Alasdair drove us the two miles to my uncle’s flattest piece of land north of his home, and we parked outside the VIP tent and Alasdair climbed out and opened my door for me. Once we had set our things down in the tent, we walked the area, and I took notes as we inspected each of the events.
As we made our way around the competition grounds, I was struck by how truly regal my uncle could be. Growing up, he was just Uncle Kade. The one who’d do all the silly voices when reading to us. The one who taught me how to bowl and how to bait a fishhook. It was hard to remember sometimes that my Uncle Kade is a king.
As hard as I tried to view myself as a normal person, the truth is I am Cauld Ane, and was born of noble birth. Events like this, where many Cauld Ane were gathered, reminded me of my lineage and often gave me both a sense of pride and a feeling of unworthiness.
The world may have seen Kade Gunnach as the successful CEO of a multi-billion-dollar corporation and treated him as such. However, when the Cauld Ane looked at him, they saw their true king. The one foreseen and given authority by the Council of Oracles to rule over us.
The older I got, the harder it was for me to see him as just my Uncle Kade. He was also my king and my instincts to serve and protect him were growing inside of me, although I’m not sure I was fully aware of it.
We reached the medical tent and made our way inside. A group of exceptionally large men were gathered in a semi-circle surrounding a massage table. Sitting on that table was Thor Olsen.
“Dr. Gunnach,” Thor said, greeting Kade with a smile that made my insides feel like melted strawberry milkshake. “How happy it is to be seeing you,” he said in broken English.
“Please. I told you to call me Kade.”
“And I told you that my mama would…how do Americans say…beeeech slap me if I did.”
Then it happened. I snorted. I snorted in front of Thor Olsen. I snorted and henoticed.
“And who is this lovely young lady with the pretty…laugh?”
Oh my god, my milkshake runneth over. I struggled, unsuccessfully, for words and thankfully my uncle came to my rescue.
“This is my niece, Isla. She works as a volunteer for our charitable foundation and is a vital and invaluable member of the team,” he said with a gentle squeeze.
“I’m sure this is true. It’s so nice to meet you, Isla,” Thor said, and it was then I noticed the icepack on his knee. “I’d shake your hand, but I’m afraid mine are cold and wet.”
“What happened?” Kade asked.
“He was trying to show off in front of the runt,” one of the men said, to laughs all around.
From everyone except Thor, that is.
“Close your lips, Magnus,” Thor grunted.
“Show me,” Kade said, motioning to his knee.
Thor slowly peeled back the ice pack to reveal a knee swollen to twice its “normal” size.
“That doesn’t look good,” Kade said softly.
“It’s not,” Dr. McDuff shouted in the thickest Scottish accent I’d ever heard. Dr. McDuff had been the chief attending doctor at the Gunnach games for as long as they’d been held, and in all the time I’ve known him, I think I’d understood about two-dozen words total.
“How did this happen?”
“I was warming up…” Thor started.
“The puppy was beating him at leg presses, so he tried to show him who the big dog is,” Magnus said.
“When I can stand again, I will crush you like a grape,” Thor shouted.
“You’d need your fancy Hollywood special effects team to pull that off, my friend.”
“I mean it, Magnus. Quit while you’re ahead,” Thor threatened, his friend’s ribbing clearly getting to him.
“Here’s an idea. See if your makeup lady can make your knee look better,” Magnus continued. “Or better yet, you can go back to Hollywood and get your fat knee liposuctioned.”
Thor’s fellow competitors erupted into laughter, until he slid off the table and onto his feet. He spun around to face his tormentors, and they all instantly froze in place. It was only when Thor was standing that I could see just how much taller than the other men he truly was.
