(Copyright) © 2011 Candle_Ice
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A/N: I chose an actor for Thane… Robert Buckley … his eyes aren’t blue, but everything else is pure Thane! *sigh*
Hope u enjoy:
Chapter 18
Catie was on 'Erland Duty'. The Queen's plan sounded complicated enough, but The King and Queen would deal with the fine details, all Catie had to do was lead him down a particular hallway. Easy, right? Hell no! Especially when His Royal Elder scared the bejesus out of her.
She was pacing the hall way, when a pair of arms grabbed her.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she shouted to the unknown owner of the arms; as she tried to pry open his hold.
"Stop struggling, you insolent girl! I'll drag you to the ball, if I have to. How dare you run away from me?" His Royal Elder shrieked.
Catie stopped struggling in his grasp, and tried to slow the rapid beating of her pulse. Ok, Erland found her, just like the Queen said he should. Now what? For the life of her, Catie couldn't remember what to do, especially with the menacing Royal Elder glaring down at her.
"Do you have any idea how much time I wasted trying to get in here to search for you?" His Royal Elder snarled, "We have to go to the ball now, we cannot afford any more time to be wasted."
As Erland hurried her to the opposite side of the hallway she had to lead him to, Catie panicked. What the hell are you panicking for? You're a black belt! Karate his ass! She couldn't argue with her subconscious. But he was a Royal Elder! Thus, a member of the Royal family and though the Queen did say to get him there by any means necessary, she doubted she meant by causing physical harm. But--
"And look at how you're dressed! Damn pants! Don't you know how to dress properly?" Erland asked disgustedly, bringing her out of her internal debate.
Oh NO! He didn't! No one insulted her fashion sense, especially the jeans! Elbowing him in the ribs, then kicking him in the shin, Catie debated doing a power throw over her shoulders, but decided that was overkill, seeing as she still had to get him to the other end of the corridor.
As Erland stooped, rubbing his shin and the hurting ribs, Catie turned and ran.
"Come back here you ingrate!" He bellowed, limping to catch up with her.
She didn't stop, but she did slow down. She wasn't trying to escape, she wanted to lead him to the hallway, and she couldn't do that if he lost her.
Nearing the destination, she realised that it was a dead end corridor, but before she could panic, she saw Thane in the shadows, and stopped. When Erland came up to her, he attempted to grab her, but Thane was already there and just pushed him through a passageway, Catie didn't even notice, and locked it. The passage way closed and the wall paneling looked normal, as if it were a regular everyday wall. The only proof that someone was behind it was Erland's pounding on the panel, and his muttered insults at them. But everything sounded muffled, due to the thickness of the wall.
"And these are designer jeans that were featured on the covers of numerous magazines, you Royal Pain in the Butt!" Catie couldn't help but shout at the wall Erland disappeared behind. She knew how to dress fashionably, thank you very much!
Thane chuckled, "Something the matter with your jeans?"
"He insulted the jeans. No one insults the jeans. You insult the jeans, you get kicked in the face, got that?" She huffed and pointed a finger at him.
"Hey, I think they're very nice jeans," he replied, raising his hands in defense.
She looked into his blue eyes, and saw his sandy brown hair, and couldn't help smiling. Gosh, he was cute! I wonder if he's single. Where the hell, did that rogue thought come from?
"A secret passage way?" she asked instead.
"The palace has a few, but this one has only one route and it leads to the place Queen Lucilla wanted him to be." Thane informed her, as they made their way back down the hallway.
"How can you be so sure he actually follows the passage? He could probably stay right where he is whole night." Catie pointed out.
"He could," Thane said, "but it’s dark, and cramped- not to mention very hot and the lack of ventilation means no air to breathe properly after a while, so he either follows the passage or stand there and die."
"Does he know that? What if he dies? We can't just leave him there, no matter how evil he is," she turned to go back to the passageway, but Thane stopped her.
"Before he was the Royal Elder, he was King. And before he was King, he was the Crown Prince," He said to her, but she didn't really catch his drift, and just stared at him as if he lost his mind.
