Page 101 of The Seducer
“Remember the meat and alcohol,” I interjected.
Khan looked at me, signaling that he had heard me, before he moved on.
“3: Free entry to the Northlands for every female who wishes to live here.”
“Yes,” Pearl nodded her head. “This is where you should be willing to compromise. The Council is going to want the women to have rights. Tell them that you’re willing to let the women work, and that they will be allowed to choose their own partners.”
“I still say we should have tournaments,” Magni exclaimed, but Pearl ignored him.
“Offer to create a system where every male looking for a female can register. That way the women can make an informed choice.”
“That would never work,” Magni objected. “What if the women choose some weaklings that can’t protect them? With tournaments, at least we know that the husband is strong and capable.”
Athena coughed.
“What?” Magni asked her as if she had argued against him.
“Nothing, I’m just excited that the Motlander women might nurture some of the less violent traits in you Nmen. It should be interesting to see the men impress women with more than just their muscles.”
Magni narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, I’m sure you’d like to see us write love poems and jump around and do ballet and shit, but if I were you, I wouldn’t hold my breath.”
“Love poems sound nice,” Laura said. “An Nman expressing his feelings would be very refreshing.”
Magni’s foot was tapping under the table and he looked like he wanted to drag Laura to their room and discipline her for speaking against him.
“What about the males that are looking for a male?” Athena asked, resulting in all heads turning to look at her.
“Ehm…” Khan looked at me, Boulder, and Magni.
“Love is love,” Athena stated. “And surely with so many males living together, homosexuality must flourish here.”
Khan looked down and took time before he answered. “It’s not something we usually discuss.”
“Is there some kind of rule against homosexuality?”
“No, it happens, but most men would rather be with female sex-bots than…” Khan trailed off. “It’s hard to imagine that anyone would want to be with a man if they had access to women.”
Athena smiled and folded her hands in front of her. “Statistics show that about ten percent of men are gay. It’s probably always been that way. In the Motherlands, it’s not unusual for our men to choose male sex-bots in the pleasure parlors, even when they could be with a female one.”
“We don’t have any male sex-bots.” Boulder looked at Khan. “Do we?”
“No, not from what I know.” He made a dismissive hand signal toward Athena. “If it makes you happy, we can add the option of choosing a male to the system, but I doubt anyone will use it. Nmen prefer women.”
Athena’s smile hinted at doubt, but she didn’t pursue the subject further.
“4: Ten more mixed schools with children from both sides of the border,” Khan read from the list.
“Yes.” Pearl closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Now with this one, it will give you goodwill if you mention that it’s also an opportunity for the Northlander girls to attend school instead of being homeschooled. The Council will like that detail.”
“Got it!” Khan said. “I have another ten points on the list, but those four are the major ones.”
“Who will do the negotiations alongside you?” I asked Khan.
“I will,” Pearl said and gave Magni a challenging glance when he scowled at her. “It’s better that way, Magni, because I speak their language.”
Magni threw his hands in the air. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean? They speak English just like we do.”
“Yes, but a loud, angry voice, or the use of curse words, can be very distracting to a Motlander. They will focus on that instead of hearing your actual words.”
