When I finished my story, Queen Lisa, Mr. Sawyer, and Jared were all amazed. But, before they could say anything, our food came. The waitress who gave us our food nervously lingered.

"Er, it's on the house, in honor of Your Majesty, the Queen, and the Queen's Guardian Angel," she said, fidgeting a little.

"Thank you," Queen Lisa said, on behalf of all of us, after a moment of silence. The waitress nodded and left us with our food.

As we ate, my companions asked me questions about my story, and we brainstormed on how to catch the assassin.

"There is no way for us to find her without your help, Crystal," Mr. Sawyer said. "Do you know where she could've gone after the attempt?"

"I don't know for sure, but I don't think she would've stayed in London after the assassination attempt. However, because I'm so late on the trail, it's nearly gone cold," I said in reply.

"So, what sights did you see during the week before the parade, Crystal?" Jared asked.

I smiled. "I visited the Imperial Wars Museum my second day, after I recovered from jet lag on my first day, then I visited the Modern Designs Museum the third day. On my fourth and fifth days, I rolled a dice and whatever I rolled, I took that many stops on the metro. On the fourth day, I ended up at a beautiful park, and flew around, enjoying myself. The fifth day, I ended up at office buildings, so I flew up and around the tall buildings and gave a couple businessmen a scare. On my sixth day, I toured the outside of the palace, and the closest buildings, looking for a place to go to ground the next day before the parade started. I flew up, high above the palace, and saw a convenient dip in the roof by the balcony that would hide me from view. And then my seventh day was the parade, and we all know now what happened then."

They all nodded. The Queen leaned forward. "I must thank you again, for saving my life, Crystal."

I shook my head. "I did what I had to do. It's what anyone else would've done, I'm sure."

Queen Lisa shook her head. "No, Crystal, I think you are one of a kind. Maybe one of my citizens would've done it, but I don't think anyone else would have. And in light of that, I'd like to give you an offer. I can get you personal training in the various arts of defense and fighting techniques, if you want to stay here and work as my number one bodyguard. What do you think?"

I was surprised, and didn't know what quite to think. "I- I don't know. I need some time to think about it..."

Queen Lisa smiled. "That's fine. You can give me your answer when you're ready."

"Will I be able to visit my family in Ramecia before I start?" I asked. It was an important question, after all.

"Yes, I'm sure we can arrange something like that," Queen Lisa replied. "We'll get the details all sorted out in time."

"Okay. Thank you," I replied, looking away, thinking about the offer.

~~~¥~~~

We all eventually finished our food, and left the restaurant, heading to the palace. Once there, I walked to the balcony where it all took place the week before. I noticed that my blood had been cleaned off the stones. I walked to the edge, and looked out over the city, leaning on the railing. "Look!" I heard. I looked down at the ground below. "It's the Queen's Guardian Angel!"

There was a group of people there, waving and smiling at me. That sealed my fate. If I was going to be called "The Queen's Guardian Angel" everywhere I go, I might as well actually be her guard. I waved to the people with my good arm, and went back inside to find the Queen.

I found her a few minutes later, walking around the grounds. "I'll do it," I said. "I'm going to find the assassin who tried to kill us."

"That's wonderful!" She said, smiling. "First, though, you should focus on healing. I'll get the details of your training and your contract to you in that time. Meanwhile, why don't you stay here at the palace?"

"..Okay," I said, not expecting her to be so enthusiastic. "I'll need to get my stuff from my hotel."

"Of course!" She said. "Why don't you do that today, and then we can talk about the details tomorrow?"

"Okay." I bowed slightly, then turned away and left the gardens, heading towards my hotel. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to get Jared and Sam, and so I was quickly mobbed with fans- and they had questions.

"Angel! Angel! Why did you do it? Why did you save our Queen?" called one.

"Guardian, how did you know about the assassin?" called another.

"Angel, why did you save our Queen, even though she wasn't your Queen?" shouted a third.

"Angel, how did you get your wings?" somebody new asked.

I didn't answer any of their questions, and just kept walking. They followed me.

They continued to ask questions, and I soon realized that I had to say something or else they would follow me back to my hotel. I stopped walking and turned to them.

"Everyone, I know you have questions. I am not prepared to answer them right now. Maybe once I am settled in I can call a press conference and answer any questions you may have. Until then, please keep your questions, and leave me be for now.

"I will answer you this: the Queen has offered me a job as her official bodyguard once I am fully healed from the wounds caused by the events of last week. I have accepted, and hope to catch the assassin that did this soon. Now, please, let me go in peace."

The crowd stared at me in silence for a moment, then began cheering. I turned to go, and the people behind me parted to let me pass.

