.
“When?” I asked in a resigned tone.