Sighing, he further explained, "The palace has been the home for the royal family since the dawn of time. And hidden passageways are means of escaping or quickly concealing one's self in case of an emergency, but most lack proper ventilation, as it is not supposed to be a place to linger. All the royals know this, including Erland. And he has no plan to die any time soon, so he'll definitely move along the passage."
"Where the Queen wants him to be?" she queried.
"Yes. And where the doors are locked, and heavily guarded. The only way out is by King -or Queen's order." He finished.
"Whoa," was all she said as they continued their walk down the hallway.
"Yes, 'Whoa' is right," Thane said, "Now time for phase two of Her Majesty's plan."
Catie had always admired the Royal family. She may hate the fact that working for them destroyed her father, but she figured that was more his Royal Elder's fault than anyone else's. But tonight, Queen Lucilla took on another light, and Catie saw her as much more than a fashion icon and Queen. The woman was one hell of a master mind!
***
"Reporters? At the Royal Ball?" Stefanos asked his brother, stunned.
"Well Erland had planned a big intimidation for us tonight. He more than likely would want it to be publicized." Leonidas told his brother.
The two were standing just inside the alcove of the garden, overlooking the ball. They were partially secluded, but persons could still see them. Elise was talking to Tatiana and Helena, while The King and Queen were conversing with Karin and Randolph van Hastening.
So far they haven't heard from Thane to know if he and Catie were able to get Erland to the secret passageway. But they haven't seen Erland as yet either, so they took that as a good sign.
"What are we going to do then?" The Young Prince asked, "We can't exactly send them away. They were personally invited by His Royal Elder. And seeing as this is the first time public photographers are allowed access to a Royal Ball, everyone showed up."
There were always photographers there at balls now and balls held before, but they were Palace officials. And only pictures that were approved by a Royal body, usually the Queen and her ladies in waiting, were posted on the Royal website for the public to access.
Now half a dozen reporters with their camera guys were lined up outside the palace gates, waiting to come in.
"Father said to let them in, it's only fair, seeing as they were invited and all." Leonidas replied.
"Where are they then?" Stefanos asked craning from side to side to see if he could catch a glimpse of one of them.
"Mother saw to it that they were allowed refreshments, before they could start. They are to be stationed at the right side entrance to the garden and could report there. They're here to observe, not ask questions, so they were also warned to steer clear of the 'Royal Relationship' as it is now been dubbed."
"How do you know all of this? I swear, we were together all the time, and if anyone came up to tell you anything, I would have noticed!" His younger brother exclaimed, exasperated.
Holding out his phone, Leonidas said, "Twitter! It's such a useful website! The reporters were tweeting all the while, so their followers would be able to catch the quote 'Royal Experience' unquote," Leonidas related.
At a loss of how to reply, Stefanos just left his brother and joined the others. Leonidas saw him go up to Elise, Helena and Tatiana, and joined in their conversation. He saw the girls smile as Elise introduced him to her sister and best friend, then the sounds of their laughter drifted through the air, as his brother began charming them.
He was looking at Elise, but wasn't able to linger in his observation as he spotted Thane making his way across the garden to the King and Queen, so he headed that way also. He saw his parents excuse themselves from Karin and Randolph and stand aside to receive Thane.
He came up to them just in time to hear Thane say that Erland was already in the passage way, and it was just a matter of time before he reaches the library.
"Excellent!" The Queen exclaimed, "Now husband, let you and I relate our spurned tale to the crowd and have him put in an appearance."
"Is it really necessary to have him show his face?" King Grisham asked.
"Well seeing as it is his ball, yes!" Queen Lucilla replied.
"And how do you plan on having him show his face, and not reveal anything about this betrothal? Remember, in showing his face, also means the mouth will be present." Leonidas pointed out drily.
"Oh, details, details. Leave it to me, son" Queen Lucilla smiled, a devilish smile full of mischief.
Leonidas was accustomed to that smile. It was the smile of his mother in 'scheming role.' He smiled and kissed her cheeks. He trusted her. He didn't know how she'll pull this off, especially with the media present, but she was Queen Lucilla, his mother, and he trusted her.
"Now, Thane, I believe we have some things to take care of..." The Queen said, leading Thane away, and Leonidas could barely make out what she was saying, as her voice drifted away.
