Summer in Greylands was always longer and brighter. Sun would shine to its heart’s content. Nights were colder like it was desert. It was noon and was a hot day. A beautiful tall lady with her daughter was out in the market to buy groceries. She wore red heels, blue trousers, and blacktop. She had a white hat on her head and glasses that covered a lot of her face. Her daughter was walking behind her mother and their butler carrying the two packets of groceries they had just bought. She loved buying the household things by herself, so once in a while, she would go into the markets, spend a few hours there and enjoy the look on the faces of the people when they would see her. For she often called the most beautiful and powerful woman in the whole land of the west-continent.
Her name was Queenie, Queenie Wolf, wife of Victor Wolf, the most influential, powerful, and ruthless person in Greylands. If there was a king in Greylands, that would be Victor Wolf. They had only one child, Natasha. Queenie was in her late 30s but looked like she was only 25. Natasha was turning 18 soon. And Victor, he was 43.
There was a certain appeal with Queenie and Natasha, for whenever they were present at a gathering, they were always the center of attention. It was also due to the immense power of Victor, that everybody wanted to be friends with them. Trying to book a favor or two with them. About Natasha, she had inherited a lot from her parents. The cunning and intellect of mother, the ruthlessness and strength of her father. Her only weakness or some called it strength was her anger. The only person in the whole world who could control her was her mother. Even her father would not bother her when she was angry. But Queenie was a different story. She had her ways with her daughter and well, with everybody.
They bought some groceries and a few other things. They went back to the car. The butler opened the door for them and they got in the back of the car. This car was white and had a wolf family crest in place of a number plate, a black wolf with red burning eyes. They both were sitting in the back seat, heads held high and a sort of charisma of high class, oozing from them. The butler turned his hand and touched a black circle on the steering wheel with his ring. A with a low melodious sound the car moved forward.
They didn’t talk the whole way and kept on drinking from stylish built-in glasses that emerged along with chilled soda from the walls of the car. Sometimes they would look in the plasma for the latest news, which was also in the car right in front of them.
After 15 minutes of drive, the car stopped in front of a gigantic black and white gate. The butler pressed a blue button around the dashboard and the gate started opening. The car moved slowly and then kept moving at a medium pace. It was a huge estate inside the outer walls. Green grass and plants of thousands of kinds covered the surroundings. A lot of small buildings were within these walls as well. The attraction was at the center, the wolf mansion. It was not a mansion but a castle-like building that stood a the center of the surrounding walls. Another amazing thing about this house was that the castle was right in the center of the circle made by outer walls. Outer walls made a circle and the center castle-like building was rectangular shaped. It was a black-colored castle that had 7 floors. The outer walls were white-colored. A huge solid wolf’s face made of a special alloy stood in front of the castle’s main gate.
The car stopped near the main door of the castle and Queenie got out with Natasha. They walked towards the door and it opened automatically. The butler to out of the shopping and walked right behind them into the mansion. The mention had a black exterior but the interior was a different story. It was very colorful and thousands and thousands of lights were lit inside. The decoration was amazingly catchy. two-round stairs were in the main hall and were going up to the second floor. The main room of Victor and Queenie. To go to the upper floors, lifts were installed along with the side stairs which were by the side of the main door. Natasha lived on the third floor and the whole floor was under her use only. Nobody other than cleaners and attendees was allowed to go to these floors. A beautiful dining hall was under the gigantic main stairs. a huge rectangular table was placed on one side and a line of sofas on the other side. Along the wall, there was a gigantic plasma screen. From the dining hall towards the right was the door to the kitchen.
The butler moved towards the kitchen while the women sat in the hall on sofas. Queenie looked closely at Natasha, “What do you want to do on your 18th birthday?”, she asked.
“I am not sure yet, I’ll tell you when I am, can I go now?”, she answered carelessly.
“You are the daughter of Victor Wolf, so behave like it, be responsible.”, Queenie said in a harsh tone.
“I am doing the best I can, me too have a life”, Natasha replied loudly.
“You are not doing enough. We are a Wolf family and we have to maintain our reputation. Do you know why we are the most feared and powerful family in Greyland?” Queenie asked. And then after a short piercing gaze from her daughter, she answered herself, “it is because of your father’s reputation. Remember my words, protect your reputation like you protect your life. If you lose it, you lose everything, and please lose your idiotic friends and try to connect with elite families. It is expected of you”. Her sound became polite in the end.
“Whatever. We are the elite among elites. I don’t know why I have to make develop any relations with those idiots. Anyway, I will see what I can do. Now please can I go now.” She said and got up from the sofa.
“Alright, I will suffer this attitude of yours for another week only. Now that you are turning 18 next week. I hope you will grow. If you don’t show any progress in your relations with important people, Victor will have a few words with you”, Queenie said at a fast pace, got up, and started walking outside the hall and to the stairs which lead to her floor. Natasha was silently standing there wondering, she had never seen anybody winning an argument or closing a statement before her mother. She was always the one to say something and leave the room. It was like she would die rather than lose. In a way, Natasha loved this about her mom and was following her steps slowly in her own way.
Victor Wolf was the most powerful man in Greylands and among very few people in the whole empire with a direct shell line to the king. Shells were the devices used to communicate in short or long distances. They were powered by the carrier’s own magic and since every mage had a unique signature of his magical power, hence that signal was used magically to call a specific person. People with no magic could always use the essence-powered shells, like everything in the empire. Victor’s main power was his mafia network, which was active all year, dealing in all sorts of legal and illegal activities. He had dozens of clubs and underground spots around the capital of Greylands. He had inherited a never-ending gold supply from his father. For, gold was the ultimate currency in the Rear World.
It was not only the mafia that he was powerful. Every intelligent person in these lands knew that there was something else supporting Victor. The king never interfered in Mafia’s matters as long as there wasn’t any big trouble. So, the local police never interfered in Victor’s affairs. It was also due to the deep influence of the Wolf family in Greylands, who had always supported the current king and his claim to the throne.
Queenie was sitting in a corner chair in her gigantic bedroom, talking to someone on her compact shell. The door opened and a tall muscular man entered. He was bald and had very shiny eyes, with intellect and cunning oozing out of them. His head was held high as it would fall down if he swayed it a little. He had a red three-piece on with a black tie around his neck. He was so muscular and healthy that even his face had small muscles and cuts of them were clear. The greatest fighter in the lands would think twice before going hand to hand with this man.
As he entered the room, Queenie felt his presence and turned towards him, said something on her shell, and put it on the front table.
“Three weeks, three weeks and now you show yourself. You know how hard it is for me to run the affairs in your absence.” She grumbled.
Without saying anything he moved at the same pace towards the opposite corner of the room and sat in the chair. Overlapped his legs lighted a cigarette, and threw some smoke out. He was smiling at her. Receiving no reply from him, her face started turning red and she yelled, “not even a shred of communication for weeks and I am getting the silent treatment”, She was serious.
“You look beautiful when you are angry, thanks for being my woman”, He uttered in a loving tone. Amazingly Queenie’s anger disappeared and there was reddish color on her cheeks and her eyes began to glow.
“Alright alright do not thank me, if somebody heard it they would think the wolf has gone soft,” she stated while looking towards the window and smiling. “It is only for you my Queenie, I will not thank even the king.”
“It is your ruthlessness that I love and your love that I cherish. Be ruthless to the world and save your love for me,” she said and swayed her hand in the air. And the air was filled with a pleasant melody.
