In ten years, I've risen to the top.
The empire I manage, has no place higher.

I am the power behind the throne,
of a capricious, dilettante sultan.

Ask him, I'm his favorite.
He couldn't get along without me.

I've survived minor wars, assassinations.
One major civil war.

I've kept the ship of state afloat,
Loyal even when my reward was bile.

And I sit now and take stock;
Was it worth it?

For me, for my sultan, for the populace?
Are we better off or not?

I will admit, I have tried to do what's right;
The people are better for me having been here.

My sultan would have survived though.
Perhaps in a smaller, poorer state.

I ?  I am deeply in debt (as opposed to only lightly so)
Workaholic and prone to ulcers.

At what point did loyalty to my state
become stupidity?

For me, I mean.  I have given ten years
of my life, my health, my fortune (such as it was).

The state is secure, no crises loom on the horizon.
And I've set up the procedures for them anyway.

I have no prospect of further reward.  Merely
my normal allotment, and obscure retirement.

Could I leave?  Yes.  But to what?  There
is no higher prospect here.  Another state?

I have been used, almost used up. My loyalty
has paled over the years.

Am I bitter? I could stay, and through deceit
and treachery, bring down the state I built.

I could, of course, stay  'til my inevitable end.
Which path is my destiny?

Abandonment?  Surrender?  Treachery?
What do I want?