niara inhaled and tucked her paperwork into the crook of her arm as she watch the princess emerge from jelani’s apartment. “ good morning, your highness. are you my son’s wake up call ? i assumed the concierge would handle that. ”

“ a new secretary, and a new advisor. you’re in a predicament. ” she almost felt for him. “ your advisor should be someone close enough to you that they wouldn’t be offended by your apparent mismanaged schedule. a family member, or family friend. someone who knows you, and isn’t afraid to tell you when you’re making an error in judgement. strangers can be intimidated by your influence. secretaries, well they come and go. a good one is a dime a dozen. ask people you know if they have someone they recommend for the role. ” 

“ happy... hm, probably not the word he would choose, ” smothered maybe, not that he’d ever dare to say that in her presence, lest he have to endure the scolding she’d give him for being ungrateful that he has two women around him that care about his wellbeing. “ he’s well, bruises and scrapes. will you be alright getting back ? i have a car waiting for me, i can escort you back to the building. ”

“ i’m meant to be meeting my son, but he’s running late, ” late and jelani were two things she found to be closely related. “ the polish queen. it’s nice to meet you. ” she stood and extended her hand before gesturing to the seat in front of her own, “ niara mwezi. please, would you like to sit ? ”

niara watches the girl fruitlessly search for her lost phone, only deigning to pull her own out once it seems like the device is nowhere to be found. she clears all notifications, including a missed call from andrew that she had no intention of returning, before sliding her own phone across the table. “ i’m sure it’s close by, you’d have noticed before now if it wasn’t. ”

“ can sven make it larger ? i feel like i’m in a shoebox. ” it was an utterly privileged thing to say, had it come from either asali or jelani’s mouths she would have scolded them for being ungrateful, but it was no less true. “ that’s good, i’d hate for my first few weeks here to be marred by meetings to rehab how other countries view us. ” she wasn’t looking forward to seeing the hungarian crown prince around, his distaste for jelani had been mentioned to her more than once, she could only hope it was due to familial affection and not something rooted deeper than jelani having scorned olimpia. “ as is to be expected, heads are always bigger when one has to rest a crown upon them asali. ” she turns towards the kitchen and flicks on the kettle, bringing cups down to brew them both a cup of tea, “ it was fine, i think they knew it was time, we’re never going to get anywhere in this war if i stay hidden away. it just means i’m now fielding their calls at all hours, keeping them placated. ”

“ i didn’t, ” though not for any fault of the girl standing in front of her, “ admittedly my japanese is poor. i know ‘ hello ’, ‘ goodbye ’ and ‘ thank you ’ so far. ” she was a slow learner, if she were honest, but more than that she had no real drive to learn another language when a translator could do the job for her just fine. “ what were you meaning to say ? ”

she closed her laptop and tangled her fingers together, her eyes still pinned on the boy in front of her. “ sounds like you need a better secretary. who was it you were supposed to meet ? ”

the joke was unamusing, but she suspected the blonde already knew that given her response, so niara didn’t bother to respond with any snark like she usually would. when her sunglasses were off, she understood why though, a croÿ, jelani’s one, if she wasn’t mistaken. “ ah, olimpia, hello. neither did i, if i’m honest, but i was worried for jelani. would you like to sit ? ”

“ and wait a single second longer to see my baby ? ” she clicked her tongue at him, he should know better than to expect her to have any patience when it came to him. “ besides, it’s not like i haven’t seen you in various states of undress, you lack a certain quality called modesty jelani. ” niara squeezes him as tightly as he does her, and her heart expands as she does so, being a world away from jelani and asali does her no good whatsoever. “ she was thorough, i’ll give her that, but i was still worried anyway, it could have been worse, it was worse for some. ” she’d heard something about one of the croÿ girls, but wasn’t sure which one precisely, and whether it was the one he’d dated. “ well, like i said to your sister, i think it’s time i come and join the program anyway, someone has to remind the masses of royals that tanzania isn’t all parties and fun, we do have some decorum. ”

niara raised her eyes to the person standing by her table in the small café, before shaking her head at the question posed. “ i think you have me confused with someone else. perhaps you’ve mixed your times up. ” 

“ i know i said a week longer, ” niara started, moving from her spot at the small kitchen counter to embrace her daughter. “ but i just couldn’t wait a second longer, your brother’s lack of communication was giving me a permanent migraine. ” she stepped back, her hands slipping to grasp asali’s forearms, not yet willing to let her slip away quite yet. “ how has it been, my love ? has jelani ruined our families image with his rowdy parties ? ”

privacy meant nothing to her when it came to her children, there was little she hadn’t seen of them and she wasn’t about to halt herself when it meant precious seconds spent without seeing her boy. niara swung open his door without a split second of hesitation, pausing to close it after her before stepping further into his apartment. “ now, i don’t know what made you think ignoring my calls was a good idea, but i’m here now so give me a kiss and let me take a good look at you. ”

i have literally been planning to bring niara for months but had no time, but here we go ! all the info needed is in the google doc in the source link, including connection ideas so please LIKE to plot and i will slide into your dms or discord !