[Hey! I'm back! Ya'll missed me? So, there's going to be a few original characters who are going to make a re-appearance this chapter and a canon character who doesn't have a name in canon, so I made one up for him. So for a quick recap on whose who, I suggest re-reading chapters 10, 11 and 18. Honestly, there's a lot of call backs to previous chapters in this one, so you may just want to re-read all of them and rewatch the episodes, The End is Near and The End is Here while you're at it. And now, without farther delay, here's Chapter 29 of The Sign!]
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Every citizen of The Lemur Kingdom was gathered around the royal baobab tree that cloudy mid-day. All except for Dr. S and the lemur whom he and Clover had sprinted off to save.
Horst. The lemur who loved a fossa. The same fossa who had been shrouded in mystery and rumor ever since she was last seen in her unlikely allies's lives. Though Horst had been shockingly absent from the conversations surrounding her possible betrayal or demise. In fact, according to the local gossip mill, no one could recall him saying anything at all about his beloved after the now infamous wedding reception that had changed all their lives. Not even when he called out King Julien for defending Clover and Sage for causing such catastrophe. Which struck some as quite out of character for the usually outspoken lemur. At least, when it came to Mary Ann. For Horst had proclaimed his love for her time and again in the past, even when she was allied with the elder Julien. But this possible betrayal was different, with consequences that couldn't be fixed with a giant robot...but if he did believe that she had betrayed them all, why didn't he say so? Before they had reconciled that last time, in between his occasional public pitiful lamenting about happier days, he had no problem calling his lover a heartless she-devil to anyone who would listen. But then again, no one knew for sure if Mary Ann had truly betrayed them. Maybe she was just as much a victim as the unfortunate three who had lost their lives at the wedding reception...but if Horst believed that, why didn't he say so? Why didn't he defend his beloved against the accusations flung at her?...Unless he believed that she had betrayed them all and yet, still loved her but at least he had the decency not to defend his back stabbing beloved unlike King Julien.
Who currently sat at the baobab's base along side Rob and Maurice as they, along with everyone else, waited for news of Horst's and their friend's fates. And as the sun continued to slither in and out of a graying sky, everyone remained waiting, with time moving especially slow for Julien and his companions as they sat in almost utter silence. For words to ease the tension escaped the trio and none of them dared talk about the previous night, especially not with the elder Julien but a few stone throws away. Where he stuck to Zora's side like a second shadow, smothering her in kisses which she readily returned in kind though hers were more slobbery but her mate didn't mind.
It made Maurice sick. They may have had King Julien and Rob and Ted and others fooled but not him. He had meant what he said. The couple had been using Clover, just as all the other mountain lemurs had been using her. He just knew it. That's why after he had stormed off from the bastard's grave, he had found...
"Shadow!?"
...King Julien's surprised statement snapped Maurice out of his indignant thoughts and he followed his friend's wide eyed gaze up to the sky, where he saw a large dark gray hawk not swooping in for a kill but fluttering down towards them.
"It is Shadow!" Rob declared as he stood up along with Maurice and Julien.
"Maybe she found Clover and Horst and Dr. S!" Julien said ever more joyfully, his smile growing ever wider, his hope soaring ever higher as he then sprinted towards Shadow.
"Wait, you majesty! We don't know that…!" Maurice tried to warn his friend, fearful of his hopes being dashed, but his words fell on deaf ears and Julien arrived at Shadow's side just as she touched down on the ground, wasting no time in looking behind the bird's back. Where he found no one.
"They're not here." He uttered as his face fell, then looked to Shadow with anxious eyes as he asked of her, "You didn't run into them?"
To which Shadow cocked her head to the side and gave a confused squawk as she stared at the king in kind.
"He means Clover and Horst." Maurice explained as he came to stand beside Julien.
"And Dr. S." Rob added from his friend's other side.
"Yeah! You really didn't see any of them while you were up there? Or maybe nobody's with you cause nobody wanted a ride home?" Julien anxiously asked, pointing up at the sky as he did, before giving the latter half of his inquiry with much more desperate optimism as he grabbed Shadow's head and pulled her face within whisker length of his own, with one pair of amber eyes ever more perplexed while the others were ever more panicked.
