Page 121 of The Ruler
Magni gave her the coldest stare, like she’d just offended him personally. The tension between them made me frown. I knew Magni had never been Pearl’s biggest fan but I thought he’d softened up a bit. Had something happened between them? My mind was spinning with possible connections, trying to understand what the fuck was making her cold and him mean again.
“Shelly is under eighteen, and any man who touches her against her will faces the death penalty,” Magni declared.
Pearl, Christina, and Kya exchanged glances, and it didn’t take a genius to know they didn’t agree with our harsh laws.
“Just because something is illegal doesn’t mean it never happens.” Pearl challenged Magni with a raised brow. “I’m pretty sure kidnapping women isn’t legal either, yet you did just that.”
Magni narrowed his eyes, his fists clenched. “She doesn’t need a protector,” he repeated. “Because I’ll personally make it clear to any man and boy on this island that if anyone touches Shelly, Kya, or any other female for that matter, they will suffer the most excruciating death in the history of mankind.”
Pearl didn’t look calmed by his words at all. She turned to me. “What do you say?”
“I say Magni is right. The girls won’t have dedicated protectors like the rest of you, but every man in this room will look out for those girls like they were ours to personally protect.”
“That’s right, no one fucking hurts any ofmylittle girls,” Archer said with a solemn nod.
Magni and Boulder grunted in support.
“All right.” Pearl focused in on Kya and Christina, and I was puzzled by Kya’s small sigh. It was almost as if she didn’t see the gift in the girls being surrounded by so many protective men.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her.
“Nothing,” Kya said too quickly.
My eyes narrowed. “What is wrong?” I repeated.
“I just hope you don’t all go crazy alpha-male-protector on the girls, that’s all,” Kya breathed.
“Elaborate,” I said brusquely.
Her eyes darted to Magni and Archer and then back to me. “It can be a bit much with the tension and constant threats, and I for one would like to create a tranquil setting for the children to relax and grow in.”
“Tranquil?” I said slowly. “You do realize that come Tuesday you’ll have at least ten rowdy boys at your school.”
Archer had a smug smile on his face and his arms were folded. “I’ve tried telling her that, but she’s got some whacked-up ideas about what a school should be like.”
Kya replied, “All I’m saying is: don’t breathe down the girl’s necks because you want to protect them. I’m there as well, and I’ll provide a safe haven of non-violence.”
Archer swung a hand to her, looking straight at me. “Did you hear that?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I appreciate that you’ve asked us to come up with the curriculum together but it’s a little difficult when we basically disagree oneverything.” He gave Kya a pointed stare. “Tell them about your insane idea that the kids need to shower together.”
“There’s nothing insane about it,” Kya argued. “Nudity is a natural thing, and our children always shower together after physical exercises. That way they have a completely relaxed view of their body as being nothing to hide or be ashamed of.”
Archer shook his head with a snort but I looked to Pearl and Christina, waiting for them to reveal it was a joke. They looked dead serious.
“Shower together,” I said, swallowing my grin. Geez, the Momsies had no idea how easy they were making it for us. “That’s an excellent idea – I like it!”
“You can’t be serious,” Archer objected.
“Don’t your boys usually shower together?” Pearl asked.
“Of course,” Archer said. “But that’s different. Some of the girls are old enough to have developed breasts. We’re going to have ten horny teenagers trying to hide their boners. I’m not fucking putting them through that.”
“They won’t be sexually aroused,” Kya naïvely argued. “We’ve showered as groups with our classmates all through our childhood and I’ve never seen a boy get aroused by it. It’s not like that.”
“Oh, yeah?” Archer leaned closer. “Well, our boys aren’t raised with girls and I promise you they’ll react.”
