Her Royal Pen Pal

Chapter 14 [The Meeting With Randolph]

(Copyright) © 2011 Candle_Ice

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Chapter 14

The very last person Randolph ever expected to solicit his help was the Crown Prince. The man had the Royal Council at his finger tips, so why would he need the legal advice of a Private Prosecutor? 

The meeting was in strict confidence, not even the King was aware of it, meaning it was no friendly visit, it was a matter of some legal sort. That worried him. What would the Crown Prince need help with that he could not run by the Royal Council?

Since the Prince's assistant called and scheduled a meeting yesterday afternoon, he was a bit restless, concocting a series of worst case scenarios in his head.

But when the knock on his door came, he was ready for it, and when Leonidas came in, they skipped the pleasantries.

"No one saw me arrive; I made sure of it, so again I must implore of you the secrecy of this meeting." Leonidas said, in his authoritative voice.

Gone was the young man who came to his house to meet his girlfriend's father. This was the Crown Prince, and Randolph knew he was about to be given the biggest case of his life. 

He always loved a thrill, and his blood spiked with excitement at the prospect of aiding the royal family. Bring it on!

***

On the outside he appeared in control. On the inside, however, Leonidas was in turmoil. How in the world is he going to phrase his request to this man?

Granted he was a good lawyer, one of the best Private Prosecutors in the country, and he was a professional, as such he could keep his personal life from his professional one. What would he think when he heard of this betrothal decree?

 Would he think Leonidas willingly misled Elise? Oh, bollocks! Leonidas took a deep breath and decided to start with his relationship with his grandfather. No need to tell all the dreary details, just the one relevant to the matter at hand: breaking the betrothal!

"First off, there may be some rumours going around that my grandfather and I are always at war, and that we can't stand each other. Well, I can assure you, it's all true. His Royal Elder and I have never been close, nor have I ever wanted to be close to him. The mere fact that I'm his namesake by 'Erland' being my middle name irks me, and pleases him. Since its customary that the Crown Prince's middle name be his grandfather's first name, I cannot blame my parents for this either," Taking a breath, he continued: "He takes great pleasure in trying to control others, especially my father and I, but mostly me. Now, he has done something malicious, but not surprising from him. It started out as a way of lashing out at my father, but it impacts me directly, so a win-win for him on both counts for showing us who's in charge."

"Okay, let me get this straight. Your grandfather has done something that could alter your lives? But can't the King just overrule him?" Randolph asked, slightly taken back by Leonidas' confession.

"That's the thing. It's a Decree, a Royal Decree, made when he was still king, thus making it binding. And he's only played it as a trump card now, as it has more of an effect now than it did 20 something years ago. Neither the King nor I knew of this, I'd just like to add that before you read this decree. And I'm confident you can help me find a way out of it, since the Royal Council seems to think that the law is a one way street only," Leonidas said angrily. 

He tried reigning in his anger. No need to blow up in front of Randolph, it wasn't his fault that his grandfather was an SOB. 

"What is this decree?" Randolph asked in full lawyer mode. 

Leonidas could practically see the wheels turning in his head, and hoped to the heavens he could fix this mess his grandfather created. 

"This," was all he said before he handed over the document. 

Several taunt minutes passed as Randolph read the first page. He took his time and read it thoroughly. The wait for him to finish was wearing thin on Leonidas' patience, but he remained seated and watched the man read. He never looked up from the document, nor did he say or write down anything. All he did was read, with his eyebrows bent in concentration. 

After what felt like an eternity, Leonidas finally saw him put down the papers.

"The Royal Council did not find a way out of this, and you expect me to? Your Highness, with all due respect, they are the ones who are well trained with the legalities of Royal Laws and Decrees, I specialise in Criminal Law. I fail to see how I can be of any help to you with this," he said finally, in a professional voice.

Leonidas knew he was fighting to remain impersonal, and was almost succeeding. 

"The Council is made up of men my grandfather knew from his days as King. They're all old mates, and he either has major influence over them through close friendships or has some dirt on them and is resorting to blackmail. So I need someone I can trust with this, and I know I can trust you. I do not want to marry this Catalina. I want to marry your daughter," Leonidas said sincerely. It was the closest he'd ever get to pleading.

"Does she know of this decree?" was all he asked him.

"No. I was hoping I never have to tell her, or maybe one day when we were older, I don't know. But if we are searching for a way out and it takes a while, I don't want her to be in the dark. But if she knew of it now, she might break it off with me and tell me to marry this girl. And I don't want that! I don't want anyone but her!"

"She may surprise you," Randolph said thoughtfully.

His response surprised him, “What do you mean by that?"

"I mean you should tell her, about the betrothal and about how you feel. Its better she hears of the betrothal from you than someone else. You say the Council knows, they probably talked about and it may be overhead by others who may then spread it some more, until it becomes public knowledge. So better she hear it from you than someone else. But tell her you like her first. That'll soften the blow." He attempted to kid, but realised it failed as the magnitude of the problem once again faced them. 

Leonidas stared at the other man, and saw where he was coming from, but that didn't explain why he wanted him to tell Elise he liked her, Elise knew he liked her. He offered to marry her did he not? What more of a declaration of likeness is there than that?

Just when he was starting to feel a little relieved, Randolph the lawyer turned into Randolph the father.

"I advise you as a lawyer, but I warn you as a father: Hurt my little girl and there'll be hell to pay. I'll allow her to make her own decisions, because in all her life, she's never given me a doubt that her judgment is not solid and I trust her to know what's right for her."

Facing an icy cold stare, Leonidas barely contained a shiver that threatened to run down his spine. 

Blinking, and clearing the glare from his eyes, Lawyer Randolph was back, "I'll look into it and it'll have my top priority, and I request your permission to bring on an expert on this. He's an old college friend and one I trust. He's not a lawyer, but he majored in Elyrian History and did a thesis on the Royal Decrees once. Plus he's Elise's godfather, so he'll want to help out." 

Giving his consent, Leonidas left as quietly as he arrived, with a lot to think about. First of all, he needed to talk to Elise. He got out his phone and before he opened it, it started ringing, he saw that it was his assistant, there was trouble in Parliament he needed to attend to right away.  Feeling both relieved at not having to deal with telling Elise yet and guilt over feeling that way, Leonidas has no choice but to head to the Parliament building. 

~~~

A/N: Some persons asked where geographically Elyria is, and since I made it up, I didn't really think about it... hmmm... maybe somewhere in Europe, because honestly, when I hear royalty I think EUROPE! .... so it's a made up country in Europe, and it's neighbour is the made up country of Callista -_- .[lol] ..BTW majority of the laws I used have a real basis, but are not really used and implemented that way in real life. The terms are real, but the betrothal rule, and King's decree are not that real, so it's all mostly in my imagination! TAKE CARE!