At which Shadow yanked herself away from the king's grasp and gave an annoyed squawk, glaring at him as she hunched her bristling back until Julien started to explain himself and just like that, the blaze in her gaze was stomped out.
"No wait, please! One of my peoples, his name is Horst, he was taken by the fossa and Dr. S and Clover went to go save him but it's been hours and nobody's heard from them and we thought that maybe you have but clearly you haven't and please! Please, we have to find them!" He frantically explained in escalating panic, pacing about and waving his arms around wildly as he did, before he stopped, grabbed Shadow's shoulders and shook them violently.
To which Shadow once again yanked herself away from his grasp, though the squawk and matching glare she gave in reply weren't as harsh this time. Her gaze then softened and she gave a gentle coo to the lemur king before crouching down and spreading her wings out wide but just as she was about to take off into the sky...
"Wait!"
...A high pitched voice pierced her ears and she turned to see a male lemur with dark red fur running out into the open, then stopping and pointing to a patch of jungle as he shouted, "Look!"
At which Shadow, along with everyone else gathered there, obeyed and saw a tall, slender shape (that stuck out against the surrounding dark greens and browns like a lighthouse amidst a stormy sea) step out of the jungle. Or, I should say, slither.
"Dr. S!" Rob, Julien and Maurice cried out joyously and sprinted towards the snake doctor. Who they soon saw was carrying something in his jaws. A dulled white object with a dark furred lemur atop it.
"Horst!" Julien exclaimed, his joy soaring ever higher when he saw another familiar figure walking beside Dr. S. "Clover!"
"Clover!" Maurice parroted in kind as he and his companions quickly closed the gap between themselves and the returning party. But as they did, he noticed how much slower Clover and Dr. S were moving, the way the former's arms hung stiff at her sides, how her and her partner's eyes hesitated to met those of the trio. There was also the fact that Horst had yet to move a muscle but just kept hanging limply in Dr. S's jaws, his face hided by what Maurice now saw was a skull that was about the length of the former's entire body. Julien and Rob noticed that something was amiss as well just as they and Maurice stopped before the returning travelers.
"Clover?" Julien said timidly with now much more cautious optimism but Clover just silently turned her troubled gaze away from her friend's. At which Julien looked to Horst and said, trying and failing to hide his mounting dread, "Horst?"
"Is he…?" Pancho's voice coming from so close startled Julien, Maurice and Rob ever so slightly but annoyance swiftly gave way to sympathy when the trio saw their earlier adversary's fearful gaze lingering on the still form of his friend.
"Mm?" Dr. S said through a mouthful of fur, confused, but then he followed the quartet's eyes to his precious cargo and understanding struck. "Mm mm!" He assured and shook his head anxiously. Which in turn loosened Horst's grip on the skull ever so slightly. At which in a flash, Horst gave a growl as he glared at his savior and dug his claws ever deeper into his terrible treasure, with teeth bared as if ready to bite the serpent's head off, finally showing his face to the growing crowd below him.
"You're alive!" Pancho and King Julien joyously proclaimed and hugged each other in kind before then parting ways to rush to their companions, with Pancho wrapping himself around Willie good and tight while Julien gave Maurice and Rob his own ecstatic squeeze that was readily returned as people hugged and cheered all around them. But the celebration was short lived as one by one, lemurs looked back at Horst and saw that he was now glaring at them from where Dr. S had gently laid him and the skull on the ground, slowly sweeping his gaze across the crowd, his eyes like frozen pools surrounded by rings of blood that looked ready to drag them all down into their dark depths.
At which those closest to the now silent parties wondered what was the matter and when they saw what their neighbors saw, they too stopped celebrating and so it was that soon everyone stood frozen before Horst's glacial gaze as it drummed ice cold claws of dread down their spines. Most of all King Julien's when his subject's eyes finally landed on his.
