ROGUE PRINCESS (Sample Chapters)

Chapter Six

"Insolent child!" Advisor Winchell's voice reverberated off the twenty-foot-high ceilings. "Insufferable! Dim-witted!" Her cane hit the marbled floor with each exclamation mark.

Delia stood in her stolen pilot's uniform. It hung from her body like an outer layer of extra skin. Her feet were numb and her arms dangled heavy by her sides. When she and Prince Felix had returned to the palace, a senior guard escorted her directly to the throne room to see the queen. Instead, Advisor Winchell was waiting for her.

With her chin tucked in, barely lifting her eyes, Delia listened to the scathing rant as the light from the two suns moved across the throne room, marking the time.

She'd learned long ago to let Advisor Winchell finish her whole argument before coming to her own defense. No disobedience was too casual for the elderly woman's sharp tongue.

Once, when Delia and Shania had snuck into the royal kitchen after bedtime with the intent to have another slice of honey petunia cake, she had caught them on the way back to their rooms and kept them up until dawn, telling them legends of horror about disobedient children being punished by the ghosts of their ancestors.

Now, Delia stood in place, feeling like that little girl again. She watched the large patch of sun move across the floor, then up the ornate throne hitting the inlaid crystals one by one. Rainbows momentarily painted the wall covered in portraits of past queens. As the lecture continued, their expressions seemed to warp from regal elegance to condemnatory glares.

"The entire fleet was put on alarm because of your unbridled spirit!"

Tap, went the cane.

"Your impulsivity put this whole kingdom at risk!"

Tap.

It was on the tip of Delia's tongue to mention the bodyguard and how she chose helping him over a quick escape. She was brave, not impulsive. She even gave that man and his son passage to Delta Kur.

"You may have jeopardized the marriage pact! Your lack of serious- ness concerns the court! Astor may have lost its last hope!"

TAP. TAP. TAP.

"That's quite enough." A regal voice from the back of the room sliced through Advisor Winchell's last scolding. Delia's mother had finally arrived.

There was a rustling of silk and tempered footsteps. Then thin fingertips touched Delia's chin, tilting her face upward. She forced herself to meet the eyes of her mother. "I understand you've been busy this morning."

"Your Majesty," Delia said, curtsying automatically.

The light illuminated the queen's hair, picking up the few silver strands of her braid, elaborate and entwined with the crown on her head.

Delia always saw herself in her mother's face: brown skin, high forehead and square jaw—features of a queen. But not today. The only thing reflected back to her at this moment was her mother's dis- appointment.

Advisor Winchell's posture stiffened as the queen floated past Delia and took her place on the throne. The room was silent; even the former queens in the portraits seemed to be holding their breath.

"Please explain your actions, daughter. I was under the assumption you understood the importance of this gathering we're hosting."

"I do, Your Majesty," Delia replied. "I have been researching suitable matches, determining which will benefit our kingdom the most—and likewise who I should avoid insulting."

"You're concerned about making enemies?" At this Queen Talia raised an eyebrow. The lines in her expression seemed more promi- nent than usual.

There was a sting of guilt as Delia worried about the undue stress she'd put her mother under, and thereby the kingdom.