“Do you?” Pearl’s frown lines deepened.
“Yes. Northlanders are large and strong. Khan was clear that he doesn’t want to weaken his people’s DNA.”
Freya’s hand covered mine and her lovely green eyes were full of sorrow. “No, Belle, don’t say that. My father knows that not everything is about physical strength. Your people are magnificent. You’re intellectually strong, brave, and resourceful. You’ve found a different way of living that the rest of the world may not understand, but I’m sure that if we did, we could all learn a lot from you French.”
I tugged my lips up in a sad smile. “That’s sweet of you to say.”
“Listen to me, Belle. Khan’s reasons have nothing to do with DNA. It’s purely a matter of politics. Unfortunately, my husband has been caught in a them and us mentality since the day he was born.” Pearl sighed. “I admire my husband for many things, but he can be a stubborn fool when it comes to seeing that the world is better off without borders or nationalities.”
Freya scoffed low, clearly disagreeing, which made Pearl inhale deeply and look deep into my eyes. “See what I have to put up with? Even my own daughter is a nationalist.”
“I am too,” I admitted. “We French are proud of our small nation. We’ve been through so much and we’re the descendants of the great people of Europe. They treasured art, history, and science.”
“Yes, we are aware. Many of the books in here were written by Europeans.” Pearl looked around as we shared a moment of respectful silence.
I continued, “I was eight when contact was made between us and the Motherlands. The biggest change to my life was that soon we were all made to learn English in school. Our government was resistant to interacting with the outsiders and from what I understand it’s been a shaky relationship with the Motherlands. We French are all very aware that we never want to be swallowed up by the Motherlands. We want to keep our customs and traditions.”
Freya let go of my hand and reached for a cracker. “Same with us. I’m fascinated with how different people choose to live when given the choice to shape their own culture. With the Motherlands it’s all the same and everyone is conforming to a standard without questioning that it could be different. If we still had hundreds of countries like in the olden days, there would be something to compare to and be inspired by, but instead it’s all standardized.”
“There are different cultures depending on where you go in the Motherlands,” Pearl pointed out. “From rural places to busy cities, or beach towns. It’s not all the same.”
“True, but they all live by the same laws and rules. They all speak the same language. Imagine if we still had hundreds of languages in the world.”
Pearl brushed a finger over her left eyebrow. “I know it sounds great in theory, but how do you think the Toxic War started in the first place? Humans are territorial and they tend to fear what they don’t understand. In unifying the world, animosity was decreased and unlike the Northlands, the Motherlands haven’t been at war for four hundred years.”
“I know.” Freya chewed on a cracker. “But I still think it would be so nice if we had our own language that the Motlanders didn’t understand.”
“Freya.” Pearl shook her head. “You are the daughter and granddaughter of councilwomen. Please stop the them and us game, I know I raised you better than that.” The two had a moment of silence staring until Freya leaned back in her seat.
“Belle.”
I’d been reaching for a biscuit but pulled my hand back when Pearl spoke my name. “Yes?”
“How are you feeling? Thor informed us from the cabin that you had a traumatic experience a few days ago. We’re all deeply grateful that Thor, Indiana, and Mason were able to bring you back to safety, but I wanted to talk to you about what happened.”
I told her a short version of being stuck in an avalanche of snow.
Pearl shivered. “Oh, you poor thing, I can’t even imagine how frightened you must have felt. Being buried alive has always been one of my worst nightmares. I can understand why being close to Mason’s warm body would have been soothing to you, but I have to ask you…” Pearl trailed off and took my hand. Her eyes were so blue and intense when she asked in a soft voice, “You can be completely honest with us; was the sex between you and Mason consensual?”
My answer came without hesitation. “Yes.”
“Are you sure? You can tell us, you know.”
“Mason didn’t hurt me. I initiated the sex.”
Pearl’s shoulders eased as she placed a hand on her chest bone. “Sweet sun and moon. I was hoping you’d say that.”
“Mason has been nothing but kind to me, well, for the most part.”
Freya arched a brow. “For the most part?”
I scratched my nose and looked down. “We’re just different and he gets frustrated with me sometimes.”
“That’s inevitable in any relationship,” Pearl said. “Khan and I started out with intense dislike toward one another. It’s still a mystery to me how we went from arguing non-stop to being best friends.”
“I understand, but Mason and I aren’t… I mean, we’re not…” Suddenly my skin itched, and I couldn’t find rest in my body.
The sound of the door opening made us all look up to see Mason enter and walk toward us with a solemn expression on his face. “Belle, I need to talk to you.”
Pearl stood and signaled for Freya to give Mason and me privacy, but Freya watched me with concern.
“Do you want me to stay, Belle?”
With a quick glance in Mason’s direction, I swallowed hard and knew that he would be furious about my being so careless and forgetting to replace my pregnancy prevention implant. I couldn’t blame him and with a steadying breath, I looked down. “I’ll be fine.”
Mason and I didn’t speak until Freya and Pearl had left the room and closed the door after them. Their cups of tea still stood on the table, which shook when Mason leaned forward and placed both hands around the edges.
“Look at me, Belle.”
Biting down on my lip, I raised my head and met his eyes.
“Did you do this on purpose?”
“Nooo…” My eyebrows curled in a grimace of disbelief. “How can you think that?”
Mason kept watching me. “I can’t tell if you’re lying, but I can tell you this: you’re not leaving here until we know if you’re pregnant with my child.”
“Okay.”
He jerked his head back. “Okay?” It clearly surprised him that I’d given in so easily but then he never understood my feelings for him.
“I understand, Mason,” I said.
“Hmm.” Straightening up, he squared his shoulders and crossed his arms. “Why do I have a feeling that you’re saying that to appease me and the moment I look the other way, you and the rest of your delegation will be halfway across the Atlantic Ocean?
Mirroring his crossed arms, I folded mine and met his gaze straight on. “I’m not running away.”
“No, you’re not, because I’m not letting you out of my sight.”