~~~¥~~~

When I got to my hotel, I went up to my room, nodding to the receptionist as I passed. In my room, I packed up all of my things into my suitcase and left, not looking back.

Downstairs again, I walked up to the receptionist and gave her my room key, telling her I was checking out.

"Where are you staying? Are you going home?" she asked. I smiled at her.

"The Queen offered me a job... I'm staying at the palace," I replied. I walked outside, dragging my suitcase behind me. To my immense relief, I saw Jared and Sam leaning against their truck, waiting for me. I smiled at them, and began walking towards them.

They walked towards me, and when we caught up to each other, Sam grabbed my suitcase and turned around to put it in the trunk. Jared and I stopped, looking at each other.

"Thanks for coming to pick me up, Jared," I said. "I didn't want to have to deal with the crowds again."

"Anytime," Jared replied. "I hope it wasn't too bad."

"Not at all," I said. Sam came back, wondering why we were taking so long. We got in the truck, and started off towards the palace. And got stuck in traffic. I dozed off, exhausted after the long walk, and was woken up by Jared when we arrived.

~~~¥~~~

"Crystal, we're here," Jared's voice said, waking me. I took a deep breath and sighed, then opened the car door and got out.

"Did anything happen today while we were separated?" Jared asked after he got out of the car. "You were exhausted when we met up, and you slept the whole way here."

"Oh, nothing important, really," I said, walking to the back of the truck to get my suitcase. "I was surrounded by... I guess fans... on the way to the hotel, and they had a lot of questions. I didn't answer at first, but soon realized that they'd follow me until I said something, so I told them I couldn't answer much questions now, but that I might do a press conference soon so they could find answers. I did tell them that the Queen had offered me the job and that I had accepted and hope to catch the assassin. They cheered for me and let me go in peace."

Sam came around the other side of the truck and beat me to my suitcase, and we walked inside the palace. Sam gave me my suitcase back, and Jared showed me to my room. Well, it was more like a suite. I looked around, taking it all in. There was a large living space, with a door to my bedroom with a queen size bed and door that led to a walk-in closet; a door to a bathroom with a shower, toilet, and sinks; a small kitchenette with a small fridge, counterspace, cupboards, and a countertop microwave.

I turned and looked at Jared. "Cozy."

He grinned. "The Queen's chambers are down the hall to your right, and it's the door at the end. We figured, since you're going to be her personal bodyguard, you should be close to her. Why don't you, er, get some sleep, and tomorrow we can figure out what we're going to do next, okay?"

I nodded. "Okay." Jared nodded back and left, closing the door behind him. I looked around at the room, and went into my new bedroom. As I took a closer look around, I noticed some things that I hadn't noticed before.

In the closet, there was plenty of hangers, a couple nightstands on either side of the bed, and a small dresser on the opposite side of the room as the closet.

I picked up my suitcase, plopped it down on the bed, and began to unpack. I was going to be here for a while, after all.

~~~¥~~~

After I was finished unpacking, I took out my phone and texted my mother.

Hey Ma. Sorry I haven't been able to text for a while. ... I think you know by now why. It's all over the news.

Call me. Now.

With that, I knew I was in trouble. I called her like she requested, and it was like a Yeller from the Jerry Otter series.

"Why would you do such a thing!? You brought unwanted attention to yourself and you almost DIED!"

"Ma.."

"Don't you 'Ma' me! You scared me to death!"

"Mom. I'm fine now, okay? My arm is just in a sling, and I won't be able to fly for a few weeks, but I'm fine, really. And I got a job offer!"

"You what?"

"I got a job offer! From the Queen. She'll get me professional training in fighting tactics and defense, and I'll be her number one bodyguard."

"No."

