The surprise on Boulder’s and Khan’s faces spoke volumes, and their eyes grew large when Magni pulled the cloak back and revealed a woman I’d never seen before.
Covering my mouth, I swallowed a gasp when I saw the mark on her face.A priestess!
“Son of the devil.” Khan’s voice was shaking with anger. “What the fuckingfuckdid you do?”
“I told you I couldn’t find Laura, and until they hand her back to me, I’m keeping this one hostage.”
“You fucking moron.” Boulder had both hands in his hair. “You kidnapped a woman and broke the peace treaty. What the hell were you thinking?”
Taking one large step, Magni stood nose to nose with Boulder, hissing at him. “You would have done the same thing if your wife had left you.”
I blinked, confused by those words. Surely Magni’s possessive rage had made him forget that my marriage to Boulder was always meant to be temporary and a practical solution only.
“Break it up,” Khan ordered the men and walked closer to the woman. “What’s your name?”
Raising her chin up and meeting Khan’s stare, she answered him. “My name is Athena.”
“Welcome, Athena.” Khan bowed his head to her. “I regret that we meet under such unpleasant circumstances. My name is Khan Aurelius and I’m the ruler of the Northlands.”
“Wonderful,” she said in a voice trained to be kind and polite like mine. “Then I’m sure you’ll be more than willing to return me safely back home.”
“No!” Magni roared. “Not until I get Laura back.”
Khan drew in a deep breath and turned to Boulder. “Will you please stay with Athena for a moment? I wish to speak to my brother privately.”
Boulder nodded and the two other men walked away.
For a few minutes everything was silent, I watched the priestess and Boulder standing together. Athena had her eyes closed and it gave me time to study her. She looked very young – I guessed her to be around twenty – and I knew that with time the small mark that she had between her brows and up her forehead would become bigger as she advanced as a priestess. I was too far away to see what symbols were already there.
She almost reached Boulder’s shoulder and had long red hair like Laura, only where Laura’s was almost orange this woman’s hair was a dark auburn in the most magnificent color that contrasted with her long simple green dress.
“Are you hungry or thirsty?” Boulder asked her.
“Thank you, but no,” she said and opened her eyes, looking straight up atme.
With my heart beating like a drum I pulled further back into the shadows, hoping she wouldn’t betray me to Boulder.
“I’m just not happy with the situation,” I heard her say.
“I understand” was his short answer.
“What is your name?” she asked him.
“Alexander, but everyone calls me Boulder.”
“What a shame,” she said softly. “Alexander is a beautiful name.”
“So is Athena.”
“Thank you.”
When Magni and Khan returned, they brought Finn with them. I had met him at dinner a few times, as he was one of Khan’s good friends and was currently staying at the mansion. He was a genius at making the men laugh and didn’t seem to take anything too seriously, and right now the idiot was smiling – as if there was anything good about this situation.
“Athena,” Khan started. “This is Finn MacCumhail. He’s a good friend of mine and I’ve appointed him to be your personal bodyguard while you’re in my house. Given the circumstances you arrived under, I doubt you would feel safe with my brother.”
Magni stood quietly with his arms crossed, while Athena looked at Finn without returning his wide smile.
“I’ll let the Motherlands Council know that you’re here and that you’re safe. Hopefully, Laura will be returned to us quickly so you can go home.” Khan was less grumpy now and a vague hint of his usual charm had returned. “You might be pleased to hear that we have another woman here from the Motherlands. She’s an archeologist who is helping us excavate an old library.” His lips pursed upward. “It’s late now, but tomorrow, I’ll let you meet her and hopefully she can testify that we’re not as horrible as you might think right now.”