"H-hey, Horst, how's it going, man?" The lemur king said, trying to sound nonchalant but failing miserably, his unease evident to all. "So uh...what's with the skull you got there?" He asked as he pointed to the object in question, it's grisly gaze almost as unnerving as Horst's.
"A fossa skull." Rob uneasily added, his lopsided lip curling in disgust.
At which time Maurice noticed that Clover's fists, balled up so tightly at her sides, were trembling ever so slightly but then, his attention turned back to Julien when the latter said, "Fossa skull? Wait a second…", then paused and pondered for a moment before a thought struck. At which the king whipped around to glare at a perplexed Dr. S and snapped, "Did you take one of the fossa you killed to save Horst and stopped to make one of your-your freaky trophies!?"
"What!?" Both Dr. S and Clover incredulously, irately exclaimed and the latter stomped over to her friend as she countered in kind, "No, you brain dead dumbass, we did not stop and the skull is not for Dr. S! It's…!", before her screaming suddenly came to a screeching stop and she looked to Horst and the remains that he continued to protectively lay upon, the blaze in her gaze stomped out while his remained stone cold.
This snapped Julien out of his stunned state and he said to his friend in both gentle and confused concern, "Clover?", but she remained petrified in place, held hostage by Horst's unyielding eyes (that to some seemed like twin seas right before a storm). "Clover?"
"King Julien." Dr. S piped in and Julien turned to the snake doctor as he swallowed a lump in his throat and lowered his head so that the two of them were eye to eye as the former then took a rattling deep breath, then solemnly and oh so reluctantly said, "It's Mary Ann's."
And in that moment, Julien swore that his heart stopped. "No." He uttered as he slowly shook his head.
And Dr. S felt his own heart breaking as he continued. "The fossa told Horst that...that they killed her."
"No." Julien repeated, with more force, as he shook his head faster.
"Julien…" Maurice and Rob said as each reached out towards their friend but before either could lay a gentle paw on his shoulder…
"Yes!"
...Clover snapped and heads turned to see her glaring at King Julien as she continued to retort, "Yes, your majesty! Mary Ann is dead! She's been dead this whole time! End of story!", her words like scalding ash flung in her friend's face but beneath their brusqueness, he could hear something else. Something that made him forget about his own troubled state.
"Clover…" Julien said in gentle grave concern as he took a step towards his companion, taking her aback, but just then, another realization struck him like a tidal wave. "Horst…" He rasped in horror and whipped around to his subject. Who continued to glare ice cold daggers as he came towards him. "Horst, I…"
"Don't." Horst snarled and although his voice was low, the loathing with which he spoke was enough to stop Julien in his tracks. Though not enough to stop the king from ruefully saying, "Horst, I'm so..."
"I said Don't!" Horst snarled, then snapped, taking Julien aback. "I don't wantyour apology! I want you to shut the fuck up and leave me alone!" He said with teeth and bitterness ever more bared, his eyes brimming with ever more hatred as he clenched what remained of his beloved ever tighter until he then commanded of the crowd, "And that goes for all of you!"
"Horst, buddy, come on." Ted said as he cautiously stepped forth and towards the widower, much to many's shock and displeasure. "I know you're upset..."
"Upset? Upset!? My wife is dead and you think I'm upset!?" Horst screeched, eyes blazing and teeth bared, looking ready to tear into Ted's throat. "But of course you would think that! You don't give a damn about your wife! You don't care if she dies! So why would you think that I would feel any different about mine!?" He sarcastically continued, his withering words wrapping themselves around Ted's heart ever farther, each scathing syllable squeezing ever tighter. "You have no idea how I feel! None of you do! I'll say it again! Leave. Me. Alone!" He declared to Ted, then the crowd and back again, his blistering gaze daring the other man to utter one more sound as he then huffed and puffed one ragged breath after another. But Ted remained in frozen silence for a long moment before he bit his lip and walked away with his tail between his legs.
It was as Clover watched this downtrodden retreat that she spotted Minerva amid the stunned spectators. "Minerva!" She barked, causing the lady lemur to look to her with a startled start, along with almost everyone else. "Let's go!"
