King of Slaves (Jenna's Story) (The Slave Series Book 5) (5 page)

He gave her an arctic stare. “I’m sorry,” he started. “…that the US would send a female so incompetent that she didn’t even know what the most famous person in Spirima looks like. I’m sorry that Americans are so arrogant that they think that just because other nationalities speak English with an accent it means that they must be slow-thinking too.”

Jenna’s head exploded. He’d hit her weak spot with a mean uppercut. She hadn’t been well prepared. She should have known what she was walking into and done some better groundwork, but there hadn’t been time. She was normally always prepared, and so she hated how right he was. Her anger with Miranda for putting her in this situation, and her anger with herself for allowing it, made her blood boil and she spoke through gritted teeth. “You are insufferable and vain. So what if I didn’t know what you looked like? Is it so hard to introduce yourself to a stranger, or do you have such a distorted ego that you expect every person on this planet to know who you are? What are you… a narcissist?” Jenna knew it the minute she said it – she had gone too far. There was a crazed look in his eyes and she took a step back.

“Did you just call me a vain narcissist with a distorted ego?”

Jenna licked her lips, her mouth suddenly dry as the Sahara, and she turned to look at the friend while backing away.

To her surprise, he looked almost amused and said something calming in Spiri to the king.

“I have to say that I’ve never met a woman like you, Ms. Davis. I don’t know how American men do it, but I have to admire your courage. Not many men would stand up to Zurry like you just did.”

“Thank you… I guess,” Jenna muttered, trying to ease her racing heart.

“I realize that you have a point. If we had introduced ourselves, this could have been avoided, but when you live a whole life without anonymity you don’t think of introducing yourself any longer. In this country, everyone knows who we are.”

“Yeah, well, ironically enough, I still don’t know who
you
are, except that you are his friend.” Her eyes fell on the king, who was clearly trying to control his anger with her.

“That I am,” the friend said calmly. “Zurry here is my oldest and closest friend and advisor. Since he would probably bite if he were to open his mouth right now, allow me to introduce him. Coun Zurry Hellbyne Tulm, Minister of Defense. “

Jenna widened her eyes and exclaimed, “So you are
not
the king?”

Zurry didn’t respond, he just rolled his eyes.

“My name is Kioni Golsa Kopilus, also referred to as King Kopilus, His Majesty, or simply Kop by friends.”

It was the first time she saw him give her a genuine smile since she’d come into this office. The man was really, really handsome, and his hair was beckoning her to come touch it.
Stop it, Jenna… keep your head cool, it’s just looks.

“Now that we have that little misunderstanding out of the way we could perhaps continue to the more important matters.”

“Such as?”

“How do we get back on track? We both hold a tremendous responsibility and want what is best for the people. Spirima needs infrastructure, hospitals, schools, and housing, and the US and other countries have kindly offered to help with that. I’m afraid we never explained the reasons for our reluctance to work with you.”

Jenna crossed her arms. “This should be interesting. I’m listening.”

“It’s not that we have anything against women, in fact we are both very fond of women,” King Kopilus said. “But traditionally women don’t take on leadership in business. They leave that to the men – and this might seem old fashioned to you, but it’s not something anyone can change overnight. Not even a king, I’m afraid.”

“So what are you saying?”

“That if you want this project to succeed we need to find another solution. You would meet a wall of resistance and it wouldn’t be fair to you. You would spend all your time arguing instead of getting anything done.”

“I see. In that case, there’s not much here for me to do,” Jenna concluded. “As I said, my team and I will head home on the first flight.”

“Not so fast.” King Kopilus gestured for her to sit down, and to her surprise he took a seat and asked Zurry to follow his example. Now that both men were seated, Jenna accepted and slowly sank into the chair, keeping her back straight. She had won respect from the king, and he showed it by putting himself on a level with her; it was time for the negotiations to begin.

“Your president has made it an ultimatum that you stay in charge of the project.”

Jenna acted surprised, but the king’s look of scrutiny told her he wasn’t convinced.

“I’m afraid that after the hostile welcome to your country, I have no intention of staying.”

“You have to,” Zurry exclaimed in a deep voice.

She gave him a cold stare.
If you think you can dictate to me, then you’d better think again.
“You can’t force me,” she said.

“Zurry, would you mind giving me some time alone with Ms. Davis?” the king said softly. It wasn’t a question but a request, and Zurry left the room immediately.

“That guy really has some anger issues, you know.” Jenna commented when the door closed.

“He’s very protective of me,” the king replied.

“Yeah, well, he’s taking it a bit too far, and I can’t help wonder if he’s got a crush on you or something.”

King Kopilus shook his head. “No, it’s not that. I’m afraid a man changes after five years of war, especially when he’s responsible for the safety of his people. Zurry is a good man but he’s carrying a heavy burden.”

“Well, sorry to say so, but if a small insult from a women can unleash such wrath in you men, then it’s no wonder your country has been at war for years.”

The king narrowed his eyes. “You don’t know what you speak of; we never wanted a war and we didn’t attack anyone. The elite wanted to overthrow me when I banned their religion, and then it escalated into a civil war.

“Why would you ban a religion? Don’t you have freedom of religion and freedom of speech?”

“No, we don’t. And the answer is that I was under pressure from the outside to stop slavery and human sacrifices.”

“So why didn’t you just ban those practices?”

