With those synthesized strains blaring at full blast, the sisters started off by redoing the first leg of their routine. Clover, reinvigorated by a new fervent desire to succeed in her task, kept her eyes trained on the waltzing Crimson as if nothing else existed around them; yet she obeyed the instructions she was given with just as much efficacy: whether it was to look and smile at their three audience members more often, or to steady her gait with shorter and lighter strides, or to swing her tail in a specific manner, she always listened and did them all to the best of her capability.
Both seemed content enough like that initially (at least they had stopped throwing unpleasantries at each other), and for the first time since they'd begun, things were looking up for the lemur group. Even if Clover's discomfort was by no means wholly purged from her body, having Crimson there with her was no doubt helping to mitigate a good chunk of it. Thus when the time came to hit that flamboyant first pose again, she managed to imitate it well and for much longer, even though her whole frame still shook that slight bit so as to give away how nervous she was about being seen like this. Nonetheless, thanks to her newfound fortitude, she remained staunch at her sister's side, showing her that perhaps there was hope yet to turn things around.
"Oh, hell yeah, sis! Now we're talking!" the red twin congratulated Clover on her accomplishment, "Now we hold it in for a few seconds; gotta give 'em thirsty crowds a nice eyeful! That chin needs to be higher – mind the shaking! C'mon, don't get all sloppy on me now!"
"I'm... I'm trying! Blimey, I think I'm actually doing it!" the crowned lemur exclaimed excitedly, "Oi, d'you guys see this?"
Julien let out a big laugh. "Sure do, Clo-Clo – keep it up, you're doing amaaaziiing!"
Maurice nodded, also appearing to agree. "Yeah, it looks like they're both picking up steam, doesn't it? I guess having Crimson along for the ride was a pretty okay idea after all!"
"Of course it was, my dude! You think I would've come up with something so genius if I hadn't known that since the beginning?"
"Uh, but you didn't..." his advisor was about to object, but withheld himself. "I mean, yes, Your Majesty. Couldn't have thought of it myself."
Seeing those smiles on their faces and hearing their words of appraisal, the twins rang out with unified laughter; Crimson smugly, Clover sheepishly. Then the former exclaimed, "Okay, sis, time for something new – let's break this up with another spin and then go back to strutting!"
However, that moment was when any probability of the lemurs enjoying a nice day free of hardship would evaporate in a flash...
Just as Crimson was moving over to lead Clover into the next set of steps, the king's bodyguard miscalculated the distance between herself and her and accidentally stomped hard on Crimson's tail, causing her to emit a piercing screech of pain as the sudden break in momentum yanked her backwards, and when Clover released her foot, her lack of balance kept her staggering for a hot minute – until she completely lost her footing. The next thing Crimson knew, she was lying face-up in the dirt, dizzy with a sore tail and tailbone, and an orange blur standing over her.
"Oh my gosh, Crimson, I'm so sorry! I – I swear I didn't mean to do that!" Clover hastily apologized, clapping her hands over her mouth before lending one to help her sister up. The other lemur, however, didn't take it – feeling humiliated and enraged to the point of seeing red, she just glared up, eyes slitted and teeth bared, a low growl rising from her throat. Then she sat up, hurriedly combed the tousled fur on her throbbing tail with her fingers, and got back to her feet on her own, unable to control herself any longer.
"Just what part of 'watch your step' didn't ya understand, HEY?!" she roared callously at Clover in an impulsive craze, almost louder than the music in the background, "Seriously, what's the bloody damned matter with you already – are ya really this daft in the head or are ya just doing all of this on purpose to shit on me?!"
"Don't you yell at me like that, I said it was an accident!" she shouted back, arms spread outward defensively, "My gods, what more d'you want from me, huh?! I've been trying to do right by you this whole time – why can't ya just show a little leniency towards me here?!"
Crimson bit back a reply; she obviously had realized she shouldn't have lashed out like that.
