The Floating Nation, Gonzagas

Responsibilities - Salazar Gonzagas

Stirring from a cramped night of sleep, Salazar woke up sore and tired. Not remembering falling asleep, he sat up from the slumped position he found himself in, his lower back popping and cracking. "I'm getting too old for this shit..." he thought out loud. He slowly remembered that he was sitting in his chair in his office. Looking down at the delicately carved wood table in front of him, he saw it full of updated schematics needing his approval signatures, maps of lowering points for mineral mining, budget reports, etc. the list went on. His work never ended, from wake to sleep lately, he was always working. Sitting back, he looked up towards the transparent domed roof in order to get an idea of the time. It was just after sunrise, so still morning. He had no faith in his men to wake him, they would have let him sleep for days if they could as they knew the dire situation they were all really in. Taking in a deep breath, he felt the weight, the unyielding weight of the land he controlled. He had been tired, very tired lately, and he had no way to rejuvenate himself. At that thought, an itch started to creep up his spine. That familiar itch that he hated to admit he had. He pushed it down as he thought of his father, and how he wanted to be nothing like him.

He had rested, so he decided to check his output. He closed his eyes and started tapping into himself, trailing from his head to his feet, tracking his energy through the tiled floors, through the wires and pipes all over the land, from himself all the way down to the massive propellers. As the air swirled around him, raising his black hair from his forehead and jostling the papers in front of him, he muttered to himself. "Still only thirty-six percent." As the room around him calmed down, the land beneath him shook yet again. He sighed a long heavy sigh. This is bad, there was no change at all. It seemed like no matter how much sleep he had, or the type of sleep, it was all restless, useless. They were at dangerous levels, already having to shut down auxiliaries years ago when they dipped below sixty percent. Up until eight months ago, no one really understood why this was happening. He was tired, but he always tried to be well-rested. If you looked at him, you could see sullen bags under his smokey eyes, but other than that, he seemed fine. No health concerns. While he was a large man in height and stature alone, training most of his knights, he started to lose muscle weight a couple of years ago, when his exhaustion started. This was around the same time his twins were born, so everyone chalked it up to the stress of the twins on top of his two oldest sons. Everyone was surprised when, a year later, his wife gave birth to their only daughter. He knew his wife, Deedra, was overwhelmed, caring for five children all under the age of 11. Because of this, she was often tired. Certainly too tired to partake in her "wifely" duties.

This led him to where he is now... sitting here thinking of his 'predicament" when his office door swung open and in walked several people. Salazar looked towards them as they entered, they were part of his counsel, these men and women were his direct reports. His Energy Consult, Alloy, was a tall slender man of dark skin and black hair, wearing black-rimmed glasses. Behind him was his assistant, Shea. Ahead of him was the Public Relations Consult, Tull. He was a bouncy older man with peppered hair. He was excitedly speaking to his apprentice, the future Public Relations Consult named Conroy. Standing on the other side of Conroy was his wife, Deedra. His eyes trailed down her petite form, her soft auburn hair fell straight past her shoulders, ending at her waist. Her bangs fell just above her brow line, which was supported by freckled cheekbones, highlighting her stunning green eyes. She always wore some version of a delicate, soft-flowing, light-colored gown. It was opposite from his family's crest of course, which was colored black, gold, and red. He half-smiled as his eyes fell on her, she was politely smiling at Tull as he blabbed on in excitement with Conroy, he knew her well enough to know how she really felt.... he guessed... bored? She must have felt his eyes on her because she immediately shifted her gaze straight at him, locking eyes. She smiled, "There you are." She said as she walked straight towards him. It was then that he realized she was carrying a plate of food covered with a cloche. "Ah," he said, as he stood up to meet her halfway. "I see I've missed breakfast." He reached for the plate with one hand as the other reached for her lower back. He quickly pulled her into an embrace. She was quite small compared to him, but he loved her deeply. She is a lovely mother and a strong social leader by his side.

He bent down and brushed his lips against hers, he felt her smile while her hand gently rested on his chest. A subtle hint, but a hint, nonetheless. Raising his head and in a low almost whisper "How are you feeling?" "I'm okay." she said as she slightly pulled away. "I'm more worried about you, you didn't come to bed last night?" she took the plate from his hand and walked it over to his desk, setting it down after moving some papers back. Looking at his desk, she looked over to him, "Sal, please eat?" she said as she gave him a concerned look. He looked over at the others who seemed oblivious to their interactions. Sitting down, he started to pay attention to what they were saying, really mostly to avoid thinking about Deedra. Alloy had his face buried in the papers he was carrying and showing his assistant, and Conroy was still blabbering about some band. He lifted the cloche and saw warm eggs and a slab of meat smothered in light gravy. Turning to Deedra who was now standing over his shoulder, "Thank you sweetheart." she smiled and rested her hand on his shoulder. They locked eyes, his were pleading and hers were sorrowful. He knew she felt responsible, so he gave her a reassuring look and proceeded to eat some eggs. The truth was, he wasn't hungry at all, but he couldn't remember when he last ate. He knew he hadn't eaten dinner, so... lunch?

