“Did you already approach Kian with your plan?”
Lokan shook his head. “As I said before, unless you join us, there is no point in starting anything.”
“I need time to think about it, but I don’t see how I can control thousands of warriors. I’m not powerful enough to take over from our father.”
“Of course. I didn’t expect you to give me an answer right away.”
“Jacki and I are spending the weekend in the village. I’ll have an answer for you when we return.”
“Excellent.” Lokan smiled.
“Most likely, it’s going to be a no.”
8
Rufsur
Ever since Kalugal and Lokan had retired to the library the day before, Rufsur had been wondering what had been said in there.
Obviously, Lokan wanted something from Kalugal. The question was, what?
Now that he and Carol had left for the airport, he might finally find out. The problem was that Kalugal had asked Phinas to come into his office as well, and Rufsur wasn’t sure that his boss would want to talk in front of the guy. Jacki was also in the office, but then she’d already heard whatever had been discussed in the library.
Besides, Kalugal shared everything with her, which Rufsur had to admit made him a little jealous.
Up until Jacki had become Kalugal’s everything, Rufsur had been his best friend and confidant, with Phinas being a distant second and privy to only a fraction of Kalugal’s secrets. Now Jacki had taken Rufsur’s place, and he found himself sharing a spot with Phinas.
“I’m sure that you are curious about Lokan’s agenda for the visit.” Kalugal got up and poured himself and Jacki drinks, then motioned for Rufsur and Phinas to help themselves. “He thinks that he can take the island using long-range acoustic technology. I think that it’s an absurd idea, but I promised him to give it some thought.”
Phinas shook his head, “If you are asking my opinion, my advice is to stay as far away from there as possible. Navuh has thousands of warriors, and that weapon will not disable them all. And even if it could do that, how would Lokan control all of those people after deploying it?”
“That’s why he needs me,” Kalugal sighed. “But even if I wanted to get involved, which I definitely don’t, I can’t compel all of them at once. And doing it in batches of twenty would be a full-time job. I have better things to do with my time.”
“You should just tell him no,” Jacki said. “I feel for the island’s people, especially the women, but unless it can be done without enslaving you in turn, that’s a no go.”
“I agree,” Rufsur said. “Poking that hornets’ nest and letting those warriors go free would be the equivalent of unleashing the Black Death on humanity. The lesser evil is to leave it be.”
“So it’s settled.” Jacki flipped her yellow pad open. “Let’s move on to a happier subject. Do you guys want to hear the results of my survey?”
Thankfully, Jacki had spared Rufsur the embarrassing task of asking each man whether he was willing to be auctioned and had taken it upon herself to do the survey.
“By all means.” Kalugal waved his hand.
“Thirty-six are not only willing to be offered in an auction but are thrilled at the prospect of clan females bidding on them. Only four said that they are not willing to do that at all, and the rest are undecided. Before saying yay or nay, they want to hear from their friends how it went.”
Rufsur looked at Phinas. “Which one are you?”
He was willing to bet that Phinas was one of those who were against the idea. The guy wasn’t a big risk-taker, and he was more reserved than most.
“I’m willing to give it a try. If the experience is not enjoyable, I will not volunteer for a second round.”
“Good for you.” Rufsur clapped him on the back. “I’m glad to see that you are willing to step outside your comfort zone.”
Phinas glanced at Jacki and smiled. “It took some persuading. Jacki’s winning argument was that everything worth having was also worth taking a risk for and putting myself out there. An immortal mate is certainly worth a little discomfort and embarrassment.” He rubbed a hand over the back of his head. “But I have no wish to join the clan. I will need to find a female who is willing to leave it and join our community.”
What Phinas was implying was that he wanted someone unlike Edna.
Rufsur put his hand on Phinas’s shoulder. “I have news for you, my friend. You are not the one who will be doing the choosing. Your mate will be chosen for you, and there is little you can do about it. You’ll have to accept the Fates’ gift and thank them for it.”
Kalugal chuckled. “I see that you’ve become a convert to the clan’s belief system.”
Rufsur shrugged. “I’m not there yet. It depends on how things work out for Edna and me, provided that they ever do. She is not exactly cooperating.”
“No return emails?” Jacki cast him a sad look.
He really hated it when she asked, but telling her to stop would offend her. Jacki did it because she cared, not because she was a busybody.
“As I said, she’s fighting the connection, but her reasons are the same as Phinas’s. She holds an important position in the clan, and she doesn’t want to leave. I hope to make some headway with her during the upcoming weekend.”
“Good luck.” Jacki patted his arm. “The only advice I can give you is to be flexible. It’s a difficult situation, and unless both of you are willing to compromise in some way, it’s not going to work.”
Glancing at Kalugal, Rufsur waited for him to say something against his efforts to win Edna over, but his boss’s expression remained impassive.
He either didn’t object, which Rufsur found surprising, or he was just waiting to see if his intervention was at all needed.
If Edna refused to take it any further, she would spare Kalugal the need to be the bad guy.
Except, Rufsur needed to know what his boss’s stand on the issue was. He could ask him directly, but then Kalugal might give him an evasive answer.
Perhaps he could test the waters in another way. “We should take two men with us this time. Since I’ll be busy courting my lady judge, you and Jacki will need one more guard. Besides, it’s a good opportunity to introduce more of our men to the clan, so Kian should be all for it.”
“The house we stay in has only two bedrooms,” Jacki pointed out.
“If my efforts are successful, I won’t need a bed. And if they fail, I can sleep on the couch.”
Kalugal nodded. “I like your idea of introducing more men to the clan. Who do you suggest we take?”
Apparently, his boss was playing it cool all the way through. Or maybe he had no problem with Rufsur mating Edna?
That wasn’t likely.
By now, Kalugal was well aware of how powerful the mated bond was, and he knew that it would overpower Rufsur’s other loyalties. Kalugal probably believed that Rufsur was wasting his time with Edna, and that nothing would come of it.
If Rufsur had any brains, he would have arrived at the same conclusion. But the problem was that his gut refused to accept defeat.