The Descendants of the Ascendance Series - Nessa's POV

Chapter One and a Half

Tonight there was another regents' meeting. Since I was going to be a regent in a few years anyway, I decided to ask Jaron if I could join today's meeting.

"Well, I guess it couldn't hurt anything," He shrugged when I asked him. "But only on one condition."

"And what would that be?" I asked.

"You help me keep an eye out for which regent falls asleep first due to the sheer boringness of these unnecessarily long meetings," He smirked. "Don't tell Imogen, but my money's on old man Clarke."

"First of all: Your secret's safe with me," I chuckled. "Secondly: I see who Adelade takes after."

He let out a laugh and ushered me into the throne room, pointing me to a seat near the end of the row. I sat down.

"Now that the king is here, we can begin," Lord Harlowe announced.

"So Harlowe," Jaron started, leaning back in his throne leisurely and placing his feet on the table. "What is the meeting about today?"

"Our extra finances," Harlowe stated. "We spend the normal amount on the necessities; food, clothes, medicines, and servants' pay. But - we have extra money and today we are going to figure out what to spend those extra finances on. Any ideas?"

My dad raised his hand. Harlowe motioned for him to speak.

"I say we spend part of the money on orphanages," He said. "Maybe we could fund new ones or-or provide the amount needed to existing ones for food, clothing, books, and similar items."

"I like that idea," Jaron shrugged.

Other regents spoke their opinions - war supplies, funds for the nearby village, castle upkeep - Jaron shrugging and agreeing with most of them.

"Nessa, do you have any ideas?" Jaron asked.

"Well," I started timidly. "I say we put some money aside for war and accident funds. If another country wages war, or there is another inevitable accident, we should have some money set aside to spend for medical supplies, castle repairs, and things like that."

"That's a fantastic idea," Harlowe smiled. "All in favor?"

All the regents, except old man Clarke - who was sleeping, just like Jaron had predicted- raised their right hand.

"Then it's official," Harlowe smiled. "That's all for today. You are all dismissed."