CHAPTER 1
Briefing
Northlands December 2453
Mason
I ran as fast as I could through the Gray Mansion. Coming from the rooftop star lounge I had four floors to descend and almost knocked over a member of the staff when I came sliding down the banister of the staircase.
“Sorry,” I shouted with a grin on my face and took the next flights with my arms spread out and my core muscles tight to keep my balance.
When I reached the first floor in record time, I landed on my feet and instantly accelerated toward my uncle’s office.
The door was open and because of my speed, I grabbed for the door frame, coming to a sudden halt with my cheeks red from the running and my voice out of breath: “I’m here!”
My uncle, Khan, and my father, Magni, looked back at me with their eyebrows raised.
“Mason, for fuck’s sake, you’re fifteen and not five. Why can’t you walk like normal people?” Khan groaned.
“Dad said it was urgent.”
“Yes, but with the noise you made, it sounded like an army of demons was attacking us. Sit down. We’re waiting for the others.”
Looking at my father, I silently asked, What others?
“Thor, Freya, Aubri, and Indiana,” Magni said.
With my blood pumping from my running, I walked to the window bench and picked up a gun that lay there.
Khan looked up from the papers on his desk. “Put it down. I told you to sit, boy. Why don’t you ever listen?”
Too curious for my own good, I studied the impressive weapon. “Is this the new model you talked about? The one for the Huntsmen?”
“Yes.” My father came to stand next to me and reached out to take the gun with his prosthetic hand. “I’ll let you play around with it once Khan has had a chance to test it for himself.”
“You wanted to see us?” Aubri and Freya walked in with jackets on, suggesting that they had been outside when our fathers had summoned them.
“That’s right. Now all we need are Thor and Indiana to get their asses up here. They were in the basement sparring.”
“Why weren’t you with them?” my father asked me.
“Because I already spared with Solo this morning.”
“Then what were you doing?” Grabbing onto the front of my shirt, Magni pulled me closer and looked into my eyes like he wanted to read my mind. “Tell me you didn’t climb the walls again.”
I averted my eyes and pressed my lips together.
With a groan, my dad released me. “At least tell me you used safety equipment this time.”
My silence made everyone stare at me with disappointment.
“That’s not fair, Mason. You told me never to climb the mansion without you around and to always use proper safety gear.” My twin sister Aubri pushed at my shoulder.
“It’s different,” I claimed but only received an eyeroll from my cousin Freya.
“What’s wrong with taking the stairs? The façade must be what… fifty feet high? Why do you always have to seek out danger?”
“Because it’s fun,” my sister said as if Freya had asked a stupid question.
“You two better stay away from my window.”
Before I could tell Freya that I never climbed close to her window, I was distracted by the sound of a slamming door followed by running steps.
Khan moved to the door and as soon as Thor and Indiana were inside, he closed it and pointed to the large meeting table made from a massive slab of live edge wood. “Sit.”
Picking up the strange tension from our fathers, I exchanged glances with the four others and sat down.
Khan’s deep voice filled his office. “The reason we called you five here is because once again the council members in the Motherlands have gotten a crazy idea that affects us. It’s obvious that they will never give up on their overall agenda of getting the Northlands to surrender and become part of their empire. Since they know they can never succeed as long as I’m the ruler of this country, they have decided to prep for the future.”
“How?” I asked and received one of Khan’s don’t interrupt me glares.
“The council has decided to host a summer summit for future leaders of the world. They’ve asked that we send five representatives from the Northlands.”
“What do they mean by future leaders? We all know that Thor will be your successor.”
Khan, who was slowly circling the table with his hands clasped at his back, stopped and addressed Aubri. “You’re right, except now that we have elections in the Northlands, that’s not guaranteed. The point is that the council has invited us to a summit for future leaders of the world. They say that their aim for the summit is to provide an opportunity for future leaders in the Motherlands, Northlands, and Old Europe to establish bonds of friendships among the next generation of leaders.
Freya tilted her head and opened her mouth, but Khan held up a hand to stop his daughter. “Save your questions. First, you’ll listen to the information that we have.”
She closed her mouth and folded her hands on the table in front of her.
“From the invitation we know that the summit will take place in August, eight months from now. It will last a full week. Every participant must be between twelve and eighteen years old for the first summit in August. The same five representatives from each nation are expected to meet every summer over the coming years to continuously develop friendships and bond across the borders.”
Magni took over. “The invitation also states that the honor of hosting the summit will rotate between the three nations. That means that every three years, we’ll be having the summit here in the Northlands.”
“You want the five of us to go?” My twin sister’s excitement didn’t surprise me, as Aubri had been adventurous since the day she was born.
Unlike us five teenagers all sitting at the table, Khan and Magni were moving around the room. My uncle had a pissed-off expression on his face when he spoke. “Yes, of course I want you five to go. Why else would I have brought you in here to discuss the summit?”
“You’re not pleased.” Freya’s words weren’t a question. She was stating the obvious and her father answered with a huff.
“No, I’m not fucking pleased. I’m the sole ruler of the Northlands and I don’t see the need for you youngsters to sit around and discuss your plans for taking over world power.” Khan stuffed his hands under his armpits and lowered his chin with his eyebrows drawn close. “My first reaction was to tell the council to fuck off, but your mother says I’m overreacting and that this is a good thing.”
“It’s rare that I agree with Pearl, but she does have a point.” Magni’s voice rumbled. “This is an opportunity for us to position us Northlanders as the future leaders of the world. The Motlanders and Europeans might want bonds of friendship, but we Northlanders want influence.”
I nodded my head and folded my fist. “That’s right. It’s about time they start listening to us.”
“Are you sure the Europeans want friendship?” Freya asked in a calm voice. “From what I’ve heard from Jonah, they haven’t been forthcoming. They lied when they were first found and made it sound like there were a few thousand of them. That whole survival story of thirty- eight scientists in survival bunkers turned out to be false. I wouldn’t trust them to be my friends with the amount of lies they’ve already told the council.”