Above All

-Forty-Eight-

Faces of fire

Ecstasy with answers found

Chasing of wonder

Layton:

       I never enjoyed watching parliament sessions. They were never the kind of things that I found enjoyment in, my father for one, always fought with me to stay focused and up to date with what was going on in Idizia; always reiterating that it would be my obligation in the future as I was heir to the throne. But with the new information that has settled about mine as well as my brother's true lineage, this should've given me more of an incentive not to pay attention on what was going on.

          Today was different though.

          We weren't going to sit through hour long meetings about tax reforms and health care bills; someone had contested the throne. On the ride to The Kestrel Building—where all the formal meetings were held, my father was the most relaxed out of the bunch of us, assuming quite ignorantly if I might say that whoever was contesting was probably pulling some sort of prank to get everyone worked up. I mean why not? The Day of Doves was just the other day and the excitement was already at an all-time high why not sprinkle a bit of drama and scandal in there to further the partying fever.

            At least, that's what he thought.

            But something my gut told me that this stunt was everything but a fluke.

            When we got the official document for the bid issued by parliament, my mother was completely shocked as all of us were initially; something like this hasn't happened anywhere near my lifetime so the entire process was completely blurry to me. Everyone had been looking for Amani in hopes to have a bit of her guidance during this time, but she was nowhere to be found; I should know I had been trying to call her for a couple of days now.

            It just felt like a lot of things were piling up right now and it was getting to me, coupled with the lack of sleep and distress not knowing what was going on with Amani, the unknown whereabouts of my real mother, the adoption process was making my head spin.

            Now as I was sitting at the top balcony reserved the members of the Royal Family, I waited impatiently for the hearing to commence, so that the person who started this entire mess to show their face and put an end to this madness!

            It seemed like it took forever for everyone on the ground to get their act together, but then again, I recalled this hasn't happened since 1870, so everyone had to brush up on their knowledge of the subject matter, preparing all the documents needed in order to proceed with the claim.

            Amory nudged me slightly and I turned to him, "They're getting ready to bring in the contester." He pointed down to where the grand doors of the parliament meeting room were being pushed open and I strained my eyes to get a better look at who was passing through the doors. I felt as if the entire room had gone extremely silent, everyone eager and curious to see who had made the claim.

            Unfortunately, due to where the seating was placed, we didn't get to see much of faces; just the back of the group that had entered. I noticed Empress Zenaida was amongst the group that had entered and I immediately furrowed my brow. She was being guided down the accessible lane with an older woman, whose face was obscured by her head that was facing the ground, aiding the former Empress as she made it to her seat.

            Beside me my sister who seemed to be intrigued by the entire thing stabbed me in the side with her bony arm, I threw her a dirty look, "Who do you think it is?" She asked me as her face continued to face towards the ground level where everyone was waiting for the speaker to announce himself.