The King's Queen

Chapter 7

The following day, just as promised, the portfolios of my prospective bodyguards were delivered. The emperor had been right in that they were all Origens fully capable of protecting me. I sat in the living room, flipping through the pages and trying to figure out which two I'd select out of the ten he'd narrowed them down to.

One person caught my eye. His name was Garrett Stone and one of the hobbies he'd listed was reading. His unique ability was teleportation and he was highly recommended as a bodyguard for royals. I was already sold since he'd mentioned reading and decided to select him as my first choice. Now I had to choose one more.

I read through the rest of the profiles over and over again until I finally settled a woman named Violet O'Conner. Her unique ability was photographic memory and she had advanced certification in ancient Crysauralian with a degree in Kingdom History. I decided that she could double as a study partner.

After I'd made my choices, I resealed the envelopes and had them returned to Emperor Caden's office. I couldn't wait to meet the new bodyguards and I hoped we'd all be able to get along.

The TV was turned on but I'd hardly been paying attention to the news since I'd devoted my full concentration to selecting the guards. Now that that task was finished, I was suddenly aware of the prime minister's voice that droned in from the screen.

"No plausible explanation has been provided by the imperial royal family as to why the tradition is being broken," he announced. "Although having the second-born child rule is not unprecedented, the public is usually made aware of why that is so. Where is the transparency from the royal family?"

Ron Michaels, the prime minister of Crysauralia, was always looking for reasons to pit the public against the royal family. He firmly believed that the era of the monarchy had passed and we no longer needed an established royal family. But his arguments fell flat. Crysauralia was now a kingdom within an empire. The royal family had become the imperial royal family and we needed the imperial royal family to maintain balance between the countries.

"There must be a reason for it all," the reporter commented. "We must trust the imperial family to make the best decision for the sake of the empire."

The prime minister wiped the sweat from his brow with a white handkerchief. Sweating was his tell-tale sign of getting riled up. Besides, it was the middle of winter, not exactly the poster season for heavy perspiration. He looked squarely at the reporter and adamantly shook his head.

"I still stand by my statement. Emperor Caden has announced that Prince CaVaughn will take over Gregoria while his younger son Prince Ashton rules Crysauralia. If Prince CaVaughn is fit enough to rule another kingdom then he should rule Crysauralia!"

"I miss Cav," Brooke sighed, coming into the room as the prime minister dabbed at his brow again. "Why does he have to go all the way to Gregoria? It's so far away."

I gave Brooke a reassuring smile as she sat beside me. "He'll be back before you know it. He just has to sort some things out first."

She hugged a cushion to her with a forlorn sigh. "But then he'll move there and I won't see him again. What will I do?" She hastily brushed the back of her hand against her eyes, but her tears kept flowing.

"Don't cry," I comforted her and pulled her into a hug. "CaVaughn would want you to be happy right now. You know he'd never want to make you sad. He'll come back soon."

She sniffed and nodded against me before drying the rest of her tears. "Thanks, Ellie." She beamed at me. "I'm so happy that you're going to marry Ashton!"

"I know," I laughed at her enthusiasm that was slowly coming back. "You tell me every day."

"I was so excited I made you something! Please wait right here," she said, before dashing out of the living room and up the stairs.