The Summit

"Before we begin, let us all welcome the new ruler of the kingdom of Regas who will be joining her first summit this year," Vandrad said as he presented her.

The Regali queen was leaning back on her chair when she heard Vandrad's announcement. "Oh," she muttered before standing up with a grin on her face.

She was the shortest person in the place. When she stood up, her right-hand man, and the others who were also standing, were towering over her. She has a small face, is fair-skinned, has long light-brown hair, and hazel eyes. The Zeal of the Mighty Bull was on full display at her right upper arm as she wore a dark brown sleeveless coat dress made of the finest silk. Yet, what stood out from her wasn't her stature, small adorable face, dress, nor the fact that she was the youngest in the room. It was her well-defined muscles.

"Greetings old timers! The name's Runa Samdottir."

Months after the last summit, Runa earned the right to challenge the former ruler and king of Regas. She won their duel and overthrew him. Compared to everyone at the round table, she was a toddler when it came to ruling. Her young age of thirty wasn't also doing her a favor when it came to general experiences in life. All she did since she was young was fight.

What Runa got as a response to her greetings was the other rulers' nodding at her.

"Are you guys too old to talk? Come on, lighten up," Runa said before laughing aloud.

When the other rulers learned about her months ago, they were skeptical, but didn't care as it was Regali tradition, and it didn't matter to them. Now that Runa's in front of them, all of the other rulers acknowledged the intense aura she emitted, but they all knew that it was just as a fighter. Most of them thought that she wasn't ready to rule her kingdom. Even more so when they heard her childish remarks.

Vandrad cleared his throat, "Thank you, Queen Runa. Now, let us formally begin the summit," he said.

Runa was disappointed as she sat down and leaned back on her chair. This time, she placed her feet on the table. Then, she looked behind, to her right-hand man. A huge man in his late fifties. His braided long brown hair has an undercut. He has brown eyes, a full beard, and a large scar across the right side of his face. The Mighty Bull's Zeal was also in clear display on his right upper arm since he wore sleeveless leather armor.

Runa smiled at him, "Can't we leave yet, Steinar? These thing's boring me already," she said.

Steinar Ragisson, one of the best Regali fighters and the commander of their military. He is also the advisor of their ruler and handles most of the affairs of their kingdom.

With his deep voice, Steinar spoke, "My queen, it is your duty to attend this summit and pay full attention to it." Then, he apologized to the council of three and the other rulers for how his queen was acting and pleaded with them to continue.

"Hey! I'm your queen, aren't I? And you're not on my side? As of now, you're no longer my right-hand man."

"Forgive me for speaking against you my queen, but, are you certain about relieving me of my position? Would you do all the paperwork and meetings that I had to per your request?"

Runa let out a loud nervous laughter, "Since you apologized, I forgive you! You're hired again."

Steinar smiled and nodded at her. He noticed that some of the other rulers were getting annoyed with Runa's distraction, so he apologized once again.

"I do not mean to be disrespectful, Queen Runa, but, this is a serious meeting and I think everyone has the same thought that this is not the time or place where you should act like a child."

The man who said those words was the king of the kingdom of Novis, the land of tinkerers. His name is Thon Zerveas. A man in his mid-fifties. He has short black hair and a clean-shaven face. The most stern-looking person at the table. Thon was around Ander's height, but he was thin when compared to him. The Novisian king wore a black vest and suit with silver wavy patterns. Behind him was his right-hand man in his silver armor. The two of them bear the Zeal of the Bold Ram.

Runa glared at Thon, "You want to fight, old man?" she said. Steinar held her down when she tried to stand at the table.

"That was rather… what's the word again…," said a man next to Pantera's king who was seated on the left of King Thon. 

From the same seat, "The word's provocative, brother," said another man.

"Right. That's what I was trying to say, King Thon."

They were the kings of Doscuri. A conjoined twin that shares a single body with separate heads and necks. They have a chest that is wider than average, two arms, and legs. Castor and Pollux Rubas both have the Zeal of the Venerable twin. If they weren't conjoined, there was no way to tell one from the other as they both share a bit of distortion at the left side of their faces. Both of them have black hair, and dark brown eyes that almost appear black from afar. They were in their late fifties but appeared younger than most. The one on the right side of the body is Castor, and on the left is Pollux. Their fancy blue vest and long suit were custom-made.

Behind the Doscur kings was their right hand. A young woman in her late forties. She wore thin metal armor without a helmet. Her long black hair was tied in a ponytail, dark brown eyes, and she had a pair of big circular glasses. 

Thon sighed, "Forgive me if I was rude, King Castor and Pollux. But, I merely spoke the truth," he said.

"Well, it's true. But, it's Queen Runa's first summit. She isn't… what's the word again?" Castor made different kinds of sounds as he tried to find the word he was looking for.

"Queen Runa isn't 'accustomed' to this meeting yet," Pollux said. His brother Castor thanked him for completing his sentence.

"Please stop the nonsense and proceed with the summit," the ruler of the kingdom of Caprines said with his deep voice. He was seated towards the right of Queen Runa. The Caprin king was the oldest ruler in the room, having the age of eighty-nine. His long wavy hair was all white as well as his long and thick beard.

Unlike Aakdan where there are absolute monarchs, Caprines is one of the democratic kingdoms in Nusterra where the position of king has a lot of limitations. Despite this, Ision Patreas, the king of Caprines, is well respected and admired by his people. Including those in positions of power in their government.

Behind Ision stood his right-hand man. Someone way younger than him wearing his battle armor. He also has a long and thick beard but it was all black.

Thon stared at Ision. He has great respect for him as a ruler. "Forgive me King Ision," he said. As a response, Ision nodded at him.

"I'm not done! Let's have a duel, old bastard," Runa said to Thon. To which the Novisian king shook his head thinking that what the young queen just said was outrageous.

The queen of Nesmos spoke instead of King Thon, "Queen Runa, I know you are new, but you should know that fighting among us could lead to war. Even if it won't be on a large scale or would be under Decatris's supervision, I assume you wouldn't want something as barbaric as war, wouldn't you?"

The Nesmosian queen has long blond hair reaching the upper part of her buttocks. Her eyes were blue, and she had fair skin. She has a great figure, perfectly shown by her white dress where the part around the belly was cut off. Showing the Zeal of the Fair Maiden located just under her belly button.

One of the main characteristics of those who bear the Zeal of the Fair Maiden is being good-looking. And Aelflaed Purcell, the queen of Nesmos, was a beauty on another level. Any man couldn't help but be entranced and take another glance at her face without her even using the power of her Zeal.

With a more tamed tone, Runa spoke, "None of our people needs to die, the two of us would just fight it out, not our kingdoms," she argued.

"Still, such a thing could lead to an unwanted strife between your people. Please be more mindful, Queen Runa."

Maybe it was because she heard it from another female ruler, but the energetic Runa made a halfhearted apology and asked the council of three to proceed with the meeting.

The ones that remained quiet and observed the others were the democratic king of Akrisia, the democratic king of Meena, the queen of Semperio, the king of Kankavi, the democratic king of Portaos, the king of Aakdan, and Ander Aurusmane, the Panteran king.

Once again, Vandrad cleared his throat, "I guess it was settled," he paused then whispered, "Thankfully."

"Now, let us begin this year's summit. The first agenda would be…" Vandrad checked the paper he was holding, "Ah, let's start with the economy, shall we."

Vandrad then looked at Tidhild and nodded his head. With his signal, Tidhild Gage started speaking.