Royal Secrets

Brooklyn

1983

TW: Mentions of Abuse (non-graphic)

Brooklyn Francis, the second born. If it wasn't for her last name no one would even imagine her as part of the royal Francis family. She might've looked like her mother, the queen but she was nothing like her. She was an angry moody teenage girl who rebelled against everything her parents told her. She knew not about rules. If any rule was enforced on her, she would make it her mission to break it. The royal women were to keep their hair long, and always look polished. She of course chopped her hair behind her parent's back and in some way or another ended up with dirty clothes. 

Brooklyn ran across the garden in which she spent most of her time. She had grown up hearing stories about how her mother and father would run around those same gardens falling more and more in love with one another. She loved hearing stories of her parents falling in love, it seemed unreal to the parents she saw growing up. Distant and cold.  She was being chased by her younger brother Aidan and her younger sister Allyson. She was chasing her not for fun but trying to control her. She tripped over a rose bed and fell straight into mud and burst out laughing. As she tried to get herself up her dress got caught in thorns and ripped. Allyson rolled her eyes at her sister's stupidity. 

Suddenly Brooklyn and Aidan had the brilliant idea to crash Alexander's meeting. Brooklyn mostly wanted to do it to mess with Queen Amelia. She despised her. 

Allyson tried to stop them but it was no use. Brooklyn ignored her and ran into the great hall leaving a trail of mud behind her. The moment she entered the great hall she could tell she succeeded at angering Queen Amelia. Her face of disgust said it all. Luckily her older brother Alexander always had her back. After listening to the boring meeting she dragged him out of the great hall. 

" So... what do you know" she nagged

" Nothing... well just that I'm due to get married a month after my coronation" Alexander shrugged

" And..."

" What?"

" You are acting stranger than usual. What's up?"

" Nothing... I just- I can't help but think dad was murdered"

" He was not. The old guy just croaked. Even if he was murdered... he deserved it. We all know it. When we got the news he was dead whether we admitted it or not, we all felt some sort of happiness"

" I suppose so... but I still want to know who did it"

" Dad had so many enemies. It will be impossible. Let it go. See this as a good thing. Now that you will be king, all the workers will not be mistreated" Brooke said in an attempt to get him to drop the situation but it did not work. He just simply walked off. 

Brooklyn hated her father. Of course, her father adored her. Since the moment she was born, she could do no wrong in his eyes. But that was the reason she hated him. The unfair treatment between her and her older brother Alexander. She noticed how horrible he was treated compared to her. She knew about the time her father threw platters at Alexander's face leaving him with a blood-covered face. She knew about the time her father threatened him. She didn't know what the threat was about but she knew her father reacted horribly. 

She also despised her mother for the same reason, unfair treatment. But not towards Alexander but towards her. Of course, she was happy that her mother was kind toward Alexander but it bothered her how all her attention was on him. She never got any time to bond with her own mother. That was the reason she rebelled, to get the attention she so desperately desired. Her attempts were always failures. Even when she tried playing it safe, her mother ignored her.  That's when she turned to rebellion to get at least a glimpse of her mother's attention. 

Despite what everyone thought, she didn't hate being royal. She longed to be queen... for all the wrong reasons of course. She loved to have a sense of power and importance. She loved the idea of having people bow down to her but she had no idea of the true pressures of leading an entire kingdom at such a young age. 

But like Alexander, She had one big secret. If her secret got out she would surely be beheaded in front of the entire kingdom. She would not live to see another day. She did it all for love.