The next morning, Dr. S came back to the hospital from his dawn patrol around the kingdom. He silently slithered through the building and stopped before the room where King Julien was staying. Concerned for the lemur king, he slowly, carefully opened the door and peeked inside. Dawn's light showed that Julien was sleeping in his bed with Maurice slumbering in the one beside him. Meanwhile, Rob was sleeping in another bed that had been moved there the previous night while Mort rested on a pillow on the floor. Dr. S slowly backed away and let out a soft sigh of both sadness over Julien's situation and also admiration for the friends who were sticking by his side. Then, he slithered away to leave them in peace. But just as he entered the waiting room, he heard several loud knocks on the front doors.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" A gruff masculine voice inquired just outside said doors. Dr. S rushed over to open them and as he did, ordered in an irritable whisper,
"Keep it down, will ya?! Some people are trying to sleep!"
Then, he saw that the animal in front of him was a male mountain lemur.
"Oh. Oh my." Dr. S said, stunned, embarrassed and also nervous by the lemur's presence.
"Sorry to be bothering you so early but Queen Clover wanted King Julien to receive this as soon as possible." The mountain lemur said solemnly and held out a folded piece of paper, seemingly unfazed by Dr. S's snappish comment.
"Oh. Y-yes, of course. I'll go get him." Dr. S said, having already figured that this messenger had been sent by Clover and unnerved all the more to be proven right. He turned and started to retrace his steps but then, stopped and came back to the mountain lemur to anxiously ask, "Wait! How is Clover? Is she alright? What's happened in your kingdom?"
"Queen Clover is...physically fine, I can assure you." The mountain lemur told him, clearly uncomfortable while doing so. Then, he tried to hide his discomfort by firmly adding, "As for what's happened, you can hear all about that along with King Julien."
Dr. S didn't like his tone or his answer but asked no more and left the mountain lemur waiting at the door as he headed back into the hall.
The muscular messenger didn't have to wait long before he heard hurried footsteps thumping against a wooden floor, followed closely by the door connecting the waiting room with the rest of the building flying open with a gray blob and a brown blob bursting through. And without stopping, those blobs bolted across the room and collided into him with enough force to send him falling flat onto his back. The impact dazed him for a moment but he soon recovered his senses enough to see that King Julien and a small brown lemur were now on top of him, neither looking happy.
"What's happened!? Is Clover okay!? Has she been thrown off her throne!? Is she hurt!? Have your peoples hurt her!? Is she okay!?" Julien furiously demanded. Meanwhile, Mort got right up in the mountain lemur's face and snarled,
"You better tell us, Buster, or else I'll…!"
"No! No one has been deposed!" The mountain lemur snapped. "Clover is still queen, she isn't injured and why didn't you tell them that!?" That question was directed at Dr. S, who by then had arrived on the scene along with Rob and Maurice.
"I didn't get the chance!" Dr. S said defensively. Then, he critically added, "And you told me that Clover was physically fine! Care to explain what that means?"
"Yeah! Care to explain?" Mort said with the same suspiciousness.
To which the mountain lemur let out an exasperated groan, shoved the letter to Julien (who grabbed it) and barked,
"Oh for the love of...read for yourselves! And get off of me!"
He then grabbed Julien and Mort, stood up and dropped both of them onto their behinds.
After briefly glaring up at him, Julien then unfolded the letter while Mort climbed onto his shoulder and their companions came over to crowd around them. Then, they all read the letter together.
All eyes moved back and forth across the page as they studiously soaked in Clover's words and letter by letter, dread grew in the pits of their stomachs like particularly pointed cacti and settled like stones.
"He did what!?" Everyone incredulously exclaimed as one and looked over their companion's words once more to ensure that they had been read right.
"Sage has banned Zora and my uncle from The Mountain Lemur Kingdom!" Julien said with dazed dismay, letting his arms and the letter drop to his sides.
"But-but he can't do that!" Mort said with furious incredulousness.
