SWNOVELS Chapter Six
Mircea
My eyes surveyed the room as I walked in next to my father, Lord Mun just behind us as our third. Typically you only had three representatives for each race, and the leader was the one who spoke. My father would sit at the round table and we would stand behind him, observing and noting everything we saw and heard to be able to help with the decision making process.
The first meeting was always the most boring. It was just to table anything of importance that would need to be discussed in detail throughout the following days. At the end of the meeting we would make a schedule of the discussions that would need to be had, and we would make sure to only talk about two a day, so they had our fullest attention and we had enough time to go through each carefully.
My focus turned onto each leader, remembering each of their names and their titles. There were no unfamiliar faces, which meant the White Wolf wasn’t here as the rumours had said they would be. Maybe the plan I had made would have been a waste of time.
My father sat down, and since we were the last to arrive, it meant the meeting could start. My father had his notebook in front of him, Lord Mun had his and I had my tablet. We would get a sorted document by nightfall, but in order to make the most of our time we took rough notes so we could begin plans the second this was over.
“With everyone present, I propose we begin the Summit. All in agreement?” My father asked, being the eldest in the room meant he had the right to ask. Those sitting around the table voiced their agreement. “We begin with a reading of the minutes from the previous Summit.” Everyone’s eyes turned to the Witch Queen, Ianthe. She began reading the minutes, which took twenty minutes.
The entire time I felt something in me lurching. The feeling kept growing with each passing minute. Something was going to happen.
“Is everything okay, future son-in-law?” Lord Mun asked, leaning towards me, his voice barely above a whisper so he didn’t disturb those sitting at the table.
“Yes.” I responded simply, still unsure of how to speak to him. Either he was working with my father on whatever plan he was trying to enact, or he was just as much a pawn in it as I was. There was no in between, and I had to be careful how I approached it. I was either in close quarters with an enemy or a possible ally.
“Really?” He asked next. “You have a feeling, don’t you?” I looked at him briefly. “So did my Nari last night. Her feelings are always correct, which I assume it because of her grandmother, but she told me that something was going to happen.”
“The feeling has been getting worse.” I said, he nodded.
“Do you have… feelings about other things too?” He asked, I looked at him in confusion. That was when I noticed his notebook, how it was slightly angled towards me so I could read what was written on the paper.
We need to talk. Without your father. Tonight.
I looked at the back of my father’s head, before looking back at the notebook. What the hell was going on? I read the words once more. The words implied he could be an ally, but I knew better than to trust someone based off of what they said. My eyes locked on his black irises, I took a second to try and read him, but he was just as well practised as I was. So I nodded, and he nodded in response.
“I move that the minutes be accepted.” Ianthe said, breaking me out of my hyper focus on Kang-Dae.
“I second.” Derek, the leader of the mortals spoke.
“Excellent, I now open the floor to any arising business that we will want to address over the coming days. Today is the only day to bring up new business, after this the topics to address will be locked. We need to use our time wisely.” Ianthe said. I heard footsteps outside of the door. Heavy ones, filled with anger.
“They’re here…” I whispered to myself, but Ianthe continued speaking. Witches didn’t have the senses of vampires and a handful of other supernatural creatures.
“As per usual, we will work our way around the table so everyone has a chance to speak and address everything they wish to. Who would like to start?” She asked, and the doors pushed open. My eyes turned to the gap, where three people stood in the opening.
“I would.” The woman in the middle said, slowly walking into the light of the room. There was a resounding silence in the room when I had expected uproar. I had expected shouting and anger and indiscernible noise, but no. There was just silence.
Her curved body was wrapped in a flowing black dress, cinched at the waist but otherwise it kept her figure hidden, which was a damned shame. Her makeup was simple, designed to accentuate her features and make her as predatory as possible. Not that it was needed, because her scent showed how predatory she was. The musk mixed with the comforting scent of the forest and damp earth, a werewolf.
But the most surprising part was her hair that was pulled back into a low ponytail, shorter pieces fell to frame her face but as she scanned the room I could see the length of the ponytail that came down to her lower back. Her hand lifted briefly to tuck some of the framing strands behind her ear, her fingers nimble and her darker skin seeming to glow under the lights. But her hair… it was white.
“I would like to start.” She said, her voice commanding, yet calm and gentle at the same time. Every single thought I had regarding a plan for if she came flew out of my mind because I hadn’t expected this to actually happen.
But the White Wolf was here.
And she was ready to fight.