by Elin Peer
While I had been wrapped up tight in the net, Varna had cleared the area, offering me at least a little dignity from prying eyes. Cindy, on the other hand, had placed herself close against my body and spoken to me in a calm voice while stroking my shoulder soothingly.
At first I had tried to shake her hand off me, but there was no anger or judgment in her voice and while lying stiff as a board, I had listened to her.
“I understand you got angry, but I can’t let you hurt others; we need to keep everyone safe.”
When I didn’t speak, she continued. “Be patient, Archer, your anger will be replaced by calmness soon and then I can remove this net, and you can go to your hotel room to gather yourself before you face the others.”
Even now, twenty minutes later, I was still angry at Finn, but I’d cooled down enough to restrain myself.
“You want to talk about what upset you so much?” Cindy asked. She had warm and kind eyes.
“Not really,” I said and stretched my legs. “You said typically you would take someone like me to a place of reflection.”
“Yes, but we had been warned that situations like these might occur, and we are to give you a bit more leeway.”
“So, no punishment?” I asked.
“We don’t use punishments.”
“What are you saying? If someone committed murder, you wouldn’t punish them?”
Cindy leaned back in her chair. “Fundamentally we believe that people want to do good. If someone committed murder, which almost never happens in our society, we would restrain them and keep them away from society until we felt certain the person was no longer a danger to the rest of us. Most people who do something that violates our rules spend time in places of reflection. Only a few have committed crimes so serious that we need to isolate them in secluded areas where professionals help them deal with their mental issues.”
“Well, if you’re not going to punish me anyway, I might as well join the group and get back to work.”
“If you feel ready.”
There was no good time to face Kya after what I had done, but at least I knew Finn would understand. He had been so out of line, touching Kya’s breast. She and I might not be married by law, but she had chosen to share her bed with me and the ethics of an Nman were clear; you never touched another man’s woman – and he knew about us, knew that she was mine.
I found the children in one of the hotel’s banquet rooms. They were in the middle of a math lesson that stopped abruptly when I walked in.
Raven stormed toward me and wrapped her arms around my waist. “Are you okay, Archer?”
I tousled her hair. “Yes, I feel much calmer now.”
Finn came over. “Can I have a minute outside?”
I nodded and walked out the door I had just stepped through.
“Look, man, I’m sorry I touched her like that. Obviously, she means a lot to you.” Finn reached out his hand as a sign of peace. “It will never happen again.”
“It better not,” I said and took it.
When we returned to the room, I stopped cold. “What are you doing?” I asked and frowned.
“We made a love circle for you and Finn,” Raven said with a big smile. “You both did something you knew you shouldn’t, and we’re going to help you remember that you’re much better than that.”
My tongue played with my cheek, pushing at it hard while my foot tapped in a steady show of resistance.
“What the hell is a love circle?” Finn asked behind me.
“A system developed by women to emasculate men,” I mumbled.
“Come on, what are you waiting for?” Nicki called out to the others.
Finn patted my shoulder. “Let’s go, champ, you know what they say: try anything once, and if you like it, do it again.”
I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to like being the center of a love circle but at least I didn’t have to do it alone.
Finn placed himself in the middle of the circle and smilingly clapped his hands together. “Come on, people, hit me with your best love.”
I joined him, and standing back to back we watched the children, Kya, Shelly, Varna, and Cindy close the circle around us.
“Are you sure you don’t want to join us?” Kya asked six of the Nboys who stood leaning against the wall.
“Nah, we’re good,” Hunter said.
Solomon snickered. “Don’t worry, we’re sending all our love from over here.”
The love fest only lasted for about three minutes.
First came the singing; I was surprised to see that the Nboys who participated in the circle knew the song. Apparently, there had been a lot more love circles than I was aware of.
Take my love and fill your heart.
That’s all you need for a fresh start.
No need to fight, no need to scare.
You are loved and we all care.
Then came the part where the kids made funny faces. I made a particularly good one in return, and of course Finn was in his element, being a jokester by nature. I could hear his laughter behind me, and then the circle became smaller and we were instructed to spin around and look everyone in the eye. My heart almost skipped a beat when I locked eyes with Kya, but maybe this whole love circus was getting to her soft side, because there was no anger in her eyes.
As the finishing touch, Finn and I were squeezed in a group hug, which would’ve been suffocating, if not for the fact that we were taller than the women and kids.
“Don’t you just feel good now?” Raven asked with childish excitement.
“I feel amazing,” Finn said and picked her up. “The only thing that could top that love circle would be a girl planting a kiss right here.” He pointed to his cheek.
Raven didn’t think twice, she wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a vigorous kiss on his cheek.
“Thank, you darling, you just made this man’s biggest dream come true.” Finn winked and set her down.
“Do you want a kiss too?” she asked me.
“Sure.” I bent down but then Mila stepped forward. “Can I do it?”