"He did! Cause apparently, we were being 'too mean' and creating a 'toxic cloud of hate'!" Was the mountain lemur's contemptuous comment, complete with dopey mocking air quotes.
"I don't believe this! I don't believe this! How could he do this!? To King Julien!? To Clover!? Oh dear Frank, Clover! She must be going nuts!" Maurice said with furious dismay.
"Oh believe me, she is! She's certainly not taking this lying down, I can tell ya that! Read it for yourselves!" The mountain lemur said, vexed himself, and Julien and everyone else read from where they had left off.
He even had the nerve to tell me that if I bring them to our kingdom myself, then he'll just send them back to you, over and over again if he has to! So I'm afraid that for the moment, you're stuck with your unwanted 'guests'! But I swear that I won't rest until I get through Sage's thick skull and you are rid of Uncle King Julien once and for all! Until then, watch each other's backs, stay vigilant, stay safe!
Sincerely yours,
Clover
Julien lowered the letter and said with furious dismay,
"How could Sage do this!? Doesn't he know that he's hurting Clover!? Doesn't he care that he's hurting her!?"
"Of course he doesn't care!" Maurice snapped. "Why should he!? He hasn't done much caring lately! Why should he start now!? Dear gods, if he really felt like he wasn't getting anywhere with their people, then he should have told Clover! And-and maybe argue that maybe they need to take a step back to think of another strategy to calm shit down! Not! Fucking! This!" He made his irate argument with great conviction and paced about as he did. Then, he stopped to catch his breath and while he did that, the blaze in his gaze simmered into sadness and he said with voice low and filled with sorrow, "Not this...oh Clover!"
These words sent even more sharp pangs pulsing through everyone's hearts. And also softened the mountain lemur's, who was touched by the concern that Clover's friends were showing for her.
"Sage may not have Clover's back but I do and I'm not the only one! And we'll be right by her side helping her to fix this shitshow, you can count on that!" Was his determined vow to them.
Maurice was stunned by the mountain lemur's passionate words at first but then told him, soft and sincere, "Thank you."
"Yeah, thank you." Julien said, surprised and sincere too and the others agreed as well. Then, a thought came to Julien and he nervously asked the mountain lemur, "Um, now just how many lemurs do have Clover's back, including you? Is there a lot of you or just a few?"
"I...hmm, there seemed to be lots of us yesterday. Talked to quite a few who told me they were." The mountain lemur was taken aback by Julien's question and he too was now curious for the answer, combing through his memories of the previous day to try and find it. Then, he snagged on other bits of memory and scowled. "Seemed to be a good number of others all gung ho over Campion too." He snarled. Then, he saw everyone's nervous demeanors and tried to compose his own, coughed loudly and offered lamely, "Uh, that is to say, I would say that it's probably close to an even split...maybe."
That wasn't as reassuring as he had hoped but, it still brought some relief to everyone, knowing now that Clover did have allies within her own kingdom and they were grateful for that.
"Thanks man." Maurice said, a bit awkward but still with some sincerity. "Uh, is there anything else you or Clover need to tell us?"
The mountain lemur pondered for a moment before answering. "Yes, there is one more thing. Queen Clover wishes to know how King Julien and the rest of you are faring so far with your... 'guests'? If they've already given you any trouble?" He said, solemnly at first and ending with a snarl.
"No, no they haven't done anything bad." Julien said firmly while shaking his head.
"Good, now they just need to keep playing nice until their vile plot can be stopped in it's tracks!" Was the mountain lemur's cynical response and Julien tried to hide how uncomfortable it made him. But, the larger lemur still noticed his uneasy demeanor and his own softened. "No harm will come to you, your majesty. Queen Clover will make sure of that." He gently reassured.
Julien gave him a tentative smile in return, still unsettled.
"Well, if there's nothing else to talk about, then I think I better get going. Stay safe, your majesty." The mountain lemur said solemnly and walked away.
And Julien watched him go, hugging himself and gripping his arms as he did so, while the others watched Julien with concern.
"King Julien?" Mort asked anxiously.
