“Your rise to power was swift. Your three eldest brothers all died under suspicious circumstances. There are whispers at court you designed their demises, but you don’t know anything about it. As you enter the cathedral on your coronation day, your sisters whisper “You’re welcome.”
“You’re welcome” was punctuated with overacted sniffles from the two of them.
I’m not as dumb as I look. Or at least, that’s what I hope. One couldn’t ever imagine that Francesca was anything other than knivving, and I would be stupid to have lived this long without having my suspicions. Kat had only attempted to be marginally more trustworthy than Francesca, but it was not enough to absolve her either. My sisters are snakes.
Cesca’s sneer as I passed was almost as if on cue, that’s how predictable she was. Everyone else may as well be blind to her machinations, but I knew her before she had grown the thin veneer of Court gentility. I remember the child in the well, and the lengths my parents went to in order to make sure she was never discovered all those years ago. Kat had her own history of cover-ups. Her’s always came after Cesca’s, like a parrot mimicking the master.
I’d be a fool to think I wasn’t next. I’d be a fool to have not prepared for it, either. Intrigue is not my strong point, but neither is fratricide. Cesca expects me to be more easy to manipulate than her other brothers. I let her think that.
Edwin’s death hit me hardest. He was the eldest brother, and he was my favorite. The morning we received news of their death, my sisters behaved so sweetly and sorrowful, one could have mistaken them for innocent. Samuel and Matthew’s passing also dealt me pain, but I acutely felt the stab of losing Edwin even as I stepped forward in his place, to accept his crown.
The ceremony was hard on me. I’d never been groomed for this life. My heart was sinking into the floor as the heavy crown was pushed onto my head. I would be lying if I said I hadn’t taken several gulps of brandy before stepping out of the car this morning, and that fire in my otherwise empty belly was probably the only reason I wasn’t openly weeping in front of God and my country.
My first thought when I realized I was to be king was that I couldn’t kill them. I could not make any actions that would draw attention to me, or more family disappearances. It’d been months between Edwin’s initial coronation, his death, and mine now, but it was too suspicious. I think Cesca knew this as well. She knew how precarious I was already in the eyes of the law, it wouldn’t take much for the final brother to be framed, guilty of taking action in his lust for power, and have me arrested. It was dangerous to be a royal. Especially one that had never been destined to sit on the throne.
I had considered this quandary many times since hearing the news. There was no way to come out of this without blood on my hands. As much as my heart pulled me to staying lawful and good, I had to kill or be killed.
All of these thoughts haunt me. They probably will forever.
I am the last one in the throne room today. The last of the courtiers, journalists, hangers-on, and servants have gone home for the day. The sun has sunk past it’s zenith and I am sore from sitting in this contraption of the realm. I have not moved from it since being given the crown well over twelve hours ago. Many servants have asked if I need anything. I simply replied that I am waiting, meditating, and praying, and that when I was done, I would return to my apartments.
It’s morning now.
A man with less on his heart maybe would have drifted to sleep at some point, but I’m still here, rigid in this damn chair. The crown has stayed perched on my head and I am still staring into the dark of Saint John’s church.
Creak. There is light filtering through the high windows and now through the crack in the door, growing wider as Mark, my secretary, enters cautiously.
“They told me I could find you here.” It’s almost a whisper in the silence.
“Is it done?” My voice breaks.
“Yes.” In his outstretched hand he is holding a photo, but I do not need to examine it to know it’s the confirmation I have been waiting for.
I feel a deepness settle into my gut. It’s done.
Long live the king.