Alexander Boulder
I was circling Khan, my body alert and ready to defend myself against his attack, which would come any second now. Drops of sweat were dripping from his forehead and his right eye was already beginning to swell from the right hook I got in a minute ago.
A displeased grunt escaped Khan as he made a mock attack with his right fist that made me sway back and raise my arms defensively.
“You really thought you could take me in a fight?” He smirked and moved with me as I kept circling him.
“All day, every day,” I said fearlessly.
“Tsk.” He smacked his tongue and narrowed his eyes, and that was his mistake. I knew his attack was coming because he was as easy to read as he had been when we were teenagers. Back then too he would narrow his eyes just before he came at me full force.
With a swift movement, I turned my body enough to avoid his frontal attack and quickly grabbed his arm to twist it back. Wincing in pain, he didn’t stand a chance when I kicked his feet underneath him, forcing him to his knees.
“Do you surrender?” I hissed in his ear and squeezed my arm around his neck.
Unable to breathe, he shot me a murderous look of fury. Khan was a proud man but smart enough to know he had lost this round.
Closing his eyes, he signaled surrender and I immediately let go of my ruler.
We were both panting from the fight and Khan stayed on the ground while I bent forward resting my hands on my knees and taking deep breaths to steady my racing heart.
“Good fight!” I rasped.
“Fuck you,” he bit back and slowly got up. “I went easy on you.”
“Did you now? Maybe you shouldn’t have.”
Offended, he snorted and went for his glass of beer on the table. “Don’t fucking strangle me again or I’ll have you castrated.”
I laughed and picked up my own glass, leaning my head back and downing the content. “You’re a sore loser, my friend.”
Khan emptied his own glass and smacked it down on the table. “Maybe, but so are you.”
“Always was and always will be.” I picked up a chess piece that had flown through the air when I pushed the game off the table only minutes before. “As I said, you might be able to beat me in chess, but never in a physical challenge. I hate losing.”
“Not as much as you’re going to hate that you won.” Khan had that look on his face that always made me nervous.
“What are you talking about?” I asked and pushed my long hair back.
His tongue ran over his upper front teeth and his hand carefully touched his swollen eye. Khan was a vain man and took pride in his good looks. No wonder he was pissed about his black eye.
“Hey, when you fight you get hurt,” I said and shrugged.
He rolled his eyes. “Spare me your wisdom.”
I laughed. “You can’t be the best at everything. Haven’t you learned that by now?”
Brushing invisible dust of his shoulders, he ignored me. We both knew that Khan was too competitive to accept being second at anything. He was born to be a winner. Son of a ruler who had mercilessly installed a winner mentality in him, still there were a few things he couldn’t change no matter how badly he wanted.
We hardly spoke about it but he absolutely hated that both his younger brother, Magni, and I were taller than him. At six-eight, I was two inches taller than Khan, and his brother Magni had outgrown him at the age of sixteen and become a large man, close to seven feet. Being six-feet-six himself Khan was in no measure a small man, but being the smallest of the three of us bothered him.
“I have a special prize for you. Since you’re so good at fighting I want you to protect someone,” he said.
“Who?”
“An archeologist.”
“You want me to protect an archeologist?”
He nodded with a secretive smile.
“From what? Dirt and dust?”
“The Momsies are sending us their finest archeologist, and someone needs to protect the weakling.”
I rubbed my scar and followed the line that ran up to my temple. It was a habit of mine and something I did when I was stressed or annoyed. “Do I look like a fucking babysitter?”
Khan turned to face me with his own eyebrow lifted in a perfect arch. “Consider it a great honor that I’m appointing you, to protect the precious gift we’re receiving.”
“Flattery doesn’t work on me, Khan, and you know it,” I said and wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand.
“I’m not giving you a choice. In three days, a frightened archeologist is going to meet you at the border and it’s your job to secure his safety while he’s in our lands. Is that understood?”
“I’ll give you my best man,” I said with a nod but that only made him laugh.
“No, Boulder. You are personally going to protect him.”
Frowning, I picked up my glass of beer. “You know I don’t have time for that. I have businesses to run.”
Khan stepped closer, snatching the beer glass out of my hand. “It’s a fucking order!”
I sighed but bit back further protests, knowing that it would only make things worse. “Yes, lord.”
Khan’s eyes softened and he placed his hand on my shoulder. “Boulder, my friend, I know it’s a shitty job, but I can’t walk around with a black eye and not have someone suffer for it.”
“You challenged me to fight you,” I defended myself.
“I did,” he said calmly.
“It’s not like I had a choice.”
“Exactly, just like you don’t have a choice now.” Reaching out his arm he pressed his wristband and an image was projected above his arm.
“May peace surround you,” a blonde female said and I moved closer to see the recording. The image was flickering and the words changed in volume.”
“What happened to the recording?” I asked.
“The messenger insists that it was corrupted before he received it. I don’t know what happened.” Khan pointed to the woman and started the recording again.
“My name is Councilwoman Pearl. We have selec… one o… our finest archeol… name is Christ… Sanders. We ask that you honor our agreeme… and secure h… safety.”
“I can’t hear half of it,” I complained.
“They’re sending their finest archeologist, named Christian Sanders, and you will protect him with your life.”
I mumbled low curses under my breath before asking, “When?”
“I already told you. In three days.”
“But how long do I have to protect this fucker?”
“Until he goes back.”
“And how long is that?”
Khan shrugged. “When the job is done.”
I shifted my balance from one foot to the other and folded my arms across my chest. “You might be my oldest friend, but I really don’t like you right now.”
Khan broke into a wide smile. “Good.”
“And my other responsibilities?”
“I suspect you can still do some of them. The digging site isn’t far from here and I’m planning to have him stay close to me. Maybe I can learn something useful.”
“How close?”
“You’ll both sleep here at the Gray Manor. I’ll see to it that you have adjacent bedrooms,” Khan said and poured more beer into his glass.
“Just so we’re clear,” I said. “You don’t expect me to personally guard this momma’s boy constantly, right? I can delegate it to my men.”
“Only when you have personal needs or urgent matters. I told you that I expect you to personally see to his safety.”
“Now you’re just being an ass,” I muttered.
Khan pointed a finger at me. “Tread careful or I might make you share a bedroom with him.”
I clenched my jaws tightly.
He raised his fingers to feel the swelling of his eye again. “You know, come to think of it, I like that idea. That way he’s safer in case of someone preying on his femininity. One can never be too careful.”
I bit my tongue knowing the anger I felt would only get me in more trouble. Khan was my friend and ruler, but he could be a real ass, and when he was in this mood the best strategy was to get away before he came up with more of his wicked ideas.
“Goodbye, Boulder,” Khan called after me when I stomped out of his suite.