Kneel For Me
ME #1
Laura Greenwood
Contents
Blurb
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
Epilogue
Heard From Me Excerpt
About the Author
Also by Laura Greenwood
Kneel For Me © 2018 Laura Greenwood
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All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise – without prior written permission of the published, except as provided by United States of America copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher at “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the email address;
[email protected].
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Formatting by Gina Wynn @ Gina Formats Words
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Visit Laura Greenwood’s website at:
www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk
www.facebook.com/authorlauragreenwood/
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Kneel For Me is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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N.B. The Coronation dialogue between the Archbishop and Amara is inspired by the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
To anyone who loves those cheesy royalty movies as much as I do. I hope this is everything you want it to be.
Blurb
One Queen. Three Suitors. A Devious Plot.
Almost-Queen, Amara, has never had time for romance. Until she has to find a husband or forfeit the throne.
With limited time on her hands, and a cousin eager to usurp her, Amara sets her sights on a foreign prince. Things get complicated quickly as her childhood sweetheart and her schoolyard enemy are on hand to confuse just about everything.
Can she win the hand of the prince and keep her crown?
Kneel For Me is a steamy contemporary reverse harem.
Chapter One
“You need to marry, Your Majesty,” my advisor said, worrying his hat between his hands. Good. He should be nervous. There was no way I was getting married, even if tradition told me I had to. We were in the twenty-first century for Christ’s sake, why couldn’t they crown me if I didn’t have a husband?
“I don't see why,” I replied, not looking off from the paper I was perusing. It was important I got this done or the bill wouldn’t be able to pass through parliament. And considering this one was about education, it was far more important than my own marital status.
“It’s the law,” he stammered.
“It’s the law to trap me in an arranged marriage?”
I looked up this time, fixing him with a stern expression which I hoped made him drop it. I was well aware of the law in question. I made it my business to know my own country. But it hadn't been used in centuries and I’d have thought it would be ignored as antiquated and irrelevant. Apparently not.
“I wouldn’t say trap…” he protested.
“Wouldn’t you?” I arched a questioning eyebrow which said a lot more than my words ever could.
My mother had been a force to be reckoned with in her youth and she’d taught me all her tricks. I hated that she’d had to abdicate due to infirmities. No one deserved that, not least my powerful and commanding mother. The woman I used to know would have flipped to learn about this.
Lucky for my advisor, the times of cutting off people’s heads were long gone.
“Find a way out of it.” I pushed my chair back, abandoning the bill for now. It could wait long enough for me to have a cup of tea and recover from the agitation rising inside me.
“Your Majesty.” My advisor bowed deeply and I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. I wasn’t just a Princess anymore, I couldn’t afford to let little slips like that happen.
I strode from the room, grateful my position allowed me to wear sturdy heels and not the super-glamourous type. They could now be reserved for more formal occasions.
I turned left when I vacated my study, taking the servant stairs instead of the more populated corridors. I wasn’t ready to face anyone else unless I had to.
A grunt and a hard wall of muscle stopped me in my tracks. Served me right for not watching where I was going. I looked up, surprised to find a pair of familiar bright green eyes looking down at me.
“Carter?” My voice came out a little breathier than I’d like it too. Then again, Carter was the one man who’d ever really had this effect on me. Kind of. I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the foolish school girl crush I’d had on the gardener’s son.
I appraised him slowly. Alright. The crush I still had on the gardener’s son.
“Amara,” he replied steadily, giving me the same look I’d given him.
I should correct him. I should point out I was to be addressed as Your Majesty now. Or that he’d left for university seven years ago without even saying goodbye.
“How have you been?” he asked, his eyes softening.
Why were we having this conversation in a hidden stairwell again? If this got out…
Wait...what would happen if this got out? I couldn’t be disinherited, I was already on track to be coronated. And it wasn’t as if it was a secret that Carter and I were friends. We’d caused havoc around the palace as children.
“I’ve been better,” I replied.
“Ah, yes, your mother. I’m sorry.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled, dropping any pretence of being proper. Interesting how he had this effect on me.
“Are you holding up okay?”
“Yes. I have the best help available to help me run the country. Nothing is going to go wrong on my watch.”
“I didn’t mean at being Queen.”
“I’m not Queen yet,” I countered.
“You are in all but name. You have to know what the people are saying about you.” His words were whispered. Intimate. There was something about this moment that filled me with an anticipation I hadn’t felt in years.
