Targeted

Secret #1: Being a bodyguard or an agent isn’t that big of a deal, but when things leak out, it can be a really messy topic... especially if it might cost someone their life. I don’t want that to happen, so I keep quite about it.

“Your next mission is to be a bodyguard.”

“You want me to do what?” Agent Monique Chang asked in a rather unnecessarily loud voice, accidentally slamming her hands down hard on the table in front of her. On her face was a look of pure shock as her hands curled into two tight fists. No damn it, she will not risk her life to become babysitters of two royal brats.

Breath girl... killing yourself by suffocation is not a good idea right now. She reminded herself, noticing how lightheaded she was becoming. Sucking in a deep breath, Monique added as she glared at the two adults in front of her, “Well?”

“Agent Chang, once again, we want you two be the bodyguard of the two twin princes of Royslin. Oh and they are not royal brats.” Maria Turnkey, the director of the Royal Protection Program or RPP as it was most commonly called, replied calmly. She was not at all surprised by the young woman’s actions. She too had almost the same reaction when the Queen personally told her.

Oops, did I accidentally say that aloud? Hehe, well at least I didn’t get told off that badly.

“But...” Monique started to say, a sheepish look had entered her face, but her father, Ambassador Wayne Chang gently interrupted as he held his hand up for silence. The girl’s sorry looked disappeared, replaced by a resenting look as she grumbled slightly but did as she was told to.

“Darling please, Queen Josephine, herself has chosen you for this position.” He said, his voice quiet and firm, but anyone could hear the pleading tone it in. Wayne Chang wasn’t one for pleading with anyone, but he knew how stubborn his daughter was and since this job was actually very important, he was willing to do it.

As a very important Ambassador for the tiny country of Royslin, just off the coast of Italy, Wayne’s job was to make sure that his daughter accepted the job as the bodyguard of the two princes. That was at least all he could do for the Queen now, after all the work she had done for him.

“But why me?” Monique inquired sharply, “Her Royal Majesty could have picked from thousands of older and more capable agents, who could have been all from the RPP or from the other departments. I am inexperienced and most expected to fail.” Hardly true for she was on the program probably longer than any of the junior or even some of the older agents.

And most likely to fail... She added miserably to herself. It was true, she only most recently got promoted to full time leader of her Unit and she had to work twice as hard all last year to be given that spot. But she had to admit that at the same time, she had been given the spot as Head of the Junior Agents. Monique quickly focused her attention back onto the Director when she started speaking again.

“That is because His Royal Highnesses are about your age and you are the most capable of all of the other agents from any of the departments. You know 5 other different languages besides English, 3 types of self-defense; you also have a broad knowledge of almost every topic in school as well as around the world. The list can go on, if you want me to continue.” Maria explained rather smugly.

She, Maria Turnkey, was very proud of her Agents in general, but she was especially proud of Monique Chang. The female Director had watched her grow from a young child to a blooming young adult, tracking her every progress. Monique had been excelling all the training courses since she came in to the agency about 12 years ago.

Speaking of the girl, Monique was still rather stubborn on her part and pushed on. “You could have asked Jasper Helmholtz. He’s as good as me and perhaps even better. Also, isn’t a male better suited for this body guarding job, instead of a female?” She reasoned questioningly, an elegant eyebrow arched.

Maria shared a look with Wayne before speaking, “As good as your reasoning is, you still have to do it thought. Agent Helmholtz was on the list of the hundreds we sent out. Her Royal Majesty said that it was a rather hard decision to make but in the end, she picked you.” A rather perplexed look came across the older woman’s face as she continued, “Oh and another one of her reasons in choosing you was rather odd too.”

“What was the reason, may I ask?” Monique asked softly, her eyes glued to the older woman’s face. She wanted to know why she was so special to the Queen, that she had to be picked in place of Jasper, who was as good, if not, she admitted rather sourly, better than she was.

“Her Royal Majesty said that one of her reasons in picking you was because you were a girl…” Wayne replied with a nod of his head. He also had a look of confusion on his face too. He still hadn’t figured out why Her Majesty specifically required her grandsons’ bodyguard to be a female and not a male.

“Erm what did you say?” Monique blurted out in disbelief. ’Wow, very articulate of you dear...’ She thought to herself before clarifying, “Pardon me, but that was one of Her Majesty’s reasons? I was picked because I was a girl!” Both adults nodded their heads in confirmation. “But that’s ridiculous!” She cried in exasperation, causing both adults to give her a warning look. Okay, so that was strike two huh…

Reminder: Never call Her Royal Majesty, ridiculous.

“S-so anyways, how many female application did you send in?” Monique asked hesitantly wincing at the dark looks she had received; now not wanting to know the answer to her next question. If Maria and her father had gotten angry at her previous question, maybe she shouldn’t have asked this one.