With a stifled growl of resentment, Clover sullenly lumbered off, distancing herself farther from her. "Nevermind, silly ol' me must've forgotten you've never made a single mistake in your life! Well, don't expect me to apologize for anything from now on!" Then, when she noticed that her twin still wasn't responding, she called over her shoulder, "The hell ya standing around for? Quit playing games, will ya, we don't have time for this!"
Finally, after what must've felt like an eternity of intensely staring each other down, Crimson feigned another smirk – a thinly-veiled mask of warmth that did little to hide the true feelings behind it. "...I'm sorry, Clo-Clo, I don't know what came over me there. You know me, he he, I just can't stand it when my fur gets filthy..." She went up and slung an arm around her twin's neck. "Why don't we put that lil' slip behind us and try that again, huh? I feel like we're making some real progress this time!"
Clover frowned even harder at the artificiality of this gesture, but then acquiesced without further complaint. And while the girls carried on with their show, talking, pointing, issuing commands, and gesticulating to each other as if that latest altercation hadn't even happened, the boys looked on with all traces of glee now visibly gone from their faces – particularly Maurice.
"...Ah, okay... I take back what I said."
"Er, tha – that was just your classic case of bickering between siblings, Mo-Mo; no big deal," Julien waved him off, yet something in the ringtail's voice made it clear he wasn't so sure of that himself anymore.
The royal advisor shook his head slowly. "Have you guys ever wanted to see what a ticking time bomb looks like in person? Well... there you have it. I mean, obviously no one was expecting this thing to be all sunshine and rainbows, but I for one don't like much the way we're headed..."
Mort shrugged. "It's all under control, Maurice," he said to him whilst still looking at Clover, providing her with a steady flow of weak smiles and the occasional handclap, "Don't forget that Crimson is in no position to get too slick with us; she might be a ton of things – most of them bad – but stupid isn't one of them, remember?"
"Her stepping out of line with some crazy evil scheme isn't what has me worried. I just think she's being way too hard on Clover, is all," he explained, "And I know, I know, if there's anyone who can take a beating, it's Clover, but you two also know that everyone has their limits – especially her. She might be able to stand being bossed and tossed around like that for a while, but man, I can see it in her eyes; how she wants to stay optimistic for us but just can't because of Crimson being so overbearing all the time! I'm telling you, that all keeps adding up and up and up, until sooner or later, something gives. And well... if that does end up happening... it sure as sin won't be pretty for anyone involved."
"Yep, but... too late for regrets now I guess."
"Hmph, regret's just about the only thing I'm starting to feel right now, if I'm being honest." Now Maurice was staring at her too, hunched over, hand on chin, his voice empty of emotion. "That, and how huge of a douche I must look like for suggesting going to Crimson for help at all... Clover never even wanted it and yet there she is now, stuck in the middle of all this BS – and with two more whole days of it to go! ...Man, what in the world was I thinking...?" Suddenly, he turned to the taller lemur beside him. "You know, maybe it's time someone put their foot down and, say, told Crimson to just screw right off if all she's gonna be doing is be such an inconvenience. Might be the only smart decision we'd have made all day, actually."
Julien nodded thoughtfully along to all the aye-aye had said, contemplating it for a while.
"Look, Mo-Mo, I get what you're saying, and you do raise some fair points – but you still need to chillax and stop overthinking everything so much!" he pronounced then, "What we have to focus on is showing Clover we're here for her; that's our number-one priority. Besides – and don't call me naïve for this – I do got a good feeling about the whole sitch, you see? Things could be going a bit better, yeah, not denying that, but they could also be going like a billion times worse, all things considered! So... yeah, I think that so long as we keep an eye out for any fishy stuff and the good vibes coming, this should be a smooth ride straight to victory lane; for reals!"
His words were calm and collected, like those of someone who fully knew what he was doing, but the look in his eyes told an entirely different story. Maurice could see that the king was in fact not just lying to him, but most of all, to himself.