Probably because of some of the other trouble Carter and I had gotten up to as teenagers. I did wonder if he’d be up for a repeat performance. It wasn’t like it was treason to sleep with the almost Queen…
“Amara?”
“Hmm?”
“You zoned out.”
“Sorry, I was thinking about legislation.”
Carter laughed lightly. “Whoever would have thought the girl I knew would turn into such a serious woman.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Just that you’ve taken to your new role with all the grace and gravitas I knew you had, but you never showed.”
Cryptic. And highly annoying. What was I supposed to do with that information?
“Hmm.”
“Where are you heading now?” he asked.
“To the kitchens.”
“Via the back stairs?” He arched an eyebrow and I tried not to think about how close we were still standing. I was fairly sur
e this wouldn’t be considered proper. Even if the mere concept of proper in this day and age was ridiculous. I was as much a woman as any of my subjects, I should be allowed to act that way.
“I don’t want to face people right now,” I admitted. I probably shouldn’t have, but Carter had been my best friend for years, it was impossible to forget that, even if he had been gone. “You look good,” I added, changing the subject and cringing while I did.
“You think so?” He smirked at me, a knowing glint in his eye.
“I need to go.” How smooth of me to just abandon the conversation. But my ears heated with embarrassment and I was grateful I wasn’t normally a cheek blusher. With my hair loose, no one would be able to see any physical sign of it.
A useful thing when I was to be Queen.
Without waiting for Carter to respond, I pushed past him and continued on my way down the stairs. A cup of tea was definitely needed now. A shot of something would be great too, but I couldn’t justify that. With work to do later, there was no shirking my duties just because I’d made myself feel awkward.
“Good to see you again, Amara,” Carter called after me, though the lack of footsteps at least confirmed he wasn’t following me.
That was probably better for now. Maybe later I could bring myself to revisit what we’d shared. But not yet.
Chapter Two
The cooks all ignored me as I sat sipping my tea. It was safe to say they were used to me coming down here and making myself drinks as I’d been doing it since I was in my teens. Sometimes they chatted away to me, but they also knew how to recognise when to leave me be to mope.
“Your Majesty?” my lady’s maid asked, her voice wavering as if she wasn’t sure whether to interrupt me.
Part of me wanted to chide her for the loss of private time but that wasn’t fair in the slightest. I had duties I needed to attend to. I couldn’t just ignore them because I wanted to sulk.
“Yes, Camilla?” I smiled as sweetly as I could. The girl was fairly new and younger than I’d have wanted. Which was to say, she was a couple of years younger than I was. I was at one of those difficult ages were I couldn’t have anyone older than me serving as there would be issues with natural respect. Neither could I have someone younger as they were just too inexperienced. I supposed it’d only be a problem that lasted for a couple of years but it was annoying those years fell right when I needed to get the hang of ruling.
“It’s nearly time to get ready, ma’am. The ball will start in a couple of hours.”
Ah, yes. The ball. It was for my mother’s birthday. Which was somewhat ironic given she couldn’t attend. But when I was asked if I wanted to cancel, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I guessed a part of me just wasn’t willing to remember she wasn’t the Queen anymore but a sick old lady spending her retirement in bed with as many good books as she could get her hands on.
I tried not to focus on that being the only thing my mother was capable of. While I still wasn’t sure if I was ready to rule the country, I sometimes wished she’d abdicated earlier and taken care of herself better. But that wasn’t who she was. And it wasn’t who she’d raised. I might not be very ready to take this on, but I’d do the best job I could and then some.
“Thank you, Camilla,” I dismissed my maid and took a final sip of my tea. “Thank you,” I said to the head cook as I pushed my chair back and rose to my feet, the regal training I’d been born with kicking right back in.
“Any time, Your Majesty,” the middle aged woman replied. A slight smile twisted at her lips and I knew she meant it. I’d known a lot of the older staff since I was a little girl and it showed in how they treated me. I quite liked it. Something about it made the huge palace more like a home in my mind.
I smiled in return, then turned to leave. I didn’t walk too fast, nor too slow, just like I’d been taught growing up. To appear the most regal, I needed to appear like I was gliding. Maybe some traditions should have disappeared in the twenty-first century, but us royals seemed to be a little stuck in the past.