“Half of the 500 applications were females.” Maria surprisingly informed her, “We tried to make it as equal as possible. We wanted to let everyone of our most capable agents to have a chance of getting the position.”

“Oh.” Monique sighed and drooped a little in her seat. She had done her best to try and get out of being the bodyguard, but she couldn’t find any more reasons not to. It looks like she may have to accept this position after all.

‘Good grief... bodyguard to two princes!’ It was sounding worse and worse of an idea, in her head. Not that she did not know how to take care of others, in general; Monique knew very well on how to do that task. But this task involved of taking care of royalty... she might as well as pull out all her hair! She knew from all the talks and news that royalty can be a pain in the...

Her internal musing was abruptly caught off when her father threw in another piece of information into her information bank. Unfortunately, neither of the two adults was prepared for the onslaught of protests that came afterwards. “You won’t be working alone. You will have your unit with you at all times.” Wayne told his daughter cheerfully.

“Wait…what?” Monique gasped in horror as the information sank in. Her mind froze as well as her heart when she heard that. She didn’t want her friends to be in danger, especially her unit. They were as close to her as family! No, in fact they were like her family. “Then absolutely not. I refuse to do it. I don’t want to get anyone else in danger too.” She insisted firmly, crossing her arms across her chest as she glared once again at the two adults sitting in front of her.

Maria sighed and breathed in deeply as she closed her eyes for a few seconds. Anyone could see how frustrated she was getting. Rubbing her temples and reopening her eyes, the Director said, “Please Agent Chang. Do not make this harder than it needs to be. We know how dangerous this mission is going to be, but due to your father being the ambassador to this country, we have no reason not to accept it. Besides, do you want to get on the Queen’s blacklist again?”

The young woman gulped and grew quiet. Her eyes shuttered slightly and she focused on the oak desk in front of her. She knew that her family once had been on the Royslin blacklist for many years due to a simple accident. She didn’t exactly get the full detail of why, but she hadn’t really been in the mood at that time to know. For heaven sake, her mother had been using her last dying breath!

As for right now, she didn’t know if she wanted to know at all. After a few minutes of contemplation, Monique finally and rather reluctantly nodded her head and murmured somberly. “Well then lady and gentleman, looks like I have no choice but to accept this mission. Yes, I humbly pledge my heart and soul to whatever the task will make me do.” Monique noted that the two adults in front of her visibly relaxed as soon as she gave in.

“Thank you darling. Things are going to be a lot easier now that you have accepted.” Wayne said in relief, a smile spreading on the older man’s tan face, “The boys will be here at the end of this month, so you will have a month to get used to each other before school.”

Monique nodded her head, trying not to show how conflicted she was now. Her teachers always told her to keep her emotions in check and to not let to show. But sadly, her training failed her now. “Yes, sir and ma’am. Is there anything else I need to know, or will I be able to take my leave?” She inquired softly, with her body slumped slightly. Her voice and body position betraying how she felt right now.

“No, that would be all.” Maria said with a shake of her head, “You are dismissed Agent Chang.” In the woman’s eyes, pity could be seen, as well as pride and understanding.

With another nod if her head, the young woman headed out the door, closing it with a soft snap. When she was out of sight, the two adults turned to each other to discuss some more of this difficult business.

“You know Wayne,” Maria murmured thoughtfully, “Perhaps another reason why Queen Josephine wanted Monique on the mission is because she is part Royslinese. Oh, and does the girl know this fact?” This fact was not a secret around the agency. It was a rather well known thing. Wayne and Maria had both tried to keep quite about it, but secrets leaked out faster than one could even imagine.

Wayne nodded his head gravely, “Elizabeth told Monique before she passed on.” The man bit his lips before continuing, his hazel eyes misting slightly, “Thought even now, I’m not so sure how she took to the news, for she never talked about it with me, however much I want to. But it seems she is fine with it now.”

“Hummm,” Maria mused sadly, “Monique is just like Betty; headstrong, patient and ever so caring about everyone and everything. I understood why she didn’t want to take on this mission right away. It’s only been recently when your name has been cleared from ‘the Blacklist’ for giving birth to a child almost out of wedlock. Monique perhaps didn’t want to tarnish it again, if she did manage to fail the mission.”

“True, very true.” Wayne murmured, pressing his fingertips together thoughtfully, “But she will be fine, I know it. With Roger and Taylor by her side, nothing will stop her from making this mission a successful one. Also, Monique is very smart. If she needs help, she wouldn’t hesitate to go look for it herself.”

A smile appeared on Maria’s face as she nodded her head in agreement. “This is the very reason why you are one of this country’s top agent. Not only the fact that you are always so optimistic about everything, but also you trained your family to work hard with out complaint and to use your head in difficult situations. May good luck be on her side? She is going to need it for this mission.”