Zola

Zola Bakar II

Zola Bakar II

A day and a half had passed since the night Zola and Sadio had their heart to heart discussion in her garden. Since then, things had been as busy as ever. Sadio had spent every moment of his time wrapping up the final arrangements for his trip back to his home and finishing up whatever work he could before the day of their departure came. Princess Zola had not even managed to catch a glance of him since that night and was somewhat irritated at this.

At this point, Zola was very worried about Sadio. She felt that he was simply burying himself in his work as a means of coping with his emotions, in her mind this did neither of them any good. First and foremost, Sadio was her closest and most trusted friend who she loved dearly, more so than anyone else she could ever think of, so her worrying about him was as inevitable as it was natural. He held a very special place in her heart, but at the same time he was her Vice-Chancellor. Sadio was like her right hand, he was her most valued advisor and her second in command. When the time finally came for her to become Empress, she would make him her Chancellor, and he would effectively be the second most powerful person in all of the Askiyan Empire. The reason that Zola had appointed Sadio however, was not out of sheer nepotism, it was for his unparalleled abilities when it came to the crafting of laws and their later implementation. Her father had said that Sadio displayed the most masterful understanding of the intricacies of the governing process that he had ever seen, and Zola was most definitely inclined to agree with him. Sadio had the most brilliant legal and political mind of any person that she had ever met. The fact that he had managed to single-handedly construct the "Strategic Alliance Treaty" was the greatest testament to this. In her mind, and the minds of many others; Sadio was an invaluable national asset.

Therefore, Zola would need Sadio to be at his sharpest at all times if they were to ever accomplish any of the grand plans that she had for the future. In his current state, he would not be able to perform to the best of his ability. For the sake of her best friend and for the sake of the whole Askiyan nation, she needed to get him back on his feet.

When Zola entered the Vice-Chancellor's Tower, she was overcome by the frantic and chaotic mood that seemed to have spread throughout the entire building. As soon as she stepped in, she saw how members of Sadio's personal staff buzzed about like a colony of busy worker bees. They filed in and out of the building, remembering to stop and pay their respects to her as they passed. With them, they carried various papers, scrolls and other documents that she presumed were of significant importance.

Making her way up the staircase, Zola quickly grew annoyed at how long the trip up to the top floor was taking. Why the hell did I put his office all the way up here anyway? She thought, before remembering how on one morning, several years ago during their university days - Zola had by some miracle managed to wake up as early as Sadio did, and saw him sitting by himself quietly on a balcony that was on one of the upper floors. When she had asked him what exactly he was doing, he said that he was "Waiting for the sun to rise." When she asked him why, he simply replied. "Because there is nothing more beautiful that watching the sunrise at dawn. I just love doing it because for some reason, it puts me at peace and it just makes me happy."

It was the first time that Sadio had ever shared that with her, and she made sure to remember it. She gave him an office that would provide him with the best view in all of Gao, because she wanted him to enjoy the sunrise like he always did, she always wanted him to be happy. The only downside was the twenty minute trip up a nearly endless flight of stairs that she had to make whenever she wanted to see him. The price I pay for caring. She thought, a wry smile on her lips as she made her way up to Sadio's office.