Reality set in....
Yes, I had been so shocked for some seconds there my brain had refused to register what was happening...it had flashed it all out and enclosed itself in it's imagination but not for long.
It was archaic but ironclad, and as the future king, Michael fell under the law's jurisdiction.
"No," Michael said. "She's not."
I stared at him. It was so quiet I could hear the leaves rustle as they fluttered to the ground.
"What are you saying?" Dread ballooned in my stomach, growing and growing until it squeezed all the air from my lungs.
"Rachel, I'm abdicating."
The balloon popped, leaving pieces of dread scattered throughout my body. My heart, my throat, my eyes and fingers and toes. I was so consumed by it I couldn't speak for a good minute.
"No." I blinked, hoping it would wake me up from my nightmare. It didn't. "You're not. You're going to be king. You've been training for it all your life. You can't just throw that away."
"Rachel—"
