{Justin's P.O.V}
"Good morning, Jus" James said as he walked into the kitchen. I nodded in reply as I continued to whisk the egg away.
"What are you doing?" He asked, stretching his neck over to see what I was doing, blocking my view in the process.
"I can't see what I'm doing, dude". I complained and he removed his head from my view.
"What ya wanna cook?" He asked.
"Pancakes?" I answered him as I added the flour and the spices.
"That's good. I'm happy that this house ain't sorrowful like the whole nation is". I heard him say, as I bent over and brought out the frying pan and placed it on the cooker.
"Why is the whole nation sorrowful?" I asked him, clueless on what was going on.
"You kidding me, bro?... Didn't hear the news?"
I looked up at him, totally confused.
"Just go straight to the point and stop beating round the bush". I told him. I poured a little oil in the pan and poured the dough to fry.
"The Nation lost its Queen three days ago!" He announced.
"I don't understand what you're saying, Dude" I told him honestly, as I flipped the pancake.
"What don't you understand? Are you dumb naturally or are you taking classes?... Queen Tamara or whatever her name is, Passed away three days ago! The whole nation is mourning her demise!"
The pan slipped out of my hand and fell to the floor. The pancake flying up and falling back on James feet.
"Fuck! Hot. Hot. Hot. Hot. Hot..." I wrestled him to the wall and held his shirt.
"What did you say?"
"What's wrong with you, Dude?... It's not as if she's related to you in anyway".
"Why am I just hearing that now?"
"How do you expect me to know that?"
My heart fell to the bottom of my belly and the thing that came to mind was NORA.
I hastily removed the apron I wore and bolted out the door, picking my shirt up on my way out of the house.
I'mmediately, I jumped into the car and roared it to life.
"Hey, Hey, Hey. Let me follow you to the St. Patrick church. I heard today's her funeral" James said, knocking the glass. I unlocked the car and allowed him to hop him. Then I drove off. I was already over the speed limit but I just didn't care.
"Dude, drive slowly. Don't kill yourself over a dead monarch". I heard James say but that didn't bother me.
Dead? She was alive earlier this week and she was perfectly fine. How come she's dead?
As I turned the steering wheel, my knuckles turned white due to improper circulation of blood.
My goodness, Nora. How would she be feeling now?... Goodness, why am I just hearing now?
"The nation is still in mourning of the sudden demise of Her royal Majesty Tamara. She was said to have passed away in her sleep. According to an insiders news, it was said that Her royal Majesty of blessed memory, had a luncheon the day before her death with the Henias, Duchess Leila, Princess Ariana and Princess Eleanora Henia with the purpose of making Friends with the Henias for Princess Eleanora sake.
The saying that death hollers over us everyday has proven itself again over Queen Tamara's. Her royal Majesty passed away at age 78. People from all over the globe have gathered to attend the funeral of her highness but it is said that only a few people with invites shall attend her funeral. Although the royals have given chance to the commoners to be able to watch the burial of her Royal majesty, there are still protests coming from a group of people who claim that they are the Queen's long lost family and they should be given the right to attend her burial.
The burial holds today, in St. Patrick's church and will begin by 12:00pm prompt. The king said that there'd be a-"
I switched off the radio as soon as I got to the gates of Eastern palace. I removed the key and threw it to James who sat beside me.
"Take this and help me park the car in the parking lot". I told him before running out of the car.
I ran straight into the palace. The atmosphere was gloomy and I could feel the sorrow in the air. Everyone put on sack clothes according to the royal custom. It was the custom of the royal family to wear sack clothes for two weeks in honor of the royal member's death.
At the last step of the stairway sat Tashie who was in the arms of Olive, who I was told was Eleanora's cousin. She was still sniffing while Olive patted her to comfort her. Ever since I came back, Tashie and I haven't had a conversation of our own. I walked up to the both of them.
The both of them were in sack clothes and she looked physically tired. Her eyes were pink in colour and her face couldn't squeeze out any more tears from the look of it. She was sniffing heavily, her head on Olive's shoulder and her hands being held by him.
I'mmediately she saw me, she stood up and looked at me.
"Jus...tin" she croaked. Her voice was dry already.
"Hey, Tash. Where's Nora?" I asked her. She looked down to her toes and curled them as she rested on the bannister.
"She's upstairs with her husband, in Grandma's room". She replied in a whisper. It took me great effort to hear what she was saying but I heard her all the same and ran up the stairs to see Nora.
On getting to the room, there were four body removal technicians in the room. The Queen's room was very large. It was like a plot of land on its own. It took a long while before I got to where the Queen was laid.