"Go!?" King Julien parroted in shock. Which was accompanied by Maurice stammering in kind before he rushed towards Clover while saying to her,
"C-Clover wait! Let's ju…!"
But the rest of his plea died on his tongue when Clover glared at him with eyes that said, in no uncertain terms, that no amount of pleading was going to change her mind in that moment.
But that didn't stop Julien from stammering, "B-bu-bu..!", as Clover walked past him to Shadow's side. At which the latter looked to her master with sorrow in her eyes as she gave a soft coo, knowing that the queen wouldn't understand her exact words but hoping that their meaning would still come though. They did but that didn't stop Clover from looking back over at Minerva, who hadn't moved a muscle as she kept helplessly staring at her superior, and demanding of her subject,
"I said let's go, maggot!"
At which Minerva gave another startled start, then reluctantly obeyed and soon she and Clover were on Shadow's back, ready to leave. By then, Julien and Maurice had given up on words and instead, raced to the retreating trio's side, where they silently beseeched Clover to stay. To which Clover was taken aback for a hesitant second as she stared into twin pairs of soft sunrise eyes but then, she turned her face away and yanked twin fist fulls of Shadow's feathers as she shouted, "Hi yaw!"
At which the hawk shrieked and spread her wings out wide, then leapt up into the sky while Rob and Dr. S rushed to Julien and Maurice's side. Where they all watched as Shadow's form grew ever smaller until she and her precious cargo were gone.
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Shadow, Clover and Minerva soon arrived at The Mountain Lemur Kingdom, landing before the royal temple and a pawful of shocked citizens. Who Clover promptly ordered to spread the news of her return and that there was to be a mandatory meeting for all as soon as possible. Minerva asked if she was to fetch her fellow lemurs as well but Clover was adamant that she stay by her side. To which Minerva reluctantly obeyed while everyone else left to carry out their own orders but not before the former sensed the tension between them and Clover and not the kind that had become all too familiar for her. That's when Minerva remembered Clover's peculiar behavior the day before. How extra standoffish she had been. How she wouldn't give a straight answer to any of Benson's or her questions, including as to why she was in such a hurry to leave a day earlier then previously planned. Something had happen between the queen and some of her subjects and Minerva both hoped and dreaded that she was soon about to find out exactly what that was.
In the meantime, she followed Clover up the temple steps until the pair stood on the throne room's threshold. Where they waited as lemurs quickly gathered below. Including soon enough Jake, who raced from the surrounding jungle and started up aforementioned stairs as he shouted, "Clover! Queen Clover, please, let me…!"
"Silence!" Clover commanded. At which the captain stopped in his tracks but continued his pleading, putting his paws together as if in prayer as he said,
"Queen Clover, I…!"
"I said silence!" Clover snapped and Minerva could practically feel the anger radiating from her, her fur almost stabbing Minerva's, her fists curled as if ready to clamp them around Jake's throat as she shoot daggers at him with eyes like the jungle at night, ready to strike.
To which Jake stared at her for a stunned second before furrowing his own brow and saying with a snarl, "No!"
"No!?"
"You heard me! I will not be silent! And you are going to listen to every damn word I have to say!"
"What's there to say, you lying ba…?!"
"Queen Clover! Minerva!"
...But Jodie's frantic calling killed the rest of Clover's scathing retort and the latter looked to see her and Benson racing towards the temple and taking a few steps up it's stairs before stopping. Benson then knelt down and put his paws together as if in prayer as he beseeched her, "Queen Clover, please! Don't punish Minerva! She had nothing to do with it, honest!"
"She really didn't!" Was Jodie's adamant addition.
"Nothing to do with what?" Minerva asked her friend and Benson, growing ever more perplexed by the second.
"With using me, that's what!" Clover screeched at Minerva, her jungle eyes boring daggers into her skull. "And don't you dare deny it!"
"What the fuck did they just say!?" Jake exclaimed in exasperation as he spread his arms out towards Minerva's defenders. At which Clover snarled, then snapped at him and the crowd,
"And why should I listen to anything any of you say, you lying bastards!?"
