Two Different Animals, One Close Bond
Chapter 9: Exposed!
Julien went back inside, extremely happy with the way that things went tonight. He felt so happy; he finally had Marlene with him and he felt like nothing could separate them now. But he was unaware of how wrong he would be a few seconds later.
Inside, Maurice and Darla could see Marlene coming inside. "Hey, Marlene. How did things go with Julien?" Maurice asked, smiling to see her. "It was great. He's the best of moods and our cover hasn't been blown." Marlene responded. Maurice smiled, really happy with the fact that his plan had worked.
While this was going on, Julien came back inside feeling overjoyed when he looked over to see Maurice and Marlene. "Maurice, you're the best." Marlene smiled. With that, she kissed Maurice. Julien noticed from nearby and was shocked. "Oh, no..." Julien gasped, alarmed by what he was seeing.
Maurice immediately noticed that Julien had witnessed this and immediately pushed Marlene back. "You might want to see this, Marlene." Maurice said, pointing behind her. Marlene turned around to see Julien standing there with a look of alarm on his face.
"Julien! I can explain what's going on." Marlene said. But Julien approached her, feeling shocked and betrayed. "How could you do this to me, Marlene? I thought we were meant to be together." Julien said, sadness building up inside him. Marlene backed away, knowing what was coming.
"I'm sorry it ended up like this, Julien." Marlene said. But Maurice could see what damage had been caused. He looked back at Julien to see that his sadness was being replaced by anger... anger towards him. Julien looked at Maurice with pure hatred. "You're the one behind this, aren't you?" Julien asked, pointing at Maurice.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" Maurice responded, alarmed by this accusation. "Don't lie to me, Maurice! I know what's going on now; you're the one who's behind this." Julien responded, his anger level building by the second.
Maurice was scared now; he didn't want it to end like this. He was surprised when Marlene stepped in front of him. "Leave Maurice alone, Julien! He hasn't done anything wrong." Marlene explained. "Get away while you can, Marlene." Maurice said, looking up at her. Marlene then looked back at Maurice with a determined look on her face.
"I'm not leaving you, Maurice. I will always be here to protect you." Marlene explained. Maurice smiled, amazed by Marlene's loyalty. Julien could see that this was turning, so he knew he needed to act fast. "It looks like I will need to take care of this myself." Julien said. Acting fast, Maurice got up and stood in front of Marlene.
"Don't you dare try to hurt Marlene!" Maurice warned Julien. Julien stopped in his tracks and looked at Maurice. "And why shouldn't I?" Julien asked. Maurice could tell he wanted an answer, and it had to be the truth. He sighed and looked up at Julien.
"Because... because you're right. I am behind all of this; it was all my own doing." Maurice responded. Julien's expression softened to one of sadness and he looked down at Maurice. "Why, Maurice? Why would you do this?" Julien asked in despair.
Maurice could tell that Julien was devastated; he could see it in his king's eyes. He decided that it was up to him to set things right. "Before you do what you think is right, do you think you might be able to hear me out?" Maurice asked. Julien felt uncertain; he felt alarmed by what he had witnessed. But he could also see that there was a truth that Maurice wanted to confess; it might be able to answer the questions that were running through his head now.
"Okay, Maurice. You can say what you need to." Julien responded. Hearing this, Maurice got on his knees, something he hadn't done for a long time and lowered his head in respect. "Thank you." Maurice said. He looked up at Julien to see that he still looked surprised by this.
"Could you get everyone as well? I want them to hear this." Maurice said. Julien nodded and headed off to get the rest. Maurice smiled; he felt so happy that Julien was giving him a chance. And that meant he could fix the damage that he had caused.