“It needs to sit for a few minutes,” he said with a smile and walked away. Boulder leaned against the mansion wall and lifted his face to the sun. He was too far away to hear our conversation but close enough to keep an eye on us.
“In order for me to do my work and be safe, I was informed that I needed a bodyguard when I first arrived,” I started. “They never realized that I was a woman until I actually arrived, and at first they wanted to send me back.”
Pearl listened attentively.
“I didn’t fully comprehend what they meant by a bodyguard until I had to choose my champion. You see, Khan arranged a tournament where the men fought each other to show their bravery and strength to me.”
Her eyes narrowed but she didn’t interrupt me.
“Some men died and I was horrified, but in the end, I was left with four men to choose from. Boulder was out because he broke his arm so I chose a younger man, who looked like a suitable bodyguard, but then he started referring to me as his wife, and I realized they had tricked me.”
“Go on,” Pearl said, lost in my story.
“They were all strangers, except Boulder, whom I had spent three days with.” I looked down. “I told Khan I would never marry in my life and he said I was free to leave, but that he doubted I would make it to the border without protection.”
“Hedidn’t,” she breathed.
I nodded. “He did, and so I hid behind Boulder, who only knew one way to protect me.”
“How?”
“He married me and made me untouchable to anyone but him.”
Pearl gasped. “You’remarriedto that man.”
I closed my eyes, realizing how horrible it must sound to her. “Yes,” I confirmed.
It took her a moment to regain her composure but when she did she asked, “And how is he treating you?”
“He’s…” I thought about it. “Different, but nice.”
“Different how?”
“Well, for one, he curses a lot and he has bad manners. He eats meat and he… well, look at him. He’s not very concerned about his appearance, is he?”
“I don’t know. They all look kind of scrubby to me,” Pearl mused. “Maybe that’s how they like to look.”
“I’ve seen a few without beards and some with braids but most of them look savage,” I said and waved a fly from my face.
“I agree.” Pearl frowned. “I was picked up on the border by a man that scared me a lot. His name was Magni and he introduced himself as Khan’s younger brother.”
“Magni is Laura’s husband. The woman who ran away,” I explained.
“Ah, yes, I understood that much.”
“Have you found her?” I asked worriedly.
Pearl’s eyes looked back to Boulder and in an almost-whisper she said: “Of course.”
“How?”
“Did you think we don’t keep an eye on the border? Laura walked right up to the checkpoint and was handed over to the right people. We’re trying to help her acclimatize to her new surroundings but she’s fine.”
“But if you know where she is, why are you here?”
Pearl blinked at me. “My dear, we couldn’t in good conscience return her to a place where none of us want to live, could we?”
“But then why not simply tell Khan that Laura doesn’t want to be returned?”
