I figured that while I was working on Part 3 of the series, I would share with you some of the missing scenes I've written for the series so far.
If there's something in particular that you'd like to see, please don't hesitate to let me know.
"Good evening, Your Majesty."
"What is it, Mr. Moorcroft?" Ruth asked, as she continued working away at the papers on her desk. It was late, and all she really wanted to do was go to bed. Late night visits from her Chief of Security could only mean that there was a sleepless night ahead of her.
"I thought that this was something you should see," Moorcroft explained, as he placed a thin file onto the desk between the two of them, before stepping back a respectful distance.
Ruth had to admit, her curiosity was piqued. Usually, emergency files were much thicker than the one currently resting on her desk. She reached for it slowly, while keeping her eyes on Moorcroft's face, hoping he'd give away something about its contents before she opened it up.
Ruth flicked through the small stack of papers twice, before she finally asked, "What is it I'm looking at?"
"Tweets," Moorcroft replied.
When he said nothing else, Ruth gave him a withering look, and he hurried to clarify the situation. "They're a series of tweets sent between your granddaughter's account, and that of an actor named Killian Jones. The exchanges have grown rather flirtatious in nature, and we felt it was something to bring to your attention."
"The actor. Who is he? Is he someone to be worried about?" Ruth questioned, slipping easily into her role as protector of the family.
"Irish Catholic. Thirty-four years old. Lives and works in Vancouver. Currently has a leading role on a fairly popular US fantasy show," Moorcroft reeled off.
"None of these messages read as overtly inappropriate to me," Ruth commented, as she took her time to read each and every one. "Why should I be concerned?"
"Your granddaughter, Your Majesty..."
Ruth raised a brow in question, and Moorcroft faltered a little before he tried again. "Is it proper for Princess Emma to be engaged in such contact with a member of the opposite sex, on such a public forum? The tabloids are already picking up on the nature of their correspondence."
"Do you have a partner, Moorcroft?" Ruth asked, as she set the papers down on her desk, in a neat pile. She already knew the answer. Ruth knew the basic information about every member of her staff, no matter what position they worked.
"Yes, Ma'am."
"And how did you two meet?" she continued. "Did you flirt with her? Did she flirt with you?"
"With all due respect, Ma'am, I'm not sure how this is relevant?"
"Then why is my granddaughter's flirtations with a member of the opposite sex, relevant?" Ruth questioned. "Does this Killian Jones have a dark past I need to be concerned about?"
"No, Ma'am," Moorcroft rushed to assure her. He'd done plenty of checks and research on the actor when the tweets had begun. There were no dark skeletons in his closet. At all.
Moorcroft couldn't even find a speeding fine for the guy.
"Then," Ruth began, pushing all of the papers back into the folder, to slide it over the desk to her advisor, "this is absolutely no concern of ours at all. My granddaughter is a beautiful and intelligent woman. She is old enough and smart enough to make her own decisions about who she wishes to initiate contact with. If this young man has been deemed worthy of her attention, we should respect her choice."
"Yes, Ma'am," Moorcroft replied, suitably chastised by his Queen. "Would you um… would you like me to continue to monitor the situation?"
Ruth thought it over for a brief moment.
She and Emma were not the closest of people, so she doubted she would have known about this Killian Jones, were it not for Moorcroft, and his folder. But she also didn't feel comfortable spying on her granddaughter in such a way, when she knew that Emma was intelligent enough to make her own decisions in life.
Yet, a larger part of her knew that for Emma to have engaged the young man in the first place, she must have found something special in him. And Ruth knew that if she had, Killian Jones would become a name she'd hear more and more of, in the future.
"No," she replied eventually. "If there's no reason for us to be concerned about her safety, then there is no reason for us to monitor her behavior. The social media team will continue to watch the exchanges, as part of their duties. I'm sure, if something were to change, they'd make me aware of the situation when necessary. Until then, I can see nothing wrong with Emma wishing to communicate with someone in such a manner."
"As you wish, Your Majesty." Moorcroft left with a small bow to his Queen, just as he had arrived.
When he had gone, Ruth made herself another cup of tea, before turning on her computer monitor once more, and Googling the name Killian Jones. She spent ten minutes reading his pages on Wikipedia, and Internet Movie Database, before she checked out his social media accounts for herself. The interactions between himself and Emma had been right near the top of her search results, and for a moment, she busied herself reading a few of the articles that had been posted about their flirtations.
In the end, Ruth didn't end up sleeping much that night.
Instead of spending most of her evening at her desk, dealing with a crisis, as she had expected her night to end; she spent it watching the indie movies that were listed under Killian Jones's filmography, and that were currently available for streaming on Netflix.
Thanks for reading.