Scene 53 - Undercover: Part II

The brunette sat at her desk while looking up at the blonde Atlantean in front of her who was given her lessons on speech, "In the presence of royalty, you will have to drop all contractions. One way to achieve that is speaking slowly and succinctly."

Brianna gave her teammate a smile, "In short, I would have to follow your speaking style."

Kaldur'ahm returned the friendly gesture, "It would seem that way."

There was another enthusiastic grin from Ember, "That would be easy. Your mannerisms have rubbed off me all the years we have known each other."

Leon watched the friendly conversation from the side lines and wondered if there was something going on between the couple. He was jolted out of his thoughts when Kaldur asked him to strike up a casual conversation with Brianna as a practice run. "Good evening, my lady," The redhead bowed and Ember stood up from her desk to give him a small curtsy, "Good evening, your highness. How has your day been?"

Prince Leon then walked up to her to kiss the back of her hand as a greeting, "It has been well. Nice weather we have today."

Going along with the charade, the brunette responded, "Indeed. I was looking forward to viewing the gardens. I have heard so much about the roses here."

There was a smile on the royal male's face, "Shall we view them together? I have always wanted to see those famed flowers too."

Leon turned and offered his elbow which Brianna accepted readily, "It will be my pleasure. Thank you, Prince Leon."

Throughout the interaction, something froze within Kaldur'ahm, like there was a hand choking his heart but he managed to still his emotions and turned his focus to Ember, "Well done, Brianna. You are a natural."

The girl returned his gaze fondly, "Thank you, Kaldur."

Leon agreed as well, "Aqualad is a great teacher. Now we have got manners down, how about learning to dance? The summits can be rather spontaneous sometimes. It is common for the royals to celebrate with a dance after a successful meeting."

Brianna looked down at her shoes, "At least I won't trip in these." The blue eyed prince nodded, "I think Aqualad should learn as well. She would need someone to practice with. I am not a full time Leaguer after all and I am not allowed to be up in the Watchtower all the time."

For the next hour, Brianna learned the basic waltz and was having a really good time. "Alright, one, two, three. One, two, three. Excellent!" Leon applauded as both heroes finished the dance. The brunette was blushing and a little breathless while Kaldur looked like he was having a lot of fun. It was undeniable that both of them were enjoying themselves and it brought a little smile to the prince's heart to see a lovely woman being happy.

"We have arrived at the summit." Aqualad said in his disguised form and looked towards Ember who was dressed up in a long sleeved collared purple dress with black tights and boots. Pulling her trenchcoat over herself, the brunette nodded, "I hope it goes well." The Atlantean then got out of the car and walked over to the princess's door to open it. Brianna then stepped out as regally as possible before she was ushered inside a building with Kaldur posing as her bodyguard trailing behind her.

Handing her coat over to the bellboy, she gazed at her posh surroundings and saw a few royals mingling about. Before she was able to do anything else, a familiar voice called out to her, "Brianna, glad to see that you have made it."

Turning her head towards the sound, she gave a bow and replied, "Thank you, Leon." Behind the redhead, there was another brunette female with startlingly pale skin and piercing green eyes. "This is my childhood friend, Ada, from a neighbouring kingdom." Leon said as the two women shook hands.

The cold aura emanating from the princess dropped the moment she smiled, "It is a pleasure to meet you, your highness. It is a little daunting to attend a summit for the first time and Leon here suggested that you stick close to us."

Brianna returned the smile, "You have my gratitude, Princess Ada." There was a small chuckle from the green eyed female, "There is no need to be so formal when we are alone. Please, just call me by my name."

Amidst the chatter, Kaldur'ahm carefully kept an eye out for Vespa, Queen Bee's niece, in the crowd. Even though Miss Martian had already mentally protected their psyches, no one knew how strong Vespa was telepathically. It appeared that she had not made her appearance yet. He spotted a few royals savouring hors d'oeuvres and casually asked, "Your Highness, would you like a bite before the summit? I am sure it would last for a while."

Ada nodded, "Your bodyguard is right, Brianna. Sometimes the summits can drag on for hours and they serve nothing but coffee, tea or water. Better load up on a bit of sustenance for now."

The three royals then walked over to the food table to pick out the canapés before eating their fill. Kaldur watched as Brianna warmed up to Ada who proved to be as friendly and hospitable as Leon. It seemed both of their parents have raised them up well. It was no surprise when Ada extended an invitation to Ember to her family's palace. "That would be wonderful, I accept your invitation."

Before they could continue chatting, a booming voice rang out on the speakers, "Will your royal highnesses please assemble in the conference room? The summit will commence shortly." Brianna felt a tinge of nervousness as from here on until the summit was over, she was on her own without any backup. The Atlantean whispered to her, "Good luck. Just relax and be careful."

The brunette bowed to him slightly, "I will. You should grab something to eat too." Kaldur nodded and watched her disappear with Leon and Ada into the crowd of royals who were ushered into the conference room. A minute later, the doors slammed shut and Aqualad proceeded to mix around with the other royal bodyguards in an attempt to know the proceedings of the summit.

