Her Royal Pen Pal

Chapter 21 [A Week of Confinement]

(Copyright) © 2011 Candle_Ice

* * * * *

Chapter 21

Week from hell would be the understatement of a century, if used to describe the week after the Prospects’ headline.

By the evening news, every single newspaper, magazine, gossip rag, blog, talk show, etc, was talking about this betrothal thing.

Everyone was talking about it, from politicians to civilians. It was headline news, and even made its way to Elyria’s neighbour Callista. The two countries were in a feud with each other, but they still had political ties and as such were privy to any knowledge of the other.

The Monday after the betrothal made headlines, the public had voiced their opinion on the matter. And what a mixed review it was, but none the less, no matter what they supported, they made sure their opinions were known by the Royals.

Some had lost faith in the monarchy, and Leonidas’ status as a playboy was in full armor now. Many anti-royal advocates had held protests in front of Parliament, with placards stating that the Royal family had no sense of decorum, as they believed him to be toying with Elise and the other girls he had dated, when he fully well knew he had a wife to be in the waiting.

But the Royal supporters outnumbered the rebels by far and staged their own gathering of support in front of the palace with their placards and signs reading sentiments in agreement with him wanting to choose his own bride and further complained that is was not fair that a betrothal (which both parties didn’t want), would still make them be bound by it.

Throughout all of this Leonidas was still in hiding in his chambers. He saw the chaos of the protests on television, which officers and royal guards were trying their best to contain, but their efforts were in vain. He also saw the supporters outside the palace, but he couldn’t even stand out on the balcony to greet them, such was his confinement to his chambers.

 There were reporters stationed outside Elise’s house also, but they hardly, if ever, got a glimpse of her. They mostly got shots of her father whenever he left for the office, and her Uncle Edgar coming and going. On occasion they were snaps of Tatiana, but she covered her head with a hoodie and wore big, dark glasses, so no one really got a glimpse of her face. Helena, however, always had a bright smile and a wave for the cameras, as she made her leisure way to and from school, but did not say a word as she made her way through the horde of reporters.

Leonidas watched as they reported live outside the van Hastening residence, in hope of getting a statement from someone as to how they’re coping with this new development. But everyone close to the family, remained tight lipped, even the neighbours had a few choice words for the reporters as they chased them away from their yards.

But that didn’t stop the reporters. Some went as far as interviewing persons from the university to gain more knowledge about the nature of Elise’s relationship with the Crown Prince. A few members of the club Elise was in told them that they used to chat online, but wasn’t sure how exactly they met. They also mentioned that he was deemed the ‘cyber’ member of the club and that last Monday was his first official meeting with them, but if they wanted the full scoop, they’d have to ask her best friend.

Then they were after Tatiana. They targeted her, camped out in front of her house, tried to get quotes from her, but they had gone too far, and literally knocked her down once, when they swarmed around her as she was leaving the university campus to walk to the library across the road. They blocked her path and when she tried to side step them, they crowded in on her and made her lose her balance and fall on the side walk, and they were still snapping pictures of her and asking questions.