"If the greetings are finished, I would like to get this show on the road." I spun around as I heard a familiar voice fill the room. I automatically tensed up as my Aunt and my cousin entered the room. My cousin gave me a wink as she walked with her mother to the center of the room which I returned with a soft smile.
Then the leader of the Eastern Kingdom; Mariam spoke again. Putting everyone in the room on edge. "Welcome children, I am honored to be your first host for this fellowship. I'm sure you have many questions. However, only questions that will be answered will be the ones pertaining to the kingdom you are in." Her eyes shifted towards my brother who looked crest fallen. A smile finally appeared on my aunt's face whose features finally started to resemble her sister, my mother.
"With that being said this is the religious hub of the empire, so you will be learning about everything pertaining to that as well as everything that has to do with the citizens of the Eastern Kingdom." She looked around the foyer looking at all the young faces momentarily pausing on my little brother, who looked a bit sad but also annoyed. "With that I will have to get going, there is always something to do when it comes to governing. Your professor will take over explaining the finer details and you introducing yourselves to each other. Take care of yourselves."
As Professor Mirembe stepped forward, Sekai my cousin fell back to the edge next to me. Nudging me in the process. I couldn't help but smile. Sekai has always been my only friend. Understanding my standoffish behavior and my need for a confidant. Just having her in my presence makes me more outgoing, more talkative, more willing to embrace my lighter side. From that, I think Sekai is the only one who knows the real me. The me with no facade or guard up.
The Professors' authoritative voice filled the room snapping me out of my wandering mind.
"My princes and princesses, I've been given the full authority from the emperor himself to strip you all of your royal statuses. You are now normal citizens and commoners like myself." There was uncomfortable movement within our party. The central prince started scowling at the Professor, my little brother looked like he looked this morning when he missed breakfast, and Amara rolled her eyes in disinterest. No other showed any reaction to this, if they felt any type of way about it, they didn't want anyone else to know.
"Furthermore, we are now on equal footing, as your teacher and mentor you will treat me with the respect that you give to your parents." At this, Imari gave a disgust look on his face like she was talking madness. Sekai and the central princess gave a look of surprised. Only the northern princess remained unmoved. "Moving on, we'll be here for the next 10 days, now if you will carry luggage outside, we-"
"Wait we're not going to our rooms or even eat? I'm starving and-" she shot Talib the nastiest look that made him not dare finish his sentence. There was a snicker across the room and the Professor turned and gave the central male the same look shutting him up.
"I expected more from my sovereign's children, speaking out of turn-" she shot a look at Talib. "Or acts of arrogance" she shot a look at the central male. "Will not be tolerated and will reflect on you and your kingdom. What makes you think you commoners deserve to reside in the East Palace?" Everyone stiffened up at that. I imagined everyone had enough pride for their own kingdom that they didn't want to embarrass it. "Now, as I was saying. Please gather your things and get into the van provided for us." Silently we all gathered our things and did as we were instructed.
Unlike my kingdom's palace which was also known as the Imperial Palace. The Eastern Kingdom palace was in the middle of their capital city. Surrounded by various temples and places of worship. The empire allowed freedom to practice whatever religion the citizens wanted. The only stipulation was that your ancestors were always treated with due respect.
I never thought about the reasoning behind it. I just know that burial sites were always treated with care and any criminal activity around that was punished severely. As we exited the front doors you can see the city's splendor down below the palaces elevated height, and I felt a rush I never felt before. There were acres of plains and a peaceful quiet whenever I exited the Imperial Palace.
Here, there was indiscriminate noise of millions of voices, engines, music, and buzzing. There was an energy in the air. The noise wasn't overbearing; I guess being surrounded by temples there wouldn't be too much sound. It was a nice background, a taste to make me want to jump right into the middle of the unknown.
