The Fighter Read online

  “Of course, I remember.”

  “What happened?” Jonah asked and Mila looked down with a sad shake of her head.

  “Oh, it’s a long story, but my dad was frustrated with the world and for weeks he disappeared into Alaska where no one could find him. I grieved and cried a lot during that time.”

  “And I tried my best to cheer her up. Remember when I directed that song competition in your honor?”

  Mila angled her head. “That’s right. You sang horribly to make me sound like an angel and I won. Huh, you know what I just realized?”

  I waited for her to tell me.

  “You became the class clown during that time. Always coming up with a funny face or a joke to make me smile. Maybe Magni’s absence is part of why you became so funny.”

  Jonah sat down on the corner of Mila’s desk. “Do you remember any of her jokes? I love humor.”

  Tapping her lip, Mila thought about it. “There were so many but one that had us all crack up was when Kya asked the class, ‘What is math?’ and Raven raised her hand with a serious face and said, “Mental abuse to humans.”

  Jonah raised his chin. “Ah, I see, a clever acronym.”

  I groaned. “I hated math then and I still do today.”

  “Yes, and then there was the time William fell asleep during class and Archer shouted, ‘William, are you sleeping in my class?’ Raven answered loud and clear, ‘Well, now he’s not, but if you could just be a little quieter maybe he could get a good nap.’”

  Jonah smiled at me. “I’ll bet you weren’t too popular with your teachers if you were cracking jokes like that.”

  Waving a dismissive hand, I shrugged. “It was harmless. But back to the picture. If that’s Mr. Zobel, then who are those two other men?”

  Mila bit her lower lip. “Magni didn’t know.”

  Jonah leaned in to see them. “They could’ve been friends of the groom. They are standing right next to him.”

  I studied Dina’s husband for a moment. “Do we know his name?”

  “Yes, the article mentions it halfway down.” Mila used her finger to search while reading out in a mumble, “After three impressive victories, Henry Hudson fought and won the final match, making him one of the five champions to stand in front of Dina Aurelius, daughter of our strong ruler, Marcus Aurelius.”

  I studied the picture again. “Hmm, it’s weird…”

  “What is?” Mila went to sit on a couch and right away her three dogs followed. The small one jumped into her lap, while the two bigger ones lay down by her feet.

  “I don’t know, it’s just weird to me that the husband is actually handsome. I imagined him as some kind of ogre. I mean why else would Dina refuse to have sex with him?”

  “How do you know that she refused to have sex with her husband?” Jonah sat down on the floor next to Holger, who decided to use Jonah’s leg as a pillow.

  “I’m speculating here. A young girl gets married and five days later she falls from an attic window. The logical conclusion would be that she was trying to escape someone, and it’s not a far stretch of a theory to assume that she was trying to escape her husband, who probably wanted to have sex with her.”

  Mila looked thoughtful. “I don’t know, Raven. I’m getting married and I would expect my husband to want to have sex with me. It can’t have been a surprise to Dina.”

  I was pacing the rug in front of them. “Maybe the sex was painful to her or maybe he wanted to have it ten times a day and she just needed a break.”

  “No man wants to have sex ten times a day,” Jonah pointed out.

  “Jonah, we are talking about an Nman here. Compared to you Motlander men they are…” I hesitated.

  “Freaks of nature?”

  Mila pushed at his shoulder. “Heeeyyy, you make them sound like mutants.”

  He shrugged. “I didn’t mean to offend them, but they are insanely large men and if they love sex as much as sports and fighting, then I can see why a young teenage girl like Dina would be overwhelmed.”

  “That reminds me… about your tournament, Mila.” I paused. “Leo wants me to put in a good word for him, but I told him I wouldn’t.”

  “Why not? I like Leo.”

  Jonah got up. “Sorry, ladies, as much as I would love to stick around and help solve the mystery, I have a meeting with Pearl and Khan soon.”

