Chapter 7 - Royal Ministers

 The king’s power and influence will not come to fruition without the Royal Council, Royal Ministers, Royal Senate, Congress, and the local government units. Due to the king’s great projects and plans for his kingdom, it is unusual for any of the royal council to speak against the king as the king has carefully selected his ministers to have the qualities, he is looking for such as; prioritizing public service than oneself, kindness and compassion, practicality during crisis, incorrupt motives and positive with openminded outlook in every angle for the progress and welfare of the Frozen Sand’s citizens.

The Ministers are the most powerful position commoners can have, six of the twelve ministers came from humble families who are not from the family of elites. The king, along with the public handpicked those who deserve to be given such title. 

 The ministries of the Frozen Sand Kingdom are; Commerce and Finance, Agriculture and Environment, Defense and Military, Technology and Communications, Industry and Labor, Health, Housing and Land, Public Works and Transport, Tourism and Culture, Education and Sports, Foreign Affairs and Justice.  

 The twelve ministers are; Dedine Yaman, a 40 year old businesswoman and expert economist who came from a poor family who decided to run for politics to share her business and economic wisdom to her majesty, her enthusiasm to forward the kingdom’s economic and business acceleration has caught the young king’s attention, eventually she became his economics tutor during his academic years and the king turned her into his minister the moment he sat on the throne she is the minster in Ministry of Commerce and Finance.  

Nephine Magsaka, a 33-year-old farmer who have a master’s degree in Agriculture, Horticulture and Husbandry, also an award-winning environmentalist and the man who discovered the dangers of vape smoke to the environment and wildlife. He caught the king’s attention when the young king to be, visited an agriculture fair and saw his innovation in agriculture and his unfortunately unnoticed talent and abilities to revolutionize the agriculture industry of the kingdom, he was immediately put into position after the past minister have retired of old age. He is the minister in Ministry of Agriculture and Environment. 

Hime Quisale is the youngest from the ministers at the age of 28, as old as the king, he is the youngest son of the retired Minister of Public Works and Transport, his father has dreamt of him to inherit his position but in his surprise his son has taken a greater yet dangerous position as the Kingdom’s armed forces and defense is all on his hands, he is way up in the military when the king has entered the army training which royals are required to join, he is nicknamed “The Gray” for his mastery of Light and Black Magic and at the young age of 16, he has defended the kingdom way better and no casualty than the generals who are above him. Due to similar interests and hobbies, the king became his best friend and companion during his military training, however the king saw that he is a prodigy in military planning and defense and saw his great potential and turned him as his minister thmoment he sat on the throne. Due to his great loyalty to the king which he can sacrifice his life for him, the king rewarding his great loyalty, turned him into his right hand and the Prime Minister who will oversee the kingdom when he or the prince is away. He is the minister in Ministry of Defense and Military. 

 Imhotep Lohiya, a 29-year-old former hacker working in the dark web, and a cyber genius who had created programs and I.T. technologies ahead of his time at the age of 15, he is the son of a frustrated computer engineer who once worked as one of the congressmen in the kingdom. Imhotep, distraught with the mental situation of his father devoted his time in hacking to get back at the monarchy and once King Ehiptia get the wind of the royal I.T. team’s struggle, he seek for the young hacker who is 19 at the time, and offered him a job in the new ministry he renewed to be his minister, the angry Imhotep was caught off guard with the king’s optimism and lack of anger from him hacking the system and even expressed to him that he is impressed from all the hacking he has done, but this time he must use his talent to a greater good. Due to the king’s kindness, he accepted the position and gave his father hope, he is now the minister of the Ministry of Technology and Communications.

