The last man stepped forward and mumbled something I couldn’t hear.
“Speak up,” Khan ordered but the man pointed to his mouth and repeated something in a mumble.
“He broke his jaw. It’s hard for him to speak,” Archer, who stood closest to the man, translated.
I turned my head to meet Boulder’s eyes, wondering why he stood by Khan’s side instead of in the line of men. “And you?”
He shook his head. “I hardly need to introduce myself, and with a broken arm you don’t want to choose me.”
I gave him a long glance, silently asking if he was sure. Boulder’s chest rose in a deep sigh and then he looked at Archer – giving me his answer.
I took a deep breath and studied Archer closer. He was the obvious choice: young, strong, and smiling.
“In that case I choose you,” I said and pointed to the tall man.
Archer’s fists flew in the air and he jumped with glee. “Yes!!”
Applause filled the air from the audience. I gave a last glance at Boulder and didn’t like the way his head hung down.
“Congratulations,” Khan told Archer and shook his hand. I figured this would be the place to greet the winner properly so I walked over and reached out my hands to him. He didn’t take them but instead he grabbed me by my waist and lifted me in the air, carrying me around like a trophy.
“Let me down,” I demanded and when he did I smiled stiffly at him. “I feel bad about taking you away from your students.”
He shook his head. “Not at all, we’ll go back tomorrow and you’ll meet them all.”
My smile vanished.
“That’s not possible. I have a job to do and I need to get started right away.”
He frowned. “A job?”
All the color left my face and I turned away from him, moving fast to face Khan. “Why does Archer think I’m going with him? And why does he not know about my job here? Did you not explain to him that he’s merely my bodyguard?”
Khan looked down his nose at me with a smile I didn’t like. “I’m afraid, I haven’t been quite honest with Archer. After all, I expected you to pick Boulder. How was I to know he would break his arm?”
Archer had moved closer and asked, “What’s wrong?”
With a hand in the air, Khan silenced the audience. “As you all know, this is a different ceremony than previous ones.”
Absolute silence fell and I had my eyes fixed on Khan as he spoke.
“Normally the woman is born and raised among us – Christina Sanders is not.
“Another thing that is different about her is that she has a profession and she’s here to do a job.”
I scanned the audience when unease spread among them.
“Christina has chosen Archer to be her protector while she leads the excavation of an important archeological digging site. Now it’s up to Archer if he’ll take the money, prestige, and stay to make sure she’s safe while she works.”
Archer looked furious “What kind of fuckery is this? I have obligations with my students and I was expecting to take my wife home tomorrow.”
“Wife?” The word came out of me as a high-pitched scream and my head whipped from Khan to Archer and back, but Khan didn’t look the least bit shaken.
“A champion is the woman’s husband,” he said, loud and clear. “It’s the oldest tradition of keeping women safe in history. I’m sure I’ve mentioned that to you.”
“No, younevermentioned the wordwife,” I forced out, feeling my heart run in circles of sheer panic.
He shrugged. “It’s a minor detail really. The contract is still the same.”
