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Queen by Royal Command
Annie West
For dear Abby Green
Who organizes the best surprises!
CHAPTER ONE
Annalena paused inthe palace’s opulent vestibule. All around were the trappings of old wealth and power. The floor of multicoloured marble. Gilded lanterns, huge tapestries and statues by ancient masters.
The triple-height space was topped by a frescoed ceiling that art lovers travelled the world to see. It showed the continents, their people portrayed with improbable romanticism. Grand princes, warriors and scholars. The only women were naked or nearly so, subservient or simpering admiringly. Naked women because that was what the men who’d commissioned it liked to look at, and subservient because that was their place in the world.
Some things apparently hadn’t changed in three hundred years.
If Annalena and her grandmother had been male, the powers that be wouldn’t have spurned them so insultingly.
‘Can I help? Are you here for a tour of the public rooms?’
She turned to see a guide, gesturing to the tourists gathering on one side of the vast space. ‘No, thank you. I’m here on business.’
His eyes widened as he tried and failed not to stare at her clothing. As if he couldn’t believe she could have business in the royal palace.
Despite her nerves, Annalena felt her lips twitch as he walked away.
She’d thought hard about what to wear to today’s meeting. Formal, of course. Initially she’d reached for the suit she’d worn last week to meet the international consortium looking to invest in a joint research project.
But she’d changed her mind and opted for tradition.
Once upon a time she’d hoped the man she’d come to meet was nothing like his father, with his complete disregard for anything except making quick money, no matter the cost to the country. But Benedikt had shown himself to be just as imperious and greedy. Uncaring of tradition and the fact some things were too precious to be destroyed. Her grandmother had raised an eyebrow when she’d seen Annalena ready to travel to the capital. But there’d been laughter in her eyes and approval in her tone when she’d said, ‘I see you plan to make a statement, my dear. Good for you. It’s a perfect time to remind him we’re all custodians of our country. It’s not all about his bank balance.’
Annalena made her way across the vestibule towards the royal offices. Her low-heeled shoes tapped purposefully across the expensive marble.
As she neared the closed door, security intervened. ‘I’m sorry. This is closed to the public.’
She surveyed the dark-suited man and smiled, belying her thumping heart. For shewasan interloper, worried at the possibility of failing. Because of her family she’d never had the luxury of being just average, but nor did she belong here. ‘I know. I have an appointment.’
She didn’t know whether it was a curse or a blessing that so few people in the capital knew her by sight. In the Grand Duchy of Edelforst she was well known. But in Prinzenberg’s capital it was different. Her fault for avoiding the place so long.
Who could blame her, given her family history?
Dread pooled in her stomach and a shudder rippled down her spine. She’d grown up viewing this as the sinister centre of the disaster that had engulfed her family.
She’d never set foot in this building and had hoped never to do so. But some things were more important than personal inclination. Besides, she wasn’t a child, to be frightened by long ago events.
Yet she couldn’t help wondering if Benedikt was as dangerous as his father had been.
The guard looked at her closely. Annalena told herself it was because she didn’t look like the usual sort of visitor. She couldn’t have betrayed her disquiet. She’d been too well trained to conceal emotions behind a serene mask.
‘I wasn’t told about a visitor. Who are you seeing?’
Annalena pushed her shoulders back, projecting some of her grandmother’s hauteur. ‘His Majesty. A ten a.m. meeting.’
‘Just a moment, please.’
The guard frowned, half turning away as he spoke into a mouthpiece. Heads turned in their direction.
Good. Let them stare. The more people to witness her arrival, the less chance anyone would dare throw her out.