Kya
Archer woke the kids up in the most brutal way. He and Marco simply walked into the sleeping dorms, turned on the light, and started shouting. The Nboys, who seemed used to the drill, got up, dressed, and gathered outside – all within a few minutes.
The children from the Motherlands, however, were confused, tired, and cranky at being dragged out of bed in such a rude manner. Victoria even started crying.
“Would you please stop shouting,” I told Marco in a firm voice.
Marco looked horrified at Victoria, as if he had never seen a girl cry before, which in all fairness he hadn’t.
“What happened?” A gruff voice from behind me asked. I turned to see Magni. “Why is she crying? Did you hurt her?” He scowled at Marco.
“Get out, all of you,” I instructed and squatted down next to Victoria. “What’s wrong, honey?” I asked in a soft voice.
“It scares me when people shout,” she managed to get out in between her crying.
“Is it because of what happened to you?” I caressed her hair. “I know about the tornado and how you lost your family, and I want you to know that you can talk to me about how you feel.”
Victoria opened up and told about the tragic day when her family unit had been swept away and she’d been the only one to survive. “It was early morning and I was still sleeping when my dad came yelling. I only survived because I hid behind the built-in.”
“The what?”
“It was my favorite hiding place when we played hide and seek, so when my dad shouted for us all to get to safety, I chose that spot.” She rubbed her eyes. “It was in the kitchen, under the built-in benches, just big enough for me to fit in. My brother once tried, but his shoulders got stuck, so it was my spot.”
“And no one else made it?” I asked.
She shook her head and looked down. “No, just me.”
I had known about this from her file. Victoria wasn’t the only student with a traumatic background, which was logical, since most of the kids didn’t have parents. They had been the easiest children to include in the experiment, since every normal parent in the Motherlands would refuse sending their children to the Northlands.
That’s why it had been such a triumph for Christina and me when Sheana Rene, one of the councilwomen from the Motherlands, had volunteered her two daughters. At least Rochelle and Shelly were healthy and not suffering from any major issues.
It took a while before Victoria was ready to go outside. But then I considered it a small victory that she had opened up and told about the trauma she had experienced only a few months ago. Dealing with emotional issues was something I was comfortable with, as it was connected to my work with children with special needs. I understood that even the best teacher in the world can’t teach a student anything if the child is worried, scared, or emotionally shut down in some way.
Victoria and I missed the running. Instead we sat soaking up the morning sun and waited for the others to come back. The first one to arrive was, predictably Solomon, followed by Storm and Hunter. Archer arrived with the tail end of the children from the Motherlands. The Nboys didn’t even look out of breath, and Nieall and some of the girls from the Motherlands looked to be in fine shape too.
“How far did you run?” I asked Archer.
“Just two miles,” he said. “It’s just to get the blood pumping; we’ll do longer runs soon. Tomorrow you’ll join us, right?”
I nodded.
“Okay, let’s get the breakfast going.” Archer clapped his hands. “If your name is on the list and you have breakfast duty, you will join Marco and Shelly in the kitchen; if not, head for the shower and get dressed – we’ll be eating in twenty minutes.”
“Run along,” I told Victoria with a smile and went to help with the breakfast.
Thirty minutes later, the children sat around the long dining table eating breakfast.
“Here, have a piece of bacon,” Nero offered Tommy, who happily snatched a piece from the plate.
“Ehhm, Tommy,” I said. “You don’t want to eat that, honey, it’s the real thing and not a substitute.”
He looked at the bacon in his hand and back to me as if he didn’t understand.
“It comes from a real pig,” I explained and complete silence fell around the table as everyone turned to look at me.
“What’s wrong with eating bacon?” William asked.
“Yeah, what’s wrong with eating bacon?” Marco chimed in.
“In the Motherlands, we don’t kill other species,” I said patiently. “What’s wrong is that in order for this bacon to be made, a pig had to die.”
“That’s so sad.” Victoria looked like she was about to cry again.
“What if that pig had friends and family?” Raven asked William, who had just stuffed his mouth full of bacon.
“If you don’t like to eat bacon or meat, no one is forcing you,” Archer said pragmatically.
“I like my bacon,” Solomon announced with a shrug.
“But what if…” Victoria didn’t have a chance to finish her sentence before Archer cut her off.
“Look, no one is forcing anyone to eat meat. At every meal there will be both vegetarian and normal food so everyone can make their own choices. Understood?”
“Vegetarian food is normal food for some of us,” I pointed out and noted how Tommy was still casting longing glances at the bacon.
“Finish your breakfast, you have about ten minutes to get ready for the start of school,” I informed them. “This morning Shelly will be leading you in your first meditation together.”
I waited for the kids to finish their meal and start breaking up before I tapped Hunter and Willow on the shoulder and signaled for them to come with me.
“There’s something special about you two,” I told them when they sat in front of me in my small office. “Can you guess what it is?”
Willow let her beautiful green eyes roam over Hunter and he frowned back at her.
“I don’t know what’s special about her, but I’m the fastest runner here,” Hunter said proudly, and I didn’t bring up that Solomon and Storm had beaten him this morning.
“That’s not what I meant by special.” Giving them a minute to think, I asked them to stand up and face each other.
“Do you remember having met before?”
“No.” Hunter shook his head.
Willow on the other hand narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Does the name Jeremy mean anything to you?” she asked him.
“No,” he repeated.
She drew in a sigh. “I had a brother named Jeremy.” Her voice was soft and pleasant. “We grew up together until we were three years old and he was sent to the Northlands. I don’t remember much about him, but I imagine he would look like you by now.”
“Do you remember having a sister?” I asked Hunter.