Filing into the vehicle, everyone else was hesitant to get comfortable with anyone other than a sibling except for my brother and me. There was three to a row, so I moved with the intention to claim the back row. I tried to grab a window seat, but Sekai beat me to it sticking her tongue out at me in the process. Rolling my eyes, I just got comfortable next to her. My brother and Imari filed into the row ahead of us still deep in conversation about (from what I could catch) 21st century solar generators? Amara sat next to them trying her best to ignore them.
The Central Kingdom royals filed into the front row but not before stealing a glance at both Sekai and me. I thought I saw a look of loathing from the male, but I decided not to pay it much mind. Whatever his beef was I'll hear about it sooner rather than later. If you are a true royal, pettiness should not be an act you participate in with others of the same ilk.
Once we were all seated, and bags were packed in the van, Professor Mirembe sat in the driver's seat. She turned towards us, straightened herself up, and started speaking gently.
"Now that we're all in such close quarters I would like for you all to introduce yourselves. From front to back, everyone should give whoever is speaking their undivided attention. Please register my words carefully. Your actions are being judged indiscriminately. Name and kingdom will suffice." Her eyes fell on the Central Kingdom Princess first, but she seemed hesitant to speak. Her brother took up the opportunity turning to us.
"I am Femi son of King Chike of the Central Kingdom. I will let my actions speak for who I am and the values of our kingdom." He stared us all down one by one as he spoke. I'm guessing that he's seeing this fellowship to make himself known to the other kingdoms. The aggression and pride he's exuding from every motion he takes is telling me so. He then looked at his sister for her to speak up, squinting his eyes in the process. When she spoke, there was no shyness in her voice that you would expect to hear based on her actions.
"My name is Sanna daughter of King Chike of the Central Kingdom, pleased to meet you all and I look forward to spending as much time as possible getting to know each and everyone of you." I was surprised, they both exuded overwhelming confidence but in vastly different ways. There was strength in both of their words while Femi was loud and intense, Sanna was quiet and controlled. She even gave a little bow to her head after she finished speaking. However, when she lifted her head up our eyes locked for a second.
Her eyes really were tantalizing; her gaze was something I could get lost in easily. She let a small smile escape, and I looked away to my brother. He took the queue to introduce himself. All the introductions after that were uneventful. I didn't find any need to add anything other than my name and my kingdom. I was curious about Zalika, the Northern Kingdom princess who had sat on the opposite side next to me in the back row. Her introduction was somewhat militant which should be on brand, but it was a lot more robotic than normal.
"Now that you all have introduce yourselves, I will now take you to your lodgings, I will also be explaining your schedule for the next ten days so please pay attention." She started the vehicle, I felt our equilibrium shift, and we rose about ten feet into the air. She started driving and we descended the hill at a steady pace.
Passing various churches, temples, and cemeteries on the way leaving only dust clouds in our wake. "First and foremost, as far as your living situations go here in Addis Ababa we will be separating you by gender. Meaning in your lodgings there will only be two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Everything else will be a shared space." Talib sucked his teeth at this, which made the professor stop the van before we completely descended into traffic.
We all fell forward hitting our faces into the seats in front of us. Professor gave an intense glare at my brother. "Let this be the last day that you test me with your interruptions, I expect no attitude and any questions to be only asked after I stop talking or get to our destination. Don't make me stop this vehicle again."
The embarrassment on my brother's face was telling, only a few times in his life has he ever been scolded like that. I will give him credit after hanging his head for a couple of seconds he raised his head with a look of passiveness as she started the van again and continued speaking.
"As I was saying, everything else is a shared space, there is a kitchen, dining room, laundry room, study room, living room, and workout area. You are expected to clean up after yourselves. Trust me, we will know who does and who doesn't. Food will be provided for you but not all of it will be prepared. You all will have to figure that out. You have no curfew and no wake-up calls." Looking around the van, I could see the surprise and wariness on the faces of my contemporaries. They were being very lax with us, giving us a lot of freedom to live as we chose. They seemed to emphasize independence here.