A Good Leader

Amie hadn't left her room in days. She hadn't eaten or moved out of her bed for anything. All she did was cry into her pillow with brief interruptions to sleep.

Fortunately, nobody knew of her being intimate with Prince Peter so there was still a chance to be married off. She escaped punishment as well since it was Queen Zephine's fault the marriage was called off. Amie still couldn't bear to leave her room though. Her heart had been shattered into a million pieces. She felt shame for giving herself away to someone who was so willing to take her innocence in such stride.

A soft knock was heard on the door. Amie didn't respond. The person opened the door anyways, Amie couldn't be bothered to look up to see who it was.

A warm motherly voice spoke, "Amie?" Seeing the state Amie was in, the woman came forward to help her, "Amie, please. Don't let yourself deteriorate because of this. Things will get better. You have allow yourself to heal though, you can't keep the wounds of your heart open like this."

Amie cried as she answered, "Things won't get better, they're just going to get worse. It's all going to get worse."

The woman answered, "I know it seems bad now, but we always think that when we are at our lowest. I promise you though, if you take charge of yourself to rise above this, things will get better. Use this moment to become stronger, my dear."

Amie finally raised her head to see who was speaking to her. It was Edith. Seeing the woman she regarded as her mother, Amie couldn't help but think of what Prince Peter had said before he knew the truth. This is the woman Prince Peter was unknowingly referring to when he said a mother's bond with her daughter. The thought of Edith being there to comfort Amie only made her cry harder, but the tears this time were finally starting to relieve some of the pain. Edith just sat there and held her until Amie couldn't cry anymore.

Once Amie had stopped, Edith held Amie's face in her hands and looked her in her water-filled eyes, "My dear Amie, you have to trust me. Things will get better, you will see."

Edith pulled Amie into her arms, and began to give Amie what she hoped would be words of encouragement, "I know you haven't spent much of your life outside of this tower and I know that because of it, you haven't had the chance to meet a lot of different people. It's true that I don't know what will await you now that you are no longer engaged to Prince Peter, but regardless of where you end up, I hope you keep this in mind. I'm going to tell you about what some of the most kindhearted, resilient, strongest people I know have in common.

"The strongest people I know have faced quite a few hardships and I know of others who have faced the same hardships and didn't come out the better for it. The difference between those two kinds of people starts at how they approach difficulties in life. Many people will give up, they allow their pain to manifest and become self-destructive. Some will turn to alcohol to cope, they can't bear the thought of being sober. Or they'll find another way to hide that is equally as destructive. Others will try to run away, but they'll spend their whole lives running from a ghost. That is what past experiences are to those people, ghosts that won't stop haunting them wherever they go.

"The ones who seem like they can handle so much and still remain strong from it, those are the ones that know the only way to face problems and hardships is to confront them head-on. They know that something that is already in the past can't be changed so the only way to move is forward. They know they can't run from the problems they're facing in the present because those problems will just find them in the future. The only way to deal with things is to confront the pain of an experience and figure out how to overcome it.

"The strongest people I know will take the worst parts of their lives and use those experiences as teaching moments. I'll use Prince Peter's betrayal of your love as an example. Prince Peter promised you love, but then took that promise away, and because of that, you now know the feeling of betrayal. Those who are resilient and kindhearted would take that experience and internalize it in a way to benefit people they meet throughout their life. They know what it feels like to be betrayed, so they would do their best to keep their promises, to never hurt someone else in the way they've been hurt.

"These people who have so much willpower, they're also some of the best leaders I know. A good leader knows it's important to right wrongs and to be compassionate. They know it's important to guide others to a better life. That knowledge comes from experiences that were challenging to overcome. They were treated poorly once, so they know from that experiences to treat others with kindness.

"You have already faced so much without realizing it. You know what it's like to be betrayed, have promises broken and expectations shattered. You know what it's like to be beaten. You know what it's like to lose loved ones and live in an orphanage. You know what it's like to be treated poorly, and I know from those experiences that you have no desire to let others feel the way you've felt.

"I don't know what kingdom you'll end up being the queen of, but I do know you will become the best queen that kingdom has ever known. If you take what I've said and learn to be a strong, resilient, kindhearted leader, I know you will be compassionate to your subjects and lead them to prosper. Whatever kingdom you find yourself in, I know it will thrive with you being its leader.

"Just remember this, what happened was a single moment. A single moment will pass if you allow it to, and then move forward. Learn and move forward, don't dwell on it. You'll see brighter days sooner if you learn what you can and then move on.

"For now, I think it would help if you spent your time helping others. It can be a good distraction while you learn to cope, but more importantly, it will help you see your problems in a different light and allow you to move on. Trust me, you'll see what I mean.

Once her speech was done, Edith moved to help Amie off her bed "Here, let me help you right now."

Amie's tears were beginning to dry after listening to the inspirational speech from Edith, "Thank you." It was the only thing Amie could squeak out, but she hoped it was enough to let her mother know how much her coming to Amie's aid meant to her.

Edith nodded and began helping Amie to the bath.

***

Another week went by with Amie doing her best to get up every morning. She was determined to get past her grief and fear to grow into a better person. She spent her days helping Julia cook and clean. The distraction helped her recover and she even learned a lesson from helping Julia. She never realized how much Julia had done for her before, and now she felt as though it was time to figure out a way to reciprocate that kindness.

Eventually there came a day when Amie woke up and thought to herself that there was no reason to feel so downtrodden anymore. It was time to look for the future and figure out what the next move was going to be. She couldn't allow herself to continue to dwell on the past when nothing good would come of it. What Edith had said was starting to make sense and Amie was beginning see that Edith was right about overcoming the challenges that Amie would have to face.

Once Amie was back to normal, she was able to resume her normal duties. She even started studying cartography in more depth as she found it was more fun than she expected it to be. She enjoyed learning everything about the history, stars, and everything else associated with the subject. She had even gotten to the point where she was planning on making her own map of Lutetia.

During one of her study sessions, she received a visit from Jacques. She had been wondering when he was going to stop by, but still found herself surprised at his presence.

He casually interrupted her evening routine as though the last month had never happened, "How are you doing?"

Amie replied, "Okay."

Jacques responded, "That's good... hey, you don't know of any reason why our powers might get weaker, do you?"

Jacques was the most unstable person Amie knew. He was the perfect example of how not to handle bad experiences and had allowed himself to become unstable, violent, and self-destructive. Looking at him, she knew that he was not what she wanted to become.

She also knew if she told him the truth, he would probably become severely unstable to the point of no return. His magic was probably the only thing keep his sanity together at the moment. Amie did her best not to show any emotion in her reply to his question, "No, sorry I don't know anything. I didn't know that was a thing."

Jacques let his concern show in his voice, "Well, just be careful. I don't know what's going on, but I'm not sure it's good."

Once he left the room, Amie sank into her bed and allowed the tears to flow. She figured Edith would forgive her for allowing herself to mourn for a night. The sweet mother of the bitter prince was in her final hours.