Above All

-Eighty-Six-

Murmurs after rain

Harmonies as time returns

Fields wave without fear

Amory:

          I never knew of pain and agony until Nyarai left me for the second time in my life; I thought maybe the first time was hard, but no—the second time was worst because I had gotten her back and sworn that I would never leave her again, and here I was months later drained of all life force with bags sinking into my eyes because I could barely sleep most days. I think the cherry on the top had to be the fact that in the same instance, my own son had been kept away from me as well; out of spite by a woman who just could not accept her place in my life.

            Though with most of that already being sorted out, I was grateful I could have my son whenever now, but I still felt for the fact that his mother had a lot of growing up to do. I didn't want him to grow up despising her like Lay and I did with Madeline. Our relationship with that woman was ultimately destroyed once she was removed from the throne; she wanted nothing to do with us, which was fine... but I wouldn't pretend that it didn't hurt for some time.

            Someone who you had thought was your mother, despite the fact of how she treated you was still your mother nonetheless; but to Madeline, the opposite was true of that statement.

            I had to say though, seeing my twin get married today had released me of some the heartache that I had went through prior to this happening. I could nearly feel the excitement bursting through him as we got dressed before the ceremony; some of it even transferring over to me. I had seen Layton happy about many things in life—children being one of them, but there was always something quite refreshing about him accepting love into his life and finding that with the right person.

            She just so happened to be the Empress of Idizia.

            Lucky him.

            But they were truly in love. Even when they were in the stages of hiding their relationship from everyone around them, I could tell the deepness of their intimacy just by the way they looked and spoke to each other; it reminded me a lot of Nya and I....

            When were together.

            At the table, I focused my gaze where most people were; at the center where Amani and Layton were both dancing together as if no one else were in the room as husband and wife. Amani had changed into her second wedding dress for a little more comfort and she looked absolutely stunning.

Rose did an amazing job making her look exceptional for her special day in a sheath ivory-white dress made with glossy fabric; the dress had lowered shoulders with a wrap on a décolleté that ran through the back. It highlighted her silhouette well and the necklace Layton had gifted to her for the day sparkled on her neck whenever he spun her around.

            I thought for sure I'd be the first one to marry out of the two of us, but here he was already ten steps ahead of me working on growing his four-person family with Amani. Needless to say, I was proud of him; he had come such a long way from a man who had no idea that love on the romantic end could exist—I mean who could blame him, our parents were never affectionate with each other, but he beat the odds and found that with someone who would be able to return his emotions and not judge him.

            Someone that didn't share the same reflection as him.

            But here I was, essentially where he should have been; I wasn't the one swaying my wife around the ballroom with glee, instead I was downing glasses of champagne reminding myself that I could've also been this happy had I made the right decisions concerning my life. Had I communicated with Nya and really got to the bottom of how she was feeling, I would've known she was holding in all this emotion of insecurity that I deepened because I kept Lesedi around doing whatever she pleased.