Royally Rich

twelve | secrets

"You know that I don't like you to see me when I'm sick," my father tried to push himself to sit up, but was too weak to do so. A nearby nurse adjusted the pillows for him before backing away.

"I don't have time to wait until you get better," I plopped down on the foot of his bed.

"I don't think I'll be getting better in the future. The doctors say less than two months, at most. Some days breathing is so hard I wish I could just hold my breath," I laid down next to him, draping my arm over his still body. He started to stroke my hair and a lump grew in my throat.

"Daddy you can't leave me. I can't do this without you, I can't be Queen."

"You can do it, I know you can. And don't think I'll leave you on your own. I know it's scary."

"Jaxton doesn't count–"

"I wasn't talking about Jaxton. I have things planned to make sure you're safe. England's Prince was just one of them. But if you'd do what you're supposed to, everything should go to plan," He tucked a curl behind my hair and sighed.

He knows I'm fucking up too.

"My heart doesn't care about the rules, I'm still just a kid."

"I know, princess. I know."

—
"You're terrible at checkers," I doubled my checkers that had reached the opposite side. Nate groaned and mumbled something in French.

"It's a war game, I see that you've been studying. Your strategy is to divide, surround, and conquer. You use barriers to your advantage, being able to use less checkers to surround mine. The French, we are lovers not fighters."

"Buttercup," Jaxton sauntered in while rolling his sleeves up his muscular arms. "I need to speak with you."

I nodded and followed him from the game parlor to my room. He shut the door silently behind him and crossed his arms over his chest.

Splayed across my bed were magazines, all adorned with the picture of Maizon and I kissing on top of the hill a week ago. Snarky headlines were slapped on top in eye catching colors.

"These were taken the day after we—I thought you said you were ready, ready to commit. I was vulnerable with you," Jaxton's voice quivered mid sentence. I noticed a change in his approach, he wasn't angry. He was hurt.

"Jaxton—"

"No, I actually want you to listen to what I have to say. I'm done trying my hardest for you. I'm done trying at all. I left my country for you, putting my throne on hold. I'm supposed to be aligning myself with my father's allies but here I am, fighting over you with some other guy.

I love you but it's fine if you want to be with someone else. You owe me nothing. I just thought you finally wanted to be with me.

You are your own person, and if Maizon is what you want right now, so be it. Just don't make me look like a fool in front of the world," Jaxton threw a magazine into my lap. The magazine had a side by side of the image of Jaxton and I holding hands when we were leaving LA and the picture of Maizon and I. The headline read: Poor Prince Jaxton.

I had completely forgotten that Jaxton was trying to appeal to the courtship rumors that were fluttering about.

I looked up to say something but he was already gone.

—

"You wanted to see me?" I pushed the Queen's office door open. She was shuffling through papers with a Royal Advisor by her side.

"I wanted to let you know that a daily schedule will be provided for you while Jaxton is away from Havonian court. The American has been enrolled in day classes at Harley. I think I should be enforcing your royal duties from now on," She never looked up from her work, signing papers with her golden pen.

"You let Jaxton go home?!"

"If you couldn't focus on the task at hand, then it'd be productive to assign a new task. He's strengthening his commitment to the throne and you will too." The Royal Advisor glanced up at me briefly, catching my attention. I had noticed that her usual advisor had been replaced. I said nothing but noted the change.

"Fine."

I was invited to join the boys in the game parlor, but after easily beating every one of them in chess and checkers, my sour mood hadn't been lifted.

"Dude, what's gotten into her? She's all... boring and sucky today," Easton whispered into Sebastian's ear as if I couldn't hear him from across the small table. Maizon glanced at me with a concerning gaze.

"Let her be. She's going to be Queen soon and it's weighing down on her," Maizon defended me as I ran a hand through my straightened hair.

"What do you mean soon?" Nathaniel sat taller in his chair as everyone sent questioning looks my way.

I shook my head and looked away, quickly thinking of a new subject to discuss. "Maizon, are you prepared to begin lessons at Harley?"

"Don't change the subject, Grecyn. I've known you since you were five, you can tell me anything," Sebastian reached over the checkers game and pushed hair behind my ear. I didn't want to tell them because they knew what it meant. I'd be too busy for them, I won't be able to come sit and beat them at checkers whenever I felt like it. The monarch couldn't have friends.

"My father says he has less than a few months to live. I spoke to his doctors separately and they told me that they doubt his new medications will extend his life. I'll be Queen when the snow starts to fall."

"Grecyn, why didn't you tell us?" Nate scolded me with a harsh tone.

"It's a royal secret that mustn't get out, no one can know or it could threaten national security. The Russian monarchy is awaiting to assist in my downfall."

"Does Jaxton know?" Sebastian questioned and rose his eyebrows when I shook my head.

"He's not answering my calls or texts and I don't want him to walk into the marriage without any sort of warning," I sighed and dropped my face into my hands. I was beyond stressed and it was for all the wrong reasons. "Look, I'm going to turn in for the night. I'm scheduled to visit The Children's Hospital tomorrow and I want to be in good spirits for them."

I heard Nate mumble an excuse to follow me out and he shut the door behind us. We walked together in silence and let the doormen let us into my room.

"Don't yell at me for not telling you, okay? I've just about learned that I can't even depend on my future husband," I threw my shirt off and pulled open a drawer to look for an oversized tee. My hand brushed Jaxton's gift and I immediately frowned before slamming the drawer shut.

"I'm not going to yell at you," Nate tossed me a shirt from the floor and tugged on his soft brown hair.

"Then what did you follow me here for?"

"Marry me!"