With a heavy sigh, he turned to the twins again. "If you say so, Your Majesty... If you say so."
A few hours of non-stop rehearsing later, the lemurs deemed it was time to take a very well-deserved, hour-long break. While everyone had left to employ their new free time in various ways (Clover, Maurice and Mort taking the chance to explore more of the region outside the glade, and Crimson slipping away somewhere else on her own under the pretense of foraging for food), Julien had stayed behind at the fallen log. All he'd been doing for the past fifteen minutes was sit there in total silence, gazing vacantly at the grass down at his feet, barely moving a muscle. There was nothing he would've liked more than to go have fun with his friends, yet grim, dark thoughts impeded him from doing so.
His mind couldn't stop spinning around today's less-than-favorable chain of events. How Crimson's unruly behavior had started to become nothing short of a hindrance to an already tough situation – which, in all fairness, had been expected – though not to this degree. She was just being too needlessly strict, unfair and domineering towards Clover, who in turn was barely holding on only because she felt obligated to. To say that things were not going well would've been a big understatement as well as proof of ignorance, but Julien wasn't blind. He had been suspicious of this animosity between the two sisters ever since he'd overheard their dispute that morning; although he hadn't gotten close enough to make out the exact words, the aggressiveness in their voices told him they had not been talking about any orchids...
And yet, he had kept it all to himself. Perhaps because he'd wanted to believe that everything was going better than it truly was; that by some divine intervention, everything would turn out alright. But he couldn't keep looking away any longer. He had denied it at first to make Maurice think he was in charge, yet the only truth was that he knew the aye-aye was right; if something wasn't done about all of this very soon, this situation would continue to worsen and worsen, before ultimately spiraling out into something far beyond their control, and the aftermath of such a conflict was something they just couldn't afford to deal with. Not because it would most likely mean being forced to kick Crimson out of their team and therefore lose the upper hand, but because of Clover's own well-being.
There surely had to be a way for Julien to intercede, however, if only he could gather the courage to confront Crimson about it. It wasn't that she scared him per se, but his old lover could be pretty... unpredictable. Still, he was well aware of the fact that, as leader of the band, it was expected of him to take matters into his own hands whenever difficulties like these arose, so that was what he was going to do. He also thought of asking Clover to accompany him just to be safe, but that was quickly dismissed; he didn't want to trouble her in the middle of her break, and more importantly, this was yet another issue that she could definitely do without right now. Since Maurice and Mort were away with her as well, in the end Julien did what he knew was right: steel himself like a responsible friend, and go looking for Crimson at once. He was going to stand up to her, and by the gods he wasn't going to take no for an answer!
After all, he had ways to make her yield...
Out in the wild, Crimson walked alone.
She had been roaming the jungle aimlessly for quite some time now, just listening to the placid, relieving sounds of nature all around her. A solemn glower adorned her features as she silently waved around vegetation, clambered through overgrown rock formations, and swiped clusters of hanging vines out of her way, not once looking back. She didn't know or even care where she was going; all she wanted was to get away from the rest of the group to finally have some much-needed peace of mind, if only for just one short little hour.
After several more uneventful minutes of walking like this, she eventually came across a kumquat tree, unguarded, hence all hers for the taking. Though the villainess had no actual intention of bringing back any food like she'd said she would, the appetite she had worked up from all those hours of strenuous rehearsing had just begun to rear its ugly head, so she couldn't resist. She stopped to gather a fistful of the small tangerine fruits (again, she would simply sate her own hunger, and later tell the others she had no luck finding anything) – however, right when she was about to move on and start sinking her teeth into her meal, a voice suddenly calling her name froze her in place.
"Crimson! Crimson, where the hell are you? Hey, Crimson!"
She'd recognize that voice anywhere: King Julien... and he sounded far closer than she would've liked.
"Crimson! ...Gah! Man, I swear, if that saucy minx has decided to bail on us...!"
