Royal, p.1
Royal, page 1
ROYAL
K.T. HOLDER
Copyright © 2023 by K.T. Holder
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents portrayed in it are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
For my Wife
CONTENTS
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Epilogue
Afterword
Coming soon!
PROLOGUE
The woman rushed through the corridors, tears streaming down her cheeks, but she had no time to focus on her fear and sadness. The men escorting her bundled her down a side hallway, seeming to take turns at random through the warren of passages, but clearly focussed on an objective.
Her cloak flapped and her hood obscured her vision, adding to her rising panic. There was no other choice. This had to happen. She thought bitterly of the men who had agreed to this plan and then simply presented it to her as a fait accompli.
They burst into a room full of those gathered to say farewell. Those she had trusted; those who had betrayed her. Her friends, and her husband.
“There is no time!”
She couldn’t see who’d said it. Her escorts moved her to the machine in the centre of the room, then pushed her into its blue glow.
Everything was a brilliant blue and then… black.
“Your Majesty, are you okay?”
The queen looked up, pulling her hood back and letting it fall down her neck.
“Are we here?” She ignored her bodyguard’s question. Of course she was not okay. How could she be?
“Yes, Your Majesty. The house is just up ahead. It’s a short walk from our current position.”
The three of them walked slowly up the road towards the farmhouse, which had materialised on the horizon. Despite her mood, the queen looked at the countryside around her and could not help but be taken by its beauty. In the distance, the rolling hills gave way to a thick covering of trees that failed only where sheer cliff faces prevented their growth.
Her breathing became more laboured than it should have been. She placed a hand protectively on her swollen belly, then removed it quickly. Best not to become attached.
She heard the river to her left before she saw it. It was a small thing, the kind of river that entertained children in the summer, and perhaps provided some fish for a patient angler. It gave her some comfort that this place had beauty, but that did not help ease the pain in her heart.
Finally, they were at the door, and it opened to reveal a kind face. The face of the woman who would raise her child.
1
“Thank you, Linda.”
Lily smiled patiently at her director while handing her a bundle of files. She had given up correcting the woman about her name and resigned herself to forever being ‘Linda the intern’.
Lily sighed and looked at the collection of folders still left in her arms. This morning’s mind-numbingly boring task was to deliver folders to various people who were far too important to collect them themselves.
She continued down the corridor, smiling politely at people who had no idea who she was, and greeting those who remembered they had met before. It had been almost three months since she started as an intern in this government department, and she still didn’t really understand what they did. She did know that whatever it was, she didn’t want to do it.
But the problem was, Lily didn’t know what she did want to do. The rest of her family seemed to all have their lives figured out, but Lily was yet to find her thing. Her purpose. She felt, deep down, that there was something she was supposed to be doing. But that feeling was frustratingly silent on what that something was.
Lily had thought she had it figured out when she left the family farm after graduating from high school. But then, when she arrived at university to begin her business and economics degree, she had very quickly discovered that she liked neither business nor economics. And so she had dropped out, much to the despair of her parents.
That had prompted Lily to panic, and instead of taking a long hard look at herself and what she might be suited to, she had applied for every government internship possible. Having secured this one, she had then tried to convince her parents, and herself, that whatever it was that she was meant to be doing here was what she really wanted to do.
“Morning, Lily.” Her team leader greeted her without looking up from her computer. “Can you get started on this brief for me? It needs to be with Brooke by lunchtime.”
Lily had no idea who Brooke was.
“Um, sure, but I just need to drop off these files for—”
“Perfect. Now, you should be able to figure out the gist of it from this email I’m sending you, but basically the brief should explain to the minister why we can’t do a brief for him.”
Lily stared at her team leader. “You want me to write a brief, explaining that we can’t write a brief?”
“Exactly. Be sure to emphasise that we just don’t have the time or resources to be writing pointless briefs.”
Lily blinked, her brain struggling to comprehend the bureaucracy in which she found herself. In her first couple of weeks, she had asked far more questions when presented with a task like this. But now, Lily found it less frustrating to just go with it.
“Sure thing.” Lily went and sat down at her desk.
“Oh, you can drop all those files off first though.”
Lily closed her eyes for a beat, stood, and headed back out down the corridor.
“Oh, and bring me a latte when you’re done. Please. You’re a doll.”