"What is that about?" Stefanos asked, as he came up to his father and brother, who were both looking at the Queen's departure.
"I honestly have no idea, and I seriously doubt even Twitter could help me figure it out," The Crown Prince said.
The two young men turned to their father for help in figuring out their mother's scheme.
"Don't look at me! She explained it to me, but I doubt I even caught on what she meant. I just remember my role which is to make an announcement later on," The king related to his sons.
Leonidas shook his head in amazement and bid his time by waiting with the others to see what the Queen had planned.
***
"I can't believe we're here. At. The. Royal. Ball!" Helena shrieked excitedly, as she brushed her blonde hair off of her shoulders. She was always considered the prettier of the two of them, as she was flashier and gregarious and favoured their mom in looks and has her shiny blonde hair. While Elise favoured their father, and had his brunette locks and preferred to keep a low profile.
"I know. It's all so dreamy. To be surrounded by hot guys, and-," Tatiana paused, and did a quick scan of the crowd, "more hot guys. In designer labels no less. I'm in heaven," she ended in a sigh.
“Hmm, you’re so right! I’m glad that Zane and Erik are not here to ruin the fun of me flirting with guys. I swear, older brothers are such kill joys. Younger brothers also, but Jared was too young to attend anyway, but he’d be a kill joy too” Helena complained.
Laughing Elise looked at her two companions, and was satisfied in continuing to listen, not adding to the conversation unless she absolutely had to. The two only had eyes for the guys, whether or not they were attached to female companion or not. But Elise only had eyes for one male in particular.
She saw Leonidas talking to his parents, and she saw him smile, so she knew that whatever the Queen had plan was somehow in motion and was going well. Stefanos had left their conversation and was now talking to Leonidas and the king. She was content with just observing him from afar and seeing the way he conducted himself when talking to others, and when he was addressing his father or brother, that she didn’t notice that Princess Ariel had joined the conversation with Tatiana and Helena until the girl nudged her.
“I’m sorry. I was a little lost in thought,” she supplied sheepishly.
“Uh-huh. Lost in my brother, you mean?” Princess Ariel smiled.
Blushing slightly, Elise didn’t bother to answer, and just returned to listening to their conversation. She discovered she was right about Ari and Helena hitting it off. The two were yapping away, that even Tatiana was reduced to listening also.
“Tell me Princess Ariel,” Helena asked, “Who is the guy by the bar? He keeps looking at me.”
“Oh call me Ari. All of my friends do,” she said delightfully, “And he is my cousin, Lucian de Ghent.”
“Cousin? I didn’t know you had cousins.” Helena replied, her earlier excitement at being able to address the Princess by her pet name was replaced by confusion.
“Lena, she has two cousins. Queen Lucilla’s maiden name is ‘de Ghent.’ Her brother is the King’s right hand man, -and the occasional Prince Regent when necessary-, the Duke of Primwall, Athos de Ghent.” Elise reminded her.
“Oh right! I forgot Queen Lucilla had a brother.” Helena remarked, having a light bulb moment.
“She does indeed, a younger brother who has two sons,” Ariel informed, “And I’d be happy to introduce you to Lucian if you want, and we’ll explain the family tree to you.”
“I want, all right!” Helena said and the two headed off in the direction of Lucian de Ghent.
“How old do you think he is?” Tatiana asked her when they were alone.
“Well the Duke’s eldest is seven years older than the other son, so I’m guessing Lucian is say 17 or 18, around the same age as Helena.” Elise related.
“Damn, if I were in high school, I’d so trample Helena for a chance at that,” Tatiana said eying the young man.
“You’re only 20, you still have a chance,” Elise teased.
“Oh please! I am no cradle robber.” She huffed playfully, "besides, there's many more, closer to my age, to choose from."
But before she could ask if one in particular had caught her attention, there was the sound of trumpets followed by the “Ladies and Gentlemen” call from the butler in waiting that had all of them turning to face him.
The King was preparing to make an announcement.
"Good evening everyone," King Grisham spoke, "I'd just like to inform you all of my father's absence from the ball. Well, it's quite a notable absence seeing as it is his ball and he's not here. But due to unforeseen circumstances, he will not be able to join us."