Now she cursed herself for having stopped at all. How had he caught up to her so fast?
Growling quietly to herself, she watched as the unmistakable ringtailed, crown-wearing, silver silhouette flickered in and out of view through the bushes to her right. For some reason, he seemed to be in quite a hurry. Due to this, it didn't seem he had noticed her yet...
If she just kept still, she could simply let him pass; she had no reason to speak to that disloyal fool outside of work hours anyway! But then... whatever it was that he wanted, it did sound important, and since she would have to return and meet up with him again later on regardless, she ruled against the strongest of her wishes to just get it over with right here, right now.
"...Over here, loverboy," she shouted then half-heartedly, hiding the exasperation from her eyes as the other lemur began his approach, though she couldn't conceal a mild look of surprise when she saw his face; Crimson mustn't have seen the ringtail this serious in... probably months, if not longer: his eyebrows were creased tightly above his expressive golden eyes, his mouth was drawn in a taut mirthless line, and his steps were very weighty and decisive, crunching the grass underfoot. From that expression alone, it wasn't hard to presume the motives behind his surprise visit.
"Ah, there you are; I almost thought I was never gonna find you!" He added to his authoritative image with a stern tone most unusual of him. "Now listen up, Crimson, you and I need to have a word, and pronto!"
She smiled.
"But of course, dearie; anything your heart desires!" she replied cheerfully, winking and batting her long lashes at him. "Just what could be so urgent that ya had to start dogging me around in my spare time? No, wait, don't tell me – you wanted to gush 'bout my performance back there some more, didn't ya?" She shrugged. "Heh, I wouldn't blame you; any guy with a lick of good taste would come groveling at my feet after seeing it, as they should, hee hee!"
Julien folded his arms across his chest, rolling his eyes.
Oh, boy... "No, though I will admit it was a pretty nifty show of skills. But we're digressing – I'm sure you already know what I wanna talk about, don't you?"
At this, Crimson's smile disappeared, and she began to toy absent-mindedly with the kumquats in her hand, as if they suddenly were more interesting to her than what he had to say. "Do I get extra points if I guess correctly? Like... I dunno... something 'bout my bungling, incompetent trainwreck of a sister, by any chance?" she asked before looking back up. "No offense meant."
"Well, do consider it taken!" he retorted, his voice swelling with ire. "'Cause you've hit it right on the head, missy; I don't like the way you're handling things with Clover, not one little bit! And since you apparently don't give two hoots that we're supposed to be a team now – ergo, we're all in this together – I'd like to politely ask you to please start treating her just a tiny bit better, if you can! No one said we have to be the best of friends here, which is fine – but come on, how can you just sit there and ignore how much your sister's putting herself out there, trying her very damned best to nail this dance-show-exhibition-whatever for us? So what if she's botched it a couple times? Nobody's born perfect, you know, as much as you'd like to believe it..."
Now that must have struck a nerve. Her upper lip and right eye twitched briefly – and then she turned her back on him, as if outright refusing to continue this conversation.
"Listen, Ju-Ju, this is all real cute of ya and stuff, but what my sis and I do is none of your concern."
"Oh, but it is! It does concern me because Clover is my friend and one of the best people I know, who doesn't deserve any of this! And I won't have you selfishly kicking her down like some piece of garbage while I'm around! Oh no! No way!" He shook his head at her with resolve and loudly stamped his foot, letting out every last iota of anger he had in him. "So open up your ears now 'cause I'm only gonna say this once: either I start seeing some changes from here on out, or so Frank help me, I'm calling off our deal! And not only that – just as easily as I have the power to unban you from Club Xanadu, I can also see to it that you don't land a single toe in any other nightclub, disco, pub, and what-have-you in this village ever again! Yeah, you wanna party, you're gonna have to do it in some crummy desert shanty halfway across the island, where the most attention you'll get is from a bunch of aye-aye weirdos who've never seen the inside of a shower stall in their lives! Bet that sounds just delightful, doesn't it?!"