  “Okay, then Raven and I will just see you at dinner.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  I picked up a funky energy from Jonah that made me study him for a second. It didn’t seem like a coincidence that he left just as we were discussing Mila’s upcoming tournament. Is there something going on between Jonah and Mila? I quickly dismissed the idea since I’d never picked up on anything but friendship between them, and it was normal for Motlanders to dislike tournaments. “I don’t want you to marry Leo. He wouldn’t be a good match for you.”

  “How can you say that? I’ve heard you say that he’s a strong warrior, and my parents praise him a lot. You know how rare it is for my father to approve of anyone fighting in my tournament?”

  “Honestly, Mila, you should have never made that stupid bet to begin with.

  She sighed. “I know, sometimes I wonder…” Her eyes wandered to the door.

  “If you could just run away from it all?”

  Mila pulled her legs up underneath her. “You know how I feel about violence. The idea that some men might die because of me makes me sick. When I made that bet with my father I never in a million years thought he would do it.”

  “Wearing a bead in his beard for a full year is a small price for him to pay. You know how badly he wants you to marry the strongest man in the country.”

  “Well, at the time, no Nman with respect for himself would put beads in his beard. That was a fashion only seen among the men in the Motherland. You know how Magni resents the femininity of the Motlander men. I was so sure he wouldn’t do it.”

  “Well, he did. And now every other man in this country is wearing a black bead in his beard to look as fierce as your father.”

  Mila threw up her hands. “He’s trying to protect me by making sure that I marry someone who is strong enough to secure my safety.”

  “I know. I would just never have a tournament myself and I would’ve sworn you were the last woman to have one.”

  “Why? My parents married in a tournament and they are very happy together.”

  Taking three steps I walked to the sofa and sat down next to Mila. “If you marry someone like Leo, things are going to be a lot different in your life. There’s no way he would be okay with you having male friends like Jonah. Leo is just as overprotective and annoying as every other Nman. If you ask me, they are all one colossal pain in the butt.”

  “So, what do you suggest I do?”

  “For now, I suggest you take me to talk to Erika. I’ll bet she can tell us who the two men in the photo are.”

  “All right. But you have to be gentle with my grandmother. She lost a daughter and I won’t have you interrogating her with hard questions.”

  My smile was innocent. “I promise to be mild as a lamb.”

  “Good. Then let’s do it.”

  CHAPTER 5

  Erika’s Puzzle

  Raven

  Mila and I found Erika doing a jigsaw puzzle.

  “Hey, darling, are you here to help me?”

  “Sure. Do you mind if Raven helps too?”

  “Of course not.”

  Erika smiled and waved for us to take a seat at the table, where only the frame and a quarter of the puzzle had been assembled. “I might have been a bit ambitious with this one – it’s four thousand pieces and I’ve been working on it for more than a week.”

  Picking up the box, I looked at the cover picture. “I’ve seen these people before?”

  “Yes, they are some of our founding fathers.”

  Studying the picture, I saw antique motorcycles and a group of twelve sinister-looking men in leather jackets.

&nb
sp; “Why did you choose this motif? Why not one of a beautiful forest or flowers or something.”

  “Because I’m a patriot at heart.” Erika pointed to one of the bikers. “And I’ve always thought he was very handsome.”

  I scrunched my nose up. “Really? He doesn’t look like he’s any fun.”

  Erika gave me a small wink. “I think I could have had a lot of fun with him. Except, we were born in different centuries.”

  Mila snatched the box from me. “What does fun have to do with handsome anyway? It’s like your comment about Leo not having any humor. I’m sure Leo would laugh if he felt relaxed but even if he doesn’t, he’s still an impressive man.”

  Erika tilted her head. “Are you talking about Leo, the policeman?”

  “Yes.” I picked up one of the pieces of the puzzle, letting my eyes search for its place.

  Mila’s finger tapped on the box with the image of the bikers. “I would say that he’s even more handsome than these men.”

