Page 100 of The Seducer
“Should we focus on the list?” Pearl suggested in a soft tone. With a slight nod from Magni, we went to work.
Almost an hour we discussed it back and forth, and the list kept growing.
“Be reasonable,” Pearl said at some point. “Even if they accept putting men on the Council, it will take at least eight years before one can be appointed.”
“One?” Boulder scowled. “We said fifty. We want half of the seats in that Council.”
“What Pearl is trying to explain to you,” Athena said gently, “is that Council members are selected as children. What you can ask for is that boys be selected too, and then eventually some of those boys will be chosen for the Council when they reach maturity.”
“Okay, but we want the same amount of boys as girls,” Boulder demanded.
Pearl leaned toward Khan and lowered her voice. “You want to go high to low on this one.”
He nodded.
This wasn’t the first time the two of them seemed to have their own secret language, and I was curious. “What are you two talking about when you whisper about high to low and low to high, or what was it you said before?” I tried to remember. “Something about reciprocation.”
“It’s nothing, we’re just discussing what strategy to use in the negotiations.”
I raised an eyebrow. “And?”
“Well, in this case I’m recommending that Khan starts out with an unrealistic high demand, which the Council of course will refuse.”
Khan nodded. “I’ll tell them that I want seventy-five percent males in the Council by the end of this year to balance out all the years that men have been denied power, and I’ll shock them by insisting that half of those men have to be Northlanders.”
“The Council is going to explain to Khan how the democratic system works and how his demands are unrealistic. It’s going to look like Khan is compromising when he agrees to the men being only Motlander men that will be chosen as children. And he’ll settle for twenty-five percent males within the next ten years,” Pearl added.
Khan scratched his cheek and looked at me. “Which is a pretty good start, wouldn’t you say?”
“Yeah, for sure, but what about low to high?” I asked.
“We’re going to use that tactic when it comes to Nmen being allowed to live in the Motherlands. We’re asking for a modest number to begin with, simply because the thought of giving permanent residency to Nmen is going to freak out the Council members. We’ll start out by saying that this year ten men should be allowed to move to the Motherlands.”
I smiled, because that suggestion had been mine. Athena had made it clear to me that she couldn’t leave the Motherlands so my only chance of being with her was to move there. “Don’t forget that those men should be allowed to consume alcohol and meat,” I said.
Khan nodded. “Once they accept that idea, the door is opened for men to live there, and we can increase the numbers over the next years. I’m thinking ten the first year, ninety the second year. Two hundred the third year, three hundred the fourth, and four hundred the fifth year.”
Pearl nodded. “At least this way we can do a background check and pick out the men who qualify to live among the women,” she said. “And the reciprocation part is just playing with psychology. We’ll give them something they want badly, just before we ask for what we want. It’ll make it harder for them to refuse since we have already been generous.”
“I swear.” I pointed to Khan and Pearl with a grin. “You two are so alike that it’s scary. Do you ever say anything without having an agenda?”
They smiled at each other and something passed between them, too private to share.
“There is no way the Motherlands can give you everything on that list,” Laura pointed out and moved in her seat.
“They’d better, if they don’t want us to invade,” Magni stated.
“I’m sorry to break this to you,” Laura said and looked straight at him. “But the women in the Motherlands aren’t submissive by nature, and they’ll have no problem standing up to you.” The way she raised her chin with defiance had me almost gaping. Before Laura ran away to the Motherlands, she had been a prime example of a quiet, sweet, submissive Northlander wife. The woman who had returned was showing teeth.
Magni’s scowl deepened and he leaned across the table, pinning her with his eyes. “Don’t worry, honey, I love a good challenge.” The air was sizzling with electricity and Athena looked at me with large eyes, expressing concern.
I knew Laura had practiced martial arts in the Motherlands and that she was stronger and more confident than ever, but provoking the best warrior in the world was never wise. Especially when that warrior had a lot of built-up anger toward her.
“Ahem.” Clearing his throat, Khan brought the attention back to him. “Okay, let me summarize the top priorities on my list then.” He read from the list that hung projected above the table for everyone to see.
“1: Complete equality on the Council of the Motherlands within the next ten years. If we land on twenty-five percent that’s a good start.
“2: Permanent residency in the Motherlands for one thousand Nmen over the next five years.”
