The people were cheering and also a hint of disdain.
Crowds of people gathered around the road.
Cramped and unbreathable.
Kids waved the flags of Nathland.
On the windows, throwing flowers and confetti,
The guards positioned themself to block and control the crowd.
Whilst I stood there amongst the crowd.
"When is the Grand Duke showing up?" Wesley said.
Gideon got his pocket watch.
"We have a couple of minutes before he does." He said.
"We need a better view, the crowd is blocking our view." Tomas said.
We all nodded and started squeezing through the crowds trying to find the perfect view.
"Also, didn't you say your sister was here?" Tomas said.
"Yeah, she's away buying snacks." I said.
***
Laura walks through the shopping streets.
Kids were running around playing with each other.
Their parents talked to each other.
Many of them standing behind lines to buy things from the small store.
One person is singing the national song.
Others street performing like dancing and magic tricks.
Flowers and confetti's are still being thrown around, covering up the streets.
As she kept looking around, her eyes darted on a small vendor selling skewers.
She immediately went there but realized.
"WHY IS THE LINE SO LONG!" She yelled.
Everyone looked behind them to see Laura yelling, hands behind her head.
Before she quickly grabbed her composure and entered the line like nothing has happened.
She sighed.
"Sorry, Lukas but buying you snacks is gonna take awhile, I might not even see the grand duke. Oh well."
***
We went further into the horde, getting deeper and deeper.
Closer and closer to seeing the grand duke.
Clapping of hands ringed through my ears.
And people cheering and screaming filled up my whole mind.
Were they really that excited to seeing the grand duke?
"Lukas over here!" Wesley yelled out.
I moved my gaze to see them right outside the crowd.
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I moved through and finally got out.
I fell on the ground, utterly exhausted from being crushed to death.
I soon stood on my legs and raised my head.
"Well this is a nice view! Wait, aren't we outside of the streets? We can't enter the roads!" I said.
"Pfft, don't worry. As long as we stick close to the crowd, we'll be fine." Tomas said.
We laid our back against the legs of the adults and they don't seemed to mind.
And then we waited...
And waited...
and waited...
waiting...
...
"When is he showing up?" Wesley said.
Gideon got his pocked watch again.
"Uh...I don't know." He said.
What do you mean I don't know? Do you need glasses?
Wesley raised an eyebrow and leaned in to see the time before retracting back.
Tomas sighed. Hand on his eyes.
"Hey guys, just how popular is this Grand Duke?" I said.
"He's the direct descendent of Greta Lindholm. Who was one of the founding fathers as well as the predecessor of the Grand Duke." Wesley said.
"Since when did you get so interested in history?" I said.
"Since forever!" He yelled.
"Guys guys, stop fighting. This is the Grand Duke we are meeting after all. Let's keep this civil." Tomas said.
"Yeah, if you two don't behave yourself, the police will come and arrest us." Gideon said.
Me and Wesley groaned and looked away from each other.
"Look! It's the Grand Duke!" Someone from the crowd yelled out.
Everyone including us looked at our left to see a moving car making a turn and facing us.
Everyone cheered even louder then before and all waving the national flags.
The car was roofless, revealing the Duke and his wife.
And in front was the driver and the front passenger seat was...Who is that?
"Who is that in the front passenger seat?" I said, pointing my fingers.
"Hmm, he looks like a pastor of the church." Gideon said.
A pastor? Why was he next to the Grand Duke?
He was wearing a black clothes with a white cloth covering up his entire body and head to the point you couldn't even see his face.
I did not ask any further question, thinking to ask them later when this was over.
I didn't want to ruin their experience with bombardment of questions.
The Grand Duke stood above his seat and waved his hand to everyone.
The mod waved back. Jumping up and down in excitement.
The car grows closer and closer to us.
People kept on throwing flowers and confetti to him that it landed inside his roofless car.
The Grand Duke laughed at the sight of his people cheering and happy to see him.
"Why is he loved by everyo-"
Bang!
I get cut off by a sharp and loud bang.
We all jumped at the sudden sound.
My heart immediately raised and felt my shoulder getting tensed up by the startle.
I looked at the general direction of where the sound came from.
I squeezed my eyes to see better and saw.
A police officer with a red stain on his chest.
Slammed on the ground.
Suddenly, the crowd screamed in terror.
Everyone running away.
"Guys we need to go now!" Tomas yelled out.
Wesley and Gideon tried to run but looked back to see me frozen.
"What are you doing Lukas?! Someone got shot!" Wesley said.
But I wasn't frozen in fear but rather with curiosity.
As the horde moved away, gradually making the scene cleared and saw the perpetrator.
ragged with black and gray clothes. Slim body and sharp face.
What he hold on his hand was a pistol, aiming right at the Grand Duke.
But right about he was going to shoot.
One of the police officer grabbed his arm and disarmed him.
Slamming him in the ground.
I felt a mix of relief and disbelief.
But then another person came out of the scene.
Same black and grey clothes, slim body and sharp face.
But he didn't had any guns on his hands but rather a large bag.
He carried the large bag with both of his hand.
Then he threw the bag at the Grand Dukes car.
Shit.
The bag landed on the Grand Dukes car.
I immediately turned around and ran.
Using the crowd as cover.
My friends were reaching out their hands to grab me.
I extended my hands out to hold them until.
BOOM!
