A Royal Internship | Complete

Chapter Thirty-Seven

When I left my room to go meet Queen Adele for our outing, Janet had fully prepped me for every possibility, and my outfit had been checked by two people after Olivia hand selected it for me. So I didn't really feel ready at all, but at least I knew I looked ready.

My knees shook as I descended the steps behind Olivia. I could practically feel the queen's eyes boring into me as we rounded the corner where she stood, waiting for us.

"You are late," she said. There was nothing threatening about the statement, but something about the way she said it was authoritative and intense.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness." I curtseyed, remembering not to provide an excuse. These rules are intense. I had to resist the urge to wipe the sweat from my brow as I waited for her response.

"No matter," she said, waving the problem off with her hand, "I'm glad to see your attire is appropriate." She turned to Olivia, who curtseyed again and left the room, apparently knowing something I did not.

"Thank you, Ma'am." I forced a shaky grin onto my face and slid my hands behind my back to steady myself. I was halfway through the motion when Queen Adele's stern glare informed me it was not appropriate, so I slipped them to the front and clasped them together.

"Let's go." She turned on her heel and walked down a narrow hallway I'd never been down before. I wanted to ask her where we were going, but I didn't know if that was appropriate. I was trying to stick to things I knew to be appropriate, just to make sure I didn't step out of line, so I kept my mouth closed and followed behind her down the long hallway full of windows.

She stopped abruptly next to a set of double doors adorned, as I had come to expect, with one guard on either side.

"Your Highness," the one nearest to me said. "We have word they are ready for you. Shall we escort you?"

"Good," she nodded to the one who spoke. "But I think we can escort ourselves. The grounds are secure?"

"Yes," the other one answered, his voice surprisingly deep. "Everything is clear."

"Then we shall walk ourselves." Queen Adele stood in the center of the doors as the guards opened them in unison. "Thank you, gentlemen. Come along, Genevieve."

I didn't realize my mouth was hanging open until one of the guards motioned with his hand. I mouthed a thank you to him on the way by.

We meandered our way down a narrow path lined on either side with some type of beautiful purple flower. Another thing I wanted to ask about, but I kept my mouth shut. I had to be careful to step only on the balls of my feet, lest the small heel of my shoe get caught in one of the many cracks on the old, stone pathway.

Finally, after what couldn't have been more than two minutes, we arrived at the open door of a shiny, black car.

"After you." Queen Adele gestured inside with her hand.

"Of course." I curtseyed and walked over to the car, carefully placing myself down on the seat while keeping my knees together before swinging my legs into the car and sliding over to leave room for the queen.

Once she joined me in the car, she reminded me of a couple things I had already done wrong. This is going to be a long day, isn't it?

* * *

The ride to the Royal Center for Children in Crisis wound through a beautiful part of town I had never been to. But that probably wasn't saying much as I hadn't ever been to any part of town, really. When we arrived, I stepped out of the car the right way and followed two steps behind Queen Adele until we were inside and away from the prying eye of most of the media. I did note, however, that two men with cameras were still following us everywhere.

"Hello and welcome to the Royal Center for Children in Crisis. I'm Emelie Soucisse. We're so honoured to have you here, Your Highness," a young woman with short brown hair greeted us with a curtsey. "And you are most welcome, Miss Levin."

"Thank you," Queen Adele and I said in unison. I'm pretty sure I just saw a hint of a smile on Queen Adele's face. Maybe I'm not doing everything wrong.

"If you'll follow me." Emelie gestured down a short hallway. "I will lead you through to meet some of our directors and children."

Under normal circumstances, the tour would have been exactly the kind of thing I like to spend time doing. She showed us their organizational structure and a bunch of behind-the-scenes looks at what the employees spent their time on. But as it was, I was so focused on constantly acting properly that I struggled to pay attention to any of the specifics I would have otherwise enjoyed.

Finally, at least twenty pictures later, we reached a room marked Playroom.

"And here is where some of our children and parents have come to greet you this morning," Emelie smiled as she pushed open the door and held it as we walked through.

"Good morning, children." Queen Adele smiled brightly, greeting the children as they rushed up to her. Some of their mothers tried to stop them, but the queen graciously encouraged them all to approach her, smiling and shaking hands and accepting hugs. I watched her in awe. How does someone who is so stern with me turn so soft among children?

"Excuse me, Miss?" I felt a tug at my dress as the small voice spoke from my left.

I turned to face the little girl and smiled when I saw her paper tiara. "Yes? How are you doing?"

"I just wanted to say I love your pretty dress and I want my hair to look like yours one day."

I crouched down, being extra careful to keep my knees together and my skirt tucked under me. "I think your hair is beautiful." I smiled and stroked her hair out of her face. "Did your Mama do it for you?"

She nodded excitedly and pulled her free hand out from behind her back. "I made you this. I hope you like it." She was shifting her weight from one foot to the other and biting her lip, but her smile was still visible in her sparkling eyes.

I took the drawing from her hands and stood up to examine it, glancing briefly at Queen Adele to see if she disapproved of my accepting gifts. I'm pretty sure accepting paper drawings from children is allowed, though.

Seeing no disapproval from the queen, I looked more closely at the drawing, which appeared to be of me and Clarence holding hands in front of the palace. She had also added several small children and two dogs.

"This is beautiful." I crouched down to her level again and pointed at the figures in the picture. "Is this me and Prince Alexandre?"

"Yes!" she bounced around and then lurched in towards me before suddenly backing away. "Oops, I'm sorry. Mommy told me not to hug."

I leaned in close enough so she could hear me but no one else could. "Don't tell anyone, but I really like hugs, so it would be okay if you gave me one."

I pulled back slightly, intending to return to my well-balanced crouch, but before I knew it, she was flinging her arms around my neck. The sudden movement threw me so off balance I almost toppled to the ground, but at the last second, I managed to steady myself with my free hand and pull both of us back to a balanced position. Let's just hope none of the camera's caught that less than graceful moment.