Chapter Three - Adriana Gervais - 19 yrs old

       Adriana watched Edgar calmly pick up a few things from his desk, give her a quick bow of respect before he too shuffled after her father.

      Now, she wasn’t alone with the new guard. Damit! She was stuck with him from now on, a bodyguard who would harm her. No one in their right mind would come after her. She wasn’t even an afterthought because her sisters took the spotlight all the time. Which was fine for Ana. She even let them think it hurt her. She didn’t want that at all.

       But she fully expected her father to ignore her petition for this position. Was she that much trouble around here and a reminder of how useless a third child was to his grand scheme of things that he needed to remove her from everything she knew?

       Oh, did she have daddy issues and none of them were fun in the least? She sighed heavily and looked at the thick folder in her hands.

       She had less than two days to review this folder, meet her staff, entourage, and now security. Then get there and pretend she knew what she was doing. What had she gotten herself into?

       While it was sinking in for her, a masculine voice finally came from the new guard who stood behind you. “Since the Emperor only hired me about two minutes before you entered his study, I believe you’ll need some information. It appears my first act of duty is to ensure you make it to great the coming guests, and then chaperone you for the evening with the Lord you are with.”

       “Really, how lovely you get to witness my torture. You’ll know who he will be because he’ll be the ugliest one with the least prospects, and probably the worst manners.”

       “Why would that be?” George that was his name. It finally clicked for her. Dang, he must have come from the training field by the way he was dressed. She had to admit he had guts to show his face like this in front of her father. Maybe he wasn’t as bad as she thought.

       “Because my mother keeps the top picks for my sisters so that they have the best chance at the best matches. But that’s fine, I’m not interested in finding my life partner yet. There’s so much I need to and want to do before that happens. You still don’t get it? My parents know I am too far from the throne to sit ever on it. That means I’m not as much of a catch as my sisters are, so why both giving me the same education, and opportunities? But, at least, I’m not jonesing for the throne. So, please keep that in mind for the future. I don’t want to be the Empress.”

       “Duly noted.” He stated as he watched her lips as she spoke. “Now I want to know how much trouble you’re going to give me because you think no one cares?” He had a look in his eyes that just pinned Ana to her place and made her feel like she was the only person in the room. That wasn’t the case. The guards were still here, waiting for them to leave.

       “I don’t understand what you mean.”

       “What I mean is your father just placed you in the position of representing the Empire and him to the world. If you think the heir and spare are targets, what do you think the representative of the Empire is? Your father isn’t banishing you. He’s putting you in the world’s spotlight. The world that’s full of rivals and enemies of him and the Empire.” George was serious, deadly serious. Ana stared at him, her mind processed his words. Her jaw slowly fell open as the complications became obvious to her for the first time.

       “I don’t believe it. He knows he put a target on my head. Why would he do that to me? Something isn’t right with this. He always gives things like that to Tatiana or Dionysius, not me. Why would he change his preferences?” Ana couldn’t understand what she was now obligated to perform for years.

     “Because he knows there’s danger involved. You’ve told me the answer already. He knows you can protect yourself and you take it seriously. Your sisters never did that. They rely only on others for protection, you don’t. Before you convince yourself that the Emperor is setting you up to die, I want to do one other thing. He wouldn’t have charged me with protecting you if he wants you dead. Now, I need to change. I can’t be seen by your guests tonight. Where will I find you when it’s time to go and meet your guests?” George made himself quite clear of what he believed the situation was, and it left Ana practically speechless.

       “Oh, uh, I think I will be in the blue sitting room. There’s a desk there I can use while I review this.” She wasn’t sure if she should do this right now, but she had hours to prepare and become familiar with everyone she would work with to achieve in her new roles. Though now, she needed to add a very masculine distraction, and research on who were the threats she could or would crop up. This was shaping up to be an experience she’d never imagined before.

       “Then I will meet you early enough to walk you to you’re apartment to secure your portfolio before we meet your guests.” Ana nodded. She wanted to get away from him before she did something foolish and touched him, or worse, to embarrass herself. At worst, sentenced an innocent man to death because she was curious how he kissed.

        “That would be fine, thank you. Until later.” She snapped the portfolio shut and stalked quickly from the study. There was no way she’d talk about this with anyone, and she prayed no one noticed how they seemed to gravitate to each other.

       This was too much for one evening. How would she get the answers she needed? Did her father really set her up because she differed from her sisters? Was he trying to keep them safe by sacrificing her? Was it a slight chance of her being harmed? Or was it a sure thing?

       Ana could feel the ball of anxiety in her belly building. Just perfect. She’d be distracted by this issue while dealing with a stranger.

       She was in trouble already before anything happened. Was it too late to fake a headache?