Protector of the Crown

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

I stood alone in the throne room for twenty minutes until Grant arrived.

"I had a talk from our Crowned Prince," he muttered, standing like a statue beside me.

"As did I," I hissed.

Grand nodded and we waited in a silence that spoke volumes. We both had our issues with the current King and his son, but we had a duty. We waited, side by side, until the royal family and the royal advisors arrived.

The King arrived, sat on his throne, and motioned for a man to come forward. The man was the King's personal assistant. He was carrying multiple scripts, likely information Grant and I had already learned in training; rules, expectations, etc. We both accepted the scripts and were then sworn in as Protectors to the royal family. I could feel both Princes' eyes on us, but I refused to give Prince Marcus the satisfaction of looking. As for Prince Jackson, I couldn't bring myself to look; I had an unsettling feeling when I looked at him. It wasn't bad, just, unsettling as I had never felt it before and couldn't figure it out.

When the ceremony was complete I followed Prince Jackson out of the room, "Welcome to the palace, Mia," he said softly.

I looked up briefly, my heart fluttering at the way he said my name, then turned my attention to my papers, "Thank you, sir. Now, per your schedule we are due for an appearance at the opening of the historical museum."

"Ah, yes, my father's historical museum. Filled with information about how great he is," Prince Jackson mumbled in a surprisingly harsh voice and a look of rage quickly passed through his face.

I stood, gaping at him. I was shocked that I had heard the words from the King's own son, "Um, oh," was all I could muster.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to put you in an uncomfortable situation," he said, his voice gentle once again. "Before we leave I wanted to do a quick meet and greet! I knew my previous Protector very well, he'd been with me since I was1 12, even through my time in the military; I thought it made us a great team."

"Of course, sir," I said, reeling my head for questions that I didn't already know the answer to. As Protectors we knew nearly every detail about the royal family.

"I know you know all my personal information," he chuckled, "I mean real stuff." Prince Jackson leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms. "What's your favorite color?"

I couldn't resist a laugh, "My favorite color? Um, if I have to pick one..."

"You do," he said, a smile spread across his face and his shocking gray eyes bright and excited.

I looked into his eyes and before I could stop myself I blurted out, "Gray."

"Interesting color choice," he said, his own gray eyes snapping to mine. My body involuntarily froze. There was nothing more I hated than losing control and I felt so off not being able to control my words and body.

"What can I say," I said, breaking our gaze to quickly come up with a lie, "I grew up in a compound. Everything was gray."

The Prince's face softened, "You grew up there."

I sighed, "Yes. My family died when I was seven and I was brought to the compound to become a Protector. That's why I'm so young; I didn't miss the years of training most children miss. The others usually show up at 13, that's six extra years of training."

"But you were a kid," he said.

I smiled sadly, "A kid with nothing else. Now, that's enough personal information for today. It's time to go, sir. I don't want to make you late for my first responsibility on the job."