Page 5 of The Seducer
Five months later – October 2437
“I mean it, Finn.” Pearl jabbed her finger into my chest. “This is a serious matter. Not everything in life is a joke, and I’m putting my trust in you.”
As one of the five men that Pearl had chosen to represent the Northlands, I was about to set out on a journey into the Motherlands. My mission was to educate the Momsies and show them that we Nmen weren’t the abhorrent creatures they had made us out to be.
“Oh, he’ll behave himself,” Khan said and pounded my shoulder harder than necessary. “Won’t you?”
“Absolutely!” I gave them my most trustworthy smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll have all the women falling head over heels in love with me in no time.”
Pearl linked her arm with Khan and a small triangle formed between her eyebrows. “This is about diplomacy, and your goal isn’t to sleep with as many women as possible. Your goal is to show them that they have nothing to fear from Nmen.”
“Trust and sex can go hand-in-hand, and as the official seducer, I won’t disappoint you.”
“You’re a representative,” Pearl corrected me with a small smile. “You can’t just come up with a title of official seducer.”
“Why not? Representative sounds so boring.” I lifted my hand and underscored a headline in the air. “I prefer Charmer or Seducer Extraordinaire.”
“Representative!” Pearl repeated. “Now, please remember all the things I told you about being nice to the mediator. He or she will be your new best friend, guiding you around the country and keeping you safe.”
“You already told me ten times.”
Pearl ignored my comment and continued repeating instructions that she had already given me.
“I’m very proud of you for seeking out Athena and asking her for her forgiveness. The fact that you show remorse for your role in keeping her a hostage tells me I made the right choice when I picked you.”
“Yeah, I feel horrible about what happened to Athena,” I lied. “I think you’re right, Pearl, asking for her forgiveness is really going to help unburden me. It’s hard to sleep at night when you know you’ve done something wrong.”
Magni raised his eyebrows and gave me a pointed stare, telling me that I was taking it too far.
“Magni.” Pearl turned to her brother-in-law. “Are you absolutely sure you don’t wish for Finn to carry your apology with him when he goes to see Athena? It was you who kidnapped her, after all.”
“Nahh, I’m good.”
“But maybe if you…” Pearl started, but was interrupted by her husband Khan, who put his hand on her forearm.
“You’re wasting your breath, honey, I know you don’t understand this but it’s a pride thing, and Magni and I weren’t raised to apologize.”
Pearl opened her mouth to speak, but wisely closed it again. “Well, at least Finn is man enough to apologize and that gives me hope for the rest of you.”
We watched her walk away before Khan spoke.
“I can’t believe she still can’t read you well enough to see when you’re lying.”
“That’s a good thing,” I said and chuckled. “I doubt she would’ve convinced the Council to let me go and see Athena if she knew the truth.”
“Just don’t upset her.”
“Who? Athena or Pearl?” I asked.
Khan frowned. “Both. It’s a miracle that Athena even agreed to see you. I can’t imagine she has pleasant memories of her five days as our hostage.”
“It wasn’t all bad,” I defended myself. “Maybe the first night was a disaster, but she wasn’t a complete pain in the ass the whole time.”
“Hmm.” Khan walked to the door. “Don’t forget to report back to us about your progress.”
A slow smile spread on my face. “Do you want all the dirty details?”
“The dirtier the better,” Magni said. “And don’t forget to look for Laura.”
