Ascending

Chapter Five

"Cameras are going in ten..."

Nickole pats a final layer of powder on my chin to protect me from all shininess.

"Nine."

Bea is at the back of my head perfecting the complicated array of braids.

"Eight."

Conner makes a final adjustment to the hair framing my face before all three of them melt back into the shadows.

"Seven."

I compulsively check strings running up the sleeves of my dress. It's a short, rusty red, velvet, piece with long sleeves. The outside of the sleeves are split and have a thick marron string running down from my shoulder to my wrist in a shoelacing pattern. The bow-tied at the end keeps getting caught on the lip of the thick glass table.

"Six."

I straighten my spine and work panel in front of me. I run my fingers over the white and blue buttons to my right.

"Five."

I finally look up at Wyatt Andres. The sole person who keeps the conference running. Wyatt lives in Amet and he is the machine behind the Court. He plans the events, coordinates our arrivals, books the photographers and the reporters. Finds the right florists and caterers. Hires the bodyguards for when we go out as a group and controls all media coverage.

He holds up all the fingers on his left hand and continues to countdown silently. Once he reaches zero he points at the table and slips out the door of the conference room.

Faust Family First. Or Legibus for that matter. No one says it but, we are the most important kingdom. We write the laws, we are home to the biggest government representatives and the most powerful influencers outside of the court. Nothing happens in our world without Legibus knowing it. So, Faust Family First.

With one exception. The conference.

We work backward.

Queen Rainn presses the blue button to her right and a transparent image rises from the center of the table. Charts, graphs, and reports fill the space.

"We finished construction on the new greenhouse." She says pulling up a pie chart. "The citrus storage has been running low so the greenhouse will first be used for the fruits."

My grandmother calls Amet the kingdom of hippies. She says that the original savior Lindsey Edwards was a human rights activist and was part of the cleanup crews before the revolution. Their kingdom is in charge of keeping the planet healthy and growing the food.

They continue reporting the semi-annual rainfall and pollution rates. The Exile is still full of radiation but we have it mostly contained. As not to affect the people living closest to it. The animals are healthy and breeding properly. Phillip has the job of reporting how the capitol is functioning. Which is always a snore.

Aedifex is next. They are in charge of production. Clothing, to furniture. They design and manufacture every piece of technology spread across the world. Factory reports are a little interesting, the supply and demand curve is always fascinating to look at.

"The coordination will proceed as planned." King Ronald says once they finish the production reports.

Travis glares at his farther angrily as he says this. "She finds out yesterday and you still expect her to become Queen a month later?"

"Travis." His mother scolds touching his arm. She tries to make it discreet. She fails.

"It is nothing but a small hiccup." King Ronald continues, brushing Travis off. "Stop acting foolish, Travis."