When I finally got to sleep at around seven am, I woke up every twenty minutes before finally getting up for good at two pm. By the time two-thirty in the afternoon I had eaten, showered before getting dressed in the all white and slightly stained outfit I had been given before I went down to wait outside for my assigned advocate.
The second I stepped outside, I was hit with the intense heat and humidity of Liliport at the end of summer and it nearly drove me back inside the building.
It wasn’t like this in the colony. It got hot and humid in the summer, sure, but not like this. This had me dripping in under three minutes, every inch of my skin prickling with sweat under the sweatshirt and sweatpants I had been provided as I observed the city from outside my new home.
Everything was different in the daytime – it felt like there were far fewer people moving around, and the people that were out and about looked different as well. More relaxed, somehow. It was also much easier to tell who was a Novus, and who wasn’t.
In the warm light of the late summer, any and all Sapiens that were out were wearing much less than they were at night. Many girls were in the shortest shorts I had ever seen or sleeveless, sometimes strapless sundresses, men in shorts and some not even wearing any shirt at all.
The few Novus that were out were all covered head to toe, moving more sluggish and spending little time out on the streets before they ducked into a building, most out being dressed in what looked like peacekeeper uniforms.
The heat in the air here was so suffocating, that I was sorely tempted to take off my sweater since it seemed being shirtless here wasn’t taboo. In weather like this, everyone at home would be down at the river or laying under a fan, watching their herds or flocks from shaded spots with a cool drink.
What I’d do for a cold drink now.
“Lawrence?”
I straightened, looking down the street to see a man a bit older than myself coming toward me with a friendly smile and I lifted a hand in greeting. He grinned and walked a little quicker, and when I held out my hand his grin widened before he took it, shaking it a little before he tucked both of his hands into the pockets of his tan-colored pants.
“Sorry I couldn’t be here when you arrived yesterday – they pulled me from way over it Widow Field.” He laughed, pointing east, “It’s about a four-hour drive that way in the suburbs.”
I smiled and shook my head, “That’s fine – the two girls that brought me here were just fine.” I said with a smile, “They even bought me some food!”
His smile softened and he nodded a little, “I’m glad to hear that. The females here are a little wild, but have good hearts.” He turned and jerked his head a little. “Let’s go get you something more suitable to wear and we’ll talk.” I nodded and followed along next to him down a little way to where his red vehicle was. He opened the door for me and I thanked him as I slid in to sit in the front, quick to pull on my seat belt.
“I’m Willow, by the way,” He said as he got in behind the wheel, pressing buttons on the panel in front of us – I was hit with air that quickly chilled and I let out a sigh of relief, thank him. “They drove you down from Claymoore, right?” He asked as he pulled on his own seat belt, holding his fingers on the steering wheel for a beat before I felt the vehicle wake up. When I nodded, he smiled again. “How was your first ride in a car?”
“Oh, it was very nice.” I blinked, looking out the front window to watch as he pulled away from the curb. “Different than a carriage...”
“I bet – you know, my mother was from River Colony – Riverside.” He said lightly.
My eyebrows shot up and I looked at him. “Oh, my family isn’t far from there!”
He nodded a little, “She used to talk about the Bazaars – they still have those?”
“Every month, yes. They’re a lot of fun.”
He nodded again. “My eldest brother was born a Novus when my mother was fifteen. When she didn’t have another kid by the time she was twenty, they figured out that she wasn’t going to have one again that wasn’t a Novus, so they pulled her from the colony. Her husband was killed when he tried to stop them from taking her, as was one of her brothers,” He said with a soft look, “They married her off in East Campora – Sapiens don’t have an option there to stay single like you do here – and one year later I was born!” He laughed, “I’m a Sapien of course, which really pissed off a lot of people because she got pulled from the colony on the excuse that she was only able to have Novus children, but as it turned out, both she and her husband together could only have Novus children...apart, they probably would have been fine. They changed the rules in the colony then, make couples take blood tests to ensure they have a low Novus risk.”
I nodded. I knew that rule. I knew when it changed because it wasn’t too long before I was born it came into effect, Roy and Mabel had to get a blood test done before they were allowed to be married, though we had been told it was to ensure that they weren’t too closely related. “Then that would make you...Twenty-four.” I said with a smile, Willow grinning wide.
“That’s right!” He laughed. “I’m twenty-four, and my older brother is twenty-nine!”
“Did she ever find her son? Your brother?”
Willow laughed, “Oh yeah! Claude! He’s the MAN here in the city. It’s why I get called here occasionally to advocate with harder cases like you – I have an in with the locals.”
“My escorts talked a little about him,” I said with a little smile.