There were murmurs around the crowd as they processed this information. Then someone pointed to the palace balconies, and everyone's gazes went up to see His Royal Elder standing there waving to them from above. The lights in the room behind him were on very bright, and she had to narrow her eyes a little, to make out the figure. It appeared that it was, in fact, the Royal Elder, and he was waving, to the crowd.
The crowd then showed him the respect of being a Royal Elder by bowing and curtsying, before the King continued his announcement.
"He's had a long day, and at his age, he's just not up to the excitement, so it was decided that it was best if he rested this evening. But he had to put in an appearance, after all it is his ball." The king joked, and a few laughs were heard.
Elise stood staring at the figure on the balcony, and wondered how the King and Queen got His Royal Elder to not attend his ball, and also act as if nothing is wrong.
It was all confusing to her, and before she could properly come up with a reasonable explanation, His Royal Elder had returned inside, and the doors to the balcony were shut, and the music was started up again and couples were back on the dance floor.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Leonidas asked her. She turned to see him approach and gestured to her for a dance. He smiled to Tatiana, who returned the gesture.
Elise accepted his hand, and they were dancing before she replied.
"There not worth that much," she sighed, "I was just wondering how The Queen got His Royal Elder to come out onto the balcony and not barge into the ball as he had planned."
Leonidas chuckled, "That wasn't Erland."
"What?" Elise looked up at him.
"That was Thane, in disguise as Erland," He explained, "My mother, the 'Royal Mastermind' had us all guessing what she had planned. I didn't even figure it out until I saw 'Erland' appear on the balcony."
Elise smiled, but the pieces weren't exactly fitting together in her mind as well as it did in Leonidas'.
"Umm, care to clarify what her plan was? I seem to be a little lost." she asked him.
He smiled at her, and answered, "The bright lights behind him were part of the plan. The brighter the lights, the more people had to squint to make out his figure. Thane was dressed in His Royal Elder's ceremonial robes, so when the person assigned to the task, whispered 'It's his Royal Elder,' everyone just went with it, and believed the person they were looking at was indeed His Royal Elder.
"He had to put on a wig also, seeing as he has different hair than Erland, and he's probably a few inches taller than him also, but from here, it's hard to tell the height. And the reporters are stationed at the right side entrance of the garden, so their cameras would get a glimpse of him from that angle, and it will look like a silhouette anyway, due to the bright lights. Plus, the official photographers wouldn't be able to take proper pictures of him, because of the same reason. So there's no proof to say that the person on that balcony is not His Royal Elder.
"The only persons who know this fact are The King and Queen, Stefanos, Me, you, Thane and Catie, of course, seeing as she's the one who lured him to the passage way to the library, in the other wing of the palace. Oh, and a few trusted Royal Guards." Leonidas finished his explanation of the Queen's plan.
Elise looked over his shoulder to where Queen Lucilla had joined her husband, the picture of pure innocence, and saw the pair dancing also. She smiled as she thought of the Queen's hidden talent of master-minding.
"Who'd have thought it?" she said to him, "Speaking of Catie, where is she?"
"She's inside the palace. It's best she keeps a low profile, especially with the media here. No need for anyone to start digging for information on her and find out about our pending decree." He told her drily.
"Yeah, that's probably the best idea." she agreed, as she sunk into his embrace and rested her head on his shoulders, and allowed him to lead the dance.
Her mind was spinning though, with worries about the betrothal, and whether or not there's a way out of it. She also had to think about what it meant for her if there was a way out of the betrothal. Does that mean they'll get married? Leonidas had proposed to her already - well, really commanded an engagement-, but that didn't mean she was ready to marry him.
It was all too much for her, and the rapid pace at which her life was changing was scaring her.
***
He could feel the tension in her body. After she became silent, she was deep in thoughts about something or the other, and Leonidas wanted to know what was bothering her. This surprised him really, because he never cared what his other dates were thinking before. But then again, she was different.
He felt her lean back for his embrace and saw her gaze on another couple on the floor.
"We should break that up." She commented.
"Break what up?" He said and turned to see Tatiana and Stefanos dancing. But Tatiana looked as if she would rather be dancing with wild grizzly bear rather than the Young Prince, while Stefanos looked like he could care less about his partner, as the two exchanged heated words that were barely above a whisper.