“No, I’m doing it!” Raven insisted.
“But that’s not fair,” Mila objected with a small pout. “You already kissed Finn.”
Finn broke into a deep belly laugh. “There’s no need to fight, girls, Archer has two cheeks.”
That solved the problem, and I received a kiss from Mila on my left cheek and a kiss from Raven on my right one.
“See?” Finn patted my shoulder. “Don’t you just feel like a bundle of love right now?”
“Mr. Archer?” Mila was tugging at my sleeve. “What did you mean when you shouted that she was your woman? Who were you talking about?”
“Ehhm, no one,” I said quickly, but once again Finn came to my rescue.
“Mila vanilla, my sweet angel.” He leaned down and pinched her gorgeous cheeks. “You might not have seen this, but I was flirting with three women before the fight broke out.”
“Uh-huh?” Her large blue eyes were blinking and she was biting her lower lip, looking like someone who didn’t want to miss one single detail of an exciting story.
“The thing is, I was being kind of greedy because Mr. Archer had already told me that he was hoping to get a kiss from the brunette.” The way Finn said the last part of the sentence with a teasing voice and a mischievous smile had Mila completely entranced with him.
“Was that why you were fighting?”
I played along. “I can’t just let him steal the women away from me, can I?”
Mila rubbed her little nose and looked down for a second before she lifted her head with a frown. “I hope the brunette is ashamed of herself. If a boy really liked me, I don’t think I would go and play with someone else. That wouldn’t be nice of me.”
“I wish that all grown-up women were as smart and loyal as you are, Mila, and you know what else I think?”
“What, Mr. Archer?”
“I think the man you choose when you grow up is
going to be the luckiest man alive.”
“You do?” The little girl beamed like a lit Christmas tree.
“But then again, Mila…” a soft voice said behind us, and I looked around to see Kya watching us. “No one is forcing you to choose a man at all.”
“Argh,” Finn made a dismissive hand gesture towards Kya. “How rude of you to interfere just when we’re indoctrinating the next generation of women.”
“What does indoscinating mean?” Mila asked and stumbled over the hard word.
“It’s just a fancy word for setting people up for success,” Finn explained. “Now you come with me, sweetheart, and we’ll go share the gift of indoctrination with the rest of the girls, while Mr. Archer and Kya have a talk.”
“Before you say anything,” Kya said, “I do want to talk about what happened, but not here, not in front of the children.”
“I understand.”
“Meet me in my room at midnight.”
I nodded. “Understood.”
CHAPTER 24
Big Choices
Archer
I felt the contrast between the hot blood pulsing through my veins and the cool water of the ocean. My arms and legs moved mechanically in a steady rhythm while my mouth alternated between opening for gulps of air and closing when I slid gracefully through the water.
It was late in the evening, and only a few people were still at the beach. I should’ve been with my group, but my head was spinning out of control and I needed time to think, so I’d come down here to swim.
Last night, I’d made love to Kya again. It had been amazing and we had lasted for almost two hours, trying out different positions, showering together, laughing together, and enjoying each other’s company.
She wasn’t nearly as upset about my fight with Finn as I would’ve expected. Of course, she had made me promise that I would never do something like that again. But today when Pearl and Khan arrived, Kya had defended me to Pearl and taken the blame.
Maybe it was because she felt bad about how our night ended yesterday. Intensifying the pace of my swimming, I shot through the water as if I could move my arms and legs fast enough to escape my thoughts.
She had been upset that I had come inside her again, and this time her words had been particularly hurtful.
“Don’t forget that if we have a child, that child will go with me to the Motherlands when I return back home in a few years.”
My response to her words had been a long string of curse words that she mostly missed because she was going into the bathroom. When she got out, I was ready for her, dressed, and firmly planted in front of the bathroom door. With my arms crossed, I had confronted her – demanded that she stopped threatening me like that.
She threw at me that there was no child and that I was overreacting, but I had reached my limit and demanded a promise that she would never separate me from my child, ever.
Now I felt bad about shouting at her. Taking a few more strokes I tried pushing it away, but I couldn’t run from my feelings. I wanted everything with Kya but I was sick and tired of being rejected. It was like having my heart sliced into a thousand pieces every time she reminded me that there was nothing but sex between us. In the beginning I had thought she would change her mind once we had bonded. But she was as stubborn as ever, and now I was running out of time.
When I finally got out of the water, my arms felt heavy and I took a seat on the beach, letting the cool night air caress my tired body.
I’d only been sitting there for five minutes when I heard footsteps behind me.
“I thought I would find you here.”
I didn’t have to look to know it was Finn.
“You do know that you have goose bumps all over, right?” he said and sat back to know it was down next to me. “You must be freezing.”
“It’s not too bad.”
Finn threw a dry towel at me. “Here – I’m not really in the mood for swimming anyway.”
Placing his towel around my shoulders, I nodded a small thanks at him.
