Choose us (Wilmon FF)

1

Wilhelm

It was quiet. Too quiet, Wilhelm thought. In the presence of his mother, one could easily tell when something was wrong. And it was unavoidable not to notice when it was. When the air was so thick that you could have cut it with scissors. When you knew that there was an elephant in the room, but everybody knew what kind of elephant it was, except the person who was affected. Wilhelm in that case.

The queen cleared her throat and just about everyone at the table flinched, including Wilhelm. She rose from her chair at the end of the table, impressive as always. "Welcome to this meeting, which, through my fault, was called at very short notice. But," she raised her hand to defend herself, "most of you in this room already know what it's about." Wilhelm laughed softly, but didn't get any attention from the other people at the table.

"As we all know, at the end of this year I will be relinquishing my position as queen to my son and crown prince, Wilhelm." The title crown prince still triggered the feeling of sadness in him and as if the title did not suit him. And he didn't even think about the title of king, which he would soon be entitled to. It was three years since... the incident and it still hurt as if it was yesterday when somone mentiond Wilhelm being the crown prince of Sweden.

"What are you getting at, Mama?" asked Wilhelm at last. He would've gave everything an anything to not be sitting here talking about his upcoming coronation in October. "What I want to say is that the people expect something when you become king. There is no king without a queen." said Queen Kristina.

"That means you want to find me a wife now?" asked Wilhelm seriously and then laughed. He laughed as if he had just heard the joke of the decade. Realizing that no one was laughing with him, he stopped and noticed how the amusement in him turned to rage.
"You're kidding me, aren't you?" he asked, his voice louder but not shouting.
"No, Wilhelm, I'm not kidding you," Kristina said coldly,

"That's the reason we're gathered here. I want you to choose your own wife. I will not be the queen, let alone, the mother who tells you who you have to love. Let alone marry. So in the next four months we will hold four galas, inviting distinguished women of your age from the most prestigious family houses in Sweden to make them acquainted with you. The first gala will be next Saturday." she announced and Wilhelm could not hold back his anger.

"Are you serious? I am twenty years old, mom. I should be able to decide something for myself for once. I am not looking to become king. I am not the one who steps back. When I already can't decide how I want to live most of my life, I at least wanne decide this part. At some point it's just enough." Wilhelm roared and he didn't care how shocked all those people present looked.

"By God Wilhelm, calm down. This is not the end of the world." Kristina said still stiff and emotionless as always. Wilhelm can't remember the point where shee turned into the person she was. "No I'm not calming down. You can't make a decision like that without asking me before." Wilhelm fiery. "I'm including you in this. And there is no basis for disscusion. It's settled and you will cooperate, Wilhelm. The end." she said. Wilhelm scoffed, got up and left.
"Wilhelm dare you-" said the queen, but before she could say anything else Wilhelm slammed the door behind him and disappeared in the direction of the part of the castle he called his apartment.

His part of the castle was not big and he never liked it that much either way. The old rustic which his mother never let modernize, because it would destroy "the charm of the house" was simply not Wilhelm's taste. And he wasn't even allowed to move out, since it supposedly made the royal house look bad. So he had to deal with the old-fashioned castle walls. His bed was the only modern thing in his part of the castle, besides the electrical equipment. And it was into this bed that he fell now.