On getting to the Queen's bed, at the corner sat Nora on the floor, with Dure hovering over her. She rested her head on his laps, while she watched the Late Queen's lifeless body. My heart was pained as I watched her.
Her hair was a mess, her eyes were bloodshot with big dark circles under her eyes, her lips were pale and dry and her face in general looked pale.
Dure folded his arms as he watched her from above. He also looked tired. But somehow he could still comfort Nora.
"Nora". I whispered but she said nothing and she didn't move from her spot.
I walked to the other side of the bed and waved at her, hoping she'd see me but she didn't even look up at me. Her eyes were fixed on her grandmother's body.
The body removal technicians came forth and stood on each side of the four cornered bed, and they lifted the body of the late Queen.
Suddenly she jumped up and pushed one of the technicians to the floor.
"SHE'S NOT DEAD. WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE TO TOUCH HER?!... IF SHE WAS AWAKE, YOU THINK YOU STAND A CHANCE?!" She yelled as she rushed towards the other one who was holding the left leg of the late Queen in the bid to take her away.
"Babe" Dure said, as he wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her towards his chest.
She struggled and struggled in anger to get out of his arms and charge towards the technicians. When it got to a time, Dure didn't look like he could hold her anymore and she bursted out of his arms, pushing Dure to the floor.
I expected her to charge towards the technicians but she walked up to where I was standing.
She held me by the shirt and pulled me closer to her. Her eyes were filled with pain and tears and her lips were pale like sorrow. She looked like she was planning a revenge on death himself for taking away someone she loved so dearly.
"Tell them she isn't dead" she said as she shaked me vigorously. Looking into my eyes, she was anticipating my answer.
"TELL THEM! THEY WANT TO TAKE MY GRANDMOTHER AWAY FROM ME! TELL THEM SHE'S NOT DEAD. TELL THEM SHE'S JUST SLEEPING". She begged.
I can't be soft on her now. She has her husband, why come to me? Even though my heart was in pain, seeing her the way she was, I painfully croaked out "Queen Tamara is gone, Nora. She's never coming back!"
Her hands on my shirt automatically fell off my shirt. She didn't expect me to say that. She was expecting some comforting words. She was expecting me to tell her that her grandma was going to be alright and her grandma was going to be fine.
But sometimes, even in the midst of pain, we should let ourselves know the truth. The earlier she starts accepting that reality the better for her.
Her hand stroke my face all of a sudden, which made me tumble back in surprise.
"You fool!...You and Dure have both connived and decided to deceive me. You've got the wrong person because I'm not gonna fall for your tricks!". She said angrily but in a low tone this time.
Meanwhile, the body removal technicians had already carried Queen Tamara into their stretcher and were almost outside the room. They were almost out when Nora turned back and discovered they were gone with the body.
Her eyes widened and her nose flared like a wild horse. She ran after them but fortunately she was caught up in Dure's arms. I'mmediately, he knocked her out, letting her body fall into his shoulders.
Seeing her the way she was, pricked my heart the more. It was as if my heart was going through a painful acupuncture.
Dure carried Nora in bridal style and walked up to me.
"You're here to rub it in that she's your wife and no one else would have her, right?" I asked him, feeling a little intimidated.
"No, I'm here to ask you to take her home. Since you already know where we live, she's not in a good state to attend her grandmother's burial and there's no one else I can entrust her to except you". He said before handing her over to me. Her hair covered her face entirely and she seemed to have lost weight.
"Nora hasn't slept, eaten or drank anything for the past three days. She has just been like a walking corpse. No matter how much we tried to get her to eat, she refused. I'll be attending the Queen's burial on our behalf, please do take good care of her" Dure told me before walking towards the door.
My eyes teared up as I looked at her like a new mother admiring her child. I kissed her on the forehead before I walked towards the door, which was far off.
I carried her out of the palace, into the parking lot. James walked up to me when he saw me coming from afar.
"Woah, you got a talent bro. Went in empty handed and came out carrying a beauty. Who's this?" He asked me as I dropped her at the back of the car.
"Eleanora" I told him, as I removed her hair from her face so she wouldn't get suffocated.
"Wow... it's said that Princess Eleanora is beautiful. I thought it was a lie but look at that delicate and beautiful face?" Said James peeping through to see her.
"Get in the car". I told him before walking round the bonnet to enter the car's driver side, then I started the car.
"Poor thing. She must have had a hard time, dealing with the death of her grandmother". He said putting on his seatbelts.
"Are you taking her home?" He asked as I put the car in motion.
"No. I need to take her to the mansion she grew up in". I informed him.
"Prince Andrew's mansion?" He asked but I didn't reply. I just kept quiet and continued driving.
If there was one thing I knew about Nora, it was that she was never the type to accept a piece of news without knowing the reason it was so.