Page 69 of The Warrior
With a brief nod, Franklin left my office.
I might not be able to control my own wife, but I wouldn’t look the other way while Pearl sabotaged Khan and our country.
At six a.m., I was at the border to pick up Pearl.
She paled when she saw me – a sure sign that she was up to no good.
“Good morning,” I said and opened the door to the drone for her. “I was up early anyway, so I figured I might as well come get you.”
As Pearl watched me with her chin raised; a few loose tendrils from her long blond hair blew around her face in the morning breeze. From the first time I’d met Pearl, the elegant regality she carried herself with had annoyed me.
“How nice of you,” she said in a polite tone that didn’t match how stiff she was when she got into the military drone that I’d taken in order to be incognito.
As soon as we were in the air, I started my interrogation. “What kind of errands do you run in the Motherlands at this time of day?”
“I would rather not say.”
“So, you admit that you’re hiding something?”
“I have a right to privacy.”
“No, you don’t. My job is to have my brother’s back and right now I suspect treason. You’d better start talking, lady.”
Pearl gave me a stern look. “Magni, there’s really no need to be dramatic. I love Khan and I would never do anything to hurt him.”
“People do stupid things with good intentions all the time,” I said in a flat tone. “Tell me what you were doing in the Motherlands.”
“I’m sorry, but that is confidential.”
I gave a low snort. “You forget that I still outrank you. Tell me what the fuck you were doing in the Motherlands.”
“No.” Pearl turned her head, signaling that she was done with this conversation.
First Laura disobeyed me, and now Pearl was doing the same. It was infuriating and enough to give a man a headache.
Crossing my arms, I gave my most intimidating scowl. “Look at me, Pearl.”
In a slow and graceful movement, she turned her head and looked at me with no fear.
“I am done playing your games. Either you tell me what you were doing in the Motherlands or I will take you to an interrogation cell.”
“I doubt Khan is going to be happy when he hears that you threatened me.”
I shrugged. “Just doing my job.”
“Are you sure? It feels personal.” She sighed. “I’m sorry that you feel like I come between you and your brother. That’s not my intention, and I see that you’re both hurting. For the sake of keeping peace between you, I will tell you this much. I had a doctor’s appointment in the Motherlands.”
“Why? Are you sick?”
“No.”
“Then why did you go and see a doctor? We have doctors here.”
“I went to see a gynecologist?”
“A what?”
“A doctor specializing in females,” Pearl explained. “I know you have doctors here in the Northlands, but none as specialized as the ones we have in the Motherlands when it comes to female health.”