Willow pulled a face, but he still wore a smile. “I can only guess what they said...he’s got a reputation.” He blinked hard, his face falling a little. “He’s a great guy. Just -” He brightened, “You know, he’s one of few MAN in his class – he's a C. Claude the C. He’s not the strongest or the fastest, but he’s something else. Very crafty. They call him Trouble elsewhere because that’s what he brings, haha!”
I laughed a little. “They said he’s not doing so well?” I asked gently as we drove through the city.
Willow sighed, nodding as his amusement dampened. “Well, he’ll be thirty in just a few weeks, and he doesn’t have a mate, so…” He sucked in a breath, “Modern medicine only works so well, and that’s only if you take it right.” He swallowed thickly. “We’re trying to find him a mate but like I said...Claude has a reputation. He wasn’t born here so there was always this stigma and he needed to prove himself...he’s also said some things to the Matriarch before she passed that didn’t win himself any favors with her daughters, especially the now Regent…” He perked up then, “But seeing as she personally called me down to help you, I figured that was a good sign that he might be back in her favor – SO.”
The vehicle slowly pulled over and stopped and I looked out the front window to see a storefront with men’s clothes. I smiled and looked back at him to see him smiling at me.
“Let’s get you taken care of -” He took off his belt, “My job is to ensure that you get what you want out of this mating,” He said as I took off my own, “And you find a mate that you can enjoy as little conflict as possible with.” He opened his door and slid out and I did the same, waiting on the curb while he came around. “Normally a family member would do this, but seeing as you are from the colony and have no one and very little knowledge of how things work, the Regent sent me here to make sure you are protected from being taken advantage of.”
I nodded and he led me toward the store, where it was even cooler than it was in the vehicle, the air smelling very vaguely sweet and clean. It was much nicer than the local boutiques and stores back at home, the floor a gleaming white and everything lit brightly. Willow stopped a few steps in and looked around before he led me over to where there were pants.
“Now, here’s what you need to know about finding a Novus mate-” he turned and gave my pants a look, frowning before he pulled out a tan pair of pants like his own, draping it over his arm as he continued forward. “The ones that look outside their own clan tend to be more desperate and willing to give up more. Right now you hold all the cards and you need to decide what is important to you and your future and find a mate that can give you that-” He glanced back at me, “-grab anything that looks good, by the way, the Regent wants to make sure you have everything you need.”
I nodded and looked around at the pants, going to where there were blue jeans. “All that’s important to me is getting back my niece,” I said as he came to stand beside me, taking the pants I pulled off the shelf to hold with the others.
“Well your niece, I’m told, is a class A, which is peak Novus.” He sucked in a breath, “Strongest, fastest, but notoriously difficult to find mates for. They burn bright, burn hot, and then they burn out young.” He swallowed thickly as he led me to the next shelf, “If you are at all compatible with a Class A male, they are going to try and shove him down your throat in exchange for your niece, and the Regent told me that it looked like you were compatible.”
I nodded slowly.
“I know East Campora currently have three Class A males that are unmated, one is the MAN in their Capitol, Gideon Dupont, whose twenty or twenty-one I think, and then Lest LeNore, who is over in Asia in the champion circuit and is sixteen.”
I nodded as I looked over the first rack of shirts, the fabric thin with bright patterns- I looked over to where the button-down shirts were and went to them, Willow close by.
“The last Class A isn’t on the record, so he might be transferring to a different clan or is having a wellness crisis and won’t be someone they try and mate you with – you like this style?” He asked as I pulled off a simple white, button-down shirt. I nodded. “I know another store then that might be closer to your style than this one – we won’t linger here too long.” He pointed over to where there were more shirts like these and we went to them. “We should push for Lest because he’s younger – sixteen is an okay age, but you’ll likely have to travel more with him since he’s in the top five and a favorite to be in the top three by the end of winter.”
I nodded, my eyes widening because none of that made sense.
Willow laughed, and by his sheepish smile, he seemed to understand my confusion. “Sorry – so, the Champion Circuit is a group of battles that individuals take part in to achieve rankings. Every clan has one, which is called the Clan Circuit, where they establish the alpha male and female – my brother is the MAN here in Liliport, but he’s not the champion of our clan’s circuit. That’s actually Miguel Westwood from Burntgrave. He's not MAN of anything – not even his own village - but he likes to pop up during circuits to piss everyone off before he slinks back to the swamps. Dude’s a complete sadist and all the males hate him, the females as well. Unfortunately, God gave him a fertile mate, and now they have like eight Novus males and another on the way, so it’s likely he’s going to have way more political power shortly – let’s go try these on and then head out to the other store.”
I nodded and let him lead me over to where there was a dressing room, going to one of the empty stalls while he waited on the other side of the door.
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