"...I need to tell everyone. Maurice, call for a meeting at the high rock." Julien said solemnly.
Maurice obeyed and soon, he and King Julien were standing on top of the tall stone with most everyone else in the kingdom gathered around it's base, including Zora and the older Julien. There was some chatter among the crowd at first but that quickly petered off and the clearing was soon silent as lemurs waited with bated breath for the verdict they were both wanting and dreading to hear. King Julien anxiously looked out among his attentive audience, swallowed a lump in his throat and after a moment more, tried to tell them calm and composed like,
"Peoples, I have an announcement. I have just received word from Clover. She wrote to me saying that my uncle...he and Zora...they..." He hesitated with dread and dismay gripping his heart. He took a shaky deep breath and after another reluctant moment, frantically blurted out, "They still can't stay in her kingdom!"
And the clearing once again buzzed with apprehensive conversation. Of course, everyone had anticipated this possibility but that still didn't stop even the most pessimistic among them from feeling disappointed, didn't stop anyone from being wary of what this could lead to. Nor did it stop Zora's eyes from becoming misty, her shoulders from slumping or her mouth from shaping into a tight frown. She then pulled the older Julien close and held him to her chest as she felt her heart shatter within, while he felt his own heart breaking at her anguish and tenderly hugged his lover back.
Meanwhile, pangs pulsed though King Julien's heart as he watched everyone and he felt the overwhelming urge to say something, anything that might bring some small comfort. So after some moments, he said with gentle earnestness, "Clover promises that she won't stop trying to get them in and until she does, Dr. S is going to make sure that I'll be safe and Uncle, Zora, I promise that you'll be safe too!"
The older Julien had his face pressed up against Zora's chest and he turned it enough to glare up at his nephew through one blazing amber eye that looked ready to burn the younger Julien to a blackened crisp.
King Julien winced from his harsh gaze and couldn't hide his uneasiness as he then said to his people, "So, uh, yah. My uncle's gonna be here for a while, so you guys might as well go ahead and plan out his work schedule. Without me. Meeting over."
He then quickly climbed down the rock with Maurice on his heels and Rob, Dr. S and Mort waiting for both of them on the ground.
"Dr. S, Rob, you guys go on and get to work. Maurice, you come with me and tell me what I'm supposed to do today. And Mort...you do whatever you want." King Julien told his companions in turn, his weariness evident to all.
And after a moment of hesitation, Dr. S bowed and said solemnly, "Yes, King Julien.", and slithered away.
"Okay Julie." Rob said with sad reluctance and he gave Maurice a brief concerned glance, which Maurice returned in kind, before he too left the scene.
King Julien and Maurice followed suit, as did Zora and the older Julien, leaving a torn Mort behind. Of course, he wanted more then anything to stay by King Julien's side but he also wished to hear what the still conversing citizens had to say about this latest development, his beloved king and his other dear friend, Clover. Both bad and hopefully good.
Suddenly, a sharp whistle sliced through the air, bringing said discussions to a halt. Heads turned and saw that the source was Becca, who after pulling two fingers out of her mouth, said bluntly,
"Since we're already here chatting up anyways, I say we go ahead and figure out our new man servant's schedule while we're at it." To which Abner nodded in agreement. Others voiced theirs as well and no one made any objections.
"Good, cause me and Abner already have lemurs in mind who we think should have first dibs on him. The closest kin of the lemurs killed at Clover and Sage's wedding." Becca said with firm conviction, with Abner once again nodding in agreement.
Stunned gasps rippled through the crowd, including one uttered by Mort, whose paws flew to his mouth while his eyes went wide like two suns. This of course brought thoughts of the horrible old woman who had been so cruel to his beloved King Julien but before he could think of much else, someone put the brakes on his train of thought.
"Us!?"
A feminine voice incredulously exclaimed. Heads turned to see that it's owner was a young adult lady lemur standing at the back of the crowd. She was a plain looking woman, with short gray-brown fur and green eyes, surrounded by lemurs who all looked even more shocked then everyone else.
