12-27-2013, 09:53 AM
The camera loved Amira. More specifically, it loved to capture the emotion of a world frequently denied to them; hidden behind the veil of propriety. A carefully selected member of the Custody Press Corps was responsible for recording the extraordinary meeting. The most powerful people in the world shared tea and condolences with a family that quickly came to represent all of Dominance V. Nikolai was more than fully aware of the the symbolism of it all. Westerners would adore the image of a prince rescuing the damsel in distress. Easterners would focus on the deference the Arabs displayed to their Ascendancy - a man they claimed as one of their own - and representing all which Moscow had conquered. From the citizens of the Dominance itself, Nikolai attempted to purchase sympathy. The coldest and most narrow-minded would always remain isolated on the islands at the edge of a great cultural bell-curve, but the majority should remember why they invited him into their homes in the first place; as welcome and beloved as the figment of their imaginations to which they prayed so diligently.
The men of the household receded when it became clear that the Ascendancy was focusing on the collateral damage to the conflict uselessly brewing across their lands. Such was Nikolai's emphasis to the crowd of reporters that had flocked to the street by the time they emerged. With Amira at his side, the Ascendancy's hand laid fatherly on her shoulder, they stood side by side, promising the camera that together, they could outlast the extremists that were shattering the land's painfully purchased peace. That Amira would not be joined by countless others be they men, women, or children, wounded by hate.
"As Amira is free to pursue her dreams, so also will I pursue the dream we all share together on her behalf: for that of a civilized society built with the bricks of tolerance and rights. I go to Mecca to heal the cracks threatening our precious globe. Pray with me that I will be met by men and women as willing as I am to find resolution. So that no others will be wounded by hate."
He ended the impromptu speech by bowing his head as though dedicating the words to Amira herself, and when she smiled back at him, he knew it might as well have been the smile of the entire city.
Kuwait City was his once more. By the time his plane took the skies, his gaze was already shifted westward.
The men of the household receded when it became clear that the Ascendancy was focusing on the collateral damage to the conflict uselessly brewing across their lands. Such was Nikolai's emphasis to the crowd of reporters that had flocked to the street by the time they emerged. With Amira at his side, the Ascendancy's hand laid fatherly on her shoulder, they stood side by side, promising the camera that together, they could outlast the extremists that were shattering the land's painfully purchased peace. That Amira would not be joined by countless others be they men, women, or children, wounded by hate.
"As Amira is free to pursue her dreams, so also will I pursue the dream we all share together on her behalf: for that of a civilized society built with the bricks of tolerance and rights. I go to Mecca to heal the cracks threatening our precious globe. Pray with me that I will be met by men and women as willing as I am to find resolution. So that no others will be wounded by hate."
He ended the impromptu speech by bowing his head as though dedicating the words to Amira herself, and when she smiled back at him, he knew it might as well have been the smile of the entire city.
Kuwait City was his once more. By the time his plane took the skies, his gaze was already shifted westward.