“Did you make a decision?” he asked and threw a rock into the water.
With a deep sigh I looked at him. “Khan told you?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I don’t know yet; what would you do?”
To my relief, Finn took my question seriously and thought about it. This wasn’t the time to crack jokes, and he knew it. “Did you ask Kya to marry you?”
“About a dozen times.” My voice was low and carried a hint of bitterness.
“Do you think you can change her mind?”
“I don’t know.” I pulled my knees up in front of me and wrapped my arms around them. “When we make love, it’s more than just fucking, I know it is.”
Finn stayed quiet.
“I don’t know how to convince her or if it’s even possible. She’s so determined that she wants to go back to the Motherlands.”
“When?”
“She has committed to three years in the Northlands with the condition that she can leave anytime she wants to. All she needs to do is give two weeks’ notice.”
“Did you tell her about the tournament?” Finn asked, his brows drawn together with a serious expression.
I shook my head. “No, do you think I should?”
Rubbing his forehead, Finn made a sound of frustration. “If you do, it might change her mind, but on the other hand…” He trailed off. “There are no guarantees.”
We sat together in silence, my thoughts racing a lot faster than the slow waves of water washing up on the beach only to retract again.
“Maybe you would be better off not telling her,” Finn said, breaking the silence. “Even though you’ve been preselected as one of the five champions in that tournament, the bride might not choose you. If that happens, you can just come back to the school and pretend nothing happened,” Finn said. “My point is that even though Kya says she doesn’t want to marry you, she might be angry with you pursuing marriage with another woman.”
I huffed out air. “The twisted thing is that I don’t want to marry anyone else, I want to marry Kya.”
“I know, but if you forfeit your golden chance to win a million dollars and get yourself a wife, you might end up with nothing. Next time there’s a tournament, you’ll have to fight like everyone else.”
I gave a deep groan. “I know, and that’s why it’s such a fucking difficult decision.”
“You want to know what I would do?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I would stop feeling sorry for myself and go.”
“But I…”
Finn gave me an honest look. “I’ve seen a picture of Lori Ann, and she’s a beautiful young woman who would make you a fine wife.”
I swallowed hard, my emotions running amok inside my body in an infantile tantrum, internally screaming that I didn’t want some sweet eighteen-year-old girl; I wanted Kya.
“No Nman has ever been in your situation, but you’ve gotta use your brains, man. If Kya is unwilling to give you a family, then can you really allow yourself to throw the chance of having children away? Think about it: Lori Ann could make you a father by next year.”
“Fuuuck!” Having a family was the most rare and prestigious thing in the Northlands. Hearing him talk about throwing such an opportunity away made me sound like a lunatic. “I really don’t have a choice, do I?”
“Look, you have a twenty percent chance of winning Lori Ann. If you don’t, you simply come back and try to convince Kya until the next tournament comes along.”
“What about you? Are you going to fight for Lori Ann?”
“I thought about it, but we both know that there are better fighters then me, and Pearl had an interesting proposition that suits me better than risking my life in a tournament.”
“Oh yeah, and what proposition is that?”
“She and Khan had a formal meeting with the Council yesterday, and they have approved her idea of letting a few Nmen visit the Motherlands.”
&nbs
p; “What do you mean visit?”
“Well, I suppose it’s all about representing the Northlands and showing the Motlanders that we’re not monsters.”
“How long would you stay for?”
“I’m not sure; all I know is that I would have to be supervised by a mediator for safety reasons.”
“But what about your role as Kya’s protector?” I asked.
Finn smiled a little. “Ah, you know, as long as you guys stay on Victoria’s Island, she’s going to be fine.”
“So, when do you start your new life as a Northlands representative here in the Motherlands?” I asked and smiled back at him.
“I prefer the title seducer,” he declared with a smug smile. “And I’ll have to go back with you guys and finish off a few things before I start. Besides, Pearl told me there will be five men in total and she hasn’t decided who the other four are going to be yet. I already asked Pearl if you could come, but she said no. They need you and Marco to focus on the school.”
“Yeah, that makes sense, but I bet she’ll have about a million volunteers,” I said matter-of-factly. “You’re going to be the envy of all the men of the North.”
“I know!” Finn grinned before he pushed up from the sand and brushed off his hands.
“I think I’ve done enough good for one day,” he said and held out his hand to help me up. “Now that I have helped clear your head, I’m going to enjoy my last night in the Motherlands and see if that cute waiter from this morning needs me to warm her bed tonight.”
“Good for you.”
“What about you? Are you going to have one last night with Kya?”
His words cut like a dagger, and my only reply was a low “Maybe.” But there was no maybe and even if I had wanted to stay away, I couldn’t.
It was close to eleven and all the children were in their rooms after watching a show by a local dance troupe.
I didn’t even go to my own room to shower, but knocked on Kya’s door.
CHAPTER 25
