held you hostage.”
My mother moved in her seat, answering Khan in a low mutter. “Vaguely.”
My mother’s humor was a testament to my father’s influence, but Khan missed it and continued, “It’s been months of Thor neglecting his duties as my heir. We can’t keep making excuses for him. He needs to get his ass back here and prove that he’s worthy.”
Pearl gave Khan a hard look. “Please stop saying that. Of course our son is worthy.”
“Then where is he? How is he serving his country right now?”
“Maybe he would be here if you hadn’t pressured him and made him doubt himself.”
Khan grunted and turned his attention on me. “Linea, I need you to tell me where he is. I’ll send Mason and Solo to get him back. If Thor doesn’t come freely, they’ll make him, and we can finally end all this madness.”
I lowered my brow. “With all respect, sir, I can’t reveal his location. Thor asked me specifically not to.”
“Yes, but did you make him a promise? Did you say the actual words that you wouldn’t tell us?”
“That’s irrelevant.”
Giving up on me, Khan turned back to my mother. “Athena, you’re a parent. Surely you can understand how upsetting this is to us. Please explain to Linea the importance of revealing Thor’s location, or maybe you can tell us where he is. You didn’t make a promise to Thor.”
My mother’s finger followed a line on Khan’s desk as she spoke with calmness. “I understand your grief and frustration, but Linea is turning twenty-two this year and as an adult, she makes her own decisions. Just like Thor does.”
Khan pushed out air in a loud groan and got up from his chair. “You Motlanders are impossible.”
My mother and I said nothing.
Touching my hand, Pearl asked, “Linea, dear, would you be willing to bring Thor a message from us again?”
“Ehm. I’d rather not. The last time it took me two full days of traveling back and forth and I used up all my traveling points.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. We should have considered your expenses. We’ll arrange something with Jonah and pay for your travel time. For this time and the last, of course.”
“It’s not just that. Thor was angry when I showed up and he explicitly told me not to come back.”
Khan huffed and paced the room. “If you don’t take orders from me, why would you take orders from my son?”
“He threatened to spank me if I came back.”
Pearl’s face reddened as she exclaimed, “You didn’t believe him, did you? My son would never harm a woman.”
“That’s what I thought, but he repeated his threat a few times.”
“Oh, nonsense. Khan, tell Linea that she has nothing to worry about.”
Khan stopped and came to lean down with his palms on the table. “Just tell me where he is, and I’ll go and knock some sense into him. He has no place threatening a sweet Motlander like yourself.”
“You’ve done a lot worse yourself,” Pearl defended her son. “Remember when you tied us together because you wanted to control me?”
“You were my hostage,” Khan reminded her.
“My point exactly. As far as I know, our son didn’t take a woman hostage.”
“Pearl, stop fucking around. Those were different times, and you know it.”
She turned in her chair. “Where does he even get that from? Spanking a woman. It’s not something I would tolerate, and I certainly haven’t taught him to think like that.”
Khan sat down again, leaning back in his seat. “He must have been influenced.”
“Was it Magni? I’ll bet your brother filled our son’s head with bragging about how women love a good spanking.”
“Some women do. Laura does. She likes Magni’s strength and domineering ways.”
I was highly entertained and wanted to know more, so I asked Khan. “Did Laura tell you that?”
Khan shook his head and waved his hand. “We’re not here to discuss Magni’s and Laura’s sex life. You Motlander women don’t like domineering sex, but Northlander women are different. Thor grew up here and I regret if he scared you, but…” Khan trailed off with a sigh. “We need him to come back and resume his duties. The summit is a few weeks away. If he doesn’t go to France, the whole world will know something is wrong.”
“Please, Linea, will you go see him and urge him to contact us? My heart is heavy with grief from this sad situation.” The expression in Pearl’s eyes was pleading.
I should say no and stay firm, but if I was being honest, I was curious to go