Laura
“Throw me another beer, will you?” Magni called out to Khan, who stood closest to the large tub where the ice cubes meant to keep the drinks cool had melted long ago.
We were all gathered to celebrate our twins’ fourth birthday, a tradition that we had adopted from the Motlanders.
“Mila, go tell Mason he has to share the sword with Aubri.”
Mila, who was close to fifteen, flashed her dimples in a grin. “I told him to share it three times already, but he keeps saying that swords are for boys.”
I was tempted to go talk to my son myself, but being nine months pregnant, getting up from my chair felt like an exhausting project in this heat.
“We’ve got too many kids,” I muttered to Christina, who sat next to me with her baby in her arms.
She laughed. “I know, I was just telling Boulder that three is enough for us. I feel like I’ve been pregnant non-stop for the last five years.”
“I think the men think it’s a competition to see who can have the most children,” Athena laughed. “Finn is obsessed with having a daughter.”
“But he adores the boys,” I said and looked over to the soccer field where Finn, Archer, and Boulder were playing with the children. The students had changed since I’d first visited the school. What had started as an experiment had become a permanent school. Mila, Tommy, Victoria, and William were the only students left from the first batch of kids. At the end of the summer they would be moving on to their new schools, and it would be an adjustment not to have Mila around as much.
“Yes, he adores the boys.” Athena smiled and chuckled when Finn picked up his two-year-old and four-year-old sons and ran with them under his arms to get to the ball quicker. “How could he not, they are copies of him and laugh at his jokes.”
“You laugh at his jokes too,” I pointed out.
“I have to. I’m trying to bring wisdom into my boy’s heads and he sabotages me by making funny faces behind me. Either I get mad or I laugh with them.”
“I wish Freya would laugh a little more,” Pearl said and nodded her head in her daughter’s direction. Rather than playing herself, the girl stood next to the soccer field and gave instructions to the others. “I mean her speech is advanced for her age, but she’s too serious and all she wants to do is play chess or the piano. That’s not normal for a four-year-old.”
Christina, Athena, Kya, and I laughed. “What did you expect with you and Khan as parents?”
Pearl stroked her belly and smiled. “I’m hoping this one will be a more fun-loving member of our family, and get Freya to play a little.”
We all took a second to look at Freya, who watched the others play with a serious expression. The contrast between her parents’ dark and light colors had resulted in a beautiful child with olive skin, soft brown curls, and piercing green eyes.
Pearl looked at Christina. “I would have loved Freya to be a bit more like Raven. That girl doesn’t take no for an answer, and she’s so driven.”
Christina nodded. “That’s Raven for you, but Freya is strong too in her own way. Besides, I worry about Raven. She wants to be a police officer.”
“She would be great at it, don’t you think?” Pearl asked.
Christina bit her lip. “Being the first woman in the police force will be challenging. I don’t want her to deal with all that. It would be much easier if she chose a different profession.”
“I’ll bet being the first at it is part of why Raven wants to do it,” I said. “She has that strength to go first everywhere.”
Christina nodded. “Boulder and she train together every time she’s home. He says she’s become a strong fighter.”
“She’s very strong. I trained with her a few months back, and she might be only sixteen but she’s incredible.” I tilted my head. “Mila could learn a little from Raven. She can’t fight for shit.”
Kya placed a hand on my shoulder. “Mila is a lover, not a fighter. You should be proud of her.”
“I am.” I smiled at Kya and looked back at all the children playing with the schoolchildren and some of our men. “You do realize, Kya, that soon we’ll have enough children between us to fill your entire school, right?”
Pearl counted. “Boulder and Christina have three, Khan and I will have two soon. Finn and Athena have two and are working on number three, and Laura and Magni have the third coming. With your own two kids, that makes for around thirteen kids.”
Kya looked up at Khan and Boulder, who were talking behind us. “We’ll need to extend the school soon.”
“Why?”
We women laughed. “Because you men won’t stop breeding babies and we want our children to stay together.”
Athena raised a hand. “Not me. Finn and I are staying in the Motherlands.”
“Why? Wouldn’t you love your boys to go to this school?” Kya asked and threw her hands up. “Look at this place. It’s lush, tranquil, and it has amazing teachers. What’s not to like?”
Athena laughed. “I’d miss my job too much. But you’re right – this place is wonderful, which is why we come often.”
“What about Tristan, how is he doing?” Christina asked Athena.
Athena lit up. “Didn’t I tell you Tristan designed his first drone?”
We all made sounds of excitement. “Two years into his apprenticeship and he’s already designing a drone.” I whistled, impressed.
“I doubt he did it all by himself, but Mr. Wrestler is very pleased with him.” Athena was beaming with pride when a loud scream made us all look to the soccer field, where Mason had decided to combine sword fighting with soccer playing and was using his soft play-sword to fight off the other children for the ball.
“That’s unfair,” Freya shouted from the sidelines. “It’s against the rules.” With her hands on her hips she gave a pout of indignation and complained to Finn. “Mason should be dispolified.”
“It’s called disqualified, honey,” Pearl corrected her daughter.
“Hey, Freya, he’s your cousin. Show some loyalty,” Magni called to his niece.
Freya came stomping over. “Uncle Magni, Mason needs to learn the rules.”