"Come on," Elise insisted, "Cut in. We have to separate them before anyone else notices their argument," she said leading him over to the other pair.
"Mind if I cut in?" Leonidas asked his brother, when they reached them.
"Certainly not," he replied happily.
But instead of Stefanos taking Elise, and Leonidas taking Tatiana, Leonidas and Stefanos found themselves together, as the two girls twirled away from them and began dancing together.
The two were left there standing, and decided to just abandon the dance floor, because they were drawing attention to themselves, yet no one paid any mind to the two girls waltzing on the floor.
"How is it that when two straight girls dance together, no one minds or think it weird, but if two straight guys dance together, they're presumed gay?" Stefanos asked him, as they looked on at the girls.
"It's just the way it is," he said, "Besides, I have no intention of dancing with you, so find another male." He told his younger brother.
"I would rather just find another female," he retorted and flitted away to do just that.
He left before Leonidas could ask him what went on with him and Tatiana. His brother was not known for his tact, so more than likely he said something to offend the young lady. He would see to it that he apologised on his brother's behalf. He liked Tatiana, and he had hoped to make her his ally in his quest to convince Elise to marry him, because he knew she was still skeptical.
Hopefully his brother wasn't too much of a jerk to her.
***
"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked her best friend.
"Yeah. I'll be fine. I just needed a minute." Tatiana assured her.
The two finished their dance and were sitting at one of the side tables, but Elise still didn't know what Tatiana and Stefanos were arguing about. When she asked her, Tatiana had replied that she didn't want to talk about it, and Elise had respected her wishes, but it was quite clear that whatever they talked about had upset the girl.
Leonidas came up to them with a waitress behind him, who placed three drinks on the table, and then left. He took the seat closest to Elise, but spoke to Tatiana first.
"I'm sorry for whatever my brother said to you. He could be a prick at times." he finished with kiss to the back of her hands that had her blushing.
She mouthed to Elise, but Leonidas could still see, 'He's so dreamy!'
She heard Leonidas chuckled, and Tatiana's mood was beginning to lighten since her dance with Stefanos.
"I told Elise you were the charming one, but after meeting your family, she swore that Stefanos was the more charming one." Tatiana told him.
"Well, I have my moments, and Stefanos has his, but out of the three children of our parents, Ariel is the one who could charm anyone anywhere." Leonidas confided.
The girls laughed and continued to chit chat until the palace's clocks chimed three times, signaling the quarter to midnight hour, and the final dance of the evening.
"You two go ahead, I'll sit this one out." Tatiana informed them.
"You sure? I could--" Elise began, but her friend just shushed her away.
"Go, go. Dance, dance. Have fun, make merry," she chided.
"I like your friend," Leonidas told her when they were once again on the dance floor.
"She's one of the nicest persons I know, but she didn't even tell me what your brother said that upset her so. Do you know?" Elise inquired.
"I'm afraid I don't. I was hoping you knew." He told her.
"I'll try to find out. She is staying over by me tonight. Hopefully, she'll tell me in the morning."
"Don't forget we have our interview in the morning," Leonidas reminded her.
"I remember. And I also remember what Thane said, and what Ari taught me about protocol and such," she replied, a little nervous.
"Relax. Ari over-plays her protocol act at times. Don't let it scare you. I'll be there to aid you if you stumble, and I promise to hold your hands." he smiled.
She smiled back at him, grateful he was there to reassure her.
"I'd like that" she said, and they danced until the song ended ant the Clocks chimed the midnight hour.
"I'll send a car for you at 9. The interview is scheduled to start at 10 in the palace’s front sitting room, so it'll give us enough time to calm you down." He told her as he led her to her parents' car. They were surrounded by other persons who were getting into their vehicles and the reporters reporting from the sidelines, but he still leaned down and kissed her on the lips. She could hear the flickers of cameras, and the delighted murmurs of some passersby, even though the kiss was chaste and lasted for about 3 seconds, almost a peck.
It was the perfect night. And unlike Cinderella, who also had to leave at midnight, Elise didn't leave behind a glass slipper; she left behind something much more important. She feared she left in her Prince's possession, her heart.