Page 73 of The Ruler
“May I present Lord Khan, ruler of the Northlands.”
Khan nodded at her and rudely slid his hands into his pockets, clearly signaling that he wasn’t interested in the formal greeting.
I narrowed my eyes at his bad manners and moved on to introduce Magni, who’d entered the room just then.
Kya’s eyes expanded in recognition and a smile spread on her lips. “I remember you,” she said and walked over to stand in front of Magni, reaching out both her hands.
Magni was polite enough to take her hands but he failed to keep eye contact for the full ten seconds before he looked away.
“Can I talk to you?” I asked Khan with a stiff smile.
“Sure,” he said and led me to a different room, closing the door behind us.
“How do you want to do this?” I asked, trying to get a reading on him.
“Do what?”
“The interview? Remember, with Archer I got to ask the questions; maybe you want to ask the questions this time?” I offered.
“Okay.” He shrugged noncommittally.
“If you’re not sure we should go through with this project then now is the time to say it,” I told him.
Khan straightened up. “No, I’m sure.”
“Really? Because you don’t seem very passionate about it.”
“I am.” He gave me a stern look.
“Then why were you so rude to Kya, like it was beneath you to greet her?”
Khan once again buried his hands in his pockets and looked away, his golden eyes turning dark and stormy.
“Is that it? You have no excuse for your rude behavior?” I asked.
“Sheisbeneath me.” His words were rude but the fact that he didn’t want to meet my eyes made me suspect he wasn’t telling the truth.
“Really? That’s your reason?”
He swung his head to me. “I don’t need to explain myself to you, nor do I need to apologize for how I treat guests in my country.”
Throwing my hands in the air, I gave him one last hard stare. “When I arrived you greeted me, remember?”
“You were a council member; that was different. You were almost my equal.”
“Almost– what is that supposed to mean?”
“I’m the sole ruler of ten million men, you were my hostage,” he said in a clipped manner.
I laughed. “Try dividing one point five billion people by one hundred and one councilwomen and you’ll see that you’re outnumbered if we’re measuring the number of people we serve.”
“Serve,” he scoffed.
“You’re deliberately trying to pick a fight with me, and I don’t know why,” I said in frustration.
When he didn’t answer, I turned to leave and was by the door when he spoke up.
“Your custom of holding hands and staring into each other’s eyes…” He trailed off.