Heijudie Rabajo, a 34-year-old woman who almost worked her entire life since childhood. Came out of a poor family and 10th from 15 siblings, she raised herself and started working for her family at the age of 6, from picking garbage to sell to junk shops, babysitting her siblings, being a maid to an abusive master, have no time for herself but work even to her education, though she strived hard and studied graduated from a Human Resource course. She became a business and labor advocate who also do consultation to small business owners, the the king got wind of her success, and was convinced that her knowledge in all industries and labor will be utilized and help improve the kingdom and herself when she is in the position. Therefore, she became the minister of the Ministry of Industry and Labor. 

Dr. Renen Lusugan, a 39-year-old medical doctor focusing in family medicine, is not your typical doctor, he is a multiskilled physician. Pathology, Psychiatry, Surgery, and Immunology to name a few, he is also very knowledgeable in Magical medicine and alternative medicine, he is quite open minded that people have been calling him the “Wizard Doctor” because of his ability to practice Traditional, Magical and Modern Medicine. He is also an award-winning doctor who invented a kit to test if a woman was sexually assaulted helping the investigators to have more evidence. This kind of open-mindedness is what caught his highness’ attention of offering him the position after he eradicated an epidemic of illness that affected small children in a remote region from the Frozen Sand. The king thought that if there will be a pandemic in the future, Dr. Renen have enough ability to deal with it. The doctor almost fainted when the king offered him the position and now, he is happily working as the minister of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.

Nutalie Dagaan is a 43-year-old woman who once caught in a family feud of dividing an inherited land that caused her side of the family that dropped bankrupt due to court and attorney payments that lead her and her family to be homeless. Fortunately a good Samaritan registered them to the free housing the past King Cairo have projected, due to this, Nutalie worked her way into the housing and land business and due to her past and painful experience, she became a philanthropist who give away homes and land to those who desperately need with a promise of sharing their prosperity to others, once the young prince Ehiptia got wind of her kindness and generosity, the soon to be king’s heart was shook and tears flow from his eyes, and he made a mental note of turning her one of his ministers once he is king. The king’s decision is not wasted at all, ever since Nutalie became minister, the homelessness rate of the kingdom drop from 35% to 0.8% for the past 10 years of his reign, causing the economy to bloom and home security has skyrocketed. Proudly, she is the minister of the Ministry of Housing and Land.

Nemtea Lakad, a 50-year-old man who lived his life as a taxi driver earning the minimum wage raising his children to college and making them successful in life, he thought his life would be good to see his children be successful and not live the path he went to one day, his middle child is riding his motorcycle off to work and he never noticed the potholes in the road causing one of the wheels to sink in and caused an accident that killed his son. Full of sorrow, and to cope with his grief, he took a wheel borrow filled gravel and used a shovel to dump them in potholes to prevent people to have vehicular accidents the same way his son died. The king got wind of this and helped him deal with his grief though giving him the position of a minister which Nemtea immediately accepted and now thanks to him highways and local roads are safe to drive on and proper wages for drivers and public transport is given, that made the king very happy. He is the minister of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport.  

Adenate Ai Sining, a 30-year-old beautiful woman from the Iske-Gao tribe from the northern Frozen Sand Kingdom who represents the kingdom to countless beauty pageants and once won the kingdom the crown of the Cyra-wide pageant. However, her tribe and others in the kingdom’s culture and traditions is starting to fade away that alarmed her, culture and tradition is something that is needed to be protected and passed to generations, that she took online to promote the traditional and tribal practices of the kingdom. A huge dam is about to be built by a private company is about to eradicate her own tribe so she hurriedly seek help from the current minister of Tourism and Culture, unfortunately her request falls on deaf ears that caused her to be infuriated, due to frustration, she barged in King Ehiptia’s castle, with paper works and her pleas for help, as the king who patiently calmed her down and listen to her grievances, was floored of the denial of his minister, due to the dangers the king see in her complain, he fired the minister at the time and due to public demand, Adenate became the new minister and thanks to her many tribes became stronger and refreshed that bring more tourism in their kingdom, a multi-billion industry. She is the minister of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture.

