Just like every summer since Belle turned seventeen, my eyes fell to her stomach. Despite her being twenty-four, there were still no signs of a child growing inside her. It was possible that Belle had done her civic duty in the eighteen months since we’d last seen her. If so, her body didn’t show any signs of a recent pregnancy.
Simon was helping Celeste out of the drone and it was easy to see that she on the other hand was very pregnant.
“Congratulations.” I walked over to greet them.
“For what?” Simon asked. His height hadn’t increased since we first met.
“Celeste is pregnant.” With a smile my gaze ran from her stomach to her eyes. “That’s amazing.”
She touched her front. “I’m happy you think so. Most days I regret signing up for a third one. I’m so tired all the time and I don’t remember the first ones kicking like this. I think it’s going to be a…” She searched for the word and turned to Simon asking him something in French.
“Dancer,” he said.
“Yes, I couldn’t remember that word.”
“That’s okay. I’m just impressed that you all speak English so well.”
“We weren’t given much choice,” Simon pointed out. “The Motlanders who taught us their language hoped that we would grow up and want to join them.” He rolled his eyes because like us, the French had no wish to be included in the Motherlands.
With a pat on his shoulder, I said, “It’s good to see you, Simon. I saved a cold beer for you.”
“See, that’s why I prefer coming here instead of the Motherlands; you don’t have a ban on alcohol.”
“Mason.”
I looked up to see Victor giving me a nod in greeting.
“Victor,” I greeted him back. “You’re looking sharp. Did you grow?”
He pushed back his hair, which was still thick, and arched a brow. “People don’t grow at the age of twenty-nine. I thought you knew that.”
With his six feet three, he wasn’t short like Simon, but with my seven feet I looked down on most men. Over the years, the French had given me shit about my height and taken pictures to measure against me, so it was sort of tradition to bring up height when we met.
“Did you know that our people speak of you Northlanders as a type of mythical creatures? We refer to you as the giants of the North.”
Freya moved closer to Victor and me and tilted her head. “That’s funny since we refer to you French as bees.”
His eyebrows narrowed. “You call us bees?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because of your colorful clothing, your societal structure, and because you are feisty little things who like to sting when we giants try to smash you.”
I laughed at the offended expression on Victor’s face.
“I’m much taller than you,” he pointed out.
Freya, who was five-ten, smiled. “Only in height.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Are you referring to intelligence again?” Victor called after Freya, who had started walking back to the house.
“It’s cold out here. Let’s get inside,” she replied over her shoulder.
Victor picked up his bag and trotted after her already arguing with Freya, which was a recurrent thing whenever they met.
“Here, let me,” I said and took Belle’s bag from her when everyone moved to the house.
“Thank you, Mason. How have you been?”
“Busy. I’ve been training the new Huntsmen recruits.” I gave a low groan, but she still picked it up and asked,
“You’re not happy with them?”
“They’re physically strong, but it’s sad to see how soft some of them are.”
“Why do you think that is?”
“Because most of them are Nomo children who grew up with Motlander mothers who fussed over them. A few even broke down crying when we did our survival training.”
“You don’t like emotions much, do you?”
Meeting Belle’s curious gaze, I pushed out an annoyed huff. “Not on a survival trip. Sobbing about the unfairness of snow in your boots, hail in your face, and a stomach growling with hunger isn’t going to help anything. Survival is about staying focused and doing what needs to be done.”
We entered the warm house and my little sister, Dina, who was twenty and not part of the leader summit, offered to take Belle to her room.
“I’ll see you at dinner,” I told Belle and handed her bag to Dina.
“I can take my own bag,” Belle protested but Dina was almost half a head taller than her and just led the way, asking Belle to come with her. Just then Aubri came from behind us and placed an arm around Belle while pushing her forward. “I want you in the new wing close to my room.”
Half an hour later, all fifteen of us sat around a beautifully set dining table in our formal banquet hall. Our visitors had all been here before, but some of them still took pictures of the carved ceilings and chandeliers.
“People are curious about the Northlands back home,” Celeste, who sat to my left, said. “You have so many pre-war things.”
“Most of these are reproductions,” I admitted.
“I figured as much. Some of our old underground districts imitate old cities as well, but our architects left that thinking behind at least a century ago. The newer districts and everything above ground have a modern feel to them, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Yes, Old Europe is a little wacky if you ask me. Some of your buildings seem to defy gravity, and the way you light up all the houses in colors is… well, interesting.”
Celeste mistook my words for praise. “Thank you. That’s why this is all strange to us.” She waved her hand around. “I mean, why?”
“Why what?” I dipped my spoon into my soup.
“Why are you Northlanders so obsessed with the past?”
Before I could speak up, Freya answered, “You have to remember that the Northlands were founded by men who wanted things to remain as they always had been. There’s a lingering glorification of the good old days before the Toxic War when men ruled the world and women were pretty objects. That’s why a woman still can’t be the ruler here.”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t start, Freya. It’s not something you have to involve our guests in!”
“Why not? If this is a summit for leaders then it’s relevant to talk about equality and progressive thinking, isn’t it?”
“I’d say so,” Celeste said in support. “But Indiana once told me there’s still a chance for you to be a co-ruler.”
Freya shrugged. “He’s referring to the agreement that was made between the Motherlands and the Northlands after the earthquake that destroyed the border wall.”
“What big earthquake?” Victor asked from across the table.
“It happened on October 26th in 2437. With the border wall crumbled in places between the Motherlands and Northlands, it would have been an opportune moment for my father to attack. Instead he kept his men from crossing the border and negotiated to have men on the Motherland council. The council members in turn demanded that he should allow a female co-ruler in the Northlands. In the end an agreement was made that once the Motherland council reaches equality between the number of men and women on it then the Northlands must follow suit and have a female ruler who is equal to her male counterpart.”