Like the stupid marriage law. I wouldn’t be surprised if there weren’t several eligible bachelors about tonight. I didn’t get a choice in who the invitations were sent to unless I had very specific requests. Which I never did. It just wouldn’t do to be seen to have a preference for one Lord over another. God forbid any rumours of that came out.
I retreated to my suite, ignoring the servants I passed just as they ignored me. Palace life at its absolute best.
The bath was already filled for me. To the perfect temperature, with all the products I liked perched on the side and a fluffy towel waiting for me to finish. It was a little excessive but at least no one was going to try and bathe me. I’d asked my mother about that once and she’d laughed, saying we hadn’t done that in the palace for decades unless the royal was a small child or an infirm adult.
I glanced away from the bath. That was her now. Unable to do anything without help. I wished I could do more for her, but knew that if I tried, she’d shoo me away and tell me I was spending my energy on things I shouldn’t be. Stubborn might as well have been my mother’s middle name.
I stripped off my clothing, folding it neatly and placing it on the chair next to the bath. Just because I had servants, didn’t mean I could be lazy.
Heat enveloped me as I sunk into the hot, soapy water. This was the perfect feeling. Tension slipped away from me. I hadn’t even realised I’d been feeling it so much. My eyes drifted closed as I did my best to pretend the ball wasn’t happening. The timing was completely off. I didn’t want to face hundreds of formally dressed people when I was yet to find my way out of a stupid need to marry.
Chapter Three
Music flowed through the ballroom and out into the hallway where I waited. Thankfully, whoever had actually organised the event had thought to have happier classical music playing and not the stuff that made everyone want to sit down and cry. I’d had that at a ball when I was fourteen. I’d had to disappear for half of the evening.
I hated this bit. Waiting to enter was awful and I envied the lords and ladies who could just arrive and get on with the ball itself. But no. That wasn’t for me. I had to enter, eat, dance and receive people with a fanfare. To be honest, I was just glad I could use the bathroom without one. Thank the Lord for small mercies.
“Are you ready, Your Majesty?” the Herald asked.
“Yes,” I replied instantly.
He nodded once, but said nothing, which was a little surprising but at least I wasn’t going to be subjected to too many formalities this side of the door.
I counted to three in my head, well aware they were waiting for me beyond. The Herald on the other side of the door will have called everyone’s attention and they would now all be looking at the other side of the door I was looking at.
I smoothed out my skirts, wishing I could have worn something a little bit lighter. Tradition really was a pain.
The doors creaked as they swung open, revealing the room beyond. The sea of people all blurred together in the light, or due to my nerves. This was the first time I was doing this when I was the centre of attention. Normally, my mother was ahead of me taking the brunt of it.
“Her majesty, the Queen,” the Herald announced, his voice booming out into the room.
Nerves fluttered in my stomach. I was even more nervous than I thought. As slowly as I could get away with, I put one foot in front of the other and stepped into the room. It was impossible for me to ignore the attention of all the eyes around me. But I’d been trained to do this my entire life. Ignoring my nerves and going through with things anyway was one of the things I’d been taught from a young age.
A hush fell over everyone as I entered and the trumpets blared around me. I’d never gotten used to this before and I certainly wasn’t used to it now.
“As you were,” I said in my strongest voice. I nodded towards the conductor, who correctly interpreted it to mean I wanted him to start playing once more.
The Flemish Prince strode towards me, a determined look on his face.
“Your Majesty.” He bowed deeply.
“Your Highness,” I replied. “Thank you for joining us this evening.” Or not. I’d rather he wasn’t with us at all. Entertaining foreign princes like Albert wasn’t something I had time for. Plus, I knew he was here to try and trick me into marriage.
Sort of. He probably had as little choice as I did in the matter. Maybe even less. The Flemish royal family had a glut of sons and didn’t know what to do with them. A queen-in-waiting like me was probably the perfect opportunity to get rid of one.
At least Albert was handsome in that classical royal way. His nose a little too proud but that didn’t detract from him too much, especially given the small creases at the corners of his mouth. It was unqueenlike for me to notice them, but the idea of him smiling genuinely enough to cause them was enlightening. I hadn’t thought other royals like that existed.
“The pleasure is all mine.” He smiled at me, but this one didn’t reach his eyes. There was no doubt he’d been forced here then.
“I’m sure it is,” I responded haughtily. Two could play at his game.
The current song ended with a flourish and the people around us finished dancing and clapped politely.
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