Page 66 of The Seducer
“Not so much, but I think she was just cold.”
“But probably not colder than the rest of us. So, would Athena be the right person to ask if playing in the snow is fun?” Finn asked Reva.
“No, I guess not.”
“Which proves that Athena doesn’t know how to have fun. She’s much too serious for that, but you know what?”
“What?” Samuel asked.
“I bet if one of you had been my hostage in the Northlands, we would’ve had a ton of fun together.”
Tristan and Samuel nodded before they munched on their cake.
“Being a hostage isnotfun!” No one dared challenge me on that except Finn, who mimed a large yawn to the children, and pointed to me, mouthing the word “boring.”
None of them had ever seen such rude behavior from an adult. It was obvious that they were fascinated that he broke all the rules of proper communication.
“But why did the giant kidnap you?” Charlotte asked.
“He was looking for his wife,” I explained.
“Did he think you were her? Do you look alike?”
I nodded to Finn. “You’ll have to answer that, since I have never met her.”
“Well, you both have red hair, although Laura’s has a more orange tone to it. But I don’t see how he could confuse you two, since she’s much taller than you.”
“Then why did he take Athena?” Reva asked.
“He didn’t mean to hurt Athena,” Finn said. “He just wanted back his wife, who had gone missing in the Motherlands.”
“How can someone go missing?” Tristan asked with a frown. “Doesn’t she have a wristband? All she has to do is use the GPS function to find her way.”
I cleared my throat. “When Finn said missing, what he really meant was that Laura ran off to the Motherlands.”
“Oh…” The children nodded in understanding.
Finn stretched his feet in front of him. “You have to understand that Laura got confused when she spoke to a woman called Christina. Somehow the woman convinced her that the Motherlands was a better place to live.”
“It’s not, is it?” Tristan asked.
“Not by a long mile,” Finn said and laughed. “I’m sure Laura has realized that by now. The problem between her and Magni is that she left him without saying goodbye. As you can imagine he’s kind of pissed about it.”
“Is that why he took you?” Charlotte asked. “Because he lost his wife and he needed anew one?”
“He didn’t want a new wife,” I assured her. “But he had this silly idea that if he took me, our Council would give him back his wife in exchange.”
“And did they?”
“No, she’s still here somewhere.”
“Do you know where she is?” Tristan asked me.
I had heard rumors, but I wasn’t willing to discuss them with the children or Finn, so I simply shook my head.
“Are you still scared of the big man?” Charlotte asked with sympathy in her voice.
“No, and neither should you be,” I said with a small smile. “Only the nice Nmen can come into the Motherlands, so you have nothing to worry about.”
