Page 101 of The Warrior
It was striking how much more handsome Magni was when he wasn’t scowling. And maybe because my story made me relive the enormous crush I had on him throughout all my teen years, butterflies were now fluttering around in my stomach.
“When all the fighting was over, my sister and I stood in our white dresses, facing nine beat-up warriors, and Magni, who had his knuckles bruised, but otherwise looked fine. My heart was hammering and my hands were shaking, because even though I loved my sister, I didn’t trust a hundred percent that she wouldn’t pick Magni.” I sighed deeply and scrunched up my face at Mila. “And Aprildidpick him.”
“Noooo.” Mila lifted her head. “She didn’t.”
“The young man she wanted had lost his game, and nine out of the ten champions in front of us looked horrible, with swollen eyes and broken noses.”
“But your sisterknewyou wanted to marry Magni.”
“Yes, April knew. I suspect she always had a small crush on him too, and that’s why she picked him.”
“Then what happened?”
“I got mad at her and declared to Khan and everyone in the room that I wanted Magni as well.”
Magni gave a small groan. “It was a catfight.”
Mila’s eyes widened. “You fought over him?”
“There was a little pushing back and forth, but Khan would have none of it, and he announced that it would be up to Magni to pick April or me.”
“He picked you.” Mila gave a satisfied sigh. “I love this story. Did he kiss you?”
“Yes, we were married right after, and he kissed me in front of everyone.”
“It was a good kiss.” Magni gave me a small but genuine smile.
“That’s so romantic.”
Mila’s comment wiped away Magni’s smile, as if the word romantic was an insult.
“Now, enough storytelling. Close your eyes and see if you can fall asleep. Your body needs to heal,” I instructed and kept twirling Mila’s hair.
Five minutes later, her breathing had slowed down, and she was sleeping.
Magni sat in deep thought on the chair but looked over at me when I asked him a question: “You said you knew why the age of marriage had been changed from fifteen to eighteen.”
He scratched his beard. “Officially, it was because of that boy who died at Laila Michelle’s tournament. Khan and I agreed that we had to do something to prevent a tragedy like that from happening again. That’s why we changed the minimum age of the participating men from sixteen to twenty-one. At the same time, we raised the minimum age of the brides from fifteen to eighteen. Everyone assumed that the two changes were connected, but the truth is that it was because of you.”
“Me?”
He sighed. “Yes. I saw you at Laila Michelle’s tournament. You were fourteen and everyone was talking about how pretty you and your sister were, and that in less than a year we would all be fighting for you. To me you were a kid and it was sickening to hear them talk about you in a sexual way. I guess ever since that night when you were nine and trusted me to take you back to your parents, I’ve felt protective of you. That’s why I pushed Khan to change the age. My idea was that it would give you enough time to mature and grow into a woman instead of a child. I wanted him to have the same minimum age for women and men, but he refused to raise the age of the brides to twenty-one. The compromise was eighteen.”
I raised both eyebrows. “Wow, good thing that you didn’t convince him. There would’ve been a six-year gap with no tournaments. As I recall it, people didn’t take the three-year gap very well. Imagine if it had been six years.”
Magni looked down at Mila. “I still think it should be twenty-one. No one should marry as young as you did, Laura.”
That provoked me. “I was ready!” I said in a firm voice.
“Were you? How can you say that when you ran away? We haven’t even been married for two years, and you’ve already given up.” He threw his hands in the air. “You tell Mila a story about wanting me and it sounds wonderful, but the reality is very different, Laura. We both know it.”
“I didn’t mean what I said about choosing the Motherlands.”
Magni bent forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and his eyes on the floor.
“Sometimes you drive me mad with your bossy ways. I was so proud that I had brought down Devlin, and you didn’t even praise me for it.”
“When do you ever hear me praiseanyone?”
