Above All

-Seventy-Seven-

Lanterns swing weary

Beast of love is hypnotized

Lurking in autumn

Amani:

          Four months is a long time to be away from home and especially from loved ones. I learned that pretty quickly once I went on tour as Empress of Idizia. The Royal Jet was very large and accommodating, especially when it came to the team I needed in order to make this tour successful.

         Not only did I have my parents and Éliane as my go-to for everything entailing the details of the events I was scheduled for, but I also had a private secretary, a deputy private secretary, about six communications staffers, a program coordinator, two orderlies—in case anyone was feeling unwell or sick during it all, a personal assistant—newly hired to assist me in my day to day activities, a hairdresser, and a digital officer. That entire list also didn't include the security detail that followed us wherever we went; I essentially had an entire soccer team following me everywhere I went.

            I toured various locations including Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa, and Madagascar before making stops at Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea, India—which were a joy as well as the previous locations to visit and then for the last leg of it all, stopped at Finland, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Italy, France, Spain, before finally making our way back to Idizia.

            I met many royals that I sat, ate, and drink with and when I wasn't doing that, I was touring around the different countries with an ambassador where I was shaking hands with a lot of locals and organizations that ran in these various cities.

            I also met a ton of presidents as well, it was definitely a new experience for me sitting down with and having conversations about everything going on in the world with these top leaders; I mean these were people that I just frequented seeing on TV from time to time, but they all seemed as if they were extremely excited to meet me and hear about my experience transitioning into this new role.

            Many times, my day started bright and early where I was dressed, styled, and fed before heading off to the four to six programs that had been scheduled for me to attend, when the evening arose, I'd be whisked off in a gown and tiara to a formal event with food and dancing; rarely did I get an opportunity to just rest in whatever hotel suite I was staying at for the moment and when I did, I usually tried to get back to my friends checking in on me and how things were going. Other times, I immersed myself in all the adopting and parenting books I was filling my mind with so when I returned to Idizia, I would be able to support Cléa in the best way possible as a new mother.

            It still felt weird thinking that I was going to be a mother in that way, but soon the fear turned into excitement as I absolutely couldn't wait. After all the tireless paperwork being sent back and forth from wherever I was at the moment, back to my home country, I was going to be able to foster Cléa for a couple of weeks at Maelony and hopefully receive the adoption proposal! In the meantime, I sent her gifts of toys, clothing, pictures, and letters so she wouldn't feel alone during the entire process.

            I would've loved to have taken her out for a few days to do some exciting things, but timing was poor with this tour that I had prior obligations to. Despite that, time had finally come and we were officially done with all of this back and forth from one country to another and it was safe to say that I personally never wanted to shake another hand again.

            Just the thought of someone pulling their limb out to greet me, sent a wave of repulsion through me because I was so over it all! I just wanted to kick back for a little and enjoy the stability of being home and surrounded by my family.