  “I’ll agree that Leo is strapping, but I’m sorry, girls; no one compares to John Hanson.” Erika gave a last look at the box and sighed. “If only we had time machines.”

  I smiled at her. “It’s funny because we actually came to talk to you about something from the past.”

  “You are interested in the history of the Northlands? That’s so nice to hear.” Erika lit up as she said it.

  “Yes; more precisely we are interested in knowing what happened to your daughter, Dina.” I looked down at the puzzle as I asked the question, but even so, I felt Erika stiffen.

  “Raven, we don’t speak about her.”

  Mila reached out her hand and placed it gently on top of Erika’s. “Grandma, why don’t you ever talk about Dina and why did Marcus erase all signs of her?”

  It took Erika so long to answer that I thought she might not want to answer at all, and when she finally spoke it was in a low voice. “Marcus was always protective of me. We people of the North are not as accustomed to discussing our emotions as you people from the Motherlands. He did what he thought was right.”

  “But if you didn’t talk about your emotions, then how did you deal with your grief?”

  There was a trembling in Erika’s voice. “We moved on. What choice did we have?”

  “But why did you move on like Dina never existed? Didn’t you feel the need to honor her memory?”

  “It was Marcus’s decision to remove everything that would remind us of her. He said he did it for my sake, but to be honest I think it was as much for his.” Erika paused and her fingers played with the puzzle piece in her hand. “People think Marcus was a cold and ruthless man but they never understood him the way I did. He wasn’t always like that.”

  Mila leaned in and squeezed Erika’s hand. “Who was the Marcus that only you knew?”

  Even though Erika was looking down, I could still tell that she was tearing up. “Marcus was a graceful warrior and so tall and handsome. It was the happiest day of my life when he fought for me. I didn’t think twice before choosing him as my champion.” In a sudden movement, Erika pushed back her chair, got up, and moved over to open a closet. “Every Christmas he would make me an ornament for the tree.” She pulled out a wooden box and brought it back to the table and opened it. “This one was my first.” The year 2399 was written on an ornament in the shape of an angel.

  “Wow, did Grandpa make this himself?”

  “Yes. He was an artist and one of his preferred materials to work with was glass.”

  “Wait, did he decorate it or did he make the glass angel from scratch?”

  Erika lifted her chin. “Marcus made it from scratch.”

  Mila was picking up more beautiful ornaments from the box. “How many did he make you?”

  “He made me one every year for Christmas.” Erika sighed and looked down. “Until the year Dina died.”

  For a moment none of us spoke. We just admired the artistry of Marcus Aurelius.

  With a church-bell-shaped ornament in my hands, I leaned back in my chair. “Never would I have thought that an artist could go on to become the ruler. Aren’t artists supposed to be gentle souls?”

  Mila looked from her grandmother to me and back. “Was Marcus a gentle soul, Grandma?

  “I wouldn’t say that, but I do know that Marcus was a much better ruler than his predecessor. That man was a monster.”

  “Who was the previous ruler again?” I looked at Mila hoping she had paid better attention in school than I had.

  “Wasn’t it Nikolai something?”

  “His name was Nikolai Wolf and he was an example of how power corrupts.” Erika was quiet before she added, “Not that Marcus was an angel, because he certainly did some questionable things that were awful in the later part of his life, but Nikolai Wolf was a pig in comparison.”

  “What happened back when Marcus came to power?”

  My question made Erika raise an eyebrow at me. “Raven, if you think Marcus just came to power, you are wrong. Marcus took the power in a well-orchestrated coup and millions were happy, including me. We all celebrated the day Marcus killed Nikolai…. Well, except for his wife of course.”

  “What happened to her?”

  “Lord Wolf had four sons and a young daughter. It’s rare for any member of a ruler’s family to survive a coup, and many disagreed with Marcus’s decision to let the wife and her two youngest children live.”

  I frowned. “Why is that? The family shouldn’t pay for what their father did.”