"My...my sister was one of the victims. Her name was Laura." She told everyone, initially sheepish by the sudden attention before then speaking with solemn sadness.
"Yes, you and anyone else who lost someone." Becca said, solemn and sympathetic.
"Of course, we know that it wouldn't make all your pain go away and that it ain't the same as getting back at Sage and Clover and King Julien would be but Uncle King Julien ain't gonna be here that long and ya'll have suffered more then anybody lately! We figured that the least you folks deserve is your own personal revenge on someone who hurt ya!" Abner reiterated, his words as gentle and sympathetic as his wife's.
"Exactly!" Becca said with conviction. Then, she looked out among her other fellow citizens and expectantly asked all, "So, what do you folks think? Should they get dibs?" To which many lemurs voiced their whole hearted agreement. There were no objections.
"I...that's awful sweet of you all, really!" The young woman said, sincerely grateful for the offer but also overwhelmed and unsure if she truly deserved it over others. After all, plenty of other people had suffered far more at the hands of their former king.
"I'll take first dibs! Laura was my cousin!" A young male lemur standing next to the young woman declared while rising his paw. "And I think you should take the offer too, Annabel! We have suffered more then anyone, we deserve this! You deserve this!" He earnestly argued to the young woman and several lemurs standing close to the pair voiced their agreement.
"...Okay. Okay!" Annabel told him with a bit of reluctance at first that was replaced with growing confidence. Then, she told the crowd, "I'll take him too!"
"Me too!" A middle aged male lemur declared from his spot not far from Annabel and her cousin. "I'm not related to Laura but my son Mitch was killed too!"
And most everyone else standing in their vicinity said the same thing, that they were related to either Laura or Mitch and that they too wanted to be among the first to receive the services of their former king. All except one. A middle aged woman who kept her lips shut and her arms crossed while her cold blue eyes avoided everyone's. Annabel soon noticed this and became concerned. So, she made her way over (to the initial confusion of those she passed) and cautiously asked the older woman,
"How about you, Lenore?"
"No." Lenore snarled, to which Annabel said with gentle concern,
"Lenore..."
"Are you deaf!? I said no! I don't want to be anywhere near that demon!" Lenore looked and snapped at Annabel, who recoiled in response. Then, seeing her hurt expression softened Lenore's.
"I...I-I'm sorry! I-I can't! I just can't!" Lenore frantically explained and in response, Annabel laid a gentle paw on her shoulder and told her, soft and sincere,
"It's okay, Lenore. It's okay, you don't have to."
"Yeah, of course not!" Mitch's father piped in kind. But Lenore's dour expression only deepened and she yanked her shoulder away from Annabel's touch.
"Can we just get back to business here, please!?" Lenore entreated while once again avoiding Annabel's eyes.
"...Okay. Okay Lenore, if that's what you want." Annabel said in saddened defeat, ashamed and afraid of upsetting her even more.
Meanwhile, Abner and Becca were hesitant as well but they too were afraid of only farther agitating Lenore and decided that it would be best to leave her be. And so the meeting continued with Mitch and Laura's families coming forward and one by one, giving their names to Becca and Abner, who in turn wrote them all down in a calendar with everyone's days in succession of each other. Once their slots were filled, other lemurs then had the chance to make their case on why they deserved dibs as well. Arguments were made, retorted, accepted and rejected and this went on until there were three weeks of names written down. At which time, Abner and Becca told everyone that they didn't need to plan any farther ahead, arguing that their former tyrant and his accomplice would surely be exposed as the conniving con artists they truly were by then. No one argued with their logic, not even those who had their doubts about the couple's cynical assessment. And with that, the meeting was wrapped up and called to a close.
