Above All

-Fifty-One-

Darkening thunder
A true friend is worthy too
Fall reaching grateful

Layton:

        I hated this. I really hated doing this. It hadn't been my idea initially, Amory coaxed me into doing this, but I guess it made sense since he was also our brother as well. I shoved my hands deep into my pockets as I began approaching the stables with my twin; the air was still frigid and cold; who knew when the spring time would come when we had such a harsh winter that was still continuing as we speak.

          After hearing the final verdict of parliament's judgement, unsurprisingly we were due to be leaving Maelony Palace; the home that I had essentially grown up in because it was never ours to begin with.

            I had been raised with the mentality that I would be the next Emperor of Idizia; my life molded around how I would represent the country once my mother passed the reigns to me. I used the plentiful excuse that I had to "live my life to the fullest" so that when it was time for me to take over into a life where everything was controlled, I would have fully experienced life.

            I knew that now that was further from the truth. At only twenty-six years of age, there was more life to explore that didn't just stop if I were to become Emperor. I would be potentially be a father soon to my adopted child, Amory in his own right would be a father to his child he was sharing with Lesedi. I also happened to be in love with who was essentially the rightful heir to the throne and the future Empress of Idizia.

            Amani.

            Things were a lot different from when I was a child; I had a brother I never knew about now and since things were finished on our ends in terms of holding onto the crown, what better time to go dig into our pasts concerning our mother's whereabouts?

            But we needed Fionn to be on board with this.

            Amory and I ended up contacting Joran Mellan over the phone after we had returned to Maelony and he was quite surprised to hear us, but his reaction was short-lived; it seemed he knew exactly why we were calling and instead of staying over the phone to explain things to us, he invited us for an evening meal with him and his family.

            We were set to head out, but wanted to give Fionn the opportunity to join us, that was of course, if he wanted to. I turned to my broth who too had his hands in his pockets to shield them from the brisk cold weather; he seemed to be very deep in his thoughts.

            "You alright?" I found myself asking him.

            He turned his head slightly in my direction, "I suppose I am..." He let out a deep breath, a cloud of smoke erupting from his lips as he did so, it disappeared just as quickly as it came. "It's just crazy how fast things changed around here... we're no longer to be princes... I got a child on the way, everything just kind of seems like a mess." He stated.

            I frowned, "Are you worried about what to do with Lesedi?" I asked him curiously.

            Amory shook his head, "Not really... we'll just have her stay at the outward estate until she gives birth and then figure out everything from there." He shrugged as he continued walking, the sounds of our footsteps crunching on the hardened and frozen ground.

            It was definitely a good thing that despite everything we did have on our noble houses to fall back against, my mother's I wasn't too sure about that, I hadn't heard her speak of going back to Zolis or anything of the sort yet. As a matter of fact, after the ruling she was the first one out of the parliament house; she hadn't spoken a word since, retiring to her apartment suite soon after.