Lily wandered around the maze of corridors, delivering the files and getting most of them to the right area. She fantasised about simply dropping the pile on a desk and walking out, never to return. Only the idea of the look on her parents’ faces stopped her.
“Oh love, you lost your job.” (That would be her mum).
“No, I didn’t lose it…”
“But sweetheart, maybe you just need to give it a bit more of a go?” (That would be her dad).
“I did give it a go…”
“Opportunities don’t grow on trees; you have to tend your own crops.” (That would be both of them).
Finally, she delivered the last of her folders and headed down to the coffee shop. Naturally, the elevator wasn’t working, so she took the stairs, squeezing awkwardly past people trudging back up.
Waiting in line, Lily absentmindedly checked her phone. No messages from Brandon, her boyfriend, but his latest social media post had him at some university event with Gemma, her best friend. She felt a vague pang of jealousy. Brandon and Gemma were spending so much time together lately. Ever since Lily dropped out. Lily told herself she needn’t worry, as she looked at the photo again.
A small voice in her head wondered if it would be so bad if they did hook up together. Brandon was a great guy, but Lily just wasn’t sure if he was a great guy for her. Maybe he was the kind of great guy Gemma deserved.
There wasn’t anything wrong with Brandon. He did everything right and was really kind. But what could I say? Sorry Brandon, you’re just too nice? She couldn’t shake the feeling that she was mainly with him because she felt she should have a boyfriend. Kind of like this job.
Grabbing the tray of coffees, Lily headed back up the stairs. She was fairly sure she had got enough for everyone, and she’d even bought an extra, in case her team leader changed her mind about the latte. Last week, by the time Lily made it through the snaking line at the café and back up to their floor, her team leader had decided that she was lactose intolerant and could only have black coffee.
“Oh, you’re a life saver, thanks Lily,” the team leader said, taking the latte from Lily’s tray as she entered the work area. Pausing before taking a sip, she asked, “Is this skim milk?”
Lily considered lying, but her hesitation was enough. Her boss replaced the coffee in the tray. “Well, thanks anyway.” She checked her watch, sighing heavily. “I’m not sure I have enough time to run and get one before my meeting…”
Unsure why she did, Lily found herself offering to return to the cafe. Her boss happily sent her on her way before sitting with the others in the break room as they enjoyed the beverages Lily had supplied. Why am I such a pushover?
Lily began her ascent back up the stairs, skim latte in hand, resolving to quit. This was ridiculous. She could find something else to pay the bills. Something that gave her time to consider her path in life. Something less painful. As the last thought rolled across her mind she became hyper aware of just how much her shoes were hurting her feet. She cursed her job. Why on earth, in a department that spanned several floors of rabbit-warren work cubicles, was she expected to wear shoes that were not conducive to movement? Or even standing, really.
“Cheer up darling, it can’t be that bad!” called a man Lily had never met as he and his friends passed by. They all chuckled. With an ominous feeling, Lily ducked into the bathroom and instantly saw what they’d been laughing at. The pale face that peered out of the mirror at her was frazzled. Her brown, shoulder-length hair was mussed up, as if she had been wandering in a gale rather than traipsing around an office building. She pulled it back into a ponytail and washed her face clean of the makeup that was starting to run from sweat.
Re-examining her reflection, she decided against trying to reapply her makeup. Lily often worried her features were plain, but considering no one seemed to remember her anyway, she felt no need to try and stand out.
Lily exited the bathroom, keeping an eye out for the men who had called out to her. Suddenly, she resented worrying about what they thought. And why did they get to call out to her like that? Or call her darling? Why wasn’t there an equivalently patronising term to use to refer to men?
Shaking off her spurt of feminism, Lily plastered a smile on her face and presented the team leader with her coffee.
“Oh, thanks doll. But Paul got me one. Gotta run to my meeting, just send that brief straight to Brooke, okay? Oh, and can you run this file to Robert? He needs it right away.”
Lily went in search of the mysterious Robert, unwanted latte still in hand.
“Oh, Linda!”
Lily almost collided with the director, who came steaming around a corner, seemingly late for something. She eyed Lily’s coffee. “You’ve planned well—I’d kill for a coffee.”
Lily offered the latte and the director graciously accepted.
“Thank you, you’re a gem. Are you coming to the professional development session?”
“Oh no, I have a brief to write.”
