Page 124 of The Pacifist
She smiled and returned to watching the show, where secrets that we never knew came out. When it was over, I heard Mila ask Raven, who sat on her other side, “Did you know that your parents planned to free Athena?”
Raven shook her head. “No, and I don’t get why my dad didn’t destroy the cameras in his room when Khan admitted to the surveillance. They made it look like my dad was afraid of Khan.”
Pearl was on the balcony too and she spoke up. “Everyone was afraid of Khan. He wasn’t as even-tempered as he is now.”
“Are you talking about me?” Khan, who had been in conversation with Leo, turned to us.
“We were just talking about how you’ve mellowed out with age,” Mila explained.
“Or maybe it’s Pearl’s influence that’s made you a better version of yourself,” I suggested and received a sweet smile from Pearl.
Freya, being loyal to her dad, muttered, “There was never anything wrong with my dad to begin with.”
I tilted my head from side to side. “Except it sounds lonely to have everyone be afraid of you.”
“He wasn’t lonely, Jonah. My dad always had Magni, and people respected him.”
Mila supported me. “Sure, but what Jonah is trying to say is that fear-based respect isn’t nearly as satisfying as love-based admiration.”
Khan raised his brow at me. “And how would you know that, Councilman? I doubt anyone has ever respected you out of fear.”
“I hope not.”
“You’ll have to excuse us, Khan has a wedding to perform on stage.” Pearl touched Khan’s arm and gestured that they had to leave.
Mila moved in her seat. “I wish they hadn’t ended the episode on a cliffhanger like that. I know it sounds silly because we’ve heard the story many times, but I want to see what happens next. I want to see my parents get together and now I have to wait another week.”
On stage, the presenter had returned with Raven’s parents, Alexander and Christina, who were now taking questions from the audience.
I smiled as Christina made everyone laugh when she talked about her first impression of Alexander. “I’d never experienced such a rude and crude person. And for him to have the nerve to call me a girl was the greatest insult in my life. Of course that was only the beginning, and I’ve since learned to appreciate the direct and unapologetic style of communication that you Nmen use.”
After the questions, the presenter asked everyone to rise for Lord Khan, who then entered the stage.
“Did you enjoy the first episode of the series?” Khan asked the audience, who stamped their feet in response. “It’s human nature to always look ahead and see what we don’t have yet, but tonight we got to look back and realize how far we’ve come already.
“Back in 2437 when Christina first crossed into our country, we had around one hundred women. Weddings happened only once or twice a year and some years, we had no weddings at all. Do you remember that?” Again, the audience responded with nods and sounds of agreement.
“Allow me to share a fun fact with you. Up until I became ruler there had been less than one thousand weddings in the Northlands. And that’s if you count the entire span of four hundred years. In the fifteen years that I’ve ruled the Northlands, we have had close to six hundred thousand weddings.” Khan paused and let that number sink in. “In that same time span, we’ve gone from having one hundred women to almost nine hundred thousand women and girls among us.” Spreading out his arms, Khan looked like he was on top of the world. “You asked to find love and I delivered.”
Another round of applause and whistling broke out and had me smiling.
“Some of you are scared of what this means for our culture, and you fear that the women will take over like they did in the Motherlands. I guarantee that won’t happen while I’m your leader, but our culture isn’t a static thing and any society evolves and changes in an organic way. While we celebrate the influx of women, it’s also inevitable that it will change us, just like it’s inevitable that the many Nmen in the Motherlands will change them. Today, theMen of the Northseries is banned for anyone on the other side of the border to see, but next week the Council is voting to ease the rules of censorship. I predict that someday Motlanders will succeed in demanding the same freedom that we Nmen take for granted. In fact, the recent protests around the world give us hope that we have inspired a desire for more.
“I’d like to present to you the man who has become the face of that rebellion. Jonah Cervici, will you stand up and show yourself?” Khan pointed to me and I stood up on the balcony, waving my hand to the audience.
“Jonah has become a figurehead for a movement of freedom seekers in the Motherlands.” The audience whistled and stamped their feet again and it made my ears grow red from all the attention. Sitting back down, I listened as Khan continued.
“I’m sure that we can expect to see great things from him, especially now that he’ll be marrying my niece, Mila Aurelius, right here on stage next week.”
Khan had already made the announcement days ago, but still there were men among the audience who booed. Mila squeezed my hand and gave me an apologetic look, like she was sorry for their behavior.
On the stage, Khan held up his hands. “I understand your frustration. Many of you were looking forward to Mila’s bridal tournament, but I stand by my words that the tournament will still happen. The winner will still get the prize money, and we’ll invite women from the Matching Program to attend. It’s a new format, but if you are willing to adapt, you’ll find that it’s an improvement. One of the new things that will happen is the chance to meet and talk to a number of my friends in person. Hunter Hercules has returned to play soccer with his old team and will be there with his talented wife Emanuela. The two of them will show off their impressive skills with a ball. The celebrated genius Shelly Summers and the world-famous singer Salma Rose are coming, and so is dancer and actress Willow Darlington, whom you just saw as Laura in the show. You’ll also get to meet Councilman Jonah Cervici, who is bringing his single sister, Anne.”
Excited mutterings broke out among the audience members. Several whistled loud and Khan had to hold up his hands to silence them.
“I know it’s all very exciting, but let’s get back to the highlight of this evening.” Music began playing and Khan’s voice grew softer. “It’s time for another beautiful wedding. Please help me welcome Katrina and Andrew.”
The bride looked very pretty wearing a long-sleeved dress that underlined her narrow waist and sat tight across her chest. The flowers in her dark brown hair made her ooze with femininity and Andrew beamed with pride like he’d just won a tournament and now got to claim his bride.