Nearly out of breath, Julien gave himself a moment's rest to let the words sink in, their harshness shocking even him.
Then he searched Crimson for any kind of reaction from her, but she did absolutely nothing. She wouldn't move, or make a sound, or seemingly even breathe; overwhelming silence had taken over once more. It was like she had turned to stone. Right there, Julien felt his own body tense up as well, eyes rapidly going from flashing outrage to brimming with trepidation. His assertive strength was abandoning him with each excruciating second, and at that moment he began to wonder if he should've just kept his mouth shut after all, or if he should start backing away very, very slowly...
Why, oh, why couldn't he have taken at least Mort along?!
"Uhhh... Crimson...?"
Just then, a strange noise began to fill the air, soft yet sort of sickening to his ears, as though something pulpy were being squeezed really hard.
He almost jumped when Crimson spoke all of a sudden, "...Wow, Ju-Ju, you sure know what to say when you wanna captivate a lady's heart, he he he...! I always did like that about you." She snickered dryly as she turned around at long last, inconspicuously dropping behind her what appeared to be the kumquat fruits – or what was left of them. "Too bad you're barking up the wrong tree, though..."
His Majesty blinked at her. "What?"
"C'mon, I don't need to spell it out for ya, do I... Mister Role Model? Always oh-so noble and charitable; always putting others' feelings before his own..."
What could Crimson mean by that? Confused, he took a step foward, demanding an explanation.
"Please, don't tell me you're gonna twist this into... that topic now! For the last time, I know it blows that nothing turned out the way it should have, but you seriously gotta move on and accept that it was for the best, okay? It's not like fighting about it for the millionth time is gonna do either of us any favors..."
"I'm not talking 'bout our love affair, ya bloody little twerp!" she hissed back at him with unconcealed venom in her tongue; so wrathfully that for a moment, Julien thought she was going to snap and attack him, "I'm talking 'bout this whole mess you've got us all tangled in right now! You, my love, have the audacity to come at me and criticize me for having an agenda of my own, but don't pretend even for a second that your hands are squeaky-clean either!"
Julien had nothing to say to this claim, for he still didn't seem to quite understand.
However, Crimson would be more than glad to help him out.
"Ah, Ju-Ju, Ju-Ju, Ju-Ju... you just don't get it, do ya?" She chuckled snarkily as she strolled on towards him, stopping just inches from his face. "Well, let me jog your memory with this simple question: what's – or should I say, who's – the one reason you and I are even having this discussion in the first place, when we could be happily minding our own merry business back home? That's right... you." She booped him on the nose, slowly drawing out each word like she took great enjoyment in it, "The man who one day wakes up deciding he's gonna barge into somebody else's party and seize the big, juicy prize all for himself, just 'cause he can, even when it's neither his call to make, nor his place to be... and he's got his head so far up his own spoiled tail-end that he's resorted to worming his way inside our poor, poor Clo-Clo's head – whom he fully knows hates being paraded as something she's not – to do all the dirty work for him. Now ya tell me... how's that for selfishness, hmm?"
Crimson's words hit Julien like a massive pile of bricks, each one of them crashing heavier and harder than the last. She had completely and utterly disarmed him. Any arguments he might've had left, any sense of control or authority he'd built up, had just come tumbling down like a house of cards in the wind. For the next several moments, all he could do was stare at her in disbelief, his heart lodged in his throat, surrendering to her silken touch as she slid a hand up the side of his face and tenderly stroked his bristled fur.
"Awww, don't be sad, hon," she purred, giving him a light smack on the cheek, "The truth sure hurts sometimes, but I really ain't judging you for it – we both simply do whatever we must in order to get what we want, even if it means someone else has to get the short end of the stick – and I'm totally cool with that! Just... don't come here thinking ya can lecture me, alright? You're nobody to go 'round giving life lessons to anyone."