At which an avalanche of sound erupted all around, with Clover and Jake's voices the loudest of all as they stomped towards each other until they were stopped by several lemurs getting in between them. Who held their arms out wide as they begged their queen and comrade to stop fighting, the surrounding clamor of the crowd all but drowning out their pleas.
All while Minerva watched on in silence until she said to anyone who would listen, "Excuse me?", but no one heard her timid words amid the chaos. So she repeated herself, louder, more forcefully, "Excuse me?", but still her words went unheeded, smothered by the ear splitting noise of dozens upon dozens of other voices vying to be heard. At which Minerva's eye twitched as she grumbled a growl, then closed both eyes and took a deep breath. She then re-opened her eyes and inhaled once more, then exhaled a long, drawn out squeal.
A squeal that sliced through the air like a sword, stabbing through ears and drilling into skulls, forcing lemur's paws to fly to both as they turned towards the source of the infernal sound until Minerva found that the clamor of the crowd had stopped and all eyes were now on her. At which she stopped squealing and stared back at the now mostly silent citizens (save for some groaning and growling), momentarily stunned by the glaring spotlight, but then she cleared her throat and said to all, a bit awkwardly at first but gaining vexed confidence as she spoke, "Uh...thank you! Now that I got your attentions, can someone please tell me what the fuck you guys are talking about!?"
"Gladly!"
An all familiar voice said, sending ice cold claws of dread drumming down Minerva's spine, freezing her heart as she looked across the crowd and saw said voice's master making his way towards her, with lemurs parting ways without protest to let him pass.
"Campion!?" Clover exclaimed.
"Campion!" Minerva squeaked, recalling all too well the last time she had crossed paths with the former captain. How she and Benson were the ones who had locked him away in the kingdom's dungeon, how fucking furious the latter had been, and the more her mind raced, the more her heart did the same to where it felt ready to burst out of her chest as she locked eyes with her enemy, his one so much like the jungle, looking ready to strike her down in all it's fury. Benson and Jodie clearly thought the same, as both swiftly positioned themselves in battle stances between their ally and adversary.
"Whoa, whoa, easy!" Campion said as he held up his paws defensively. "I'm not here to hurt her, I swear!" At the last two words, he put a paw over his heart and looked to Minerva. "I am here to clear things up for ya!"
"You can start by explaining how the hell you got out of your cell!?" Clover demanded as she made her way down the rest of the stairs, then stood at it's base as Campion closed the rest of the gap between them.
"Some friends let me out."
"Because he has every right to defend himself!" Roxanne explained before Clover could utter a sound.
"That lying sack a shit has no right!" Mort's scorching screeching sliced through the air and people promptly felt him sprinting against their ankles, with many leaping away with startled starts until he sprung from the crowd while calling out, "Clovvvvver!"
But before he could reach his desired destination (Clover's chest), Clover caught her friend mid-flight, sandwiching his small body in between her paws. "Mort!?"
"Clover! I'm so happy you're back! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry I couldn't stop the bastard from getting out but now that you're here, we can put him back where he belongs!" Mort explained, swiftly switching from frantic groveling to vengeful assurance, turning his head as best as he could to glare over at Campion as he did.
"He belongs with his people!" Roxanne passionately protested. To which Jake countered in kind,
"He belongs in a cage!"
But before anyone could counter his statement, Minerva let out another long, shrill squeal that stabbed through lemur's ears, with many paws flying up in a vain attempt to block out the skull splitting sound until all was silent and heads turned to Minerva once more, with Clover demanding of her,
"Will you stop that!?"
"I will if someone explains what it is you all are squabbling about and no, I'm not talking about him being let out!" Minerva retorted, nodding her head towards Campion as she did, her exasperation evident to all.
Including Clover, who by that point had rearranged Mort so that he was pinned beneath her armpit. So that when he opened his mouth to protest, she was able to snap a paw over it, reducing her friend's reply to a muffled jumble.
"Fine! Let's see if Campion has any new bullshit to share!" Clover said contemptuously. Which received more muffled protest from Mort as well as surprised and confused murmurs throughout the crowd. Who swiftly fell silent when Clover gave them a stern stare and then all was still as Campion began his tale.
