by Elin Peer
“I told you, didn’t I?” Magni had told me when he found out Kya and I had fallen in love. “A good spanking arouses women; I’m sure that’s what did the trick.”
Pearl stood next to Christina and Boulder, and they all looked so happy for us.
I wanted to smile and enjoy the moment, but every nerve ending on my body was on alert, expecting Kya to back out at any second now.
Despite the chill of the morning, I could feel sweat running down my spine and my palms were getting clammy.
If Kya refused me now, I didn’t know what I would do.
“We are gathered here today to marry this man and this woman,” Khan said and looked more regal than ever.
My eyes were locked on Kya, observing her much as I would observe a skittish deer. Any moment now, she would run. I just knew it.
“Do you, Archer Rex, take Kya Janae as your wife?”
“I do!” I said loud and clear.
“And do you, Kya Janae, take Archer Rex as your husband?”
Kya cleared her throat and my heart rate jumped to two hundred. This was it, she was going to say no.
“Yes, I do,” she said hoarsely and I closed my eyes in relief.
Opening and closing my fists to release some of the tension that had built in my body, I visibly blew out a deep breath and heard laughter from our audience.
“Then I now declare you man and wife.” Khan’s deep voice sounded like the sweetest music when he spoke those eight words.
Pulling Kya close, I forgot about the children and didn’t hold back when I kissed my beautiful bride.
Our audience was cheering, and soon we were surrounded by well-wishers pulling us apart to congratulate us.
Kya
“Now don’t get any funny ideas and run back to the Motherlands,” Magni told me. “A wife is supposed to support her husband and be with him – not go chasing after some idiotic dream in another country.”
“I’m sure Laura will be back soon,” I said and opened my arms to hug him.
Magni took a step back with deep frown lines on his forehead. “Are you trying to get me killed?” His eyes flew to Archer, who stood surrounded by a group of the boys. “I can’t touch you without your husband’s permission.”
“You used to be my protector; I’m sure Archer knows he can trust you.”
Magni still held up a hand to keep me away. “Nah, I think it’s better if we keep this platonic.”
“I would say a hug still qualifies as a platonic relationship.”
“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t feel right about it,” he said and kept his distance.
“Archer,” I called to my new husband. “Does Magni have your permission to give me a hug?”
Archer narrowed his eyes at Magni before he broke into a grin. “How the tables have turned, my friend.”
“Very funny, but I already told Kya that it’s better if we don’t hug. I don’t share the Motlander fetish for touching.”
Archer’s grin told me he didn’t feel threatened, and I had no more patience for their territorial games. “Just give me that hug already,” I said and flung my arms around Magni.
Magni was stiff when I whispered into his ear: “You don’t fool me. Even big brutes like you need a hug now and then.”
He didn’t answer me, but his arms closed around my waist and he lifted me a little from the ground.
“See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” I teased.
“No, but you seem to forget that we Northmen hug each other.” Lifting his chin he said: “I get plenty of hugs.”
I scoffed a little. “Those aren’t real hugs. With the way you slam your chests against each other and pound the other person’s back as if you’re trying to leave bruises, it looks more like an invitation to wrestle than a loving hug.”
Magni crossed his arms, probably to make sure I didn’t hug him again. “I’ll admit a female’s hug is very different. Not bad, just softer.”
I chuckled. “Soft is good when it comes to hugging,” I said. “You can always get a hug from me if you need it. We’re friends.”
“Thanks, that’s nice of you, but I’m good. Mila and Paysey have already generously given me a hug each.” Magni didn’t smile often, but talking about the girls softened the edges around his eyes and his lips pursed upward.
Spotting that Christina was waiting to talk to me, I excused myself. I had already apologized to her for lying about my mother, but everything had been so hectic this morning, and I knew she had a lot of questions that I still hadn’t answered.
“I’m trying to wrap my head around this,” she said when I pulled her to the side a little. “I get the part about your not wanting me to get my hopes up, but I just overheard Finn said that he knew about you two. Why did you tell him and not me?” There was a small pout on her lips.
“We didn’t. Finn walked in on us on the first night we were together. We made him swear that he wouldn’t tell a soul.”
“Would you have told me, eventually?” she asked.
I took Christina’s hands. “Of course! Trust me, I wanted to tell you so many times, and I’m really sorry you had to find out about it like this.”
Boulder came to join us and wrapped his arm around his wife just as Christina was saying: “My disappointment about your keeping it a secret is largely overshadowed by my happiness that you won’t be leaving anytime soon.”
I gave my friend a fierce hug. “Thank you so much, Ina, may you be showered with eternal blessings.”
“She already has me,” Boulder joked. “That should be enough blessing for one woman.”
I smiled widely. “So, when are you gonna tell Raven the good news?”
“Oh, this is your day, and Archer’s of course,” Christina said quickly. “Of course, we’re dying to tell her, but we don’t want to take the focus away from your wedding.”
“Are you kidding me? Don’t hold back because of us, do it now if you want to.”
Christina and Boulder exchanged an excited glance. “Are you sure?”
