Page 67

The Summit

“ Y a fucking call me that again, you fat old bastard and I’ll shoot ya!”

Blinking, I take in the scene before me, Nan in all her pearl and cardigan wearing glory, has a shotgun double the size of her aimed at Reeves.

The man has an arched eyebrow, but I can see the fear dancing in his eyes.

He’s twice the size of Nan, with a little more weight around the waist. His hair is solid grey and his eyes a deep brown.

Wrinkles stand out on his tanned cheek and only confirm that he is older than most in this room.

Nan stands there, her frail chest heaving but her stance steady and strong, and a serious anticipation etched on her face.

“Come on then, you fat bastard!” she screams at him again, poking his chest with the gun.

Reeves holds his hands in the air, signalling peace and also stopping the scavs and roadies from his clan from inching forward, and causing Nan to pull on her itchy trigger finger.

I spot a few of Dray’s Seekers lingering around the edge of the room, seeming to blend in with the woodwork in here.

Major also has a few, and Nan has three men at her back, obviously who she brought from The Rim.

The room is big, a long rectangle with a large wooden table taking up most of the room.

Old world paintings line the wooden walls and there are only two large windows in here, one to the left and one to the right.

Six large leather chairs are pushed around the table, with one at the head, obviously where Major was sitting.

Figures the cheeky bastard would put himself in prime position, just another calculated move to prove his dominance and stake his territory.

The room is filled with stifled violence and it feels like a bomb is about to go off, everyone is waiting for the action to start, their bodies tense and thrumming with anticipation.

Rolling my eyes, I step in further, Priest steps back to the wall with his eyes locked on me, waiting to see what I will do.

Mumbling under my breath, I take in the old lady and man locked in a death stare, someone needs to defuse this before a war starts here, and Ivar has no one left in his way.

“Really, Nan? I leave for two minutes and you gon’ shoot the place up?

I think Major likes this room,” I say casually, my voice breaking through the staring contest. All eyes swing to me and my congregation of men behind me.

Nan’s eyes dance with amusement before she masks it and pokes Reeves in the chest again.

“Aye, this fucking fat prick is tryin ta tell me how ta rule ma place!” she yells, her accent more pronounced than ever, and Reeves sighs.

“All I said was, you should kill them.” His deep voice rumbles out of him, calm and collected, though I see his hands itching with the need to pull a weapon.

Sands below, I hate politics.

“Drop the gun,” I demand.

She swivels it around to me, a dare in her eyes. “Ya trying ta tell me what to do, girly?”

Making a quick decision, I stride up to her and knock the gun away, not a good idea but the only one I could think of.

“You know better than to point that at me, you think I give a shit if you kill each other? Go ahead, it means Ivar will have your land and people that much easier.” The room goes quiet and I watch as Nan deflates, dropping the gun so it points to the floor.

“Ya right girly, we here for a reason. I wouldn’t want to break the treaty.

” She nods and turns to look back at Reeves.

“We good. But you ever talk like that to me again and I will blow you to the next fucking room.” With that she waddles back to her chair and sits down heavily.

I have to bite my lip to hold in my smile, but when I see everyone is still looking at me, I quickly wipe it away and gesture for everyone to resume their places.

Priest slides past me, whispering more crazy as he goes. “And they follow her, even in death.”

He takes his seat next to Nan, and Major squeezes my arm before sliding to my side. “Everyone is here, let The Summit begin.”

I nod and go around the table to stand in a corner with my back to a wall when Major stops me with a hand on my arm.

I look at him and he grins. “Your seat, Champion.” I follow his gesture to see he means the seat at the head of the table.

My eyes widen and swing back to him, I wanted to fade into the background, not play centre stage.

When he notices my look, he drops his voice.

“They are right, this won’t work without you.

You know Ivar better than most, you know the laws. This is your Summit. ”

With that he walks to the chair on the left of mine, dramatically pausing before sitting down.

I hear people gasp, for Major to give up his chair means he thinks I am above him.

That I rule him. Unwilling to show him any more disrespect in his house, I stride to the chair and sit down, all eyes locked on me.

