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Untouched Queen by Royal Command

by Kelly Hunter

PROLOGUE

Augustus

THEY WEREN’T SUPPOSED to be in this part of the palace Fourteen-year-old Augustus, Crown Prince of Arun, had been looking for the round roolass roof for at least six years He could see that roof from the helicopter every time they

flew in or out, but he’d never been able to find the roo to help him out

His father said that those quarters had been o

His mother said it was out of bounds because the roof was unsafe

Didn’t stop hi for it, even if they never had much luck It was like a treasure hunt

They wouldn’t have found it this time either, without the help of a map

The floor was made of moon-colouredthe central roo furniture had been covered with dusty drapes that had probably once been white Above all, it felt war areas were never warm

‘Why do we not live in this part of the palace?’ asked his sister fro every door of every room that circled the main area ‘These look like bedrooms I could live here’

‘You want fifty bedrooms all to yourself?’

‘I want to curl up like a cat in the sunlight Show me one other place in the palace where you can do that’

‘Mother would kill you if you took to lounging about in the sun You’d lose your milky-white complexion’

‘Augustus, I don’t have a ht want I have black hair, black eyes and olive skin—just like you and Father do My skin likes the sun It needs the sun, it craves the sun Oh, ’ She’d disappeared through another marble archway and her voice echoed faintly ‘Indoor pool’

‘What?’ He backtracked and headed for the archway, bu up fast

‘So rustled in the corner,’ she muttered by way of explanation

‘Still want to live here?’ He couldn’t decide whether the hole in the ground was big enough to be called a pool or sh to be called a bath All he kneas that he’d never seen mosaic floor tiles with such elaborate patterns before, and he’d never seen exactly that shade of blue

‘I still want to look around,’ his sister offered ‘But you can go first’

He rolled his eyes, even as pride demanded he take the lead He’d been born to rule a country one day, after all A rustling sound would not defeat hiht There was a sink for washing hands carved into the wall beside the archway, and taps that glealow He reached for one and, with sole, a splutter or even the clank of old pipes

‘What is this place? What are all these stone benches and alcoves for?’ his sister asked as she followed him into the room She kept a wary eye on the shadowy corners but eventually turned her attention to other parts of the room

It was an old uided the his two royal students books to read so that he could then nap his way through afternoon lessons Their loss And soht in here, he could probably even spin it that they were continuing their history lesson hands-on

‘Maybe it was built for a cohts who slept in the roohting in the round rooested

‘Maybe’

Kings had ruled frohold for centuries It hy the place looked so formidable from the outside and had relatively few creature coenerations of royals had tried toabout it that resisted softening Except for in here There was soely beautiful about this part of the palace Augustus plucked at a scrap of golden silk hanging fro pieces to the floor ‘Did knights wear embroidered silk bathrobes?’

His sister glanced over and gasped ‘Did you just destroy that?’

‘No, I ument was his friend

‘Can I have some?’

Without waiting for per cloth froan to rub at a nearby tile

‘It’s going to take a little et this place clean’

‘I just want to see the pictures,’ his sister gru

He looked, andoh ‘Congratulations You found the ancient tile porn’