Lolita boarded the main deck of the cruise ship on the ocean. The security guards recognized her as James' daughter and didn't ask ID from her.
She approached the servant who stood by the railing.
"Tako Kúntaǂ." The servant said, as Lolita grabbed the glass from his serving tray.
"What?" Lolita raised an eyebrow as she sipped her shrimp cocktail.
"He's speaking Zo-pak, Lolita." David Trescot was the ruler of Sumer, approached her wearing a blue suit.
"Sounds like gibberish to me." Lolita said.
"Lolita! Do you not know that there are fifty million native Zo-pak speakers in the world?" David replied.
"David. Zo-pak, is one of the hardest languages to learn in the world! You must learn biblical clicks and retro clicks. Whereas in my language Aka-pak, you just need to learn the dental clicks." Milton Sudan approached them wearing a purple satin tunic.
"Are you going to build bilingual Zo-pak schools in Cascadia?" David raised an eyebrow.
Milton shook his head. "Government funding is better spent elsewhere."
"You can't deny Zo-pak speakers an education in Cascadia!" David's mouth dropped opened.
"You need to invest money in educating Sumerians about birth control! Your country's population is out of control. The average Sumerian woman gives birth to at least eight children! You need to have the one child policy in your country."
"I don't believe in mandatory sterilizing; it takes away people's freedom." David responded.
"I'm going to the washroom." Lolita said before she left, she passed the pool on the deck.
After a brief detour to freshen her lipstick, Lolita snuck up behind James, who was deep in discussion with a woman. Her black, shoulder-length hair contrasted with the fiery red of her Komodo.
"Lolita, do you know Yesmin Trixie? She's the ruler of Jayland." James pointed to her.
"Dad of course, I know her. I've a daily subscription of the Ruler magazine that informs me about all the world rulers."
Richard Scott approached them with a swagger, his expensive suit and perfectly styled hair making Lolita want to vomit.
"James, you look very grey in the face." Richard Scott remarked. "I think you need to retire, James."
"Richard you're being rude to James." Yesmin rolled at her eyes.
Lolita sneered at Richard. "Richard Scott, you're the reason Intermarium's economy is weak! Ossory used to be a province owned by Intermarium, and we used to have copper as a revenue from the alloy mountains."
"Oh, please, I'm not at fault for anything." Richard shrugged. "For starters, civilians wanted Ossory to become an independent country because civilians don't want to follow the hereditary monarchy. Civilians want parliamentary democracy and wanted to have rights to the laws installed within the country."
"You're at fault! Do you not forget that war you started with us?" Lolita pressed her rosy lips.
"I declared war against your father because he appealed my request as the governor of Ossory to become an independent nation. Dorne was a country that supported our country borders to protect Ossory's precious resources from being taken advantage of. After the war Dorne dissolved as a country and became a province, because James Lincoln didn't want to pay taxes on copper. By emerging as one country, Ossory economy has improved from the cotton wood planation."
"Two million Intermarium soldiers died and fifty thousand soldiers were injured putting a financial strain on our public medical health care system. Intermarium won't be a third world country, if we haven't lost our land because of the great revolution caused by the rebels!" Lolita furrowed her eyebrows.
"Citizens are happy now in Ossory because we're no longer paying high taxes towards your ruler James!" Richard responded.
"James, I think you look to unwell to be ruler of a country. Have you ever thought of changing the laws that are governing your country? A person shouldn't become ruler of country because of their bloodline." Richard said.
"I've to agree with Richard." Renee Clinton joined them. "What education does your children have? To become ruler of Catwerp, I needed a master degree from a credited university in political science."
James's cheeks turned pink. "I can't afford to send my children to secondary education. So, I've been mentoring my son Ethan, so he's prepared when he inherits the throne from me."
Renee's lip twisted. "I think your children lack political insight because they've no formal education-"
"David." David interrupted and join them. "I've to disagree with you. Education isn't the end and be all. I became a ruler of Sumer because of my political party."
"Your political party won because your parents are wealthy from owning their own oil company." Renee replied.
"My country is too poor, for the government to fund political parties. That's why, when you run for politics in my country you must have the means of your own to fund your own political campaign." Daniel responded.
"Lolita, do you want to grabbed the salmon canope from the buffet?" Yesmin said with a smile.
"Sure." Lolita responded. They approached the buffet the table white table cloth. Lolita put her empty glass on the table and grabbed herself another shrimp cocktail. The music string orestreca played in the background was calming like the ocean's water.
Ethan yelled, "Lolita what the hell is this? Why were you kissing Axel?" Ethan held the magazine in front of Lolita. The magazine's front cover was a picture of her kissing Axel.
She sighed. At least she looked good in the photo, with her diamond heart-shaped earrings.
"It's nothing. Axel he's not that important to me." She shrugged.
"Lolita! Axel punched me in the face and broke my nose!"
"So what? You deserve it."
"You're a slut."
Lolita's face turned a deep purple and she slapped Ethan's cheek turning it red. "You don't ever call me that again!"
"Enough!" James yelled, as he approached them. "I don't want to listen to you two argue."
"She just slapped me! I'm already in pain because of my broken nose." Ethan pointed at his bandaged nose.
James's lip curled in. "Lolita stop behaving like a child-"
Lolita snapped, "Then put in me in first in line for Ruler and not him. We'll have nothing to fight about."
James shook his head. "No. He's older than you."
Bang.
Renee screamed.
Ethan laid on the polished floor, his white tuxedo covered in blood. A bullet hole on the side his head. Lolita froze like a statue. James fainted from the shock. A servant kneeled to the floor attending to him. The cruise became eerily quiet.