Page 130 of The Genius
The new arrivals caused a stir.
As our ruler, Lord Khan carried himself with authority, while his brother, Magni, was a brooding giant admired by all Nmen for his extraordinary fighting skills.
Last time I had seen them had been at Luisa’s tournament, where they had both been wearing regal outfits and looked elegant. Today, the two tall brothers wore combat boots and uniforms. Magni had a smear of blood across his chest and his hair was anything but combed.
Mila came running to hug her adoptive father and spoke in a worried tone of voice. “Did you sleep at all? You look exhausted.”
“No, I didn’t sleep. We came straight here.”
Pearl came to hug Khan and they spoke in hushed voices before he turned to the rest of us. “It’s good to see all of you and I can’t wait to hear how you’re all doing. As you can see, Magni and I will need to shower before we sit down to eat with you tonight. We just stopped by to tell you that we haven’t forgotten about the celebrations and that we’ll join you in a few hours.”
Pearl and Laura walked their husbands back to the large drone and Shelly came to stand next to me. “Something’s wrong,” she muttered low. “See how serious they look.”
I agreed with her but I didn’t want her to worry. “They’re just sleep-deprived.”
“True, but something troubles them and they are in disagreement about how to handle it.”
“How do you know?”
“See how Pearl is using her hands to cut through the air. She obviously feels strongly about whatever they are discussing since she’s underlining her words with her gestures. It’s clear that Magni doesn’t like what she’s saying because he’s exhibiting eye-blocking behavior.”
“Eye-blocking behavior?”
“Yes, when we’re exposed to something that we don’t like, it’s normal to close or rub our eyes, to look down or to the side.
“You’re reading their body language, aren’t you?”
“I am. Did you know that females are believed to be three to five times better at reading body language than men? Traditionally, women needed the skill in order to read babies that had no verbal language.”
“They’re calling for reinforcement,” I said to prove that I could read body language too. Not that it was difficult, since Magni used his wristband to send a message and waved at Finn to come over.
Shelly and I tried not to make it too obvious that we were following the situation closely when Finn, Boulder, and Hunter all joined the four others by the drone.
“I get that Boulder and Finn have been called in since they’ve always been the advisers of Lord Khan, but why Hunter?” The minute I said it Shelly and I looked at each other.
“Solo.” Her eyes widened. “This has to be about Solo.”
When Laura looked over at us, we turned our faces away.
“Pretend that we’re talking about something unrelated and laugh,” Shelly instructed me.
I gave a small laugh that made her arch an eyebrow. “I’m funnier than that.”
“Just keep your back to them and I’ll look over your shoulder.”
“What’s happening?”
“Lord Khan is speaking to Hunter.”
“And?”
“And nothing. I can’t see his face.”
“Did he stiffen, lower his shoulders, angle his head, or maybe form his hands into fists? Look for signs.”
“How about you look and I keep my back to them?”
Pretending to be annoyed by the sun, Shelly swapped places with me.
