Magni
Honoring my promise to Mila, I called Laura around eleven that night.
She sounded tired when she answered. “Hey.”
“Why haven’t you called me?” I kicked off my shoes and threw myself on my couch.
“You know what would be really nice for a change, Magni.”
“What?”
“If you didn’t start every conversation with a complaint.”
“It’s a fair question. You know I worry.”
She yawned. “I fell asleep, that’s why.”
I wrinkled my forehead. “Do you get enough sleep?”
“I was working on it, but then you called and woke me up.”
“Who’s complaining now? At least I care about you.”
She was quiet.
“Hello?” I bent my knee to pull off my sock when her words made me stop and listen.
“It’s not that I don’t care about you, Magni.”
My heart ran a victory round and I wanted her to say more. When she didn’t, I repeated her words. “You care?”
“Yes.”
I wanted Laura to elaborate, but she didn’t.
“I went to see Mila today. We talked about you.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Laura, do you remember being at a funeral when you were about twelve years old?”
“Hmm, yes, I remember.”
“Mila wants me to ask you if you saw me there.” I closed my eyes, remembering the way Laura had been glued to her sister and looked shy with all eyes on her. With my eyes closed and her voice clear in my ear, I pretended she was next to me.
“Yes, I saw you,” she breathed.
“Are you just saying that?”
“No, Magni. I remember because people would step aside when you walked through the room. I thought it was because you were the son of the ruler, but then I saw Lord Khan come in and it was the opposite. People flocked to him.”
I rubbed the bridge of my nose. “Yeah, I’m afraid you married the socially awkward brother. People don’t like me much.”
“That’s your version, but I would say that it’s you who don’t like people much.”
I sighed. “You’re right, I’m not a people person.”
“Your soldiers adore you.”
That made me roll my eyes. “They respect me, Laura, that’s all.”
“Either way, I saw you at the funeral and I asked my father about you. He said you were a strong warrior and that you and Khan were the closest thing to princes that we had in the Northlands.”
“Jesus.” I scratched my beard.
“I already knew who you were because I had visited you at the castle when I was nine.”
“The Gray Mansion isn’t a castle.”
“It was to me.” She paused. “Magni, do you remember taking care of me that night when I spied on you and Khan.”
“You spied on us? You told me you were lost.”
There was a smile in Laura’s voice. “So you do remember me?”
“Of course I do, I might be older than you, but I’m not senile yet. But what did you mean that you spied on us?”
“I only told you I was lost because I didn’t want to get in trouble. My sister was sick at home, and I was bored listening to the adults. That’s why I went out to explore the mansion by myself.”
I gave a hollow laugh. “I’m seeing a pattern here. You ditched me and went to explore the Motherlands. Was I boring too?”
“No. It had nothing to do with you. I told you I was curious and that it was a spontaneous decision to leave.”
“Sure felt personal.” I didn’t want to fight tonight, so I changed the subject.
“Did you know Tarzan?”
“Who?”
“The man we buried at the funeral.”
“No, I didn’t know him, he was an old friend of my father. It’s a horrible thing to say, but I was excited for the opportunity to get out of the house and see people. I was happy when I spotted you there.”
“I doubt it. You didn’t look at me once.”
“I did. And I saw you get into a fight.”
“Ahh, yes, that.” I rested my arm across my face.
“My sister and I watched from the window when you took the fight outside. He was a mean-looking man, and I was so scared he was going to kill you.”
“Please,” I snorted. “That midget didn’t stand a chance. He was all fat and no muscles.”
“Nevertheless, April and I were very impressed with your skills, and disappointed that you left after that.”
“It wasn’t my choice. My father was furious with me for getting in a fight at a funeral.”
“Do you remember what the fight was about?”
I sighed. “Yes, I do.”
Laura waited and when I didn’t elaborate, she asked. “Wanna share?”
I sighed again. “I overheard the fucker make a crude comment about you and your sister. It pissed me off because you were too young to be spoken about like that.”
“What did he say?”
“Trust me, it doesn’t deserve to be repeated. The man was a pig.”
“In that case, thank you for defending our honor.”
I found her gratitude unnecessary and yawned. “Any decent man would have done the same. Now, give me an update on the men you’re chasing.”
“We still have three more to catch. Jonathan, Devlin, and Luke are still missing.”
“Be careful with Devlin. I fought him some months ago and the guy is good with a knife.”
“Don’t tell me he’s the guy responsible for the scar you showed me on your arm?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“I’ll be careful, and if I get a chance to kick him hard, I’ll do it for you.”
I frowned. “I don’t need you to kick people for me. I’d rather you kept away from him. The man is no joke, Laura. He’s a big motherfucker.”
“Even big guys have fragile balls,” Laura said with bravado. “And I’m fired up after we caught another one this morning.”
“Who did you catch?”
“Kessler. The sad part was that he’d already violated a woman before we found him.”
“Did he rape her?”
“From what I heard, yes.”
I made a deep sound in the back of my throat from disgust. “Tell them to send the fucker back to us. I’ll make sure I’m part of the welcome reception when he gets here. We’ll castrate the son of a bitch before we kill him. I don’t tolerate rapists!”
“I won’t tell them that, it might make them hesitate to send him back. Motlanders don’t believe in a death penalty or torture.”
A line formed between my eyebrows. “Not even for a rapist?”
“No. They believe in rehabilitation.”
“That’s crazy. The world will be a better place without scum like Kessler. If he raped a woman, he should die.”
“I agree, but it’s late, Magni, I need to get some sleep.” Laura yawned. “Thank you for checking in on me.”
I miss you. It was on my tongue but wouldn’t come out. “Yeah, I’m tired too. We’ll talk tomorrow,” I said, playing it cool.
“Good night, Magni.”
“Night.”
I hated the silence and lay awake for a long time, thinking back to the first time I’d known I wanted to marry Laura.