Koruna

Not yet over

Chapter 87

Not yet over

Koruna flinched as the containers went up in Flames, she closed her eyes as she mourned her friend for the second time. Somehow, she had thought it would be easier this time but it hurt just the same. R’ao pulled her into his arms as he patted her back.

“Does it get easier?” Koruna asked.

“It does the it gets harder, then easier. You will have better days I promise.” R’ao muttered into her hair.

“I wanted to kill her with my hands so why does it still hurt even if she isn’t here. J didn’t think….”

“She was your friend and to you, friends are just the same as Family. Simi had a quicker death than I had hoped.” R’ao said.

Koruna chuckled, “Trust me, there was nothing easy about it.”

“You’re cute.” R’ao mumbled.

“What do I do? Turn myself to the police?” Koruna sighed.

R’ao shook his head as he held her hand. “That has been settled. Turns out, your little stunt with Simi turned tide in our favor. Emmanuel is going to testify against her, in turn I guess others will join in.”

“Muel’s brother, God!!! Is he still with you?” She asked.

“He has refused to go back home and wants my father to employ him.” R’ao opened the door to his car for her.

“I don’t blame him, I don’t think he will ever forgive his parents for giving Simi that opportunity to do that to him. It’s messed up.” She said as R’ao started driving.

“It is.”

“Will your father take him in?”

“He’s leaning towards it. My father does whatever benefits him but I think it’s his honesty despite his shrewdness that endears him to Emmanuel.”

“Did you just pay your father a compliment?” Koruna smiled gently at him.

R’ao chuckled deeply, “Don’t tell him that.”

“Your secret is safe with me.” Koruna humored him.

“We should go back. For her body, she already has a resting place, I would like for it to actually have some parts of her at least.” Koruna whispered.

“Already on it, my men will handle it.”

“Thank you.” She looked outside and saw that the direction wasn’t the way home or anywhere she was familiar with. “Where are we going?”

“My favourite place.”

“I thought I was your favourite place.” She murmured.

“You are a close second.” He teased.

She scoffed. “I am honoured.” She said sarcastically.

R’ao shook his head and they drove the rest of the way in silence until they got to the destination. It was a tower, it was the highest in Nige. It was said to be the first church in Nige and the only building that survived the war. R’ao held Koruna’s hand as they climbed the stairs, Koruna stopped mid-way breathing hard. “Do you want to kill me? Is this it? Is this how I’ll die.”

“You need to work out more.”

“Your face needs to work out more.” She mumbled as she held her stomach.

“Very witty.” He replied drily.

“What do you know about humour? Is this a punishment?”

“Why would you think so?” R’ao folded his arms.

“Well… what else could this be?!!” She screamed.

R’ao rested on the wall as he watched her amusedly, “I told you that I was taking you to my favourite place.”

“Youuuuu… This is because I went to Simi without telling you.” Koruna fumed.

R’ao laughed in a way that made Koruna’s stomach clench, “Are you saying that I’m so petty that I would resort to physical activity as a way to punish you for doing exactly what you made me promise I wouldn’t do?”

“Yes.”

He smirked in retort, “If I wanted to punish you, this is not the physical activity I would opt for.”

“Ughhh… Shut up.” She walked past him and continued to the top as R’ao followed behind closely.

Koruna finally got to the top after uttering many curses, and insults thrown in R’ao’s way with him watching amusedly. She opened the door and took in a deep breath, it was exhilarating. She slowly walked to the edge and took a view of the city. It was like the city came alive, the lights made Nige so much more beautiful than it really was, then at the other side was like complete darkness with few lights in between. She knew instinctively that it was Flames, the difference between the two places despite one city could not be further emphasized.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it.” R’ao hugged her from behind.

“And some. Look over there.” She pointed in the direction of Flames.

“The darkness can be beautiful just as much as the Light Kor.” He murmured into her ears.

“How so?”

“You come from there, and you are the most beautiful thing I have ever laid my eyes on.”

Koruna laughed, “Where do you learn to talk like that?”

R’ao handed her a bottle of water from his jacket. She frowned in response and gulped down the water like the thirsty woman she was. “You came prepared.” Koruna said.

“I am always prepared.”

They sat for a while in comfortable silence as they looked over the city. Koruna could see why this was R’ao’s favourite place, it was quiet and the air from there was cool and gentle. Usually, she avoided high places but somehow this seemed very relaxing. Maybe it was because she was tired out of her mind but right now, she could feel the stress of the past days reduce.

“Come, let’s go down.” R’ao said cutting her away from her reverie.

“No, no… I am so tired, I don’t think I can move from here.”

“It’ll be easier going down. I promise.” R’ao’s eyes twinkled mischievously.

Koruna rolled her eyes as she leaned her tired legs on him as he led them by another route. She frowned when he opened a panel and an elevator opened in front of them. Koruna was stunned speechless for a about thirty seconds as she looked at the elevator and then at R’ao who looked like he had no idea what he had done.

“W…w…whhaaaaaaaaatttttttttt?!!! There was an elevator?!!!! You made me!!!! Ooouuuuuuuuu, oh my…. Boy!!! The words…. Oh… God!!!”

R’ao stared at her calmly, “You can complete a sentence whenever.”

“You son of a …” Koruna was cut off by R’ao’s gentle kiss which quickly escalated into a passionate one as he held her tight and close. Koruna returned the kiss with as much frustration as she felt.

R’ao released her lips for a second and whispered, “Tonight could have gone very wrong Koruna. Very wrong!!! Please do not do that to me anymore.”

Koruna kissed him this time as she put her arms round him, it was a slow sensual kiss as if to appease him for scaring him, R’ao gave as good as he got as he pushed her into the elevator and pinned her to it’s walls.

…

“Bombs? Like the Flames can handle any more destruction.” Bernie said to a group of Ati’s men as they planned to attack Jonathan.

Grace glared at him, “Worse things have happened here, no offense to you but you do not know enough about us to understand our ways.”

“Your ways are easy. Violence, more violence and then more violence. Look around, when has that ever solved anything? Both sides lose more than they gain in any war.” Bernie glowered back at him.

Louise clapped his hands sarcastically, “What are we supposed to do? Give him biscuits and hope that he falls and dies?”

Bernie rolled his eyes at the attempted insult, “All I am saying is that we should come up with a plan that ensures less casualties. The gift idea isn’t bad.”

“You want us to offer him a gift?” Ottah frowned.

Ati watched them argue as he began to look at Bernie in a new light, the boy was more than just another privileged brat, maybe it was a Ballan thing, he wondered internally.

“Have any of you heard of the Trojan horse?” Bernie asked.

This confused them further, Grace was beginning to doubt the intellectual capacity of the Elite boy. He admired his confidence though in saying nonsense, it required a special kind of person not to get intimidated in this environment.

“You want us to gift him a horse?” Grace blinked.

“No!” Bernie couldn’t tell if he was joking or not.

“I think he meant a Trojan horse. What is that?” Ottah looked at him confusedly.

“Its… It’s… pheeeewwwww.” Bernie sighed deeply as he was beginning to feel a headache coming.

“A Greek mythology, how they took over Troy after long years of war by hiding in a giant horse that was supposedly left as a gift.” ATI replied calmly as his men looked at him.

Bernie nodded at him in pleasant surprise, “Yes. You know this guy Jonathan Reeves, let’s use that knowledge and fight smartly. There are other ways to win a war.”

“I still don’t get it.” Grace shrugged.

“Don’t think too much, you might break your head.” Ottah teased.

Bernie snickered, “What would happen to Jonathan’s men if he died? Would they still fight?”