Her Royal Pen Pal

Chapter 24 [A Nicer Elder]

(Copyright) © 2011 Candle_Ice

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 [[Pic of  Shirley Maclaine as Her Royal Elder Accra, at the side!]]

Chapter 24:

Marriage to a King is what every little girl dreams about. To have her own fairy tale ending and becoming a Queen is the ultimate fantasy come true. Her Royal Elder Accra had thought so too.

But the fantasy had always never lived up to the reality, she soon found out. Her marriage to Erland was a disaster that crushed every hope and dream her young heart had. She was so young and naïve to think that she could make him love her. When she learnt that she was betrothed to him, she was overjoyed. She’d be the envy of all of friends, but most of all, she will have the love of the King.

What a naïve, foolish and adolescent thought! If she could go back in time, she’d tell that young version of herself to run, run as fast as you can, and hide. The crown wasn’t worth it.

She became a shell of a woman, who was docile and subservient to her husband, not daring to defy his actions. The only good thing about her marriage are her children. Well, were her children; now the only good thing about her marriage was Grisham and his family.

She could kill Erland for what he did to her daughter, but Accra did not want any tainted blood on her hands, nor was she that heartless to kill in cold blood. Oh! Who was she kidding? The only reason Accra hasn’t stabbed her husband was the fact that he was a Royal, and his death would have to be mourned by the entire Kingdom.

Including her grandson, and if a royal wedding was to occur, the Kingdom could not be in mourning! His death wasn’t worth that. And as his wife, though now, in paper only, she would still have to mourn his death. Black doesn’t exactly flatter her aging complexion. She wouldn’t give the prick the satisfaction of mourning over him. She’d have to do something about him, but Grisham told her to leave him alone for now. So that’s what she’ll do. She’ll leave him alone for now. She had better things to do anyway.

It’s been a week since the betrothal has been broken, and everything has almost returned to normal. She knew Erland was having kittens about his plans being foiled. But seeing as he was in confinement, by royal order, there was hardly anything he could do about it. Good! Let him be the powerless one for once!

Her grandson has been busy. As Crown Prince, he’s supposed to be busy, but with all the bad publicity he had during the betrothal issue, he had extra work on his plate. So much so in fact, that he and his lady friend only saw each other twice in the past week. Thrice, if the night he escaped counted. And on all occasions, they went out to wherever, alone.

Accra was growing impatient. She doesn’t want to be a third wheel, but she wanted to meet his girlfriend. But her grandson always promised later. Well, she’s old, and ‘later’ is not a given right to her at the moment.  

So that Tuesday morning, Accra stood on the van Hastening’s front porch waiting to meet Elise. Her grandson was nothing like his grandfather, but she still felt the need to warn the young woman about what she was getting herself into.

The young lady that opened the door was surprised to see her standing there, but Accra was the one most surprised. She was just like her photos showed, but the photos didn’t show the spirit Accra saw in her eyes.

“Your Royal Elder,” Elise said, curtsying to her.

“Surprised to see me, dear?” Accra asked her.

“A little, but a most welcomed surprised, Ma’am,” she assured Accra, “Leonidas didn’t mention anything about your plan to visit, or I would have been more appropriately dressed.”