"As you must know by now, you're not the only one who figured out that making Sage our king was a big mistake before all the crap with King Julien and his lot but, you may have asked yourself, what could any of us have done about it back then? King Julien still thought of that two faced tosser as a friend! As a hero! As did every other animal on the island! If our people had kicked Sage to the curb before everyone knew his true nature, it stands to reason the other kingdoms would have rallied together to help their savior and they had already defeated us once before! They damn well could do it again! Only this time, they wouldn't go so easy on us, oh no! They would make us all pay! And I for one was not going to risk that! So I kept my mouth shut and played the good loyal subject until opportunity knocked on our people's door!"
At which he paused oh so briefly to glance over at Clover. Who maintained her contemptuous stare as he continued in kind, "When she came here, really expecting Sage to propose to her, even though she had rejected him…! When you were helping me and him find our people a new home, you said, and I quote, that the two of you were 'just friends'!", opening her mouth to protest but silenced by Campion's swift retort. Which brought back the memory of said home hunting and rejection. To which Clover closed her mouth but continued to glare at Campion.
"Now, of course that wasn't really why she was invited but the way she watched her sister and Sage together, I knew she wasn't going to give up what she wanted without a fight and I wasn't going to allow her to win over a two faced manipulative sack of shit that would treat her…!" He proclaimed until his conviction came to a sudden stop and his furrowed brow turned thoughtful, the pregnant pause that accompanied it broken by Clover's brisk bark.
"What? Now you have nothing to say!? Go on, tell her! Or maybe one of your friends would rather do it!?" She said snidely, sweeping her gaze over Campion and Jake before landing on Benson. Who withered under the scorching spotlight of not just her eyes but Minerva's as well, the spark of understanding within the latter boring far deeper into his soul, but before he could process his guilt, Campion said,
"I really was trying to protect her from Sage at first."
At which Benson turned to his former friend with a startled start and was shocked to see him staring back in sympathy before turning to Minerva.
"Honest I was! That's why I convinced lemurs to pretend that we didn't like Clover's protein shakes and poetry! That we didn't like her! So she'd feel like she didn't belong here! So she'd leave and not get struck in the same shitty boat as all of us! But that night...that night I got to thinking...what if she did stay? What if she did marry Sage and got treated like trash day after day? Why then she'd see the bastard for who he reallyis in no time! And she wouldn't stand for it, oh no! She'd dump his ass and tell King Julien all about what a bastard he is and he would believe her! Andthen he'd tell the other kings and they would believe him! And then no one would give a damn if we kicked Sageto the curb! No one! So I got the same lot who had pretended not to give a crap about Clover to let her know how they really felt and when Sage told me how he felt after she left, I told him to go after her! I did it for all of us! No one was supposed to get hurt, let alone die! And no one would have if someone had just done her fucking job!" The former captain stated, his defense solemn at first but as his confidence grew, so did the frenzied, animated fury with which he spoke, that briefly waned into rueful lamenting before erupting in a scathing finish aimed at none other then Clover, his words like scalding ash shot in her face.
Which widened, then furrowed, and then she snarled, "Mary Ann would!"
"What?" Campion said, certain he had heard her wrong. And he wasn't the only one, as all around, lemurs murmured in disbelief. For they all knew their queen had been adamant that Mary Ann was alive ever since she first found out about the latter ruler's mysterious absence, sometimes even violently arguing with those who so much as suggested otherwise. Now she was saying that...but one by one, lemurs looked to Minerva and one glance at her solemn expression confirmed that neither their ears nor Clover were deceiving them. This included Mort, who gave a gasp and was gently put back on the ground before Clover continued.
"Mary Ann's lover, a lemur named Horst, was captured by the fossa this morning. Dr. S and I were able to save him but not before the fossa gave him…" She paused oh so briefly, took a rattling deep breath, then resumed. "...They gave him Mary Ann's skull and told him that they...that they killed her the same day she saved King Julien and his people from them! While I was fawning over Sage like a...like a schoolgirl, Mary Ann was being torn to pieces for protecting my friends because I wasn't there for them! She's dead because of me! It's my fault! It's my fault!" Her somber recount swiftly gave way to a rueful lament that made everyone else's hearts ache along side her own.