"Before we start the summit, let us welcome a new face, Princess Brianna from the old kingdom of Adrinz," Prince Arnold, who was the host of the summit, said and Ember stood up confidently, giving a small smile to everyone as they clapped. After her introduction, the summit kicked into full gear as they discussed about the various charities their banded foundation supported and how there was room for improvement. Occasionally, they would ask for Brianna's opinion since she lived a normal life all these years and was able to give feedback from a layman's point of view.

They were halfway through the summit before the doors banged open to reveal a dark skinned female who was dressed for summer instead of winter. The transparent shawl on her shoulders gave away her identity and Ember clenched her fist on the table and almost stood up as a reflexive response whenever she saw the bad guys. "Duchess Vespa, glad to see you can join us," The host welcomed her curtly and the young woman replied nonchalantly, "The weather was bad. My helicopter was not able to take off for a period of time."

Vespa then gave a smile to everyone present and slid into her seat which was almost opposite Leon. Her eyes wandered over to the red-head appreciatively but he kept his gaze on the host. Ada and Brianna decided to ignore her antics as well. It was dangerous to anger the Bialyan monarchy due to their power. The summit continued rather smoothly despite the minor disruption and Vespa was mostly quiet even though she kept eyeing Leon keenly. Being polite, he returned her gaze with a small smile just once before he pretended to be engrossed with his notes while paying attention to the speaker at the same time.

After a long afternoon, Prince Arnold finally said, "I believe we have covered everything today. Thank you all for attending and I cannot wait to see everyone again for our next engagement which will happen in a couple of months. Please, help yourselves to the refreshments outside." The royals stood up from their chairs gracefully and proceeded to partake in an early dinner. Kaldur'ahm was on the edge outside of the conference room the whole time and even the other bodyguards were also wary about the presence of Duchess Vespa. He exhaled a small sigh of relief when everyone came out relatively unharmed.

The trio walked out last and lingered at a less crowded reception table where they quickly placed food on their plates before adjourning to a small table. Kaldur followed Brianna silently and stood behind her as she ate. "That was a pretty good summit for me," Ember spoke appreciatively and Leon replied, "Cheers to you and more years of enjoyable engagements with royals."

They clinked their glasses together and Vespa walked towards them, "Yes, cheers to the new royal Princess Brianna. Welcome to our humble gathering. It is nice to see that you have acquainted yourself with Princess Ada and Prince Leon."

Aqualad clenched his teeth and glared at the Bialyan girl from behind his shades. If she made one wrong move, he swore to freeze her in place. Brianna gave Queen Bee's niece a polite smile, "Thank you, Duchess Vespa. I still have much to learn and I am grateful for both of their guidance."

Vespa then asked, "Do you need more food? I can ask my guards to acquire them for you."

Ada shook her head, "No but thank you for the kind offer. We are almost done with our food and we are quite stuffed."

The duchess merely blinked and responded, "I see. Well, I hope to see you around for the February event. Nice meeting you, Prince Leon." She gave him a curtsy and as the woman turned away with her guards, Aqualad swore he saw one of Vespa's guards sliding a vial back into his pants pocket. He narrowed his eyes and filed that information away for future reference. The three of them ate hurriedly and a little uneasily and soon, they were done with their food.

"I guess I will see both of you soon," Brianna said quietly and Ada beamed, "Yes, we will. Just relax, I know the duchess is imposing but just be yourself and smile."

Ember extended her palm out for a handshake, "Thank you, Ada."

The green eyed princess chuckled again, "You are welcome, Brianna."

With that, the trio parted ways and once the brunette was in her chauffeured ride, she exhaled loudly, "That was very tense!" Kaldur nodded, "I saw one of her guards slip an ampoule of liquid back into his pocket. I think they were going to spike your food if you took up on Vespa's offer."

Ember frowned slightly, "Spike our food huh? This is disturbing news. We should warn Leon when we see him tomorrow."

Aqualad agreed, "Yes, we should. I think it would be wise to let his friend, Ada, in on the details. We don't want our plans be messed up by accident." The last sentence rang true and both of them knew very well how hiding important facts from people would seriously hurt them.

Brianna saw the sadness in Kaldur's green eyes and she reached out to squeeze his hand, "I know. Don't dwell on the past anymore, alright?"

The blonde Atlantean nodded and felt a very familiar sensation washing over him. It felt like admiration, concern, gratitude, and... love all at once. After all, Brianna was being very comfortable and at ease around him. Could old feelings be rekindled again?

Author's Note: It is currently December of 2017. Brianna, you gave Kaldur hope! Oh noes.

If you're a fan of a certain game series, you will know which two characters I've added into the story. I just used their names but not their personalities. I'm a huge fan of both of them. ;)

Vespa is as imposing as her aunt. I named her after a species of wasp which is related to bees. :P

To Eszra: Aw, no worries about it. I didn't want people to think I just introduced the royal blood link way back in chapter 13 and then abandoned it. I always wanted Brianna to be focused on her studies first, come out to society to work and then truly embrace her heritage to help others. ;)

To Molly Grace 16: You'll see what happens. But I don't want to fall into the cliche of a prince being a nasty brat. :)

To mudercrowther: Or Leon could just be very gentlemanly and chivalrous. ;)

To piggythelaw: Thanks for the sweet treats! :D