I sit straight and confident, not showing them any weakness.

“Interesting,” Reeves mutters and I narrow my eyes at him.

I watch as Dray holds my eyes and sashays until he sprawls in the chair to my right, showing his support and respect also. Fucking hell, did I mention how much I hate politics? Even where to sit is a fucking mind game.

My men quickly enter and fan out behind me. When the leaders spot Vasilisy, they roar and slam back from the table, all shouting to be heard over one another as the Berserker grins madly at them.

“Come on then, ya twats!” he yells as the warriors leap at him.

Slamming my head against the table and knocking myself out sounds like a good idea right about now, twice now weapons have been drawn and within the first three minutes. How the hell are we supposed to get through a whole meeting, never mind a war?

“Enough!” I scream , standing up and smashing my fists on the table to get their attention. Everyone freezes like naughty school children, even as Dray chuckles next to me.

“Enough,” I say again, sweeping my eyes across the room.

“He’s a Berserker!” Reeves shouts while someone else yells, “Traitor!”

I watch as Dray stiffens.

“Enough, he is here as my guest and he will be the reason we can bring down Ivar, so if you would be so fucking kind as to remove the axe from his neck?” I ask, well more like demand. The warriors slink away from him, but everyone is on edge.

“A guest? Girly, what have ya done?” Nan asks, looking at me like I am the crazy one.

“He renounced Ivar, he has paid his price and has saved my life. You might not trust him, fuck, you don’t even have to like him but if anyone, and I mean anyone,” I sweep my eyes again to meet all of theirs, “kills him, then the treaty is broken, and your life is forfeit.” Grumbles sound through the room and I narrow my eyes, bringing my whip down next to me on the table.

“Is that understood?” I demand. I hear a few ‘yeses’ and see a few nods.

I relax slightly until I hear “Fuck it,” and a scav bursts into action from my left, aiming at Vasilisy who is still glaring at an assassin creeping closer to him.

Not thinking, I unravel the whip and launch it through the air until it wraps around the scav’s neck.

Yanking it, he flies onto the table, his face turning pink and panic stretches across his features as he faces down my anger. Leaving him there, I glare at Reeves.

“Does this one speak for you?” I ask in a deadly voice.

He stands, making sure to move slowly. “Champion, he does not.” He glares at the man before looking back to me.

“He broke the treaty, brought arms to my guest,” I yell the last, as the man gasps for breath as I tighten the whip around his throat. “You know the law,” I finish, and when Reeves nods, I release the whip and pull it back to myself, coiling it up around my arm just in case.

Reeves looks at the man sadly as he gasps and slides from the end of the table to the floor, holding his neck as unwilling tears drip from his eyes. “Sirla, what did you do?” he asks the man.

“Re–” The man coughs before carrying on, “Threat, to you. Had… to… protect.” He finishes in a hacking cough.

I can see the understanding and sadness in Reeves’ eyes, even as his face hardens and his hands flex.

“You know the laws, no matter the reason.” His voice carries through the room, his decision ringing clear.

Not that there was one. If he does not punish his man for breaking the law, then he too is breaking the law, and a direct push from the leader of the meeting.

A game, yet another in which we must all play carefully.

He is out of moves and by the look in his eyes he knows it. He has no choice.

“Forgive me,” he whispers as the scav looks at the floor, holding his throat as he coughs for air.

I watch as the gun is raised and the trigger pulled, and I feel nothing.

The man’s body falls to the floor lifeless, and I watch it do so, his blood adding to the ones already on my hand.

I might not have pulled the trigger, but I sure as shit gave the order.

Reeves looks at me, and I await his reaction.

When he nods, I let out a breath I didn’t realise I was holding.

I should feel guilty, I should feel sad. A life was just snuffed out, but it was necessary and in war there are casualties.

“Let The Summit begin.” I knock the end of the whip on the table as everyone sits back down in their seats.

“He’s a fuckin’ coward!” Nan yells, glaring at Reeves and Priest who just lean back in their chairs. Reeves looks pissed but Priest just looks blank like always.