Page 133 of The Pacifist
“That one to the right with the mask pulled up to his hairline is Jurgen Lopez. He’s one of the candidates for the presidency.”
Jonah’s brow creased. “But why would he attack us like that?”
Archer shrugged, “My guess is that the plan was to kill Khan and Magni and claim leadership of the Northlands before the election. Jurgen isn’t exactly leading in any of the polls.”
“Not the best night to pick for it,” I said as I watched some of the largest and fiercest men of the North stare down at the captured men. “They must have known that our wedding party would involve a lot of strong warriors. Who would want to mess with all of you guys?”
Marco shrugged. “Maybe they were waiting for us to leave and hoping that Khan and Magni would be dead drunk from the party. Sorry for asking, but what were you two doing out here anyway?”
“We were taking the dogs out.”
Marco gave me a confused look. “A bit late for a stroll.”
“We figured that by taking the dogs out they would let us sleep a little longer tomorrow,” I explained.
Archer crossed his arms but kept looking to the attackers. “Maybe it was a good thing. We found explosives in one of the bushes. You two might have saved us all.”
In front of us, Khan was confronting our attackers, but after a while, Magni came over to check up on me. He kissed the top of my head.
“I’m so sorry this happened, sweetie. I guarantee that these fuckers will pay for what they did.”
“Jonah shot one of the men to protect Mila.” Archer sounded proud when he spoke, but I could tell his words made Jonah's head sink.
My dad’s eyes went from Archer to Jonah, as if to ask for him to confirm.
“The man had a gun to my head. Jonah saved me.”
My dad stood for a moment, and then he walked closer to Jonah. “Come with me.”
They only took a few steps away and I could still hear my dad’s words when he spoke.
“Thank you, Jonah. You did the right thing.”
“I killed a man.”
“Yes, but you did it with a pure heart to protect the innocent. I can see that you’re blaming yourself, don’t.”
Jonah was quiet.
“Look at me, Jonah.” My dad waited for him to look up. “That man came to kill us. He made his choice and he paid the price for it. You didnothingwrong.”
“But there’s never an excuse for killing.”
“Bullshit!”
I felt the intensity in my chest from my dad’s words. “I’m proud of you for protecting my daughter and I won’t allow you to sink down in a hole of self-blame.”
Jonah dried a tear away and my dad placed his right hand around Jonah’s nape. “It’s okay to feel bad about it for a while, but then you need to let it go. Do you understand?”
“Yes.” Jonah looked down again.
“Good. Now say after me, I did the right thing.”
Jonah’s eyes shone with tears when he spoke. “I did the right thing.”
“One more time.”
“I did the right thing.”
