Page 20 of The Warrior
“What do you mean?”
She refocused and tilted her head. “Laura, we could use your knowledge on how to deal with the men of the North. Don’t think I’m not aware that they have a large advantage with my daughter being Khan’s adviser. If we hadn’t had Athena talk Khan out of having seventy-five percent males on the Council…” She shook her head and closed her eyes. “The thought ofonemale on the council frightens me.”
“Khan isn’t a bad ruler,” I said in an attempt to comfort her.
Isobel’s eyebrows arched up. “Khan is a dictator who doesn’t want to hear about democracy, but at least there will be two rulers in the Northlands.”
“Excuse me?”
Leaning back in her chair, Isobel sighed. “Khan insisted on males on the Council. I suppose that we’re better off including Motlander males on our own terms. The alternative at this moment is to risk being invaded by Nmen who would close down the Council altogether. From now on we’ll have to pick boys to be trained as Council members. Potentially we could have fifty percent males on the council in as little as ten to twenty years. When that happens, Khan has to appoint Pearl his co-ruler.”
I jerked back. “But what about Magni? He’s the second in command. I don’t think he’d ever agree to that.”
“I don’t know how Khan will explain it to him.” Isobel’s voice lowered and her face fell into a sad expression. “My heart goes out to you, dear Laura. I don’t like to be negative and say upsetting things about your husband. But with the anger Magni displayed in the meeting today, I don’t blame you for running away in the first place. That man is truly frightening. At least you don’t have to worry about him now. You never have to see him again. Feel free to build your life here with us.”
I shifted my balance from one foot to the other. “I’m not trying to get away from Magni. I mean, sure he’s got a temper, but he’s also caring and good to me.”
Isobel lowered her eyebrows. “Interesting. I’ve heard about this phenomenon. You’re not the first woman to defend her abuser.”
“What do you mean abuser? Magni never abused me.”
“Then I must be misinformed. I was told he admitted to hitting you.”
“Spanking me, not hitting me.”
Isobel moved in her chair. “I don’t understand. What is the difference?”
I shrugged, not knowing how to explain something that I’d never questioned. “To me there’s a difference. If Magni hit me across the face, I would be furious with him. The spanking is just something men do. My father did it to my mother, my sister’s husband does it to her. My best friend Laila Michelle gets spanked by her husband too. It’s not a big deal and it doesn’t hurt much.”
Isobel reached for my hand. “It’s never okay for another person to lay a hand on you.Never.”
“Then why are you touching me?”
Her eyes dropped to our hands. “No, I meant, it’s never okay for someone to hurt you.”
“Magni doesn’thurtme.”
There was pity in Isobel’s eyes. “It’s okay, Laura. In time you’ll come to see things more clearly.” She moved back again, holding a hand to her forehead. “And to think that we just agreed to Motlander women being allowed to enter relationships with Northmen. Pearl insisted that Khan doesn’t hit her, but from what you just told me it sounds like he’s an anomaly and Magni is the standard.” Her chest heaved in a deep intake of air that she exhaled with some noise. “May our women who join the Nmen forgive us for not protecting them from their own stupidity.”
I forgave Isobel for the insult to my people since she was overtired and stressed out with all the changes happening.
“Pearl told you why I’ve come back, right?” I asked.
“Yes, yes,” Isobel straightened up. “And we could use your help chasing the bad men who escaped us at the border. The good news is that four of them have already been captured. The last fifteen we’re still chasing and we have leads on some of them.”
“Good.”
“Under normal circumstances we wouldn’t allow someone without mediator training to do this kind of work, but nothing about this situation is normal, so we’ll make an exception. The only thing is that I’ll need you to leave your weapons here. Pearl told me you’re carrying lethal weapons and we don’t allow those.”
“But I need them in case the men are armed.”
“We don’t kill people in the Motherlands.” She pointed to a table in front of us. “You can put your weapons there and I’ll make sure they are returned to Magni.”
“No,” I exclaimed, “that will only make him worry more.”
“All right, then we’ll just lock them up for now. For your safety and for practical purposes, however, we’re teaming you up with one of our most skilled mediators. His name is Hans and he will make sure to supply you with a numb gun and a net gun. That should be sufficient.”
“I don’t need a partner.”
