Archer
I had screwed up.
Pearl had warned us not to lose our temper. I was the mentor and I was supposed to be a good role model; plus, being in the Motherlands, I was representing not only myself but all my countrymen. Their chance to experience this, and have a future with the women, depended on me, Finn, and Marco.
Four hours ago we had been superstars, and now…
My chest heaved in a big sigh of shame and humiliation over what had happened on the beach. At least, I was no longer trapped in the net but in my own room, where I was trying to wrap my head around what happened.
“Are you feeling better now?” Cindy asked from her chair in the corner.
“Yeah, I guess so.” I rubbed my face and looked over at her. “Thank you for not shooting me for real.”
“No problem, we haven’t used lethal weapons for centuries.”
“Lucky for me.” I slid down to sit on the floor, my spine resting against the bed and my legs pulled up in front of me. “Do you usually stay and talk to the aggressor, like you did with me?”
“Yes, the procedure is to pacify the aggressor, and then help them find the way back to their calm self. Typically, if someone reaches an aggression level like yours, we would take them to a place of reflection where they would have time to center themselves again through meditation and rest.”
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.”