Some lemurs left right away while others lingered, including Mort, who by that point was hidden in a bush near the high rock. For he had slipped in there earlier, produced a notepad and pencil from somewhere and wrote down not only Mitch and Laura's names but those of their relatives as they were giving them to Abner and Becca. Now, Mort looked over his notes and as he did, he felt that something was...off? Something was...missing. Where was Kate's family? Where was her mother who had been so outspoken about her pain and suffering just the day before? Why the sudden silence from her? Why the silence from the rest of Kate's family for that matter? If they didn't want Uncle King Julien as a man servant, why didn't they just refuse his services like Lenore?
.
.
.
Wait, who was Lenore related to again?
Mort looked back to his notes but the only thing he had written down about Lenore was as follows,
Lanor is related to ?
Now very much puzzled, Mort looked to the lemurs who remained in the area and got an idea. Surely someone would have known either Kate or knew Lenore or maybe even both of them but while Mort could have just walked right up and asked people directly, he was afraid to. For Kate's mother wasn't the only one who was still resentful towards King Julien and Mort feared that if he asked about the two women, then people might think that he was doing it because King Julien ordered him to because he was too cowardly to do it himself and the last thing his friend needed was even more scrutiny hanging over his head. So, Mort made his way around the outline of the clearing instead, taking great care to remain hidden in various patches of vegetation as he caught bits and pieces of conversation along the way.
"So, what are you gonna ask the old bastard to do for ya?"
Nope, keep moving.
"So, just how long do you think before they're caught?"
Nope, next.
"...staring off into nothing with that empty look in her eyes! Dear Frank, it's...it's awful!"
Mort suddenly heard Annabel lamenting and he saw that he was close to her and another lady lemur with whom she was talking to. He made his way closer to the pair, attentively listening as the other woman asked Annabel with gentle concern,
"Have you tried talking to her?"
"Ha! Keyword tried! I invite her to sit next to me by the watering hole, she gives me the cold shoulder! I invite her to dinner, she slams the door in my face! I give her food that she can have by herself later, she throws to the ground! And you saw what happened today! There's just been no getting through to her!" Was Annabel's vexed answer, coupled with a sad shake of her head.
Her friend took a deep breath, sighed and said wearily, "Look, I know that you're not going to want to hear this but...as long as Lenore keeps refusing your help, then there's nothing else you can do!"
To which Annabel passionately retorted, "I can't just abandon her! At least I still have other family and friends that are there for me but she has no one! Kate was her whole world!"
Mort sharply sucked in a shaking breath while feeling his heart drop. Then in a flash, his paws flew to his mouth, sending his notepad and pencil to the ground. He watched in wide eyed horror as Annabel paused and her anguished expression changed into a puzzled one.
"Did you hear something?" She asked her friend and looked around in bemusement.
"Other lemurs talking..." Her friend said slowly and as if it was the most obvious thing, which earned her a glare from Annabel. This didn't stop her though from then making her vexed argument. "As I was going to say, it's not abandoning her if she doesn't want you around!"
Mort picked up his things and bolted out of there before he could hear Annabel's response, having heard more then enough. From there, he rushed through the jungle while his mind raced with the knowledge he had just gained. It flooded his mind to where he was barely aware of his surroundings and thus was caught off guard when he suddenly slammed into something with enough force to send him bouncing backwards onto his back, dropping his belongings in the process.
"What the…!?" He exclaimed irritably. Then, he saw that he was before a light brown foot that was attached to a fuzzy gray-brown leg that belonged to none other then Lenore, who was just as shocked to see him. But her initial stunned expression quickly turned into a scowl aimed directly at Mort, who wilted under her bitterly cold gaze.
And Lenore continued to glare down upon him for a moment more before she noticed the pencil and paper on the ground. Now curious, and to Mort's horror, she then bent down and picked them up.
"Hey! That's mine! You can't read that!" Mort furiously demanded and pounded on Lenore's leg but she flipped through the pages of the pad anyway and as she read the writing within, her scowl deepened.
"So, our king is too cowardly to face us himself, so he sends his goon to spy on us instead?!" Lenore snapped, her gaze now even more bone chilling.
"No! King Julien didn't send me! He didn't ask me to do anything! It was all my idea! Just me! Honest! He doesn't even know what I've been doing!" Mort earnestly argued.