As if on cue, the silence must have told Alloy he could speak up. "Your highness, I know you are eating, but I was hoping to have a moment of your time?" He glanced over at Tull who was still oblivious as to the room's attention on him and nudged Shea. She turned to Tull and stomped his foot, never looking away from the king. "Ugh, what the hell!" Tull yelped, looking now at the king whose full attention was on him. "Oh, sorry your highness, I was hoping I could talk to you regarding the palace's Melodies." The Palace Melodies were a band that usually represented the Palaces' own take on the current interests of the peoples. By having a current sound, they knew that they could entice more people to take interest in the governments' engagements. Salazar looked up at Deedra who typically handled processes like these, the aesthetics of their home. However, when bigger decisions need to be made, they brought things to him. "Our Melodies are retiring with me, you know, so Conroy is thinking of holding the auditions as dances. Apparently, the young kids like to dance," he said with a scoff. Conroy spoke up, "It will be fun, this will bring a whole new generation into the palace, it is what is current." he softly spoke, Salazar could tell that he was still nervous being invited into such a high position. "I see..." he said. Looking back at Deedra, "Why is this being brought to me exactly?" "Well, in order to hold the competition, we need auxiliaries." She said as she shifted in her spot, he knew she was nervous to even mention the need for more energy consumption. Salazar looked away towards Alloy, who had a look of apprehension. Shifting his eyes to Tull, "Tull, let me look into turning them on, but for now, let me get updates about the power levels. You can all leave now." he said, looking at the group in front of him, locking eyes with Alloy. They all started to walk away except for Alloy, including Deedra. He reached out and grabbed her wrist and brought her close. "Not you, quite yet," he said in a whisper as he took her closer to him. She swayed as she was brought closer to his chair, and closer to his lap. She stood as he hugged her abdomen, bringing his hands up her back, sending chills through her core. Bringing one hand back down over her hip, the other reached up to her face and wrapped around her head, bringing her bent down over him as he lightly brushed his lips across hers. He slid his lips across her cheek up to her ear. "I miss you dearly," he whispered. She pulled away from him in order to look him in the eyes, very aware of their PDA. "I miss you too, Sal," she whispered back, grabbing his hands, bringing them closer between them. Come to bed early tonight, we need to discuss things..." He sighed and started to pull away, "and having you avoid this topic is only going to make things worse, "she quickly whispered. "Sal, I love you, but this has to be addressed." She pulled away and started to walk out the door with the others.

Alloy was intentionally looking out of the dome, pretending to be fixated on something while the door closed behind them. "Your highness, I hope you found breakfast.... satisfying?" he said as he looked at Salazars' barely eaten breakfast. "I'm not very hungry," he said as he stood up, moving the plate aside. He grabbed one of the reports off of the table and started to discuss the consumption levels. "Sir? How long are we going to fluke the levels?" Salazar looked at him with steely daggers. "It's just that, we hire the best in our Gallows, you know that. So it is not surprising that they are starting to ask questions, Sal, I'm running out of lies." He said bluntly and quickly, shielding himself from his daggers. Salazar didn't say anything. What Alloy was looking at was a very torn-down and tired man. A man so tired, he gained a reputation for not even stepping anymore. He had stopped going to all the events and gatherings that reminded most of the fun in life. Over the last three or so years, Salazar started losing weight, stopped training with the knights as much, and seemed to always be in some sort of daze. What the f**k, he's going to go for it, Alloy thought, as he decided to take advantage of the silence. "Sal, I am very, very worried at this point. Your tight lips aren't helping either. The fact that you're not saying anything confirms there is something greatly wrong with our situation," he paused, not breaking eye contact once, "Wrong with you." he added. Salazar was feeling weak in the knees. As if admitting silent defeat, he slowly moved to sit down in his chair. Whatever energy he once had to deliver that death stare, was all gone. Silence filled the tense air of the room and Alloy was worried he was going to lose this momentum he had, so he spoke up. "Sal, I am your energy consult. I understand that there are things you cannot discuss with me on that level, but Sal,' he set down his tablet, "I thought," he paused, "I thought I was also a good consult for you, as a friend." Salazar stared ahead blindly. "What is going on with you man? are you ok?" Salazar finally let out a giant sign and threw his elbows on the table, sighing even heaver into his hands.

"I don't know, to be completely honest, Al. I don't know." He said quietly. Everyone knew he was losing power. He was lucky his whole nation was behind him as a leader. Otherwise, this would be a fantastic time to remove him from power. He seriously considered spilling everything that was going on.