"Fight for me! Fight for me Richard!" Abigail's voice echoes around the large throne room. My milk blue irises look into the pools of brown that she calls her eyes. How can I? If I do anything my decision will be plastered in the next day's tabloid. I turn around and look at the pair of purple and red velvet thrones. Very soon I will have to sit on one of them and will have to smile, nod and wave to my people. I sigh. 'The Kings dong enters the Abbey' or 'The Royal Jewels get a good polish'. I can just imagine the headlines now. I swivel and take a few steps until the front of my polished, black shoes touch her pale heels. My six foot slender frame towers over her five foot five inch stature.
"Abby, my Abby, I cannot drag you through this."
"But," her voice cracks as tears appear in her expressive eyes. "But, I love you." A smile rises onto my face. What did I do to deserve this beautiful brunette's love?
"I love you too darling. I want to show you this entire kingdom, my kingdom. I want you to be the first and last thing I gaze upon every day. I want to see your radiant face when I get down on my knees and beg you to become my queen. I want to be standing right beside you when you say I Do and when they stick that heavy crown on top of your head." We both laugh. "I want to smile when you complain about our child playing soccer with your bladder and I want to duck when you attempt to throw a plate at my head as I didn't say 'you are glowing with happiness'." She snorts and interrupts my trail of thought. I glare at her. I am not used to being interrupted. Calm down Richard.
"I am sorry, Sir, but why can't we have our happily ever after?" My adorable Abby, you really know nothing of the world.
I grasp her arm and pull her body towards mine. My arms wrap around her lower back and my chin rests on her soft hair. Herr slender arms clasp around my neck as her head leans on my chest. I start rocking us from side to side. If anybody walked in at this moment it would seem to them that we were dancing - the 25 year old King and his 23 year old hussy.
"I don't decide my future, the public and parliament does. The public wants a fairytale and a queen who has no background. The parliament wants a queen of royal blood and a title to unite us with another country."
"You love me." There was no questioning in her voice
"With all my heart," I have never spoken truer words in all my life. She glances up at me through her long lashes but does not say a word. It is as though she is trying to figure out if I am lying to her.
"Rich?" she whispers. I freeze. All my attention is on her.
"Have you spoken to the Queen Regent about this, about us?"
My mother is one of the smartest and most loyal people in the whole United Kingdom, maybe even the entire world. She has a five foot skeletal frame and is the shortest person in the family. When I see her now her smoke grey hair is always up in, what was, my father's favourite braid and her sea blue eyes always conveyed a profound sense of loss. It has been that way ever since his passing six months ago. She never says much anymore but when she does it is carefully carved to get right to the point without mucking about. She has withdrawn herself from the family and now the only thing she talks to is the new king...me. I do not know why I am her only confidante. Ian Glen, the Royal Secretary, says it is because I am almost a living doppelganger of the late king but I do not see it when I look in a mirror. I admit we have the same shaped cheekbones and an almost identical shade of black scraggly hair but so does my younger brother, Prince Henry. I see more of father in Henry; the same laid back attitude to life, not taking responsibility for anything and using the tabloids to get rid of people who are not useful anymore.
"Yes Abby, I have spoken to her." I speak in a soft voice and we start swaying once again.
"What did she say?" Her voice rises in pitch.
"She said..."
"Yes?"
"She said... she was in this predicament once, the same one that we're in now."
"She, she was? What happened? How did it work out for her?" Abby's voice raises even higher and words come spilling out of mouth faster than ever before.
"My father, the late King, my father, King William..."
"If you are doing this just to spite me Richard William John Marc Louis I will hit you... hard and you will bruise... a lot"
"I am your KING Madam and you WILL NOT threaten me" I speak in a voice filled with authority for the first time since Dad's death and it shocks both Abby and myself. Tears swell up in her eyes and the brown starts going foggy. I try to smile to release the tension I have just caused but I know it does not reach my eyes. I am just as afraid as she is. I am afraid that I will change, that I'll no longer be the happy Richard that people know and care for. I was crowned nearly two hours ago and I am already feeling the stress of my position.
After a few minutes I calm myself, lift Abby's hand and take it into mine and lead her across the room towards the chairs that are laid out for the King and Queen of England. I sit down and let her slide onto my lap. Her tears have turned into sobs and I pull her closer towards me.
"Abby?" I whisper. Her head lifts towards my voice.
"Yes?" she whispers back, her voice sounding raw.
"I'm sorry" I am generally sorry my dearest, sweetest, loveliest Abby.
"I know. It just shocked me." I am shocked too, Abby.
"I was just teasing Abby. Believe me my love, I did not mean to raise my voice."
"I am sorry I threatened to strike you... Your Majesty"
"Abby, it's just me, Rich, the man you have been looking after since the end of college. The one who bought you 23 blue roses for your birthday a few months ago, you remember that?" The toothy grin, that I love so much, bursts onto her face. There's my girl. I wait for her to answer but she does not.
"Abby, do you want me to continue to tell you what my mother said?" I speak in a soft voice as if I am speaking to my littlest sister, Isabelle. She still does not speak but she nods. Finally a reaction!
"My father had a sweetheart, someone who he loved with all of his heart. He wanted to marry this maiden and make her his queen. His parents, though, told him that he had to marry another, a lady of noble blood. My mother reminded me of this story and told me to do exactly as my father did." Abby squirms off my lap and begins to leave. Oh no! She doesn't understand. She turns back to me.
"I hope you are happy with this mystery woman." She pivots back towards the entrance and continues walking.
"Abby!" I stand but she continues moving as if she didn't hear me. Do it, Richard, before you lose her.
"Abigail Thomas, will you become my queen?" I yell. She stops. Silence.