Page 34 of Untouched Queen by Royal Command

‘What for? What part of “It’s a good one” doesn’t she understand?’

‘I’ll leave that for you to judge. I’ll warn you though, she’s already engaged your sister’s co-operation and they’re looking at some quite sweeping reforms.’

‘They’ll still have to go through me.’ He wasn’t looking forward to being the voice of reason. He could already name a dozen education initiatives that Moriana had wanted to support that had been shut down by various committees full of education experts. ‘Let’s dig deeper into Sera’s background and education qualifications. Personal history too. I want no surprises when it comes to what kind of reforms she’s likely to advance.’

‘You have a dossier on her.’

‘I have a CV. I want to expedite that full investigative report I ordered. Whatever has been collected, get them to send it.’

The older man nodded.

‘As for education reform—’

‘It’s been on your agenda for the last six months,’ the older man offered drily. ‘You keep shuffling it to the bottom of your pile while you concentrate on regional water plans. I gave the portfolio to Lady Sera a week ago on a whim. So if you want to blame somebody for that particular report, blame me.’

‘I will.’ Augustus looked at the folder in his hand and scowled.

‘Children are our future,’ the older man said serenely. ‘I so look forward to yours.’

‘Alas, that will require a wife.’ And, at last glance, he still didn’t have one in mind.

He already gave careful consideration to the charities and initiatives he supported.

‘Will you be requiring casual dress for dinner this evening or something more formal?’ his secretary asked.

‘Casual.’ Even if the image of Sera in a formal evening gown made him momentarily lose focus. What would a courtesan of the High Reaches regard as formal clothing? What would she regard as casual? He hadn’t forgotten the collar and the manacles she’d worn upon her arrival. ‘Definitely casual.’

* * *

Sera arrived at the door to the blue dining room at precisely thirty seconds past seven. The door was open and Augustus was already within. She entered and he looked up, a dark-haired devil with classically handsome features and black eyes that knew how to drill deep.

She pushed back the hood of her travelling cloak and met those eyes with polite composure, before dropping to a curtsey and rising again before he could tell her to get up. He could add Doesn’t take orders to her list of sins. There were bigger sins.

‘You wear a travelling cloak to walk down a corridor?’ Augustus asked as she reached for the tie at her neck and stepped aside so that Ari could wheel a covered rack of clothes into the room and set it to one side. She waited until Ari had stationed himself outside the door before closing it behind him and turning to face her host.

‘You ordered me never to appear in front of your court wearing the clothing of my profession,’ she reminded him gently. ‘Remember?’

The cloak came off. Her tunic was sheer and the bodice beneath it was more beautiful and intricate than he had ever seen before. Fitted trousers, high heels, no jewellery but for the pearls in her hair. Modesty for the most part, enticement if anyone was so inclined. She draped the cloak over the back of a nearby chair and turned to face him again.

‘You call that casual dress?’ he asked.

‘Yes. Also, you’re wearing a hand-tailored suit, a fifty-thousand-dollar vintage watch, and the only concession you’ve made to dressing casually is that the top button of your shirt’s undone and you’ve loosened your tie.’ She arched an elegant eyebrow. ‘Did you expect me to wear shorts?’

‘I’m pretty sure the watch wasn’t worth fifty thousand when my grandfather bought it,’ he offered mildly. ‘But point taken. You look lovely.’ She always did, no matter what she wore.

He ought to be used to it by now.

‘I know your interest in historical gowns and clothing is limited,’ she said, turning towards the clothes rack. ‘But I took the liberty of bringing a few along for show and tell. They’ll form part of the costume collection I’d like to take on the road to various places, should you give the go-ahead.’

Which sounded all well and good, but he’d read the proposal—all fifty pages of it and the appendices—and by various places she meant brothels.

Augustus would have reprimanded her for being so blatantly obvious about her political agenda, only she’d turned her back on him and his attention had been firmly caught and held by the dazzling dragon-shaped embroidery that wove through the material at her back, leaving pockets of nothing but creamy skin showing through the delicate gaps. Shimmery scales collected from heaven only knew what kind of beast highlighted various dips and curves, and as for those forest-green stilettoes that matched one of the dragon’s main colours, how did she even balance on those things?

‘Would you like a drink?’ he asked, rather than engage with the topic she’d introduced. He was no novice when it came to directing conversation where he wanted it. Or keeping people off-balance, if he wanted to.

Movement was good. Movement meant he could leave the dragon at her back behind. The sideboard was stacked with a selection of beverages. ‘Wine?’

‘Thank you.’ Sera smiled, her movements quick and effortless as she removed one particular gown from the rack and twirled it around on its hanger, the better to make the skirt flare. ‘Take this gown, for example.’

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