I pointed to the school building. “I’m pretty sure Raven went inside with Shelly to bake cakes for all of us. You can use the office to talk with her in private, or ask her to take a walk in the forest with you two,” I said. “On second thought, that last option might be risky, since Raven will probably invite all her friends to come along.”
The sudden deafening shouts had us all spinning to find the source. Over by the school building, Magni was growling and violently shoving at Solomon with pure rage on his face. The boy fell backward, landing on the grass and using his feet to push away without taking his eyes off the furious giant in front of him.
“What the fuck!” Boulder exclaimed, and Christina and I followed on his tail when he ran to the scene.
“That’s right, you little weasel, crawl on the ground like the dog you are,” Magni shouted at Solomon, whose eyes had grown double their size.
Archer, Marco, and Boulder moved in between Solomon, who still scrambled on the ground, and Magni, who seemed to have lost his mind with rage.
Archer spread his arms out as if forming a human shield to protect his student, and kept his eyes fixed on Magni.
“What happened?” I asked as loud as my hoarse voice would allow.
Archer shot me a warning glance. “Kya, you stay out of this, you hear me?”
I couldn’t imagine Magni hurting me, but then I’d never seen him lose it like this before.
The Motlander children were quickly huddling together behind me and Christina, and I instinctively pulled Victoria under my arm when I heard her crying.
“What is going on?” Khan demanded as he exited the school with Pearl, Shelly, and a few of the children behind him. Pearl made sure she and the children kept their distance from Magni, who paced like a hungry lion in front of the wall of human muscle that Archer, Marco, and Boulder formed between him and Solomon.
“What happened?” Khan repeated.
Pointing accusingly at Solomon, Magni spit ou
t his words. “I just caught this fucker kissing one of the girls behind the school building.”
All eyes turned to the corner Magni and Solomon had come from and sure enough, a terrified Willow stood with tears running down her cheeks, lips that trembled, and arms wrapped tightly around herself.
Magni roared at Solomon. “What did I tell you on the first day of school? What part of ‘Don’t fucking touch the girls’ didn’t you understand?”
“Maybe we could give him a chance to explain,” Archer suggested and held up his hands in a placating manner that unfortunately did nothing to soothe Magni.
“There’s nothing to explain, I fucking saw his filthy hands on her body and his mouth on hers. Nobody touches the girls,” Magni barked.
Khan moved over to stand next to Magni and placed a calming hand on his shoulder. Still consumed with anger, Magni brushed it off and kept his focus on Solomon, who was still on the ground and looked like he was afraid to move a muscle.
If Magni had a scale of anger, this would have to be a ten out of ten. The veins on his neck were showing and his face was red with anger. “How long has this been going on?” he shouted and gestured to Archer and Marco. “And where the fuck were you two? She’s twelve years old for fuck’s sake.” His words were dripping with blame as he stabbed his finger in Willow’s direction.
I couldn’t stand seeing Willow so vulnerable and alone, so I signaled for Shelly to take my place with Victoria and the other girls. Quietly, I walked over and placed my arms protectively around the frightened girl.
“Why are you protecting the little fucker?” Magni hissed at the three men between him and Solomon.
Khan’s voice was surprisingly calm. “Stop shouting, will you? You’re scaring the children,” he said and didn’t show a grain of fear for his brother.
“Good.” Magni swung his whole body to speak to the Nboys, who stood to the side with Finn. “Then maybe you will think twice about doing something as stupid as Solo. Or maybe you all thought I was joking when I said I’d string you up by your puny testicles.”
The Nboys quickly shook their heads.
Magni paced some more and kept looking at Solomon, whose Adam’s apple was bobbing heavily in his throat.
“I’m sorry.” His voice broke. “I didn’t mean to do it.”
“Didn’t I tell you on the first day of school to shut your fucking mouth?” Magni shouted.
“The boy is in love,” Archer interjected, but that only made Magni snort.
“In love! Ha – if being in love with a female was an excuse to kiss and touch her, no female would be safe in the Northlands. You know as well as I do that we have strict rules for a reason.” Again Magni swung his head to the group of boys. “Every male older than ten knows what the price of touching a female is, isn’t that right?”
They collectively looked down.
“William,” Magni called. “You’re the youngest of the boys; tell me what I should do to Solo for his offense.”
William’s hands were clammed into fists and his lips were pressed firmly together, but nothing could make him say the verdict out loud.
Finn stepped in front of William. “Calm down, Magni, you are not going to kill Solo.”
“This is an experiment,” Khan said loudly, pulling all attention back to him. “We knew unforeseen things could happen and this is one of them. I’m sure Solo didn’t kiss Willow without her permission.” Khan looked to the frightened boy. “Did you?”
“No,” he said quickly and shot a pleading glance at Willow, who was sniffling from all the tears running down her cheeks.
“Speak up, Willow. Did Solo molest you or did you give him permission?”
“I wanted him to kiss me,” she said in a vague voice.
“What was that?” Khan called out.
“She said that she wanted Solo to kiss her,” I repeated for her.
“And I’ll be thirteen in two weeks,” Willow bravely added.