Including Mort's. At which he wrapped his arms around his friend's trembling leg and gave it a tender squeeze. Including Benson's as he felt his own guilt wrapping itself ever tighter around his heart, boring it's own razor sharp thorns ever deeper, threatening to tear out it's own raging rapid of blood for all to see. At which he clenched his chest as his breathing grew ever swallower, catching the attention of some but not Sage.
Who appeared at the base of the temple as if out of thin air and came to stand by Clover's side, pain pulsing through his own heart as he placed a gentle paw on his wife's shoulder. That instantly tensed at the touch and Clover whipped around to face her husband, yanking herself away from him (and Mort in the process), glaring daggers at the former, the spark ignited within them raging to an inferno as she snarled, "But the others...I had plenty of help killing them!", then screeched at him and the crowd. She then looked up at Minerva, who winced from the scorching spotlight, but before either could speak, Benson piped in,
"I'm telling you, Minerva had nothing to do with the plan!"
At which eyes turned to him, all ears peered as he earnestly argued, "She would have rather died then work with me back then or Campion!"
Now, of course Clover whipped around to face Benson and opened her mouth to give a scathing counter argument but that died on her tongue when she was suddenly struck by an idea. One that those closest to her could practically see being mulled over in her mind in the moment or two before she replied, "You know what? You're right. She wouldn't.", without sarcasm or snide.
This took everyone aback, including Minerva, even more so when Clover looked back up at her and asked creepily calm like, "Minerva, do you know about a certain mountain lemur wedding ritual? The one where the groom is buried alive the night before?"
"Uh...yeah. Every mountain lemur does. It's a pretty popular tradition for our people." Minerva gave her leery reply while looking down at Clover likewise, knowing that this seemingly out of nowhere change in topic was leading down a dangerous path though she couldn't see it's destination to save her life.
"Really? Every mountain lemur? Well then, none of you should have any problem then reminding me exactly how it goes. Go on, don't be shy. I'dlove to hear you lot's thoughts on your sacred ceremony." Clover resumed, the slivers of fury that showed themselves through her seething serenity sending ice cold claws of dread drumming down her subject's spines as she swept her gaze over them all, her jungle eyes ready to pounce.
"The groom is buried alive at the last sunset before the wedding and remains in his grave until sunrise the next morning." Sage started to recite, unphased by his wife's cracking composure and the incredulous spotlight casted by everyone else as he continued, "It's a way of symbolically acting out the saying that a man's life ends when he gets married because when two souls join together, their previous lives do die but like a phoenix from the ashes, both are reborn into new lives. One where old self centered ways must be cast aside and the ceremony is a way for a groom to promise his bride that he will do just that.", ending with a satisfied smile for his own bride.
"Thank you, Sage." Clover replied, smiling at her husband in turn, though hers sent ever more shivers down lemur's spines. "Tell me though, what about a groom who doesn't finish the ceremony? Like, oh I don't know, maybe he starts being reborn but then gets bored and digs himself out before sunrise?" She inquired with barely contained rage that once again, Sage was unphased by.
For he scowled and snarled with a sneer, "Any man who does that is a coward and his selfishness will lead down a road paved with broken promise after broken promise after bro…!", until he stopped as realization struck him like a tidal wave.
"Oh, are you remembering your own ceremony, darling?" Clover said to him snidely before turning to Minerva. "I remember everyone here hearing about it. That must have included you,right Minerva?"
"...Yes, I remember." Minerva uttered barely above a whisper as understanding came crashing down upon her and although Clover couldn't quite hear the exact words, she saw the answer she sought in her subject's horrified eyes.
"And you knew about it's symbolism back then, didn't you?"
"...Yes."
