Season 3 Young Royals (Version 1)

14. August

He kept his eyes downcast as he entered with the other boys and sat down in his usual seat at the end of the table in the dining room. He could hear the others joking around with each other but didn't pay any attention to what they said.

Since the Jubilee and Wilhelm's speech on Friday he'd hardly looked anyone in the eyes. He'd missed the first opportunity to prove himself by taking over the speech for Wilhelm in the Jubilee, but he'd hoped there would be other opportunities soon. He had hoped, that is until Felice had surprised him by coming to ask him why he'd released the video. He'd never expected her to actually say it to his face. His reaction had been to defend himself and give her reasons Wilhelm shouldn't be Crown Prince but even August wasn't sure he believed them anymore. He felt he was just repeating a sort of mantra he'd been taught since the time he was little.

His father had always told him how important the family's image was and how each of them was responsible for upholding the legacy through that image. He'd looked up to his dad more than anyone in his life and still felt his mother deserved some blame for not helping him more when he needed it.
He hadn't realised that his father had had such a serious drug problem. The Queen was the first person to tell him so when she'd named him as Wilhelm's backup, but he didn't realise it was common knowledge among members of the royal family or that the Queen considered the drugs the reason his father had been "lost" to them.

August had been 9 when his father died. August remembered spending a lot more time at the palace before his death. His father and Queen Kristina were cousins but had also been best friends since their early childhood, and the Queen had been much more attentive and affectionate with August before his father had died. After his father was gone, August and his mother weren't invited to the palace nearly as often, and nine year old August took it as a rejection at the time. As he grew into a teenager however, he began to see his cousins and the Queen more again. Queen Kristina told him how much he was beginning to resemble his father in fact, and put her hand to his cheek affectionately one day he recalled. He'd felt very proud then and had started to emulate his father more hoping that the Queen might notice how well he was upholding his father's and family's legacy, and that she might be proud of him.

Every display of affection or approval from the Queen was taken as another chance to prove himself. He began to wonder what his life would look like if he could never be Crown Prince.
At the Jubilee speech on Friday he had for a moment seen something in Wilhelm that reminded him of Erik even though he hated to admit it. He seemed sure of himself, confident, something he'd never displayed when speaking in public before. It worried him. Wilhelm had looked almost like a different person, like someone who actually might want to be Crown Prince, and possibly someone who might in fact make a good leader...

"People will love him even more now..." Felice had said of Wilhelm. People always did love Wilhelm, but he never seemed to realise it. He took it for granted that Felice had loved him. He could have anyone he wanted but he wanted Simon for some reason. As soon as he thought it he remembered that of course he himself was in love with Simon's sister, something he never would have imagined. When he was with her he hadn't cared about the things he used to believe were so important, like rowing, being a prefect, or really what people thought of him at all. August thought that if he couldn't be Crown Prince, couldn't have Sara, couldn't be a team captain or prefect, and couldn't be looked up to at Hillerska, he wasn't sure what else he really had to look forward to.

He was lost in his thoughts when he suddenly heard Vincent tap his knife on his glass to make an announcement...

He lifted his eyes to look at Vincent, confused.

"Well, I think one of us, or maybe more, have some stories to share with the rest of the House." He starts thumping the table. "Wille på bordet! Wille på bordet!..."

August couldn't believe how shit Vincent was at reading a social situation. He'd become prefect because Wilhelm had wanted to replace August and no one knew what they were in for. He did take some pleasure in the fact that Wilhelm's plan had backfired. August had even warned Wilhelm that Vincent would be terrible.

August was trying to tune out the spectacle that Vincent had provoked and didn't look up at Wilhelm as he tried to get Vincent to end it.

"Are you serious, Vincent??"

The chanting stopped.

"We're all equals here. Everyone has to share. Maybe you'd like Simon to tell us the story instead?"

"What's the point?? It's ridiculous, if everyone's seen the video and I even admitted it on TV? What more do you want??"

"We all have to participate and keep the traditions alive. We need more details." Vincent waited hoping for encouragement, but none came.
"Just because you're the Crown Prince that doesn't mean you're exempt."

August could hear Wilhelm getting angrier.
"That's just it. We don't have to do anything you say. You use this fucking "tradition" to humiliate people and use their private lives against them. But it won't work with me anymore! Everyone knows everything!"

"You seem to forget that these traditions give us a sense of unity and bond us together. I'm just trying to make sure everyone feels they belong."

August knew this was total nonsense. Wilhelm was right that these rituals were used to get dirt on housemates to make sure they'd keep your secrets as well. This wasn't just a means of making sure their secrets were safe while at school. This would obviously carry over into their adult lives when they'd become CEOs, politicians, the King of Sweden..it was a sort of insurance policy that meant that later on they would continue to watch each other's backs, but also feel obliged to be loyal, or rather complicit, out of fear that their secrets would be exposed if they weren't.

Suddenly August caught a small movement out of the corner of his eye next to Wilhelm. August lifted his eyebrows slightly to see Simon climbing onto his chair. August's eyes got wider.

"What do you want to know, Vincent? You already know we were filmed in a sex tape that got released online. Maybe you didn't know it was done by someone in this room? Is that fun? Is it a joke? Does that make us feel like we belong? That person hasn't had any consequences for it yet. If I were you, I'd watch my back and be careful who you consider a friend or a brother in this group. Anything else you want to know? No? Good."

August slowly lowered his eyes as the boys walked out together. He started to hear a buzzing in his ears. He saw Vincent sit back down and saw his lips moving, but August couldn't understand any conversation around him or even comprehend facial expressions. He was petrified that someone would see his face and read his mind, guessing immediately that it was him Simon was talking about. He even worried he'd gone into a state of shock and had no idea how to act in front of everyone. He looked down at his plate and touched his cutlery softly, trying to ground himself in something physical for a moment. His hearing came back suddenly and he perceived the murmur of conversation around him again without being able to pick out specific words yet.

Nils turned to him suddenly "Someone in here? How the hell would he know who did it?"

August gave a hesitant smile that he knew wasn't convincing and shrugged his shoulders trying to look casual and unbothered. "Who the hell knows what that means..."