Page 107 of The Outcast
With a wide smile I confirmed, “The prettiest in the world.”
“I thought that maybe you would panic a little on our wedding day. You know, with all your earlier biases against marriage. I’m pleasantly surprised to see you so happy.”
“That’s the thing about culture, isn’t it? You think that the way you grow up isnormaluntil you meet another culture with anothernormalthat’s completely different from yours. In the ideal world you could pick and choose from each culture. I would have loved to bring some of our restaurants with me for instance.”
“Do you think that there are Northlanders who would be happier living in France?”
“Hmm… judging from our first three teams of Explorers, I would say they are settling in well. As you know from the reports, a few of them are embracing the liberal sexuality with surprising ease.”
Sparrow bared her white teeth in a radiant smile. “I feel like I’m getting the best of both worlds.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Mm-hmm. I get a sexually experienced man who is devoted to me.”
I kissed her nose. “That I am.”
We were standing in our own bubble of sublime happiness when suddenly the band began playing something upbeat with a heavy bass.
“That’s what I’m talking about,” Indiana shouted and in no time the dance floor filled up with large Nmen jumping and singing along.
Sparrow and I moved to the side and watched the group with her brothers, Jones, Indiana, Mason, Solo, and a bunch of others dance to the popular song. In his deep baritone voice, the singer sang lyrics about facing danger and being brave. Indiana was swinging his arms and with a cheeky grin he grabbed me and pulled me onto the dance floor with the other men.
Their dancing wasn’t coordinated or elegant. It was like something out of a tribal ritual with everyone letting their body move to the rhythm.
I danced a short minute before I returned to my wife. “I wish Thor was here,” I told Sparrow, knowing full well that if he were here, he would have been on the dance floor right now.
“Mm-hmm.” With her head leaning on my chest and her arms wrapped tightly around my waist, Sparrow was still looking at the dancers. “We should ask Linea if she has an update on Thor.”
After I kissed the top of Sparrow’s head, we walked hand in hand past the tables where our friends and Sparrow’s family were chatting and laughing.
Linea stood with Athena on the outskirts of the party under a large oak tree that was softly lit. When they saw us approach, they both broke into wide smiles.
“How lovely you two look together,” Athena said in a sing-song voice.
“Thank you. We showered and dressed nicely for the occasion,” Sparrow teased before dipping her head toward the dance floor. “Are you enjoying the men’s show?”
The two red-haired women laughed. “Very much. Look at Finn and Tristan. What in the world are those kicks that they’re doing?”
We all grinned and waved when Tristan saw us watching them and exaggerated his fun dance moves.
“We should have weddings more often,” Athena said. “It so lovely to spend a beautiful summer night with friends.”
“Speaking of friends, do you have an update on Thor?” I asked Linea.
She shook her head. “Not since I went to see him. He said that he needed time on his own.”
“That was six months ago. We were hoping he would come back for our wedding.”
“I’m sure he would have loved to,” Athena said. “But coming back to the Northlands means answering questions he might not have answers to yet.”
“What about this year’s summit?” Sparrow asked and reached out to remove a small leaf from Linea’s hair.
“There’s still three weeks until the summit. Thor could still decide to come home and participate,” Athena said, but from the way Linea looked away, I got the distinct feeling that there was something they weren’t telling us.
“What is it?” I asked her. “You know something, don’t you?”
Looking down, Linea scraped one of her light blue shoes against a tree root.
