Page 13 of The Artist
Aubri snorted. “As if the wordsdon’t do itever kept me from trying.”
“Aubri, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but how come you aren’t married yet?” Victor asked. “I remember vividly the discussion we had on your tradition of marriage at one of the first summits. You insisted that you wanted to marry when you were twenty-one.”
Everyone was quiet and looking at Aubri, who like me had our mother’s red hair color.
“I still plan to marry.” She played with a ring on her thumb and avoided looking at anyone.
“But you’re twenty-seven now so what happened?” Victor pressed on.
Leaning my forearms on the table, I played with the bottom of my wine glass. Victor was an expert at pushing his finger into the most infected wounds, and marriage was an explosive topic in our family. None of us had married yet and our parents were losing their minds.
“Well…” Aubri pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “I realize that it’s time, but the problem is that I haven’t met the right man yet.”
“It used to be simple for a woman,” Indiana said. “There would be tournaments where men fought to win her hand in marriage, but now the tournaments are more like massive festivals with fighting, comedy, and matchmaking for those seeking a partner.”
Victor still had those red lips that curled up in a sly smile. “I’m curious. Why don’t you tell us what kind of man you’re looking for, Aubri, and maybe we can help you. Could be that he’s not from here.”
With humor sparkling in her eyes, Aubri leaned forward. “Do you have any warriors who are at least six feet five, intelligent, funny, caring, with a high libido, and strong enough to throw me around?”
“Why would he throw you around?” Simon asked with a grimace of confusion.
“What’s libido?” Harper whispered to Freya, who sat with her arms folded.
“Aubri is referring to sex,” Freya explained matter-of-factly.
“Oh.” Closing her mouth, Harper pulled back in her seat like the subject was dangerous.
Simon on the other hand, wasn’t deterred. “I’m still confused. I’ve had sex plenty of times, but we never throw our women. What would be the purpose of that?”
Victor ignored all the talk about throwing and tapped his chin like he was giving Aubri’s question serious consideration. “We don’t have many men that tall and we don’t train people to be warriors the way you do here in the Northlands. But we have Explorers, and I bet they could outdo your Huntsmen when it comes to surviving in nature and being physically strong and brave.”
Aubri’s smile grew. “Yes, Belle told us a little bit about your Explorers. Sounds intriguing. Is it true they go into unknown territory and live outside for months?”
“Very true. They are our eyes and ears on the ground while our scientists develop strategies to clean up the environment. It’s a dangerous job and the mortality rate is high among them. But the toughest are extraordinary people with incredible strength, both physically and mentally.”
“Next time you’re hosting a summit, I hope you’ll introduce me to some of your finest Explorers then,” Aubri said and it immediately made Thor, Indiana, and me scowl at her.
“That won’t be necessary,” Thor said. “Aubri is a pure Northlander and we’ll find someone suited for her here.”
“Is French blood of lower quality?” Victor challenged.
I tensed up, sensing the first fight of the summit brewing, but Freya just chuckled. “It’s a silly thing really. From an evolutionary standpoint mixing blood should be considered a good thing, but Aubri, Thor, Mason, and I are the closest thing the Northlands has to royalty and we’re expected to marry a suitable Northlander.”
“Why marry at all?” Lachlan asked and brushed breadcrumbs from his lace sleeve and down on the table. “I would never dream of it.”
“That’s because you were raised in the Motherlands where most people still consider marriage oppressive and old-fashioned. If you were born here, you’d think differently,” Freya pointed out.
“In Old Europe, we don’t marry either,” Belle said.
We all turned to look at her because it was so rare for her to speak up when we gathered as a group. The many eyes on Belle made her blush and turn to Victor. “Why don’t we marry, do you know?”
“Of course.” He had such a smug expression, like he was a walking library and kneweverything.
“Care to share?” Freya asked him.
“It’s simple, really. The tradition of partnerships between men and women was banned by the original survivors. Being stuck underground in interconnected survival bunkers there was no room for jealousy or possessiveness. They took the responsibility of repopulating the world seriously. That’s why systems were developed to make sure no inbreeding took place. That meant love had no place when it came to procreation. Today we can enjoy sex with whomever we want but never with the same partner for more than three times. It prevents us from forming a lasting connection or developing unwelcome feelings.”
“That’s bullshit. You don’t need to have had sex with a woman to feel possessive of her,” Indiana argued. “And no one can decide who you fall in love with.”
