A Royal Engagement: The Young Royals Book 1 Read Online Free PDF Page A

in age to myself.
    The women not chosen would form my court of Ladies in Waiting - an outdated but necessary tradition.   These women were to become my confidantes and close friends as well as support me through the transition from Heir Presumptive to Heir Apparent and finally Queen.   Each one of them also had a claim on my throne were anything to happen to me and I had to wonder at the wisdom of those long ago bastions of propriety who decided that friends must be kept close and enemies closer.
    Not that I was worried that one of them had designs my crown.   After speaking briefly with each of them I was convinced they had loftier goals, that of marrying wealthy, good-looking men and never having to work a day in their lives.
    Alexandra had been different and I actually looked forward to getting to know her better, although I did not look forward to the coming appointment, or the one after it to meet with the Bishop and finalise the funeral arrangements for my father and brother.
    I followed Meredith out of the gymnasium to the lifts.   The palace was centuries old and the elevators had been installed not long after they were invented.   The King at the time was intrigued by evolving technology and had made it a priority to have every last gadget that he could.   It had sparked a tradition amongst the St Benét monarchs which resulted in the Château de Conte de Fées being the most technologically progressive palace in Europe.   My brother had even studied Computer Sciences as part of his degree to ensure the tradition continued.
    The thought robbed me of my previously light mood.   It would be up to me now to ensure the tradition continued, not that I was a technophobe, on the contrary I had a fascination with it.   But I knew my brother had had big plans and now none of them would come to pass.   It was a sad thought.
    The elevator that took us to my suite had recently been updated and was a long way from the original one installed in the Palace in the late 1800's.   It glided silently and quickly to my floor and opened directly outside my suite of rooms.
    That was another thing that would change.   The rooms I had grown up in would no longer be my private sanctuary.   My mother's plans for the modest Chalet on the Palace grounds would not take long to finalise and she would be moving into it within the month.   Then I would need to begin work on the King's quarters and remake them into my own.   I understood why I needed to move, they were bigger and could accommodate my growing entourage and they were more centrally located with predesigned escape routes to ensure the ruling monarch could be secreted away if necessary.   But it didn't make it any easier.
    I had yet to have a moment to myself in which to mourn properly, and it would probably be several more days until I would get the chance.   The funerals were to be held within the week, two of them, one for each and a wake after each one.   Then there was the business of my accession, which had to be ruled on by Parliament.   I was the first female in the long line of St Benét's to be the Heir Apparent and with a Parliament that had a very patriarchal view of authority, I had no doubt that they would not be happy.
    Well, screw them.   I was the rightful heir and I intended to do my father and brother proud.   I refused to tarnish their memories by being anything less than they themselves had been.   Now I just had to find a way to make it so.

    I sat with one leg crossed over the other, leaning back in my chair and idly playing with my silver bangle as Lorraine went over the duties expected of my new personal secretary, Lady Alexandra Fornette.   The poor woman was looking very much like she had the desire to ram something down Lorraine's throat as the other woman went on in a particularly condescending tone.
    "Excuse me Lorraine," I said politely, "If I may?"   Lorraine nodded, but I could tell she was not happy at the interruption. "Lady