Thon Sia A’aral, a 37-year-old track and field athlete and Senior High School teacher who have represented the Frozen Sand in international athletic championship and won gold many times and coached students who also won gold in international championship, is a charismatic and patient teacher who values his students wellbeing than their grades, besides of sports he teaches the subject of Baybayin, most students sleep in their language and writing classes, in his class, he is an energetic and passionate teacher who pushed beyond to teach those students who are being left behind, he read psychology books to understand his students’ minds and how to teach them the good way they can absorb the lectures. He does not allow bullying in anywhere in the school and takes it very seriously since he, growing up, experienced it so much just because of looking thin and his darker complexion. He has suggested so many ways to the Principal, Superintendent or even the under-secretary his innovative way to teach children and prevent bullying yet it was ignored, he also wrote about the low wages for teachers and athletes who are those representing the kingdom, yet it is still ignored. As a last-ditch effort, he sent it directly to the king’s suggestion box and as the king reads it every day. He was angry. The next day he summoned Thon and discussed him that he grew suspicious of the incompetence of the minister of education and sports yet does not have enough proof since there are no complaints about such ministers then he discovered that the minister is intercepting all letters against him to the king that caused the king to fire the current minister and since he was impressed by the teacher’s plan and proposals, he decided to turn him into a minister as a replacement. Overwhelmed with the instant leap, he was assured by the king that he is stepping in the right direction and he can implore other teachers and students’ improvement through his office. Overtime he adjusted into the position and happily serving as the minister of the Ministry of Education and Sports.

Menhir Alala, a 32-year-old multilingual theater actor who is the son of one of the senators during King Cairo’s reign, he is raised in the entertainment industry through films and theater performing, most of the time he is the one welcoming guests from different countries in Cyra. Due to his multilingual skills, he can understand those illegal immigrants who got through the kingdom’s borders, most of them are prison escapees from different kingdoms and even from the vampire and monster territories. This gives him advantage to know the insides of the underground operation of the illegal foreigners in the kingdom. Ever since King Ehiptia sat on the throne, he gave tip after tip about the current issue of the immigration of illegal aliens in his kingdom that could lead to terrorist attacks. First, he works as an asset for the royal immigration, but due to his great record and upon the retirement of the minister that is superior to him, the King made him the replacement of the old minister. Now, his strict yet understandable immigration laws keep the kingdom safe from illegal immigrants that can compromise the security of the largest kingdom in Cyra. He is the minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Entertainment.

Madyette Sticia, a 45-year-old woman with a terrifying glare, most of the ministers including Prince Memphis say, however the king is the only one not even fazed with this judge’s scary aura. Typical from an aging judge who handled problems every day. She came from a family of lawyers, judges and doctors. Her grandfather is the Minister of Justice and Internal Revenue during the reign of King Ehiptia’s grandfather, King Hoteph. Ironically, most judged her for being a scary woman, but she is full of compassion and consideration and she takes fairness and justice very seriously, there are cases where God Orion is there to witness her proceedings in court. She had passionate talks to poor plaintiffs and defendants and offered them lawyers for free so they can have fair representation in court. There is something the King and her agree so much. They both hate corruption. Both those in the government and the private sectors, she is pushing people to pay their taxes and state their assets, she totally loved and cheered when the king spoke the transparency of taxes and assets of all government workers because it is like a dream come true for her. She worked her way to the Supreme Royal Court as the Chief Justice for 6 years before King Ehiptia appointed her to be the minister since he and her share the same goals when it comes to fairness and justice for the welfare of the kingdom. She is the minister of the Ministry of Justice and Internal Revenue.

Yet no one ever knew that all King Ehiptia’s ministers are terrifying, powerful fighters and combatants to protect themselves and their King. In a game, they are like mini-bosses you have to face before the king, although the king did not require such skill for diplomatic ministers of the monarchy, they have chosen to learn and mold their fighting and magical abilities as they believe their king is very valuable to lose even, they know for themselves that his highness is powerful enough to destroy the planet.