"Okay, I need you to make sure that an appointment with the Prime Minister is arranged before the end of the year," Emma instructed, as she smoothed a hand down over the fabric of her dress. "I haven't seen him in a while, and I'm starting to think he might be avoiding me. I don't like being avoided, Leroy," she pointed out, as she whirled on her rather harried looking assistant.

"Yes, Ma'am," he declared, jotting a note down into one of the leather-bound books he always had at hand. "Will you be needing anything else when you return?"

"Dinner. I haven't placed a shopping order yet so someone will need to do that for me and collect it too. Oh, and the charging cable for my laptop is fried. I'll need a new one of those before it dies completely."

"Yes, Ma'am." Leroy made a few more notes in his book before he asked, "Will that be everything, Ma'am?"

While he had been busy staring down at the messy page of scribbles he'd made, Emma had disappeared from his line of sight, but she returned quickly enough with what appeared to be two pairs of shoes and a pair of boots in her arms.

"Which of these do you prefer with this dress?" she asked, holding up each in turn.

Leroy floundered for a minute. In his time spent as Queen Emma's personal assistant, she'd made plenty of requests of him. Everything from the food she was craving in the middle of the night, to the people she needed to speak with first thing in the morning. But she'd never once asked him for his advice on her footwear before.

"Um… maybe the black ones?" he suggested. They seemed more practical for a children's party than the baby pink, leather heels she had in her left hand, but looked more professional than the boots she had at her feet.

"You're absolutely right," Emma agreed, as she dropped down into a chair to begin slipping them on. Leroy turned himself ever-so-slightly so that he wouldn't catch a glimpse of anything inappropriate, but he made sure not to turn his back on his Queen.

When she rose elegantly to her feet once more she headed straight for the door to her private rooms, calling over her shoulder, "Are you coming?" as she did.

"Yes, Ma'am."

The drive to Kensington Palace was a tense one for Emma. Leroy always joined her on the journey, along with her usual team of security guards, which often left the car deadly silent. And Emma hated silence. Silence usually followed bad news, and she'd been given plenty of that to last a lifetime.

"Turn the radio on," she instructed, knowing that whoever was closest would jump to fulfil her wishes. It wasn't quite the same as having a real conversation with someone who was genuinely interested in her, but the soft music and the banter of the presenters were enough to take the edge off her anxiety, as the black Range Rover pulled ever closer to their destination.

The party she was on her way to was always the highlight of Emma's calendar. Every year, the children of deployed troops were invited to the Palace for a huge party. Emma knew that it wouldn't make up for the fact that those little boys and girls would be waking up on Christmas morning without their mother or father at home, but she enjoyed seeing the smile it put on their faces, while they were kept busy with dancing and games. And it allowed her to interact with some of her people.

Emma had learned very quickly just how isolating life as a royal could be, but it wasn't until her grandfather had passed, leaving her as his heir to the throne, that she realized just how lonely her life would be. While Emma was constantly surrounded by aides; and security services; and assistants; and staff, there was nobody in her life that she could have a genuine conversation with, unless she was out on engagements.

"We're here, Your Majesty."

Emma pulled her mind away from her wandering thoughts and took a moment to fix on her photo-worthy smile before one of her security team pulled open the door to the car for her. She usually entered the Palace through one of the backdoors, but she'd been a working royal for long enough to know that there was always someone lurking around with a camera in hand, waiting for their money shot.

As soon as she was safely inside of the building, and had handed her bag off to Leroy, she could hear the noise coming from one of the large reception rooms. The kids always managed to bring so much joy and laughter to the usually quiet and solemn royal residences. It was part of the reason why she enjoyed this particular engagement so much.

"Hi, Guys," she greeted, as she stepped through the doorway and into the large space that had been transformed with streamers and balloons in traditional shades of red, green and gold. "Merry Christmas!"

Emma watched with delight as a large group of children flew her way, while their parents, guardians and the team of staff around them watched on in horror.

This was exactly why she enjoyed the children's Christmas party so much. Kids never cared that there was a protocol to be respected when she was around. Sure, most of them knew she was their Queen, and they knew that was a fairly big deal. But they didn't call her "Ma'am," or bow or curtsey to her every time she greeted them. They didn't keep a respectful distance and they didn't make polite, inane small talk. They treated her as close to normally as things got for Emma. And she loved that about them.

"Aww, it's so good to see you all too," she chuckled, as she opened her arms a little wider around the impromptu group hug that had formed. "How many of you guys have I seen before?" she asked, as she dropped down to a crouch when they finally pulled back.

A quick scan of their faces told Emma that at least a dozen of the children had been to one of their Christmas parties before. Which meant that it wasn't their first holiday season without someone they loved to hug on Christmas morning. But Emma knew that kids grew and changed so quickly when they were young, so there was a good chance that she'd met more of them in her time as Queen.

"How about we go and sit down and have some pizza, and then you guys can all introduce yourselves?" she suggested.

A chorus of yesses rang out through the space as she rose gracefully back to her full height. Being crouched down in heels for that long was not as easy as it used to be when she'd been a teenager.

Emma's look for the Christmas party is based on Jen's look for FACTs convention in September 2018 and Montreal Comic-Con July 2018. (Fun fact, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark also owns this dress!)

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