Above All

-Sixty-Five-

Earth covers smoothly

Last moment across the seas

Blessings in the rain

Amani:

"Well... what do you want me to tell you? It seems you have already accused me with nothing more to go off than the basis of intel from your..." Madeline looked over to the militant woman standing attention, their assault rifles at their hands where it usually rested on most days. On other occasions, cocked and ready to fire at anyone that threatened us.

I wondered what they thought of Madeline at the moment, did they see her as a threat?

As of right now, I was quite perplexed by the woman sitting in front of me. Not too long ago, had I sat across from her, not as Amani Eshe Farah Orji-Riek, Crown Princess and soon to be Imperial Empress of Idizia, but simply as Amani Cloutier, a PR from West Vancouver whose job was to completely change the perception of her Majesty's image in front of the people she had to represent.

I thought at first, it seemed quite ludicrous to think that people could hate their own representatives... the very essence of what Idizia stood for... the royal family. But I was wrong, underneath the fake façade and pretentious demeanor of both Julius and Madeline were simply...

Takers.

All of them were takers.

The old me wouldn't have cared, in fact what did it mean to me that my clients were acting in their own self-interest; whatever kept them contained at night had nothing to do with me. I was simply there for a job and nothing more, carry them to their victories and claim one of my own for succeeding. But this Amani, the one who had seen first-hand the very country she had never got the chance to explore by birth-right, the one that nearly lost her life and the life of her dear friends while one continues to fight for his, knew better than to act in the self-interest...

To not take, rather than give.

Those were just the few things I began to learn studying under my Grandmother Zenadia. She has spent most of her life prepping for her moment on the throne, then she had finally gotten it, only to step down and allow her daughter the same luxury and have her ripped away without a moment's notice.

From takers.

People who just couldn't live with the fact that some things weren't meant to be theirs, hungry vultures who cried and whined about how life was unfair, unfair to them and whatever agenda they fell behind. In the extremists' case, they felt as if the slaves belonged where they initially were put when they were taken here... working under them. Once they had evolved, used their wit, they strength, their passion, their undeniable will that shouted they would rather die than to be shackled once more, the takers suddenly became the givers.

Then there was Madeline. She saw her opportunity to come as an Empress and even though she was blatantly being disrespected by her husband, took the very children he had with another woman just to save face so she could take what she'd always wanted in her life.

The crown. The glory. The recognition.

Blake and Lisa. They had spent years behind my back shackling it up as I remained on the outside completely oblivious... naïve to the fact that the people that I cared for and deeply admired, no—loved had very much decided to toy with my trust and loyalty. Only for them to come back and simply.... take.