And with these words of razor-sharp ice, she grabbed herself a new bundle of kumquats from the tree, and left the king there. Speechless. Dumbstruck.
He didn't even lift his head to gaze after her as she slunk away into the green, eating and humming softly.
Now there was no way around it.
Deep down inside, he knew she was irrefutably right.
Julien returned to the glade feeling unwell, his mind racked with guilt. He just couldn't stop thinking about what Crimson had said, couldn't stop seeing himself as a total hypocrite now. Over and over, those dreadful words replayed in his head, stabbing his brain like hot knives, like an infernal litany that he couldn't rid himself of.
How couldn't he have seen it sooner? Was his stubbornness in continuing to chase his own objectives blinding him to the truth?
But it couldn't be! It wasn't him who had ultimately chosen to go through with any of this; that had all been Clover's decision! And he was doing everything within his power to facilitate things for her, too: he was being as considerate and supportive as he could, he was there at her beck and call, ready to help out with anything she'd ever need, and he had even provided her with a simple, easy way to quit at any time should she choose to! Yet he suddenly felt as if none of that actually mattered enough to change the facts...
That he was the one who had started all of this to begin with. That was the undeniable crux. If he hadn't been so childishly reckless by implanting the very idea itself inside Clover's head that other night at the club, all of this could've been avoided – but such was the situation they were in now... and it was all his fault.
He was most certainly still itching to get his hands on that trophy and add it to his already-impressive collection of first-place dance-off medals, gold watersliding championship cups, and other miscellaneous accolades and awards he'd amassed over the years, but right now... he didn't know what to think. Was it worthy the victory, when it came at the expense of a dear friend's wishes? Would a trophy geared solely towards women look appropriate on his shelf, when he was never supposed to enter the competition at all? Would it even be his rightful property, since he wouldn't have won it himself?
So, so many questions... Julien sighed drearily. What he needed was some closure. To make things clear with Clover; be sure once and for all that they were doing the right thing.
He was so consumed in thought as he trudged along, that he hadn't noticed that the glade wasn't quite as devoid of life as it had been before, and that he had been watched by two much shorter figures ahead of him all the while.
"Hey, Your Majesty... can I ask you what you're doing?"
Maurice's voice made the king wrench his head up, and his eyes grew wide with puzzlement when he saw Maurice and Mort standing right there (the latter carrying a coconut in his arms for reasons unknown), both staring at him with equal curiosity. But he paid no mind to their inquisitive looks; what caught Julien's interest was that they were alone. His wild-eyed gaze frantically swept the rest of the area, but Clover was nowhere to be found...
"Are you okay, my king?" Mort rephrased Maurice's question. "You seem a little... under the weather."
"Me? Forget about me; why – why are you guys here?" he stuttered, "I thought you'd still be out adventuring and scouting or whatever! And where's Clover?! Something happen between you three? Oh man, I so have to talk to her, like, ASAP – if she's gone haywire or something worse-
"Wow, wow, slow down, Your Majesty!" his advisor quickly cut him off before he could start bouncing off the walls, "Everything's going fine, actually; we've messing around the place for a good while now, you know, just chilling and hanging out, checking out all the landmarks, playing a few games and stuff... and there's been not a pint of trouble at all! Just your regular Thursday afternoon, right, Mort?"
The mouse lemur nodded eagerly.
"Yeah! Well, at least right up until she randomly decided to pretty much ditch us for no reason..." When Julien looked at him questioningly, he added, "You see, we were taking off some heat back at this really nice creek we discovered over there, when she just started going off about wanting to be left alone or some other thing – I asked her why she'd wanna do that but she wouldn't tell, so... since we had nothing else to do... we just came back here! No clue what any of that was about, but hey, I found this coconut to play football with, so that's cool I guess!" He started tossing his makeshift ball up and down in his little arms as the ringtail nodded in a disinterested manner.
"Riveting."