"Ha! You know what? I can totally believe that! Of course you wouldn't have to asked to help out your precious king!" Lenore told him with contempt, her words oozing with venom.
She then started to write in the notepad.
"Hey! What are you doing!? Hey!" Mort asked in alarm while tugging on Lenore's fur.
"You spelled my name wrong and Annabel's too. If you're going to give our names to your 'precious king', you should at least have them spelled right." Lenore irritably answered as she continued to correct said spelling. "There!" Once done, she then handed the pencil and paper back to Mort, who readily grabbed his belongings, and she started to walk away.
"Hey! Wa-wait! Stop! Please! Mort beseeched her but Lenore kept walking. "Please, Lenore! King Julien feels terrible for not trying to find you!"
These words stopped Lenore in her tracks. Her body stiffened and she clenched her trembling fists even tighter at her sides while keeping her back turned to Mort, who went on to argue woefully,
"He's so angry with himself for not talking to you and-and everybody else who lost someone! You have no idea how awful he feels for hurting you! All of you! Everyone!"
"I have no idea? I have no idea!?" Lenore started off low before turning and shrieking at Mort, who recoiled not only from the sheer volume but also the venom that drenched her ear piercing words. "He has no idea of the pain we're in! That I'm in because of him and the power hungry bitch of his dreams! And he had a whole fucking month to talk to me and everyone else fucked over by him and that she demon but he didn't! So shut the fuck up about his pain and leave me alone!" She then puffed and huffed and once again turned to walk away but before she took two steps, she stopped and added in a dangerously low snarl, "And you better tell your beloved bastard that if he wants to give me 'sympathy', I. Don't. Want. It!", taking great care to slowly pronounce those final few syllables so that Mort would hear them loud and clear.
Which he did and his frantic response was, "But-but, he really does feel horrible about hurting you! If you would just listen…!"
"No, you fucking listen!" Lenore turned and snapped at Mort once more and he once again recoiled in response. He froze in horror as she then grabbed him with one paw, pinned his arms to his sides with her iron grip, brought him right up to her face and told him, "I am done with the excuses and I am done with the 'apologies'! Do you hear me!? I. Am. Done!"
Lenore then let go of Mort and he fell flat on his face to the ground. After a stunned second, he lifted his head from the grass and saw Lenore walking away. For a heartbeat, he considered going after her but then thought better of it and instead, silently stood up and watched her go.
Once she was out of sight, Mort remained where he was for some moments more, lost in his melancholy. Until finally, he too left the scene and headed for the baobab tree in hopes that King Julien would be there. When he got to the massive tree and started his way up it's trunk, his ears picked up a faint sound and the higher he climbed, the louder and clearer it got to when he made it into the plane, he could make out happy lyrics dancing in harmony with an upbeat tune. Curious and confused, he walked into the throne room where he found Maurice dancing along with the booty shaking beat, wearing a big smile while repeatedly looking over at King Julien expectantly but Julien remained standing still and only offered his friend a somber expression.
….
"What are you doing!?" Mort demanded, to which Maurice stopped mid-step and slowly put his foot down as both he and Julien looked to their friend in surprise.
"Do you really think that now is the time to be getting your groove on!?" Was Mort's furious inquiry as he stomped over to and glared up at Maurice, who was taken aback by the sudden hostility.
"Leave Momo alone, Mort!" Julien demanded, his glum expression now replaced with a stern scowl directed down at Mort. "He was just trying to cheer me up, ok!? So back off!"
Mort started back at his friend in shock and hurt for a moment more before he turned away, crossed his arms and pouted.
"I just thought that King Julien could use some fun." Maurice irritably explained and turned off the boombox, cutting off the song mid-verse. He had hoped that Julien wouldn't be able to resist some good old catchy tunes and that they would help take his mind off his troubles if only for a short while. But while Maurice had danced for a good number of minutes before being interrupted, Julien had kept his feet firmly planted and didn't give so much as a hip sway the entire time.
