"Do you need these papers?"
Theodore's secretary asked him as they were walking down a hallway. Theodore gleamed over the papers which were headed by; 'Summit Memo'.
"No, I've memorized them", he answered as he continued down the hallway.
At the end of the hallway was a large decorated door with two men standing ready. As Theodore approached, the two men exchanged a glance and opened the doors in sync. One of the men yelled into the room; "Theodore Westwood, the king of Westwood has arrived".
The room was a large hall with extremely decorated walls and roof. The hall was completely empty except for a large circular table. There were seven people sitting around the table, three of which stood up as Theodore arrived.
One of the four sitting down, a woman named Leanna exclaimed; "Last one again Theodore?". Leanna was the ruler of the country Usted, a country often in conflict with Westwood.
Theodore walked towards his chair, before sitting down he motioned towards the three who stood to also take a seat.
"Someone has to be last one to arrive, Mrs. Usted" Theodore answered as he pulled out his golden pen from his suit front pocket, it had the symbol of Westwood engraved at its base; a far reaching tree.
The woman named Leanna was about to say something before another person gave her a glance and she simmered down.
Theodore put his pen down on the table next to some paper before saying "Then as all representatives have arrived we will start the 45th summit of the Lands of Mellith".
A man who sat to the left of Theodore Westwood stood up, his name was Clay Hoenn and he was the ruler of a smaller nation called Hoenn, which neighbored Westwood. Clay cleared his throat before speaking, "We've gotten reports that an unknown infectious disease has been spotted in some of our bordering cities".
"What are the symptoms?" asked Theodore.
"High fever, and diarrhea, only one of the ten people in our hospitals survived, the rest died of dehydration".
"They died of dehydration while in the hospital?" another woman spoke up, her name was Ellie Snowbed, and she was the newly appointed ruler of Snowbed. The only country powerful enough of the eight to rival Westwood. She had been appointed as ruler just four months ago, and in addition had the rank of Saint, which meant she was gifted in holy magic.
"Yes Saint, even while drinking lots of water they still died of dehydration, we still don't know how it happened"
"Did you try to heal them with magic?" asked Ellie. Clay hesitated for a moment before answering "Well yes, the one person who lived was saved by healing magic".
Ellie seemingly dissatisfied stated; "What about the other nine, did you not try it on them?". A little stumped, Clay hesitated answering.
Theodore sighed on the inside. Clay and Hoenn was allies with Westwood so he knew that the use of holy magic in Hoenn was a costly procedure, in comparison to Snowbed where it was free. Of course Ellie knew this too.
Seeing that Ellie only wanted to humiliate Clay, Theodore stepped in saying "It's good that you confirmed that holy magic works as treatment, as I see it we should monitor the spread of the disease and try to contain then erase it with holy magic".
Although Ellie barely showed it, she was seemingly happy with having to force Theodore to step in. Snowfell had a lot of healers compared to other nations, which is why their citizens could enjoy free use of holy magic to heal injuries.
"Are there any in opposition?" said Theodore. "Nay" answered all the others around the table. Clay nodded and sat down. As he sat down the next person stood up.
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A door swings open into a bedroom. Theodore enters with two secretaries in tow. "Last question, did you come to a consensus about the fighting in Fell?" asked one of the secretaries.
"No we did not, we will bring it up again tomorrow" answers Theodore as he opens his closet. "Now if you'll excuse me", Theodore gestures for them to leave as he opens up the closet. "Oh wait, Ms. Lily can you please fetch the documents on trade routes around Fell, deliver them to the dining area, I'll read them while dining". Lily nods and the secretaries leave the room.
Theodore sighs, the first day of the summit had passed. The summit was a gathering of all the main forces of the continent, it's purpose was for all countries to come together to solve problems in a peaceful manner. The gathering itself lasts for four days and usually happens every six months, unless there were disruptive circumstances. This time the host was Snowbed.
Theodore undressed and found himself a new attire for the evening. He looked himself in the mirror. Theodore was known for his looks across the continent. He was tall, well built and had pitch black hair which further accentuated his looks. He was adored by many women, and men. But there was one sentence that was always at the end of every conversation about Theodore Westwood; "But thank god he does not know magic". For he was perfect except for that one flaw. As Theodore's mood soured, he left the bedroom and went to the dining hall.
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In another dining hall Ellie Snowbed sat next to a handsome blonde man. "How was he, Ellie?" asked the man. "You can't even even wait until after dinner Leon?" teased Ellie with a smile. Leon sighed and didn't answer, refocusing on his meal. "It's only the first day after all, he is hiding his cards" continued Ellie. "Surely we have the better hand?" Leon smiled at Ellie who giggled back.
"I'd be very surprised if he could one up you Leon", Ellie became a little gloomy before continuing "But as you know this is my first summit so I don't dare cut any corners, especially when my father himself strongly warned me against Theodore Westwood".
"That's a big impression to make, especially when that fellow has only been king for a year" said Leon, not hiding his praise. "Indeed", answered Ellie. "But we will learn what kind of person he is in due time".
"After this summit he will have no choice but to submit, I kind of look forward to seeing what kind of face he will make after our announcement", scoffed Ellie as she smiled at Leon.
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Theodore had finished his meal and was sitting in an office with a few stacks of paper on his desk. After looking through one he would start reading another. "Please do drink some tea, sir", the secretary Ms. Lily placed a hot cup of tea on the desk, finding one of the few spots not covered by papers.
Theodore picked up the cup of tea and drank a sip. Green tea, and a very well brewed one. He nodded to Ms. Lily before continuing to read.
A few seconds later the doors to the office flung open. A red haired man brazenly walked in and sat down in a chair in front of the desk. "For what do I have the honors", said Theodore. The man who just entered was the king of Ashus, one of Westwood's neighboring countries, and also an 'ally'.
"You know why the fuck I'm here, why didn't they agree to pull out of Fell?". Theodore put down his papers and looked up, "Ren Ashus, what do you think?". Ren scoffed, "Don't play games with me Theo, I know you know".
"I've told you not to call me Theo", Theodore's eyes became sharp. "Fine, but just get to the point Theodore" ushered Ren. Theodore sighed and continued, "It truly is odd, the Fell manastone mine is one of the largest on the continent and since it is close to Midden's border it wouldn't be wrong to call it the most defended spot along our borders". Theodore picked up one of the papers and gave it to Ren. "I propositioned them to retreat today fully expecting them to agree right away". Ren stood up and said "Call it a proposition but it was a flat out threat, if we both retaliate we can easily push into Midden and reach the Midden Lake before Snowbed can send reinforcements".
"Yes, which means that they either have something to gain from us counter-attacking, or…" Theodore stopped. "Or what?" asked Ren, "Well, or they have something that can force us to give them Fell". Theodore turned to look at Ren. "No way, if they had something like that this whole continent would have been called Snowbed long ago". Theodore looked at Ren and smiled, "I've looked through hundreds of war reports, and eye witnesses for all weapons of that scale and found none that could in theory do enough damage to warrant giving Fell. Theodore sighed and continued "So if I were to guess they will reveal it under this summit".
Ren looked dumfounded at Theodore, before snapping out. "Nah fuck that, it's just that Saint Ellie bitch messing up, why wait this long to reveal this so called weapon?". "I don't know", answered Theodore as he met Ren's piercing gaze. "Fine, if you don't want to tell me I'll leave". He stormed out of the office, slamming the doors behind him.
Ms. Lily still stood silently against the wall as she had observed the whole exchange. She saw Theodore standing against the office window, staring into the night. Although he might've looked relaxed to most, Ms. Lily could see that he was very, very angry.