The Scorn & Betrayal of Brothers
Summary: What if Liam didn’t accept his rise in station with grace? What if he let his brother’s betrayal take the reins and guide his decision on how to handle the abdicated prince?
Pairing: Leo x Katie
Word Count: 1298
Warnings: Poorly written physical violence (like two punches and a shove)
A/N: The bold sentences are dialogue from The Crown where King Edward VIII is confronted by future King George VI about his abdication. (season 1 episode 10).
“I hereby abdicate the throne.”
Leo’s words weigh down the surrounding atmosphere, enacting a variety of emotions: fear, anxiety, and even relief. It’s no secret that Liam is viewed as the better option for king, many going as far as to saying that it was a total waste that he was born the spare. Being within the line of succession is a burden no one outside of it could understand, no one outside of it could fathom what those expectations did to someone, and unlike his brother, Liam has been able to fulfill his duty.
Liam, although he hated the term, lived up to the expectations of the spare, the second born, embracing all the jobs and tasks that came with it. There’s a whispered rumor at court that many spares covet the heir’s position, that the desire to rule drives many royals to commit regicide to ascend to the throne, but Liam has never wanted his brother’s role. The loud clinking of silverware being slammed down brings Liam back to the present, a cold chill running down his spine as he begins to feel uneasy, the uncertainty of his position leaves him feeling unbalanced.
“Because I love her!” The declaration snaps Liam’s attention up to his brother, Leo’s pushed himself up from his seat, slamming his hands on the table, his face red with anger or maybe adrenaline, probably a mixture of both.
In all his life, Liam has never seen his brother so passionate about anything, Leo has spent most of his life just breezing through the things he couldn’t completely run away from. A split-second passed where Liam wonders what kind of king Leo could be if he had that kind of passion for his role of Crown Prince. Their father quickly motions for the servants to clean up the table, announcing that the dinner is over, glaring at his eldest son before the two head off to Constantine’s office.
Liam is the last to leave the dining room, not really sure where to go, surely his father would need him, but the uneasy feeling is pooling in his legs, making them heavy and harder to walk. The palace suddenly feels a lot bigger than it has before, even bigger than when he was a small child. The staircase seems to have an endless number of stairs, the halls seem large enough to swallow him whole and the portraits, the portraits seem taller and the eyes of those who ruled before suddenly seem to hold more expectations, their glares now weighing him down with a more overwhelming and suffocating burden that they previously didn’t.
** The last couple of weeks have been intense, but also a blur for Liam, everything he had planned to do suddenly uprooted and that extended to both professional and personal duties. Projects he’s worked on for years instantly taken away, the only reason he’s given is that they are now beneath his station. His days now filled with rapid-fire courses on ‘how to take the throne when your selfish brother abdicates for love’, they include all the things that the spare-in-training courses didn’t teach him. Part of Liam feels like he should’ve seen this coming, after all he’s the only one who truly seemed surprised, but the other part of Liam just wants an aspirin and a nap.
Nothing Constantine said could get through to Leo, get his eldest to change his mind, in fact it seems that every royal objection simply makes the mess that much bigger. Where Liam’s days are filled with learning the ropes, trying to get him caught up to at least the bare minimum he needs before his coronation, Leo spends his time giving the press news for yet another headline. Royal scandal always sells, pictures of Leo and the American Katie litter the newspaper stands and just made a bigger headache for their press secretary.
Liam takes a deep breath before he’s ushered into his brother’s study, a bit surprised to see her since Leo was asked to remain somewhat professional in his last days, clearly, he couldn’t manage to even do that. Katie looks embarrassed, her eyes widening as she tightly wraps her sweater around her, leaving the brothers alone.
“Is she really worth it?” Liam wrings his hands together, trying to calm himself down, he wants to support his brother, but he can’t help feeling betrayed.
“I love her with all my heart.”
“Of course,” he looks up at Leo, meeting his eyes for the first time in weeks, trying to search for a bit of remorse, “but more than your own…country? More than your own brother?”
“Yes.” Leo’s tone is flat, there’s no hesitation in his words, no regret in his eyes.
Of all the Rys men, Liam’s known for being the most composed, most stoic, the one able to refrain from letting personal feelings get in the way of his royal duties, but in this moment, he’s pissed. Furious that his brother takes his duty, his responsibility to the crown like it’s an annoyance, essentially treating their country, their people like nothing more than a fly insistently buzzing in his ear.
He clenches his hands into fists, digging his nails into the upper part of his palm. “If you stand down, I shall want you and that woman gone for good.”
“Pay me to, brother...“ Leo smirks at his brother, tilting the glass in his hand towards Liam, “and I'll be gone forever.”
Liam lets out a breath, the desire to lunge at his brother, to knock him off this pedestal he seems to hold himself on is strong, but instead he storms out of the study, brushing by his advisor, holding his hand up dismissively when they try to tell him about a meeting. The space between brothers was getting bigger, but it wasn’t helping his anger, instead each step just reminded him of how angry he was.
How dare he? How dare he think that he can abandon his country, throw his responsibility onto me and make out like a bandit.
Then he stops, stops walking, stops thinking before turning around, storming right back into the office Leo’s in, fuming at the smug expression on Leo’s face.
“Come to negotiate payment?”
“Something like that.” Liam lets go of all his logic and reason, slamming his fist into the side of Leo’s face, shaking it briefly before punching his brother again.
Leo staggers backwards, Liam not giving him time to compose himself before he shoves his oldest brother to the ground, straddling his torso before he starts hitting both first against his chest, not hard, but enough for the abdicating prince to feel each hit.
Tears fall down Liam’s face that’s now red from anger and probably his elevated blood pressure, repeatedly asking, “what did I ever do to you?” Trying to pour out all of his irritation, all of the betrayal he felt each time his fists pound into his brother’s chest, with every tear that slips down his cheeks.
The guards finally pull the two brothers apart, Katie rushing over to Leo, wailing about the soon to be bruise on his cheek, but all Liam can hear is the beating of his heart in his ears. Liam pushes himself off the ground, wiping off the back of his pants, feeling calm for the first time in weeks. Liam turns to leave the study for a second time, this time for good before he glances over at his brother, who's still sitting on the floor, stunned and disheveled as Katie fusses over him.
“You have 48 hours to vacate Cordonia.”
“Liam…”
Liam puts on his best diplomatic smile, something a bit sinister behind it, “if I see you after the allotted time, I’ll have you arrested for treason.”
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