Page 60 of The Champion
“Huh?”
The group of people staring at us were a blur from behind my wet eyes. Once again, I shoved at the guard sitting on Victor. “Get off him. It’s an order.”
The guard didn’t move a muscle but looked to Solomon and then Khan, who stood in his usual power pose with lines marring his face.
With a dip of his chin, my father gestured for the guard to adhere to my order.
“Stand back,” Solomon commanded when the guard didn’t move fast enough.
The guard got up in a fluid movement and took a position with his back straight and his glare fixed on Victor, who was still on the ground.
I wanted to help Victor to his feet, but my dad stopped me with his arm held out as a barrier to my chest.
Looking down at Victor, he sneered, “You have some explaining to do.” Giving the guards orders, he spoke through gritted teeth. “Take him to my office.”
Victor was pulled up and placed on his feet. His face was dark red, and he was panting. “I didn’t rape Freya.”
My dad had a fierce temper and I’d seen him angry plenty of times, but the way he was visibly seething with rage was a first. Pivoting on his feet, my father walked away while throwing a hand up. “Everyone, continue the party. Thor and Mason, you’re coming with Solomon, Magni, and me.”
I ran to keep up with my father. “Dad, if you hurt Victor, I’ll never forgive you.”
“Freya, honey.” When my mother pushed through the crowd and called out to me, I reached out my hand for her. I needed her on my side in this moment and wished I could have warned her about the situation sooner.
The way Victor was pushed and shoved to my father’s office was awful to watch. He had to be terrified from the rough treatment and the way the five largest and most powerful men in the Northlands filled the room.
“There.” Solomon pointed to a chair and the two guards shoved Victor to the table and sat him down like he was a criminal.
Magni went to sit on my father’s desk while Mason and Solomon took a stand on either side of the doorway showing clearly that no one was leaving the room until they said so.
Thor was pacing by the window, visibly angry, and my father tore out a chair opposite Victor with movements so violent that the chair fell over. He didn’t sit down but stood leaning over the table, placing his fists on the surface and staring at Victor. “Talk!”
Victor’s eyes were darting from my father to Thor, and back to my mother and me. My face was full of tears, and my mother had her arm around me as she and I stood at the end of the table.
“I… I…” Victor, who was eloquent in two languages, was too frightened to speak.
I didn’t blame him because even with the two guards gone now, my five male family members were all around seven feet tall and capable of killing in a second. The way they were scowling at Victor told me they were tempted to do so right now.
“We love each other,” I cried. “And I won’t have you treat him like this. Victor didn’t do anything wrong. We’ve been together for years.”
“Years?” The echo from both my brother’s and father’s roar filled the office. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“We’ve been communicating back and forth for years. In the beginning it was platonic, but then in January when we went to negotiate Banni’s freedom, Victor and I kissed.”
“That’s a lie! I was with you the whole time,” Thor insisted.
“You weren’t there when I went back up. I told you I won against him in a game of speed chess, but it wasn’t true. Victor and I kissed. Then when I went to work there for the project this summer, things escalated, and we’ve been together for the entire time.”
My father’s voice was shaky with rage as he accused Victor, “You seduced my daughter.”
“Freya makes her own choices. She’s an adult,” Victor defended himself.
“She’s my daughter!”
“And mine too.” My mother stepped forward and there were no more soft words or quiet patience from her. Like a protective lioness she faced all my fierce protectors and spoke with deep indignation. “You will stop this madness instantly. This is not 2436. No man has to fight to the death for his bride. Women are free to choose their partners and that right belongs to Freya as well. If she wants Victor, then you five better accept that she made up her mind.”
“Pearl…”
My mother cut off my dad before he could talk. “No! I’ve put up with a lot of nonsense from your side over the years, but this is non-negotiable. Freya is twenty-nine years old, and she makes her own decisions. Thor chose Linea and if Freya chooses Victor, then so be it.”