"Mom! Come on! It's perfect for me! I'd be able to finally use my abilities for something good, and not just for my own defense!"

"You could get hurt, Crystal. And I don't want you risking your life for someone else, even if they're the Queen of Langden."

I sighed. "Mom, I have already risked my life and gotten hurt for Queen Lisa. It was the right thing to do, and I was the only one who could've done it. If I hadn't intervened, Queen Lisa would be dead and Langden would've been thrown into chaos because there's no heir yet."

"But.."

"Mom, we're going to scrape out the details of this job tomorrow. I'll call you then. I love you. Good night."

She sighed. "Well, alright. I love you too, Crystal. Goodnight."

I hung up and sighed. "Moms."

I put my phone onto its charger, and then got ready for bed.

~~~¥~~~

When I woke up, I got up and got ready for the day. I walked out into the hall, and jumped. There were two guards outside my door, one on each side.

"Oh, hello," I said, walking out and facing them, still a little shaken. "Um. What are y'all doing here?"

The one on the left side of the door answered. "We are here to protect you until you can protect yourself. And we're your escorts until then."

I nodded slowly. "Um, okay. What are your names?"

The one on the right side of the door answered first. "I am Bartholomew."

"And I am Markum," the one on the left said.

"Wow, okay," I said. "When is breakfast?"

"The Queen ordered everyone to wait until you awoke," Bartholomew answered.

I immediately grew flustered, my feathers puffing out with nervousness. "Aah! Well, show me the way, then! I don't want to keep everyone waiting!"

The two guards bowed to me, stifling smiles, then led the way to the large dining hall. Once we arrived and I had sat down on Queen Lisa's right side, she rang a small silver bell and almost immediately, people began pouring in with platters and platters of food.

"My goodness!" I said. "That's a lot of food!"

"Don't worry, you don't have to eat it all!" Queen Lisa said with a laugh in her voice. "We wanted to properly welcome you into our midst."

"Well, I certainly feel welcomed!" I said. I tried a food that looked like pancakes. "Mm, this is quite good!"

We continued eating. There were plenty of other people there, so the food wasn't wasted.

~~~¥~~~

After breakfast, the Queen and I went into a separate room to talk about our contract. There were plush chairs, a small table, and bright lamps around the room. On the table, there were several pieces of paper and a manila folder to the side.

The Queen sat on one side of the table and I sat across from her, on either side of the papers. She shifted the papers a bit, looking through them and arranging them the way she wanted while I sat in silence and waited for her to get ready.

She spoke soon after. "Now, regarding the trip home before you start:

"I can get you a round trip for two weeks at any time on the royal jets, or you can tell me a time when you want to be home, and I can book a round-trip on a Langden Airways flight."

I thought about it. "I'd rather book a flight, but I want to catch this assassin before I go home, so I guess until further notice, the royal jets would be the better option."

She nodded and then shuffled some papers. "Okay. Now for your duties. Every morning, we'll eat breakfast at 8:00 am. After breakfast, you'll have two training classes, then lunch at 1:00, then you'll keep me in sight for the rest of the day until dinner, which is at 7:00 pm. After dinner, you keep me in sight again until I go to bed, and from there you can do whatever you want until you decide to go to bed yourself. Note that I sometimes keep odd hours before you decide. Is there anything you want to change?"

I thought about it for a few minutes. "No, Your Majesty."

"Okay. Your salary will be based on the Queen's Watch guards' salaries, but the details of your duties will be factored in. So, the Queen's Watch receives £7.44 an hour for their duties, which contain 24-48 hours on duty, with 2-hour sentry duties and 4 hours off. They guard around the palace, whereas you'll be guarding at my side for most of the day, every day, so I can offer you £9.87 an hour- which is about 13 Ramecian dollars."

“Wow!” I said. “That's a better salary than my dad gets as an engineer!”

Queen Lisa smiled. “Well, we have to make sure you're taken care of, don't we?”

I raised my eyebrows. “I'll certainly be taken care of! Thank you!”

“So, Crystal,” she said, sliding the contract over to me, “do you accept this offer?”

“Yes, Your Majesty, I do,” I replied, signing the document.

~~~¥~~~

There's the edited third chapter. Enjoy!