Magni laughed. “He’s a rule-breaker like his father.” Squatting down, Magni waved Freya over and pulled her up on his lap. “One day you’ll be older and Mason is going to use all that feistiness to defend you against bad Nmen.”
“What bad Nmen?”
“The ones that want to take the power away from your dad and me. They are confused men who are fueled by petty anger. Mason will grow up to punish them and keep you safe.”
Freya looked like a wise old woman when she tilted her head. “People shouldn’t be punished for their anger. They will be punished by their anger.”
One of Magni’s eyebrows rose up, and he sat Freya back down on the ground and stood to his full height looking at Khan. “That’s what you get from marrying a Councilwoman.”
Khan grinned. “I still have time to influence her.” His eyes found Mason and Aubri, who were on the ground in a fight over the sword again. “At least my nephew and niece are descended from two warriors; I trust that they’ll keep my chess player safe when the time comes.”
“You’re not thinking about changing the law and making Freya the next ruler, are you?” Magni asked in a low voice.
“You don’t need to whisper,” Pearl teased. “It’s a good question and I think we’re all dying to know the answer.”
“No, I’m not going to change the law. I’m hoping Pearl gives birth to a son next and then he’ll be the first-born son.”
“What if he doesn’t want to be ruler?” Pearl asked. “A Council is a great way to distribute the heavy responsibility. For you too.”
Magni emptied his beer and went for another one, handing Khan one at the same time.
“The Northlands aren’t ready for a female ruler.”
“That’s right.” Magni opened his beer and lifted it to Khan. “We’re the last free men and we’ll stay that way.”
“For now,” Pearl said low beside me.
I smiled and enjoyed the sounds of children playing and friends talking.
When Finn came over to join us and get something to drink, he brought a following of the children with him.
“Seems you’re very popular,” I remarked.
“Of course I am. They don’t see me as often as they see the rest of you scoundrels and whales.”
I stuck out my tongue. “This whale would get up to kick you, if my belly wasn’t too heavy.”
“Bring it on. I would just have to tip you over and you wouldn’t be able to get up again.” He laughed.
My index finger waved in warning. “I might be down like a turtle, but my scoundrel of a husband could still kick you for me.”
“Don’t mind Finn calling us whales,” Athena said. “He’s just teasing. He’s told me plenty of times that women are beautiful when they’re pregnant.”
Finn blew Athena a kiss. “You’re always beautiful.”
Aubri wanted to sit on Finn’s lap and so he opened his arms to her. She was the perfect mix between Magni and me with her strawberry blond hair and blue eyes. “And you, my warrior princess, you’re my new spirit animal.” Finn squeezed her from behind and turned his head to his sons. “Did you see how Aubri outran all of us before? You’ve got to watch out or she’ll be tougher than you.”
Finn’s two sons weren’t happy sharing their dad, and the two-year-old climbed up his back while the four-year-old ran to Athena with a pout.
“Hey, Aubri, come to Mommy,” I called and she came running into my arms. “Are you going to be tougher than the boys?”
Aubri had the cutest freckles across her nose; she nodded with enthusiasm.
Magni came over and placed a kiss on her head. “Are you going to find a big strong warrior like your dad when you grow up?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” Magni smiled at me. “And Aubri, will you remind him that even though you’re smaller than him, it doesn’t mean you’re weak?”
She nodded to her father again and I placed a kiss on her chin. “And will you remember that even though your strong warrior might not express his emotions much, he still feels as deeply as you do?”
Aubri had no patience for our adult talk and wriggled out of my arms, to run back to her brother.
Christina chuckled. “I don’t think Aubri got any of that.”
I smiled. “That’s okay. It took us a while to figure out as well.”
This concludes Men of the North #5 – The Warrior
A message from Elin Peer:
Before I tell you about the next book in the series, called The Genius, I want to thank my daughter Pearl for letting me use her poems “Generations of Mirrors” that Mila read out to Laura, and “Truth,” that Solomon read out at the poetry night.
In January 2018, “Generation of Mirrors,” won Pearl a first prize in a literary contest for middle schoolers. Yes, I’m bursting with pride for her.
If you liked Magni’s and Laura’s story, I would be forever grateful if you’ll take a second to leave a review on Amazon. I can’t tell you how much it means to me and how it motivates me to keep writing books for your entertainment.
Want more?
In the next book we’ll jump ten years ahead and follow Shelly, the genius that you’ve come to know as Kya’s assistant teacher. Now twenty-five and still smart as a whip, Shelly’s curiosity makes her do the craziest thing.
The Genius – Men of the North #6
With three degrees and the highest measured IQ in the Motherlands, Shelly Summers knows that she’s socially awkward. It doesn’t bother her since as the head engineer for Advances Technologies she has little time for social interactions anyway.
When she learns that one of the testers for the sex-bots her company manufactures is her old crush, Marco, she’s curious to see if he’ll recognize her now that she’s ten years older and no longer has bushy eyebrows and a bad case of acne.
A normal person would have said something when Marco doesn’t recognize her from his past. A normal person would definitely have said something when he mistakes her for an advanced sex robot and thinks his job is to do a test run.
Things are about to get very awkward for this genius…
The Genius is the sixth book in the series Men of the North that has readers raving about its perfect mix of love, action, wisdom, and humor.
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