"I apologize for my lateness young ones, let us now meet your father. Do not be formal, treat him with the respect of the Emperor of the Songhai Empire. Baako, take the lead when spoken to, answer first and for heavens sake Talib disconnect already."
Talib begrudgingly powered down his PCC and we followed out the front door of the palace and to the front lawn where our father sat quite comfortably in front of the Baobab tree. He was sitting one knee up and one knee down with his ceremonial golden hood on. He wasn't in a kneeling posture, his head was held high, and he was in deep conversation.
The hood wasn't pull down enough where you couldn't see his face. As we approached, we were stopped by our teacher and my fathers' closest advisor, Mirembe. When we stopped in front of her, she immediately fell to her knees and bowed her head. She kept her head down as she spoke.
"My deepest apologies your highness, but our Emperor is concluding talks with a foreign nation, and he asks if you bear with him for a couple of minutes and wait." My mother looked down at him in disapproval and sighed.
"Mirembe please, you know I disapprove of such behavior. The only time your head should be so low is to praise the true Lord, our savior. Another thing, where are the guards!?" Teacher raised her head with a calm smile.
"Our Emperor has ordered limited personnel around him. If it's protection you are worried about, I assure you I will suffice. You are also correct your majesty, but my Lord, our savior also tells me to respect the crown he has given you. So, I will do so till my dying day."
Mother nodded to her, and teacher flashed me an encouraging grin before turning back toward my father as we waited for my him to finish his meeting. This is when I noticed that his PCC projector was on and that there was a fair skin man, head wrapped in a turban sitting at a desk speaking to my father. He seemed frustrated and agitated as he spoke with more and more animation.
There was no noise coming from the projection as it seemed that my father had his earpieces active. There was no indication of what the problem was as my father stayed collected and quiet as he watched these displays of emotion. The man went on for a couple more minutes until he finally stopped flailing his arms and talking, obviously waiting for a response. My father stood up and you could see the intimidation the projection felt on his face as he looked up at him.
My father was no small man in height or stature. He's about 6'3 fit and muscular, he had darker skin than his children. He had a high-top fade partially hidden inside his hood and a full beard . His hair and beard were sprinkled with grey contrasting with the black hair that dominated his head and face showing more wisdom than stress. He was well built and healthy for someone his age, the fine clothes he had on made sure not to hide his solid figure. When he spoke, his voice was deep, calm, and finite.
"I understand your troubles and worries Minister, I will ponder your suggestions and act accordingly. However, I now have a previous engagement I must attend to. I must be going now. Please take care and you will here from before the day is out."
Losing all the bravado and animation he had before my father spoke, he bowed his head and disconnected looking a bit scared. With a worried look on her face my mother stepped forward.
"What did those relics want this time? They have been calling with more frequency lately!" Father put up his hand as if to calm her.
"They wanted to cease being relics." I saw my mother's mind whirring on her face. When she finally understood what my father meant her eyes started to widen. What was a sudden realization for her made me become beyond confused. Cease being relics? What does that even mean?
"Peace upenzi wangu I will seek your council later in private. First we settle the business we have." At the sound of that, my mother immediately bowed.
"Apologies my liege, I am here to deliver your legacy per your request." She moved out the way to let us pass. My brother took the lead, walked forward, and kneeled in front of father, head down. I followed his example kneeling slightly behind my senior as did Talib.
"Thank you Lesedi, please wait for me in our quarters we have much to discuss." Mother nodded her head with a smile and walked back towards the palace. Father then turned his attention to us. "Raise your heads, I called you here as royals, as future leaders of the country. Always respect your countries leader but always respect your position as well." We all continued to kneel but raised our heads and made sure to look him in the eye as he spoke.
"The reason I called you was to inform you that the next Fellowship for your generation has been confirmed for next week. I know you all don't need any explanation, but I wanted to do my due diligence as the head of this family to go over what I expect from you." I couldn't help but let go a little grin. The Fellowship was for the heirs of the empire held in the East, South, North, Central, and West kingdoms. The heirs of the same generation that had yet to reach independence and adulthood would gather in each kingdom sequentially to study, train, research, fellowship, and compete.
To establish a relationship with future leaders of the empire, whether competitive or friendly it just increased the strength and unity of our empire. To be able to view other kingdoms with more freedom than I had now was a big draw for me. When we would visit other parts of the empire it would only be on the coattails of my parents. Accompanying them to royal addresses or diplomatic dinners and meetings.
With the Fellowship I would be granted the ability to leave palaces and explore the surrounding cities. Amongst the people my family governed, to try to understand the real issues. "Now I expect-"
"Excuse me Sire…" I looked over at Baako, he had bowed his head to hide his annoyance. I looked back at my father to see his face flash with the same annoyance but probably for a different reason than my brother.
"Speak Baako" My brother raised his head; I could tell it was taking a lot for him to fix his face and be as respectful as possible.
"I don't mean to disrespectfully interrupt you sire, but I wanted to point out that I already completed my fellowship. I am confused why I ha-".
"Maybe next time before you assume of such things and become confused, you should wait and hear me out. I am fully aware you have completed your fellowship. I was addressing your brothers because this fellowship will be far bigger than the one you attended."
Father pulled back his hood so we could fully see his face. His face did not attempt to hide his annoyance; however, he had more grey hairs sprinkled on his head and beard than I was used to seeing. He took a moment to breathe out and compose himself and he began talking focusing solely on my brother, his first son.
"Baako, you are my oldest and I expect the most from you. However, you may think your allowed to speak out of turn because I'm your father but don't mistake yourself. Yes, you are a royal and the emperor's heir but be aware who you are addressing in an official capacity. I did not speak to you with disrespect so there was no need to interrupt. I admire your aggression and passion; those attributes will serve you well one day I am positive of that, but I implore you to learn patience."