"And why are you here anyway? Does it have anything to do with that notebook and pencil?" Maurice asked Mort, having finally noticed said items in his friend's paws. This caught Mort off guard, for he had momentarily forgotten his initial objective, and he uncrossed his arms to look over his belongings.
"Yes, it does." Mort looked from Maurice to Julien, saying solemnly, "I stayed to attend your uncle's work schedule meeting and I wanted to tell you that he's now booked for the next three weeks. Abner and Becca were the head planners and they said that there's no need to plan any farther ahead cause that no good lying demon and his accomplice will surely be caught in their lies by then!" He said with a snarl at the end.
"Yeah, that...that makes sense." Julien said, trying to sound nonchalant in order to hide his discomfort.
Mort himself was uneasy as well, though for a very different reason, tentatively telling Julien, "And the first lemurs who he's going to be working for are...the families of the wedding reception victims."
"O-oh! That's...that's good! They deserve it!" Julien said with shock, sincerity and also a hint of sorrow. Maurice looked at him with gentle concern and his heart ached as his friend went on to say, with his voice now lower and raspier, as if being choked by his now louder sorrow, "They absolutely deserve it."
Julien's grief sent sharp pangs pulsing through Mort's own heart and he told his friend, "I got their names."
"What?" Maurice said, stunned while Julien looked at Mort in confusion.
"The families! As they were giving their names to be written down in your uncle's work schedule calendar, I wrote them in here!" Mort explained in earnest while holding up his notebook, which he then held out to Julien. "And I got the names of the other two victims too! They'll all in here! Now, you can finally know everybody's names!"
Julien took the notepad and stared at it's plain tan cover. He would finally know all of the names of his fallen people. He would finally know the names of their loved ones of whom he had hurt so much. Including Kate's mother. He just had to flip the page. But something held him back. Something that had an iron grip on his heart.
"I...I can't!" Julien declared and held out the notepad to Mort in shame.
"What!? Why!?" Mort asked incredulously while Maurice also looked at his friend in shock.
"Because I don't deserve to know!" Was Julien's anguished argument. "I could have already known their names by now if I had just asked! If I had just asked peoples if they knew who died and if they had any family still alive but I didn't! I didn't do that and I didn't reach out to the families! And I didn't offer them condolences! And I didn't tell them that I'm sorry! Because I'm too stupid and self centered to have even thought about doing any of that! I did nothing and I deserve nothing! I'm not reading this and that's final!" And with that, Julien threw the notebook to the floor.
To which Mort pleaded, "But King Julien…!"
"No! Now, get this away from me and burn it! That's an order!" Julien shrieked, firm and final, while pointing down at the discarded notebook.
Mort stared at Julien in shock and hurt for a moment more before he bowed his head and said in saddened defeat, "Yes, King Julien." He then picked up the notebook and walked out of the room, with his paper and tail dragging on the floor.
Once he was gone, Maurice turned to Julien and said with gentle concern, "Your Majesty..."
"Please go away too, Momo. I want to be alone." Julien begged, to which Maurice started to protest,
"But..."
'Please!" Julien pleaded. Maurice didn't respond right away but silently looked back into his friend's imploring woebegone eyes. Then, after a moment or two, he let out a tired sigh and said with sad reluctance,
"...Okay. Okay." Then, Maurice started to leave but when he stopped to part the curtains separating first class and coach, he looked back over his shoulder and said, "If you need me, for anything, don't hesitate to come find me, okay?" And then he was gone.
Now alone, Julien looked to his throne. He climbed up onto and settled in the familiar seating but soon found that it wasn't as comfortable as usual. The seat was still soft and his back end still fit perfectly into his impression in the cushioning and yet, it still wasn't sitting as well as it should. Then, Julien suddenly felt the weight of his crown on his head, more so then usual. He took it off and stared down at the head piece that had been passed down from Julien to Julien, king to king, while slowly rubbing his thumb against it's smooth base. And he kept rubbing and staring for some time in that pensive silence.