Chapter twenty four

     The helmet was removed and it fell to the ground revealing the face of....

     A woman.

     A young girl to be exact. She looked no older than sixteen. Aside from her odd green skin color, she would have fit right into any highschool. 

     Her face looked very similar to the woman sitting on the fat man's shoulder. She had the same sharp features but there were also some differences. She was obviously younger than the freaky bondage lady and her hair was longer although not by much since it barely reached her shoulder. Looking carefully, I spotted faint blue stripes on the edges of her face similar to the stripes on the face of a tiger. Her pupils were also slitted and her green eyes had flecks of yellow, reinforcing her catlike image.

     All in all she somehow managed to look young and threatening at the same time. She was kneeling as a sign of surrender but from her expression I knew that she wanted to stab me with her knives instead of acknowledge her loss.

     Mate? This little girl was going to be my mate? 

     How did this happen? I was so focused on using my powers to find out the enemy's powers and weaknesses that I completely ignored their identity. I assumes that the mysterious warrior was a man instead of verifying with my power, now I am stuck in an awkward position.

     The fat man didn't wait for me to regain my wit, he laughed hysterically when he saw my bewildered expression and started to speak without a shred of malice in his deep sonorous voice that seemed to come from the depth of his gut like an opera singer, "You didn't expect that, did you? But the rules of conduct are clear. You have defeated Fael in a fair one on one battle in front of witnesses and made her submit, she is now your woman. Oh right, I almost forgot, I don't even know your name. If you are going to be part of the family we should at least know each other's names. My name is Kirnatus. The woman on my shoulder is my mate Naviel. She is also the sister of your newly acquired mate. The blond dandy behind me is Lebgar and in case you haven't figured it out by now, the woman kneeling in front of you is Fael."

     The situation had gotten a little complex. In my ignorance, I had made Fael submit instead of just defeating her. If I tried to reject her as my mate, she would lose all her honor as a warrior and according to the customs of the Ameera, she would be exiled if not outright killed. The only way she could get her freedom was to defeat me in one on one battle or have some other prospective suitor do it for her. I'd have happily thrown the fight to fix the problem but the customs of the Ameera dictate that I would have to be killed for it to count and I wasn't magnanimous enough to die so that Fael would get her freedom.

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     The blond prince Arthas wannabe, Lebgar suddenly started shouting almost hysterically, "No! This doesn't count! He isn't even an Ameera! We can't just give Fael to him!"

     Kirnatus's smiling face slowly darkened. In one smooth motion, he turned around and smacked Lebgar in the back of the head. This was not a small friendly tap but a hit so ferocious that it knocked Lebgar down to the ground.

     "Where is your shame Leb? This has been the way of our ancestors for years immemorial, do you think you know any better?"

      Lebgar stood back up, his shiny equipment now covered in mud, "No, I cannot accept this. I will kill this outsider and regain Fael's honor."

     Kirnatus sneered in disdain, "Who are you kidding? You have been pestering Fael since she was fourteen right from the moment she had her coming of age hunt. You haven't been able to defeat her even once. This man made her submit cleanly with only two moves. Do you really think you are his opponent?"

     Kirnatus then completely ignored Lebgar and turned to the woman on his shoulder,"You've been silent so far Naviel, what do you think about all this?"

     The woman on his shoulder, Naviel, just shrugged noncommittally, "What can I say? This man is strong. His looks are acceptable. He doesn't look like a bad person. I think little sister is lucky to find such a mate, what does it matter where he comes from or that his skin is pale? I just want to see how the old man reacts when he finds out that his daughter had been defeated even after he gave her a talisman of invulnerability."

     Her thoughts were similar to mine. The biggest problem that I would encounter because of my actions today was not some uppity suitors that I could swat away easily.

     It was Fael's father.