With a stony face, my brother nodded to my father. My father wasn't one to lecture us this harshly. Something wasn't right, something had him on edge. I looked at my brothers as well I could tell that they were thinking the same thing, but we held our tongues.
"Now then as I was saying before, I expect you all to represent me and your mother well. Think before you act and speak. Be observant and cautious. The individuals you will be around will be your peers in leadership. You will be watched and studied in how to be handled or controlled. Don't give anyone the ammo to think that's it's even possible."
My father paused and looked up at the sky, I imagine his thoughts started to wander and reminisce about his own Fellowship.
"I have raised you to think for yourselves and I expect that to continue when you are abroad alone. I wouldn't ever expect you to be perfect, no man ever is, but I do expect you to get yourself out of any undesirable situation you might find yourself in. This Fellowship is special this year because for the first time since our empire was founded each kingdom will have at least one heir participating. I shouldn't have to remind you how that will look politically for the years to come. So, as far as the future of first our empire and then our family is concern, the education all the heirs receive at this time is important." He now looked directly at Baako.
"The way you conduct yourselves as I mentioned before applies to all of you but seeing as Baako has completed his fellowship he will not be joining you when you arrive in the Eastern Kingdom next week. Baako, I need you to go to the North to work under Queen Keket, I feel you are needed there." My brother nodded in confirmation.
"Keep in mind you are not believed to be needed, so I expect you to make yourself needed and an asset to the empire. You will realize why I need you there once you arrive so be prepared for anything." I expected my brother to be brimming with confidence, holding back a grin as he finally got the chance to prove himself. His face told me the opposite, there was no smile. He was in deep thought, and he looked worried. I thought maybe my fathers' lecture had got to him and he was still dwelling on it. I never known my brother to mope over a pass moment like this.
No, it was something else, which made me think deeper. Why send him to the Northern kingdom? What problem was there that he would need to be there? The Northern kingdom was known for tourism, European trade, and a cultural hub. All that was public knowledge, was the economy in dire states? No, this is the most wealth enjoyed by this continent in a millennium.
There's more to it, based on Baako's talents he wouldn't be much help with boosting an economy. He's too young and inexperienced with foreign policy to make any contribution. I started to understand his reaction and I started to sort through things in my head, there's more to this than what's on the surface.
"Sire, if you're finished may I ask some questions?" It seems Talib was the first to get his thoughts together.
"You may, but I might choose not to answer to your satisfaction. Not that I don't think you deserve all the information but telling you too much would put you at a disadvantage." That was a curious thing to say, he must know that would just make us all the more anxious and curious.
"Well just off that statement, why are you worried about us being at a disadvantage? Wouldn't information put us at an advantage?" That was a good fish to get us some answers. To my surprise Baako was the one to answer.
"Not necessarily, knowing certain information will make you act a different way than when you don't. You want us to carry ourselves a certain way. Having certain information will hinder that." Our father nodded towards Baako and he turned his attention back to Talib, who looked annoyed.
"I don't remember you talking to Baako about the importance of the Fellowship this officially before when he went. Does this having something to do with the elections coming soon?" Baako nodded in agreement, but Father just smiled.
"I have absolute confidence in my position no matter what you three do between now and then. So no, the importance of this Fellowship has nothing to do with the next election." That seemed to kill any other questions Talib had. He fell silent, head down; I could tell that his mind was working trying figure out what was going on. Father looked at his watch and spoke to us again. "I'm guessing you have no more questions."
Both Talib and Baako shook their heads bowed still in deep thought. "Well, I will leave you with your thoughts first I will retire to my quarters and wait on your mother." He turned to leave but then he paused, and his eyes fell to me. As the sun fell on his face, I forgot how deep brown his eyes were. I felt the power in his gaze, and we took a moment or two staring at each other before he spoke.
"Rahjah, you've been awfully quiet, you don't have questions?" In all honesty, I think I have an idea in what he intends but I don't have all the pieces, so speaking up about it grants me nothing without confirmation. I won't pry I rather deal with it as the pieces come together on their own. If the conclusion I came up with is the reason things are off right now. I couldn't do much about it anyway.
"No, my Emperor, I have no questions at this time; but I wanted to thank you for the opportunity of the Fellowship I hope I can live up to your expectations." I bowed my head; I could still feel him staring at me. He took a moment and then turned away again to walk away.
"I see, once bitten, twice shy; twice bitten, forever shy. You are dismissed my sons." We kept kneeling until he disappeared. I got up to leave but both my brothers held me down.
"What?" They were both looking at me intently. They both spoke at the same time.
"Spill it!" I was confused.
"Spill what?" Talib rolled his eyes and looked at Baako who had a stony face. Then it clicked for me, and I couldn't help but smile.
"And now he's going to be an ass." Baako was the one rolling his eyes now. I started to laugh.
"Naw, naw I'll tell you, it just surprising you haven't come to the same conclusion."
"Just get on with it! Every time I try to connect the dots I get stuck at the 'sending Ko to the tourist area it doesn't make sense. What value does that bring. The economy doesn't need a boost." Talib was getting impatient. I made sure to fix my face when I responded. It wasn't a theory I was totally confident in, and I feel like it could be a reach. Even so if true the implications could be huge. I responded calmly.
"If you look at it on the surface and from the publics view than yes it doesn't make sense. Although I have confidence Ko would be able to work well there and help negotiate trade, but he doesn't have enough experience with foreigners to flourish that easily. Unless he stays there for years which I doubt, there's not much point." They both nod in agreement. "However, I think we need to think more deeply. What else is in the Northern Kingdom that the public is not privy to, but we are?" It took a moment, but they finally started to understand. "The Military intelligence Hub, all the empires military leaders report there."