“Maybe I should have, but they were all linked to the religion and I thought that I would tear off the bandage and we could get a fresh start.”

“So you banned all religion?”

“No, just the Masi.”

“And then what? Do you think people will stop having a need for spiritual guidance?”

“There are other religions that are more kind.”

Jenna shook her head. “I don’t think we need to have this conversation right now, but I can’t blame you for wanting to set the slaves free – that is an admirable thing to do.”

“Thank you.”

“Did you succeed?”

He sighed. “You really don’t know much about anything, do you?”

“For your information I was given this assignment at the last minute, so excuse me for not having studied for months ahead. The few days I had to prepare I focused on the designs that were made for the original pitch. I can tell you about them and about the building materials that were suggested. I could also tell you about the budget, the time estimates, and a ton of other technicalities that I did manage to catch up on. I can see now that my time would have been better spent if I had sat down and looked at pictures of the royal family and learned about the history of Spirima.”

“I see.” He leaned back in his chair. “The question remains, though. Will you leave my country or will you stay and help build a better future?”

“Ohh, I’m leaving…” Jenna watched his face fall, and an exciting surge of power ran through her. She had this man in the palm of her hand; and after what she had endured because of him, she was going to press him like a ripe grape.

He eyed her speculatively. “What will it take to make you stay?”

“I don’t know. A bath and a toothbrush would be a good start.”

“Of course, and then what?”

Jenna thought about it. “You know what, Your Majesty… it won’t really matter if I stay or not. Clearly you guys missed out on the feminist uprising and still live in the Dark Ages. If you can’t get your people to work with me, then I can’t do my work anyway and I might as well go home.”

He rubbed the place between his eyes and seemed to be thinking hard.

“What if I helped you?”

“Helped me?”

“Yes. If I got Zurry involved to help you on the project. I guarantee that he can get my people to take orders, and he could break down cultural walls for you.”

“I’m sure he could, but then he would have to take orders from a woman.”

The king spoke low, and Jenna’s best guess was that he was cursing in his own language.

“Do you think he loves you enough to be willing to do that?”

“I told you we’re not lovers,” he said, annoyed.

“I didn’t mean it in a sexual way… I meant it… you know, as in loyalty and friendship”

“Zurry loves Spirima, and I’m sure he would be willing to make that sacrifice if he must.”

“Would you?”

He gave her a bold stare. “I think we both know that I already am. Your president is a woman and she is giving me no choice. In a way I am taking orders from a woman.”

“And it’s killing you.” Jenna stated, returning his honest glance.

He didn’t comment on that but waited for her to say something.

“So let me get this straight. If I stay you’ll have Zurry, whom I dislike and who clearly hates me, work with me? Somehow that doesn’t spark my desire to stay six months in this country. Sorry!”

He threw his hands in the air. “Then what do you want, Ms. Davis?”

Negotiation tactics rule one… always set your price higher than what you need.

“I want
you
to step in if I need help breaking down a wall.”

He laughed. “I’m the king, I have a country to rule. I don’t have time to meddle in affairs like that.”

“I also want all my team in one place and not spread out in three different hotels. I want them to stay in a house or an apartment complex where they can cook themselves.”

“Really, that’s what you want?”

“And I want you to publicly say that you support our work and that you have confidence in me as a leader.”

Heat was flashing in his cheeks.

“And, I want you to push girls’ right to a higher education in this country.”

“No.”

“No?” She gave him a challenging stare. “Listen, if you want to rebuild this country, you need to take women seriously. It’s half of your population and they have the right to contribute with their unique talents.”

“Women are already contributing. They are the very essence of our future, they give life.”

“Sure, but so do men. It takes two to make a child, you know.”

He shot her a patronizing glance. “I’m aware how children are made, Ms. Davis.”

“Wonderful – then all you need is to get aware that women can do much more than give birth and prepare dinner. You need to push for women’s rights.”

The king got up and turned to look out the window. “You are asking too much of me. There is much you don’t understand about this country and my people…”

When he turned to face her with at worried expression, she didn’t answer him or move a muscle. She was too busy remembering her father’s advice from an earlier time in her life.
Never be afraid of an uncomfortable silence… don’t get stressed and pull back your demands just because the atmosphere gets tense. Be calm and simply wait patiently for him to talk.
Of course his advice had been in relation to a meeting she once had with her boss about a small raise in her salary; now… it was about so much more.  

“It’s not that I don’t want to modernize Spirima. It’s just that we are slowly getting back on our feet after fighting a five-year-long and very brutal war. I am loved by some and hated by others. My haters argue that I’ll destroy the country with my progressive ideas. That I want to copy the West and erase the traditional Spirimian culture. I have to go slow, Ms. Davis.”

Jenna didn’t know what possessed her to get up and join him by the window, but there was something very authentic about this man and although she had hated him when she entered his office, she was beginning to feel an ounce of sympathy for him.
I don’t envy him his job for one second.

“So how about this, then,” she said and looked him square in the eyes. “I will stay for a trial period of three weeks.”

“But three weeks is nothing.”

“Three weeks is all I can commit to at this point.”

There was a long moment of uncomfortable silence between them.

“All right, three weeks. Now let’s compromise on your demands.”

She shook her head. “No compromises.”

He opened his mouth to protest but Jenna held up her hand.

“I’m sticking to my demands but I don’t want to be unreasonable, so since you believe I’m pushing you too far, too fast, we can discuss the pace.