I really didn't know what category to post this in, I hope it's the right one. There isn't a lot o sex in this story, just the one scene. And I know the epilogue seems like the set up for another tale. Well, who knows?
******
I looked at my watch for the umpteenth time in the past ten minutes. Princess Emma was taking too much time. Although she was supposed to be inside the embassy room I was outside, the ladies lavatory, I knew she wasn't. And if she didn't reappear soon, other people, Security people, might begin to suspect something was up. Scratching my nose, I spoke into my wrist-mike.
" Princess, you need to be back here now."
"I am back. I just can't get this damn dress zipped up. Didn't I say it was the wrong choice?"
I smiled to myself for a moment, not listening to the tirade about men not realising how hard it is to do up a ballgown in a confined space. "Slip out now and I'll do it up for you. It's safe; no ones about." I said quietly. The door opened and a red-faced Princess Emma eased out. I grasped the zip and pulled it up, covering the all-over cat suit she wore beneath. Emma pulled the long gloves back on and the suit was gone from sight. "Did you get it done?" I whispered as I took her arm and escorted her back towards the party.
"No problem." She grinned, and passed a micro drive to me. "And our little bug is ready for activation any time soon."
"Keep it down will you? This is supposed to be a covert operation." I hushed her. The problem was, Emma was always as effervescent as this after a mission, not that there had been many so far. As I led her back to the reception I thought back to the events that had led us here.
***
I had become one of the royal protection squad after failing my physical re-evaluation as a secret agent. I had been badly injured on a mission, shot in the stomach and in the leg by my long-time nemesis, a man code-named 'Stardust'. The stomach wound had taken a long time to heal and the leg still wasn't as strong as it needed to be. I had been assigned to Princess Emma's detail as her personal bodyguard instead. I had tried to stay dispassionate but the princess's joy-de-vivre was infectious and I found myself talking to her more and more about my previous life. After bad weather forced us into a particularly long stopover somewhere, Emma became fascinated with the idea of being an agent. I told her it could never happen; there was no way she could go undercover for a start, there being literally thousands of pictures of her readily available. She just said that would make a perfect cover, as no one would believe she was a spy. I could see the sense in that, but talked it down. She looked so disappointed (a ploy I later discovered) that I offered to take her to our shooting range sometime. That was my first mistake. She badgered me until I gave in and arranged the visit.
On the shooting range Emma proved to be an excellent shot with both handgun and rifle, but a bit erratic with any sort of automatic weapon. After that, whenever I visited the range for my monthly assessment, Emma came too, 'to keep her eye in.' I had the feeling that she had some long term plan, but didn't know what.
Her next interest was unarmed combat. Once or twice a week the protection team met for a little training. Emma managed to get herself invited, and this time it wasn't my doing. She proved to have some natural talent in the art of self-defence. After that she began to look at our communications and other electrical devices. I had known she had an electronics degree, but didn't realise she had a natural aptitude for today's micro-electric devices. It had taken her six months, but Princess Emma had managed to get herself the basics of spy training.
Her next step was to forward a proposal to the intelligence gathering section of MI6, again without my knowledge, outlining the advantages she had as a princess in gaining entry to certain sensitive areas and asking if there some way she could aid them. MI6 called me back and asked if she was serious. I looked through the document Emma had sent them and couldn't fault her reasoning, so I reluctantly had to concede she was serious and she did have a point, she could gain access to some places quite easily. The only thing I insisted on if the plan went ahead was that I, as a former agent and her current bodyguard, was to be her handler.
***
That had been nearly a year ago. Emma and I had both received some more specific training for our new roles and then completed five or six easy missions to ease us in. Tonight had been our first operation on foreign soil but it had seemed to go well. Now all we had to do was get back to our embassy with the micro drive. As we returned to the reception I gave Princess Emma a little nudge.
"Your Highness, you seem a little flushed." This was true, she was still a little red around the cheeks. "May I suggest we reluctantly leave?" I was playing, almost over-playing, the conscientious bodyguard.
"I must say I do feel a little woozy. Perhaps I am a little jet-lagged?" Emma stumbled against me to emphasise the point. "Very well, call my car." The ambassador solicitously showed us out of the embassy to our car and we drove sedately away, leaving them none the wiser about our secret intrusion.
***
Emma sighed with relief as the car began its journey and relaxed a little, something I couldn't do until we were safely back in the confines of the embassy. She chattered away, unconcerned by now about my lack of response, knowing I was still on the lookout for trouble, my original appointment. We were about halfway back when I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise.
"Renton," I spoke to the driver, "be ready."
"What's the matter?" Emma asked, sensing the change in my demeanour.
"Nothing concrete; just a feeling. Make sure your seat belt is done up princess."
As we passed an alleyway a blacked-out SUV shot out of it and rammed into our side just behind the front wheel, spinning us around and bouncing us off the wall of a building, leaving the car facing the SUV. Four men jumped out as another SUV pulled around it, another two men jumping from it. They were all armed. Renton and I pulled out our weapons in response.
"OUT! Princess, get out!" I shouted, just in time. The six assailants opened fire, spraying the car with bullets. She scrambled out on the side away from them and then I dove onto top of her as the bullets zinged over our heads. Renton unluckily had been on the wrong side of the car and succumbed to the hail of fire. "Move!" I said, rolling off Emma and firing blindly under the car at the legs of our attackers while at the same time pushing her towards the building. "Inside!" I shouted as she looked back at me, unsure what to do.
"What about you?"
"I'll follow." I said, popping up and bringing down one of the gunmen with a couple of shots. Emma had got into the building, an old office of some kind, and was waiting as I dove through the door after her.
"I wish I had a gun too." She shouted as several rounds pinged off the outside of the wall.
"It might have been an idea in retrospect." I grinned before firing again. The surviving gunmen, now more cautious, were all crouching around our wrecked vehicle. Suddenly it exploded, wiping them out.
Emma and I picked ourselves up and dusted ourselves down.
"Fuel tank?" Emma asked.
"I don't think so. I think Renton activated the self-destruct." I said sadly.
"But I saw him go down."
"So did I, but I still think it was him. Come on, let's go and have a look."
"I don't know as I want to see." Emma was looking a little sickly now.
"We need some answers princess." I said as kindly as I could.
"About what?"
"Were they after two spies or were they after one Princess?"
"Oh, I see. All right come on then."
We poked around the bodies of the gunmen, looking for clues.
"Emma, does this guy look familiar?" I asked, pointing at one of the corpses. She came over and had a quick look, turning away quickly; he was not a pretty sight.
"Wasn't he at the reception?" She replied, gulping down air.
"One of the staff I think." I agreed.
"That one over there has a remarkable similarity to our ambassador's equerry." She pointed. I trotted over and saw she was right.
"So what do we think princess?" I said.
