Page 27 of The Warrior
“He talks a big talk, but he’s as soft as they come.” Finn picked up a vase and scratched the gold leaf on it, before he put it down again. “Just tell Laura to watch her back, because he sure as hell won’t have it.”
My face was growing redder by the second.
“Relax, Magni, they only need to find three more. She could be home by tomorrow.”
“I wish.”
“You’ve got to stay positive, man.”
“You know me, I’m always positive.” My voice was flat. “A fucking ray of sunshine.”
“That you are, my friend.” Finn smacked my shoulder. “But I didn’t come here to bathe in your sunshine. I came with the result of the test.”
I squeezed my jacket tight in my hand. “You mean the paternity test you did on me and Mila?”
Four days ago, a test had shown that Finn was the biological father of Tristan, a boy who had grown up in the Motherlands. It had been nothing short of a miracle that the two of them ever met, and now I was hopeful that Mila might be my kid too.
“Here you go.” Finn handed me a paper. “I went to the school yesterday and Mila kept asking me when you were coming.”
Opening the paper, I stared at the result. “I’ll go right now.”
Finn patted my shoulder with a smile. “You do that, my friend, and while you’re there, could you give Tristan a message from me? Just tell him that the papers came and that I’m officially allowed to live in the Motherlands now. We’ll be leaving tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” A knot formed in my stomach. Finn was my best friend, and I hated that he was moving to the Motherlands where I couldn’t visit him.
“Are you sure about this?” I asked him. “They’re not going to like you there. They hate us Nmen.”
“No, they don’t. They just hateyou.” He grinned in Finn’s typical relaxed way. “That’s what you get for kidnapping one of their priestesses.”
“Hey, you should be thanking me. If I hadn’t, you two wouldn’t be married today.”
“You’re right, but honestly, Magni, I know you dislike the Motlanders, but you’ve got to give them a chance. They are good people. Even Khan is starting to warm up to them.”
I snorted again. “You and Khan are blinded by the sex, that’s all. But I’m not. I’ll be here to remind you of the four hundred years that the Momsies have been oppressing men and keeping all power to themselves. I’ll never forgive them for isolating us in a far corner of the world while they get all the warm sand beaches. I fucking hate the cold up here.”
“It’s not healthy for you to carry all that anger and bitterness toward them. Athena and Pearl didn’t live four hundred years ago, and you can’t hold it against this generation of Motlanders. At least they’re open to dialogue and integrating our countries.”
I rolled my eyes. “Is that you or your wife talking?”
Finn shrugged. “So what if I picked up a bit from her? She’s helped me a lot. Maybe she can help you too. Athena is easy to talk to and she knows about emotions and stuff.”
“I don’t think so,” I said in a dismissive tone. “I’m not a talker and you know it.”
“But maybe she could teach you not to be so guarded.”
“Unless Athena can get rid of that fucking wall, I’m not interested in her help.”
“Fine. But just for the record, I’ve been to a beach in the Motherlands and so have Marco and Archer. Don’t forget that thingsarehappening.”
“Hoo-fucking-ray!” I moved to the door, my fist itching to hit something. “Things are happening alright. But from where I’m standing it’s all shit. My wife is gone and tomorrow you’ll be gone too. In fact, you know what; if you see Laura over there, the two of you can have a party together. Forgive me for not being able to join you, but as you know there will be a big fucking wallseparating us.” I hissed the last words and slammed the door behind me before I spewed more of the anger that filled me every time I thought of the Motherlands. That country had meant only humiliation and pain to me. And now it would steal away both my wife and my best friend. I fucking hated it!
When I took off in my drone, I was tempted to go straight for the border in the hopes of finding some fool who thought he might cross unseen. I could use a target for my frustration, but the paper in my hand made me fly to the only oasis I knew these days. The experimental school where Mila lived.
It only took me fifteen minutes to fly there and the minute I landed several of the kids came running.
“Hey, Magni,” Raven, one of the Motlander children, called out to me. “Are you here to teach us fighting?”
“No, not today.” I tousled her black curly hair and she smiled up at me. Raven had beautiful dark chocolate skin and was the opposite in looks to her good friend Mila, who was blond and waited for me with a beaming smile on her face.