“She’s still nothing but a child and it doesn’t matter if she gave permission. He fucking knew the rules and the punishment for breaking them.” Magni had stopped pacing and was now standing with his hands on his hips.
Pearl spoke up. “You’re forgetting that Willow isn’t one of your females. The normal rules of the Northlands don’t apply to Willow. Her body is her own and she is free to kiss any boys she chooses to.”
Magni scowled at Pearl and growled in the back of his throat.
“Kya, Archer, and I will take it from here. The rest of you go back to enjoying the day,” Khan said in a voice full of authority and pointed to Willow and Solomon. “You two are coming with us to the office.”
Magni narrowed his eyes and pointed to Solomon. “You’d better not go easy on him.”
“We’ll find an appropriate punishment,” Khan said and placed a calming hand on his brother’s shoulder.
The anger finally seemed to ease out of Magni a little, but he still frowned at Khan. “Okay, but just don’t let them talk you into one of their fucking love circles.” He spat on the ground like the very concept offended him.
“I promise,” Khan said solemnly and led the way to the office with me and Willow right behind him. Willow was slightly taller than me but clung to me like the scared child she was. Archer walked in with Solomon, and closed the door behind them.
“Who wants to tell me what happened?” Khan said and sat on the edge of the desk.
Willow’s crying picked up again, and Solomon kept his head down.
“Tell us what happened, Solo,” Khan ordered.
The confident and proud young man had been reduced to a boy scared out of his mind, and his voice broke when he finally spoke.
“Nothing happened.”
Khan stood up from the table, took one step forward, and smacked the youngster on his cheek. “Don’t you ever fucking lie to me,” he said with disgust.
A large red mark formed on Solomon’s face, but the young man didn’t whine like Sky had done when she was being punished in this office.
“Have you kissed other girls?”
Solomon shook his head.
“And is this the first time you kissed Willow?” Khan asked with a hard expression on his face.
“No,” Solomon admitted.
“How many times did you kiss her?” he asked.
“Four.”
I tightened my grip around Willow when her crying intensified.
“Have you done more than kissing?” Khan asked. “Did you two have sex?”
“Nooo,” Solomon cried out. “Nothing like that. She’s only twelve.”
“And you’re only fourteen,” Archer said harshly. “That’s old enough to know the consequences of your actions.”
“Please don’t kill me.” Solomon sucked in his lips, grimacing in fear.
“Did anyone really get killed for touching a female?” I asked softly. My words made Willow cry even harder.
Both Khan and Archer gave me a grim look. “It’s rare,” Khan said. “Most men understand why we have the rules and they have heard enough stories to know we take them seriously.
“I grew up with a guy named King. He was a good man but he touched another man’s wife, and had his throat slit because of it.
“Last week I almost killed one of my guards for undressing Pearl with his eyes.”
I gasped and Khan gave a small shake of his head.
“Don’t give me that look, Kya. I said almost – which means the guard is still alive.” He lowered his voice to a mumble. “He’ll be freezing his ass off in old Alaska this winter.”
“But Willow isn’t married, and I didn’t force her,” Solomon argued. “We… we love each other,” he stammered.
“Is that right?” Khan sighed and sat down on the desk again. “What are you? Romeo and Juliet?”
“I don’t know who they are,” Solomon said without looking at Khan. “My name is Solo.”
“I know what your name is, stupid.” Khan rolled his eyes and turned his focu
s on Willow. “Tell me why you let him kiss you?”
Willow tensed up and I stroked her back. “It’s okay, you can speak up.”
“He’s my boyfriend,” Willow whispered.
Khan’s head fell forward and for a split-second I thought I saw a tiny smile. I quickly disregarded it however, because when Khan lifted his head again, he looked dead serious. “Your boyfriend, huh?”
Willow nodded.
“So, what’s the plan then? Are you gonna stay and marry him when you turn eighteen or are you just having fun until you decide you want a new boyfriend?”
Willow licked her lips nervously. “I don’t want another boyfriend.”
“And how about you; what are your intentions toward Willow?” He asked Solomon.
The young man lifted his chin and spoke clearly. “I would fight to marry her today, if I could.”
Archer and I exchanged a glance. It was easy to dismiss their feelings because of their young age, but there was no doubt in my mind that it felt real to them.
Khan cleared his throat and looked at me and Archer. “It’s your wedding day, and as a present to you, I will leave the destiny of these two lovebirds in your hands.”
Shifting my balance, I took a deep breath of relief. “Well, to be honest: Pearl was right. Willow isn’t one of your females and I would argue that youthful curiosity is natural,” I said, and added, “Although I haven’t been in this particular situation before.”
“That’s true, but Solomon should still be punished,” Khan said.
“And he will be,” Archer said firmly.
“Good, then I think my work here is done.” With those words Khan left Archer, me, and the children in the room. Archer pointed to the two chairs in front of the desk. “Sit down,” he said and walked over to take the chair behind the desk. “I think it’s been established that you’re lucky Magni didn’t kill you on the spot,” he said to Solomon.
A strange noise came from the back of Solomon’s throat.
“May I talk to you outside?” I asked Archer.
He nodded and we left the two people on trial alone for a minute.