“I’m sure it can wait; professional development is very important.”
“Uh, what’s it about?” Lily asked.
“You know, I’m not sure,” the director said thoughtfully.
Lily hesitated, then decided to go with it. She had little desire to write a brief about not writing a brief, and if nothing else it’d give her feet a rest. The delighted director linked arms and escorted Lily to the conference room, babbling happily about how good professional development was for developing oneself professionally.
I really need to get out of this place.
Once they were inside the conference room, Lily managed to slip the clutches of the director, who went to greet other people of greater import than Lily. She navigated to the back of the room and secured a seat by the window.
Eventually, the presenter managed to get his slides to work and started droning on in a monotone that made it physically impossible for Lily to concentrate on whatever it was that he was saying. Instead, she gazed out the window, watching the rain fall and tried to fight the overwhelming feeling that she just didn’t seem to belong anywhere.
Suddenly, she saw the reflection of a figure standing in front of her that definitely hadn’t been there a second ago. Looking up, she saw not one, but three men in front of her. One grabbed her shoulder. There was a bright blue light, and then the world was a black nothingness.
A moment later, she found herself unceremoniously deposited in a chair with the three figures still surrounding her.
At first she thought perhaps she had just blanked out for a second, startled by the sudden appearance of the three strangers, and she looked around the conference room to see if they had shocked anyone else. But everyone else had vanished.
Weird. Since when did the conference room have this many crystals embedded in the walls? Or a holographic display?
She watched the display in amazement for a beat as figures that looked almost real paced and seemed to be talking to each other, though she couldn’t hear what they might be saying.
The three men stepped back slightly and stared at her.
“Um… Hello?” Lily said awkwardly. Immediately, all three dropped to one knee, their right arms braced across their bodies and heads bowed.
“Oh. Okay…” Lily wondered whether she should also take a knee when a loud bang sounded behind her, making her jump.
“Get up, get up,” chided an officious-looking man hurrying towards them from the other end of the room. Lily was temporarily distracted by the sheer volume of the hall behind her.
Enormous pillars framed the hall, which was large enough to fit a football field. The roof loomed high above them, peaking in the centre and supported by massive wooden beams. It was like the great hall of some medieval castle. With a sudden sickening lurch, Lily realized she was not in the conference room anymore, or even in the government building. This place was far, far too large and… different.
“Don’t tell me they brought her back and then are just kneeling around while she probably doesn’t even know what’s going on,” the older man muttered to himself as he ushered the three strange men out of the way.
“You are Royal Guards, for crying out loud. How are you supposed to guard if you’re all staring at the floor?” None of the men responded but glared pointedly at the man, then moved to various points around the room and stood in an imposing fashion.
“Right now, there you are,” he glanced at the guards, looking satisfied, then turned to Lily, his eyes and tone softening. “How are you, Your Majesty?”
“I’m, um…” Lily looked around. “Where am I?”
“Oh yes, of course!” He coughed and straightened up slightly. “Welcome, Your Majesty. Welcome to Highacre.” He gestured theatrically around him, bowing slightly.
Lily blinked at him. The silence stretched awkwardly as Lily cast around for something that would help her understand and react appropriately. The man was staring at her, his expression shifting from a satisfied, warm one, through to surprise and concern until ultimately landing on a quizzical look, much like one wears when staring at a broken lawnmower.
“Is she broken?” asked one of the guards, who Lily realised was staring at her with the same expression.
“It can happen, I guess, but it’s rare,” said the older man, moving closer to her.
“Didn’t seem broken when we got her here,” the guard said, slightly defensively.
“No, no, it’s the process.” The man started palpating her glands like a doctor. “Sometimes people can have an adverse reaction to interdimensional travel.”
“Perhaps she needs a shock,” the guard offered.
“No, we just need—”
“It works for the hiccups,” the guard interrupted, clearly put out that the older man was not listening to him.
“Yes, well, this is not—”
“Boo!” bellowed the guard from behind Lily. She squealed and jumped, tripping on the chair and falling to the floor. Immediately, the older man and the guard were at her side, fussing and helping her to her feet.
“No, it’s fine, I’m okay,” she told them, trying to push them off.
“Nice one, Boris,” said another guard.
“What?”
“‘What?’ What do you mean ‘what?’ You don’t yell at the monarch!”
“It worked, didn’t it?”
