“It is our hope that when it’s your time to lead, we will have made your job easier by helping you form strong alliances and friendships in this group. To do so, we’ve arranged for a number of fun bonding experiences that will give you a chance to get to know each other. Hopefully, when you leave in a week, you’ll be excited to see your new friends again next summer.” Sheana Rene met our eyes one by one before continuing.
“Let me introduce you to my colleague, council member Jonah, who is part of our cultural inclusion committee.”
My cousin Freya and I shared a look of understanding. The word inclusion was a reminder that the Motherlands had always aimed at integrating the Northlands, but we would never give up our sovereignty. Crossing my arms, I leaned back in my chair and while listening to Sheana Rene carrying on about the importance of mutual respect and understanding, I studied the other participants.
From the Motherlands there were three females and two males, and from Old Europe there were three males and two females. One looked significantly younger than the others with her small frame and large doe eyes.
“Where will we be sleeping?” Thor’s question brought me back to paying attention.
“In tents,” Jonah answered. “There are five tents and you’ll have three people in each one.” He raised a hand to silence the questions when several spoke at the same time. “I know. It means you won’t be sleeping with the people you arrived with, but that’s part of the plan to help you make new friends.”
“How will we know who we’re sleeping with then?” one of the Europeans asked. He looked to be the oldest in their group and had thick brown hair and lips so red that it made me wonder if he wore lipstick.
“That’s easy, why don’t we have all of you stand in a line. We’ll have the Northlanders to the right, the Motlanders in the middle, and the Europeans on the left,” Jonah instructed.
“We prefer to be referred to as French,” the red-lipped guy said before he placed himself with the rest of his group. It was clear that he was the alpha in the French delegation.
“All right, we’ll all remember that,” Jonah said with a friendly smile and then he started from the right and counted, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, while tapping on our heads. Standing in the middle of my group, I was number three. After doing the same thing with the Motlanders and the French, Jonah instructed. “Now, please fold this line until you form a circle.”
We did as he asked and the fifteen of us now stood facing each other.
“First, let’s have you all introduce yourself by sharing your name and age. Later you’ll be doing a ton of fun things where you get to share more about yourself.” Jonah pointed to Aubri. “Why don’t you start?”
“Fine.” She spoke loud and clear. “My name is Aubri and I’m fifteen, but I’m turning sixteen on Wednesday.”
Indiana was next and held his chin high and pushed his dark hair back. “My name is Indiana and I turned sixteen in May.”
Next I was up. “I’m Aubri’s twin brother, Mason.”
“How old are you?” one of the girls from the Motherlands asked before clasping a hand in front of her mouth. “I’m sorry, that was a stupid question.”
Several laughed but Aubri shot the embarrassed girl a smile. “I’m older than Mason by six minutes, so technically he’s my younger brother.”
Freya continued the introduction round. “I’m sixteen too, and my name is Freya.”
“How come you’re all sixteen?” the French leader asked with a frown.
“We’re not.” Freya nodded to her brother Thor, who stood next to her.
“I’m Thor and I’m the heir to the Northlands. I’m thirteen and eight months.”
“Oui, but four of you are bascly sixteen,” the French guy said like that was a weird thing.
“I think you mean basically, not bascly.” Freya replied with a friendly smile. “You’re right, though. We did have a bit of a baby boom in the Northlands back in thirty-eight. If you’re interested in our history, I’m happy to tell you about it later.”
The group from the Motherlands made a quick presentation of their names and ages that spanned from fourteen to eighteen. After the Motlanders came the French. I had never been fond of remembering names and hearing ten at once was too much for me to remember. The one that stood out to me was the outspoken guy with the thick brown hair and red lips. His name was Victor. He was eighteen and the leader of that group. And then there was Belle, the young girl, who was twelve years old and seemed so out of place that I felt bad for her.
“Great, thank you for introducing yourselves. Now, let’s start by separating you into five groups for the tents so you know where you’ll be sleeping tonight,” Sheana Rene said pragmatically. “Jonah gave you a number, so if you’re number one, please take a step forward.
Two boys and Aubri stepped forward, which made Thor, Indiana, and me protest right away.
“Hell no! Aubri isn’t sleeping in a tent with two males,” I exclaimed in a non-negotiable tone.
Jonah muttered a low “I told you so,” to Sheana.
I zoomed in on him. “You’re married to my sister. You fucking know better than this.”
Jonah sighed. “Mila did warn me you might not go along with mixed sleeping arrangements, but I was hoping you boys would be more relaxed than your fathers.”
“Don’t call us boys,” Indiana and I insisted at the same time.
The guy from the Motherlands who had stepped forward was fourteen and didn’t look like he’d hit puberty yet. With a face scrunched up, he asked, “What’s wrong? I don’t understand.”
Victor frowned. “What is this about?”
Taking a defensive stance with my arms crossed, I explained. “In the Northlands we protect our females. If any of you guys touch Freya or Aubri, we’ll kill you.”
Gasps sounded from the others and it made Freya elbow me. “Stop it, Mason!”
“No, I won’t stop it. If anything happens to either of you, we’ll be the ones facing Dad and Khan, and you know damn well they’d string us up for failing to protect you.”
“I can protect myself!” Aubri exclaimed with irritation.
Jonah held up his palms. “Okay, how about we make a tent with three young women then. Aubri and Freya, why don’t you go with Belle? She’s the youngest and it might be a bit overwhelming for her to be sleeping next to someone like Indiana or Mason anyway.”
We all looked toward the twelve-year-old girl, who hadn’t said a single word except her name and age. Her shoulders were tipped forward and her eyes fixed on the floor. I couldn’t see much of her face as her long light brown hair was covering it, but from the way she cowered, she didn’t resemble someone with leader potential.
“Oui, that’s fine,” Victor said with a dismissive wave of the hand, like he couldn’t care less about Belle. “The rest of us aren’t scared of coupling males and females.”
“You won’t be coupling shit, my friend?” I puffed my chest up and narrowed my eyes at Victor, but Jonah was quick to put a hand on my shoulder.
“Relax, Mason. Remember that English isn’t Victor’s first language. I think he means that they aren’t afraid of mixing males and females.”