  “Don’t be naïve, Raven. Little boys eventually grow into men who want to avenge their fathers.” Erika said it like it was a given.

  “Did you see Lord Wolf’s execution?” Part of me felt bad for making her relive a traumatic past, but this felt like real police work and I was a little giddy on the inside.

  “I wasn’t there in person, but I saw a recording of Nikolai Wolf’s execution.” Erika’s eyes glazed over as she muttered, “Marcus made him apologize to me.”

  Mila and I exchanged a look. “Why would the dictator apologize to you, Grandma?”

  “What?” Erika was blinking as if coming back from the past. “What did you ask?”

  “You said that Marcus made the dictator apologize to you. Did you know him?”

  “No. I don’t know why I said that. It’s all a bit blurry at this point.” By the way she was picking up new pieces from her puzzle and focusing on finding the right place for them, I could tell she wasn’t interested in discussing it further.

  “We found this old article, and we wanted to ask you if you know who these two men are…” I gestured for Mila to show Erika the photo.

  Erika’s hands were shaking when she reached for the article with the photo. “Where did you find this?”

  “My dad had it.”

  I pointed to the two men standing in the background. “Do you know their names?”

  Tears were welling up in Erika’s eyes, and she gave a dismissive shake of the head and returned the paper to Mila. “No. They were friends of the groom. One of them was a roommate, I think.”

  “Do you remember which city they lived in?”

  “Raven, it’s been so long. Please.” She was fiddling with the sleeve on her dress.

  “I know, but anything might help us. Do you know if there’s anywhere we could find some of Dina’s belongings?”

  When Erika didn’t answer, Mila followed up on my question. “Grandma, do you know what happened to Dina’s things?”

  With a voice thick from suppressed crying, Erika brushed back her hair. “Well, as far as I know, everything was taken to the storage room down in the basement.”

  “What storage room?”

  “You’ll find it if you continue all the way down in the long hallway. It’s directly under the library, but I never go there.”

  “Because of all the painful memories?” Mila’s face was full of sympathy.

  “Yes. That’s right. It’s better to leave the past in the past.”

 
“But what if we could find out what happened to Dina, wouldn’t you like to know?”

  This time it was Erika who patted Mila’s hand. “It’s been more than thirty years, darling. You’re asking for the impossible, and going around asking questions will only cause pain. My mother always told me that the dead are best left in peace.”

  When Mila and I left Erika that afternoon, I was more determined than ever to find answers. “Did you see how your grandma had goosebumps on her arms when she spoke about Nikolai Wolf and how Marcus killed him?”

  “Yes, but it’s because he was an evil dictator. She lived through his tyranny, so it probably gives her the chills to think about him.”

  “I get that, but the way she said that Marcus had made him give an apology to her…hmm.” I narrowed my eyes. “I’m telling you, Mila, your grandmother only told us half the story. We are definitely on to something, you just wait and see.”

  CHAPTER 6

  Action

  Leo

  “She did what?”

  I’d been a police officer since I was twenty-four, and in those seven years, I had seen many strange things, but nothing like the policeman reporting a domestic violence case was telling me about.

  I listened, and as the computer produced a transcript of his words on a screen in front of me, I was underlining things he said such as wife, attack, vicious, and humiliation.

  “I have no fucking clue how to deal with this shit,” the man ended. “Do you?”

  There’s no way I would tell him that I was unsure how to deal with it, too. “We’ll figure it out. I’m coming to meet you.”

  Ending the call, I gave a loud outburst of frustration. “Fucking hell!!”

  “What’s up?” Cameron and Raven were standing by his desk, both looking over at me.

  “A wife just tried to chop off her husband’s dick.”

  “What?” Cameron looked as pained as I had felt when I first heard it.

  “Apparently he cheated on her.”

  More colleagues came over. “Did you say a husband cheated on his wife?”

  “Yup, and she didn’t take it well.”