“No, but just normal names.”
“Normal to who? You?” he asked dryly.
“Seriously though, Khan Aurelius?”
“Yes, after Genghis Khan and Marcus Aurelius, some of the greatest men who ever lived.”
“I know who he’s named after; I’m a history professor and archeologist,” I reminded him. “I suppose you’re named after Alexander the Great?”
He nodded with an expression of self-importance. “A name has power – if you tell a wolf it’s a chicken it loses strength.”
I laughed then. Long and hard. “How exactly would you tell a wolf that it’s a chicken?”
“Bad example,” he admitted. “But everyone knows that words have power; why else would you object to me calling you a girl?”
That shut me up. He was right. Being called a girl had felt demeaning. I was a grown woman and equal to a man. A girl equaled a boy.
“We honor our boys by naming them after great men because it’s a reminder that those great men were once boys too. Every boy has a destiny, and for some of these boys it could be to grow up and rule the world.”
I swung my head toward him. “The world?”
“I meant the Northlands,” he added quickly.
His words confirmed to me that men were naturally inclined to seek power.
“And what kind of rulers would they be?”
“Firm rulers.”
“What kind of ruler is Khan Aurelius?”
Boulder seemed to think about it. “You’ll meet him soon enough and then you can make up your own mind. He’s excited to meet you, but I should warn you.”
“About what?”
“We were all expecting a man.”
“But Councilwoman Pearl said she sent a message. Didn’t you get it?”
“Yes, but it was of bad quality and we mistook your name as being Christian Sanders.
I tilted my head. “Christian, now that’s a nice name for a boy – much better than Khan Aurelius.”
Alexander shook his head. “I wouldn’t say that to his face if I were you.”
CHAPTER 7
The Unexpected
Boulder
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw a woman walking in the middle of the road. Hardly anyone crosses that border on foot, and certainly not a woman. It was bad enough that Khan was a sore loser and made me babysit some whimsical man from the Motherlands, but I couldn’t let this defenseless woman continue without protection.
I brought my hybrid to a landing and got out to approach the woman. It was the most bizarre thing ever. She wasn’t an old crone like the people we trade with at the border. She was young.
Because I was a close friend to our ruler, I had seen a real woman before. There were several men in Khan’s elite circle that had wives. Still, the women were always kept mostly out of sight, so for me to be alone with one was a first.
Anger filled me. Did she not know what could happen to a defenseless woman? What if I hadn’t come across her and some tradesman had found her? The thought was disturbing.
