A Royal Internship | Complete

Chapter Thirty-Eight

"Thank you so much for joining us, Ma'am," Emelie shook Queen Adele's hand and smiled as the cameras clicked behind me.

She turned to me and curtseyed, so I returned the favour, and the camera flash bounced off the wall as she thanked me. "And thank you so much for joining us, Miss Levin. It is such a pleasure to have you share a tour of our facility. You are welcome any time."

"Thank you." I smiled and shook her hand. "I would be delighted. It's a wonderful program you have here and I can see you are all very passionate about the children."

"You're too kind." She blushed and stepped back as two black-suited men ushered us out the front doors and into a waiting crowd.

As soon as the doors opened, a dull roar crashed into my ears like waves on the ocean. Except this wave was made up of hundreds of citizens shouting for our attention rather than water.

"Over here!"

"Queen Adele!"

"Is it true you're engaged to Prince Alexandre?" I have to assume that one is for me.

"Can you stop for a picture together?"

That last one seemed to get Queen Adele's attention as she stopped walking and swirled around to face towards the source of the request, motioning with her hand that I should step closer.

My heels clicked lightly on the carpeted ground as I took the three steps necessary to stand beside her, but still slightly behind. Knees together, standing up tall, hands loosely hanging by my sides. I looked towards the cameras and smiled, hoping I was looking in something resembling the right direction.

The yelling didn't really die down as the photographers shouted requests and snapped their photos, the black-suit men pushing them back behind the barricade.

"That will be enough," one of the black suit men boomed in a deep imposing voice that seemed to shake the ground.

I twirled around in horror as I felt someone touch the right side of my lower back, only to be met with Queen Adele's laughter.

"It's just me, dear." She used her free hand to spin me around to face the cameras. "Nothing to fear."

On the contrary, there's a lot to fear. Like whether she actually knows we're faking this or only that the internship doesn't exist. And what the king will do if he finds out. And whether I'll be able to meet her exceptionally high standards.

My legs turned into putty beneath me and I had to concentrate on keeping myself upright while Queen Adele waved to the crowds and led me to the car door held open by another man in a green and gold uniform.

"You did quite well," Queen Adele said when we were securely inside the car. "I think our photographers will find some usable shots amongst those they captured."

Their photographers? The photographers worked for the palace? That would have been nice to know an hour ago!

"Oh, that's good to hear." I wanted to ask her if I had done the right thing accepting the gift from the child, but I didn't want to bring up anything I might have done wrong that she didn't notice on her own.

"But--" She pushed a button and a screen buzzed its way up the middle of the car, separating us from the driver.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and folded my hands in my lap, willing them not to shake. "Yes?" I asked her as the privacy screen clicked into place.

"But, I saw the little issue with the dress. And the little issue with the gift. And the little issue with the crowd."

I took a breath and pressed my palms into the side of my legs so hard that my skin burned where they touched.

"I didn't mean to make errors. I apologize and will work to be better in the future."

When I finally braved a look at Queen Adele's face, she was softly smiling, as though addressing an orphan or lost puppy. "Oh, my dear. It isn't all that bad. But if we're going to get you ready to be a queen, we have a lot of work to do."

Was that supposed to be a compliment?

"So what were my small errors, if I may ask?" I blurted out before paying attention to if it was proper. As soon as I had said it, I willed the words back into my mouth and bit my lips together to avoid any more words sneaking out.

"The big ones?" she asked.

When I nodded, she continued. "The dress was ill-placed when you crouched to greet the child. It's easier not to make that mistake if you wear a tighter skirt for now."

I made a note to ask Olivia to plan my outfits around tighter skirts in the future as the queen continued.

"The gift is fine as it is homemade from a child, but it should have been handed to your assistant or security so you had both hands free to greet others."

"Oh," I said. There was nothing else to say. I hadn't studied that and I had messed up.

"And the crowd?" I asked, wringing my hands in my lap again.

"The crowd." She smiled and looked off into the distance. "Our people. Well, I've decided that's where you shine."

Wait, what?

"I-?" I stuttered out something incoherent. "I what?"

"You shine, dear." Queen Adele patted my knee. "I've decided that is where you will be most suited to helping Clarence and our public relations as a whole. I've arranged for your internship to be split between duties with Clarence and duties in the office. I don't want to take all of your internship away from you, but you are needed in the field."

Is she trying to tell me I'm good at this? Am I dreaming?

"So, to that end. I've decided what you and my son are going to work on for me. There's a charity function approaching and we'll be hosting a group we've never hosted before. There's a lot of research that goes into this and I want both of you to be involved in that process."

"Do royalty usually get involved in researching new guests?" I asked again without thinking. Maybe I used up all of my proper protocol at the event.

"No." She shook her head. "But in this case I think it would serve both of you to understand some of what goes on behind the scenes and really learn what it takes to run a country."

"I'd never thought about it that way," I mumbled to myself.

"It is an important job." Queen Adele looked out the window as she spoke. "We want to make sure you know what you're getting yourself into." For the briefest moment, the corners of her mouth pulled up into a small smile. As quickly as it appeared, it disappeared and we rode the rest of the way back to the palace in silence.