Then Maurice shrugged. "Look, Clover must've had her reasons for it, and whatever they are, it's not our place to poke around. Maybe she just wanted some peace and quiet to think about all that's been happening lately, and who could blame her? Frank knows I'd want some time for myself too if were in her shoes..."
"Did she mention any of it while you were away?" asked Julien. "You know, Crimson, the pageant..."
Mort shook his head. "Nope. Not a word."
"Okay..." he muttered, glancing towards the jungle sprawl that lay outside the border. "In any case, I'm off to check on her; there's a couple things I just have to get off my chest, even if I might come out of it with a black eye due to blatant invasion of privacy. Where did you guys say this creek was again?"
Maurice threw a thumb over his shoulder. "It ain't far; just keep an ear out for running water and it'll lead you to it." And then, right as Julien was about to walk away, the royal advisor grabbed him by the arm, his eyes adopting a sudden seriousness that had not been there before. "And, King Julien... remember what we talked about." He let his voice trail off as he held gazes with Julien; gazes that said much more than words ever could.
His king nodded once, understanding.
"I know, Mo-Mo. I've got it."
So leaving the pair back to their own devices, he re-entered the dense forest in the direction given. Sure enough, about a hundred feet in, his ears picked up the faint rumble of a distant stream, which he followed. Once the noise had grown to its loudest peak a minute later, he stopped and had a look around the luxuriant environment surrounding him now.
This has to be it, he thought. Julien had indeed arrived at his destination; there was a thick lining of trees and shrubbery separating him from the other side, through which he could glimpse water flowing northeast, glistening brightly under the sun. The increased moisture in the air here made his body feel a whole lot fresher already, and the current was blowing in a warm summer breeze from farther upstream, caressing the young lemur's face, welcoming him in.
If only he could've come here to take his mind off all the issues that plagued him, like his friends had done...
He hesitated for a moment before going in. Since he had no idea what his bodyguard could be up to in there, he had to approach this with the utmost tact and care – or else that quip of his about the eye would become all too painfully real...
Taking a long, deep breath, he finally proceeded forward, snaking his way through the barrier and out into the creek. However, he couldn't have taken more than three steps before he had to stop himself in his tracks out of sheer amazement, for what he witnessed was unlike anything he could've possibly predicted: down at the bank, was Clover, and she was practicing her moves all on her own. Julien couldn't believe what he was seeing; everything Crimson had taught her, every last bit of what they'd rehearsed so far, was now being executed in front of his very eyes – and not with that same rigid, fear-driven reluctance and sense of anxiety as before, but with imposing dignity and style.
He slowly crept closer, stealthy as a leopard, observing from within the shelter of the plants. Now that she was all alone (or at least so she thought), the once-shy royal guardian seemed to be demonstrating the full extent of her abilities, as though she'd been doing this her whole life. Truly, her commitment was something to admire – even though it displeased her, she kept as straight a face as one could and didn't seem to think about anything else that wasn't the gentle sway of her limbs and body, or the imaginary audience she'd projected onto the purling waters before her.
Julien smiled at this. If he had to give himself credit for one thing, it would be for being right when he'd told her the other night that she would have the best chances at winning out of any woman in the kingdom – she wasn't even decked in layers of fancy clothing, glittery makeup, or accessories yet, and she already looked like she could take on the very sun itself up there in the sky, and shine so bright so as to eclipse it effortlessly! And yet, the king's smile soured quickly; watching her reminded him how she was doing this, going to these lengths – even putting up with all of Crimson's abuse – for something she did not believe in, which only brought back again that terrible sinking feeling to the pit of his stomach.
Because no matter how unhappy she might be about all of this, she had to stay strong. For him. Even if she had to put aside her own feelings to do it.
Now it had become more than clear to Julien that they couldn't keep it up like this forever. One way or another, he had to sort things out with her; to really see her point of view. And if it came to it... do what was required of him, as the good friend he knew he could be.