"So you knew then that Sage had symbolically told me himself that he is never going to stop being a self centered psychopath who does whatever the fuck he wants, screw whoever gets fucked over in the process!?" The last of Clover's composure shattered into scorching screeching as she stomped up the stone steps until she was toe to toe with her subject. "But you already knew that before we got married, didn't you!? You knew and you did nothing!" The queen snarled in the larger lemur's face, not just in anger but agony that bore into the depths of Minerva's soul, bringing forth long buried guilt that wrapped itself ever tighter around her heart as she averted her eyes from Clover's but still felt their searing gaze all the same.
"That's not fair!" Jodie's earnest protest caused both women to turn to her in startled shock, both ever more stunned as she went on to argue, "If Minerva had told you the truth back then, you really think you would have believed her!? You didn't believe King Julien when he figured out that Sage is a psychopath and that was right after the bastard not giving a crap that he got three people killed! If you wouldn't believe one of your best friends after that, what chance did Minerva have!? Or any of us for that matter!?"
"Exactly!" Campion piped in passionately. "That's why I didn't tell Clover the truth in the first place because I knew that she wouldn't believe me! That she'd say that I'm the bastard! That I don't know Sage like she does! And then she would have doubled down on winning over the snake just like with King Julien!" He argued adamantly, with teeth and bitterness bared as he swept his gaze from Jodie to Minerva to Clover. "But go on, tell me that I'm wrong! That you would have totally believed the same lemurs who enslaved you and tried to kill you and everyone you love, telling you that the man you 'love', who without him, you and everyone you love would be dead, is the real monster! Go on, say it!" He goaded her snidely, furiously, spreading out his arms and pounding his chest before spreading out his arms again, readying himself for a scorching retort...that never came.
He was instead met with silence as Clover mulled over that fateful argument with her friend. Recalling her asinine excuses for Sage's utter lack of accountability for the catastrophic consequences of his actions in response to King Julien's justified anger on his people's behalf and hers as well. And yet, Julien had been the one to apologize for trying to protect her from the monster she had married. Julien truly cared for her, as did Maurice and Mort, and yet she had tossed them all aside and for what? To be the two faced bride of a two faced king and his two faced subjects.
As the smothering silence stretched on, Mort came to realize that Clover wasn't going to defend herself this time. So he readied himself to do it for her but just as he started marching towards Campion...
"I'm sorry!"
...Jake's desperate apology shattered the silence. At which heads turned to see the current captain sprinting up the temple stairs until he came to Clover's side, with the queen turning and taking an incredulous step back when he said, "I'm so sorry! You're right! I never should have listened to Campion! I should have told you the truth until I made you believe me! I was wrong! I was so wrong!", as he knelt before her and bowed his head in shame.
To which Campion snapped out his own stunned state to snarl, "Why you bootlicking…!"
"But we can still make things right!" Jake proclaimed, looking up at Clover with almost manic earnest as he continued in kind, "Mary Ann and the others, their sacrifice doesn't have to be in vain! Everyone knows the real Sage now! We can finally overthrow the bastard!", which softened so that he tenderly finished with, "And have you as our sole ruler!"
"...What?" Simple, stunned and the only thing Minerva (or anyone) could say to such a proposal at first, all staring at the captain with dumbfounded expressions until one by one, heads turned to Clover. Whose own gaze remained wide eyed and her own jaw ajar for a moment more before her face furrowed and she declared with teeth and bitterness bared,
"Sacrifice? That's all they've ever been to you, haven't they? And mine and King Julien's and his people's misery? Just sacrifices to get what you lot want! Well, I hate to break it to ya but you're not getting anything out of me anymore!"
"Wh-what are you saying?" Jake asked anxiously, his courage gone, hoping against hope that what he knew was coming wasn't so.
At which Clover turned to face the crowd and proclaimed to all, "I'm saying that I'm done being your queen!", sending a tidal wave of gasps and exclamations of horror and disbelief roaring throughout the clearing but even through the clamor, Clover still heard Sage say from beside her,
"Clover…"
And when she whipped around, there he was, taken aback by the unbridled hatred in her eyes, ever more so when she then rushed at him, grabbed his face and pulled it down so that her mouth was almost to his ear, swearing that his heart stopped when she then snarled with a sneer, "And I'm done being your wife!"