“I don’t remember anything from my life before I came here.” Hunter turned to look at me. “What is this about?”
“Your name wasn’t always Hunter; did you know that?” I asked him.
Willow’s eyes expanded and she held her breath, turning her eyes to me expectantly.
I smiled at them both. “That’s right, you two are siblings.”
Hunter gaped while Willow impulsively flung her arms around his neck and gave him a big hug. “I never thought I would see you again!”
“Wait, I have a sister?” he muttered.
“A twin sister,” I clarified and almost laughed at the way he stood stiffly, holding his arms back from touching Willow. “It’s okay, Hunter,” I chuckled. “You can hug her back.”
Slowly Hunter wrapped his arms around Willow’s back and allowed her to hug him for another five seconds before he pulled back. “How come you remember me when I don’t remember you?”
“Because I’ve seen pictures of us together.”
“But why was I sent here?”
“Your mother was a peacekeeper,” I said and explained: “The Nmen have a peace treaty with the Motherlands and as part of that agreement they receive a number of boys from us each year. Women who agree to carry an Nboy are honored among us and called peacekeepers because their sacrifice keeps us all safe.”
“You really don’t remember me at all?” Willow was looking into Hunter’s eyes.
“Sorry,” he muttered.
“So how do you feel now that you know that I’m your sister?” she asked with a smile.
“I don’t know. Strange, I suppose.”
“Aren’t you happy?”
“Yeah, but I’m not sure how to feel about it.” He scratched his arm and looked away.
Placing a hand on each of their shoulders, I said: “Don’t worry, you have plenty of time to figure this out and get to know each other again. First, I think we should go and share the good news with the rest of the children but after we’ve done the morning massage, I suggest that you two take a walk and talk. I can imagine you have questions that you want to have answered.”
“Yes, I want to know everything about what happened to you after you were sent here,” Willow said excitedly. “And I can tell you all about what happened to me too; how I grew up, who my friends are, how I felt about coming here, and how much I’ve missed you.”
Willow took Hunter’s hand and he tensed up. “I don’t think you should touch me. If Archer or Magni sees it, I’m going to be in a lot of trouble.”
“No, you won’t.” She laughed. “We’re not just ordinary students, we’re twins, and that means we’re supposed to be best friends and hold hands as much as we want to.”
Hunter looked skeptical but followed us when we walked back into the schoolroom where the others were finishing up their meditation.
“So, what do you think of your first meditation?” I asked in the direction of some of the Nboys.
“Feels a little silly,” Nero chuckled.
“That’s just until you get used to it,” I assured him and moved into the cozy corner where they were all currently sitting.
“I have some really good news,” I said and got everyone’s attention. “This is such a wonderful experiment because not only are we bringing together boys and girls from each side of the border, we’re also bringing together a pair of twins.” I smiled widely when Willow couldn’t hide her enthusiastic excitement and wrapped an arm around her brother’s shoulder, beaming at the rest of the students.
“Hunter is my twin,” she exclaimed.
“For real?” Solomon made big eyes and looked to Hunter. “She’s your sister?”
“Apparently so,” Hunter said.
“Do we have more siblings in the group?” Raven asked excitedly.
“No, I’m afraid not, but aren’t you really happy for Hunter and Willow?”
Congratulations were heard from around the room and a bunch of questions were asked.
“I’m afraid we don’t have time to answer all the questions right now,” I said. “It’ll have to wait because right now you’re going to have your first morning massage.”
Archer and Marco exchanged a long glance and moved to the end of the room as if they would have nothing to do with this.
“I want all the Nboys to lie down flat on their back,” I instructed. “Spread out so you don’t touch each other.”
When the boys were all lying down, I continued. “The rest of you know what to do, so just pick a person and get started on a foot rub. I’ll time it to ten minutes and then you’ll swap.”
When the Nboys understood what morning massage actually meant some of them started to complain.
“I don’t want anyone touching my feet,” Solomon said, and since he had already established himself as a kind of leader of the pack yesterday, the other boys started to grump about it too.
“I’m sure that not everyone was eager to go running this morning either,” I said and tilted my head. “But to make it easier for you, Marco will become an example and show you how it’s done.” I turned my head to Marco, who stood leaning against the wall next to Archer in the back of the room. “Won’t you, Marco?” I needed him to trump Solomon’s authority to get the other boys on board.
Marco didn’t look happy about it, but he did move over to the cozy corner and lay down.
“Now, if Marco is willing to let Shelly give him a foot rub, I’m sure the rest of you can deal with it too.”
A few more grumpy questions were heard.
“Why do we have to do this again?”
“But I thought we weren’t supposed to touch each other?”
“What if my feet stink?”
“You just took a shower, Storm, so they’d better not,” I said. “Just close your eyes, lie back, and enjoy it. In ten minutes you will be the one giving a foot rub.”
Except for a few chuckles and giggles, the room was quiet and from the look of it, ten boys and one young man were starting to enjoy themselves.
“Time to swap,” I called out when the ten minutes were up.
“I almost fell asleep.” William yawned. “Can we do that every day? I like it.”
“I’m happy you like it, William.” My voice was sugarcoated as I shot a long glance at Archer, who had opposed this part of my curriculum. “Tomorrow we’ll do a back massage.”
Solomon lit up. “With or without shirts on?” he asked and his eyes instantly fell on Willow.
“With shirts on!” Archer boomed. “And don’t get any funny ideas or I’ll have you running around the building fifty times before lunch.”
Solomon didn’t look too worried, and when some of the other boys knocked shoulders with him in what I assumed was a sign of respect, he laughed.
Three hours of science and math followed, until it was time for lunch. After that the children had an hour to themselves, and many spent it on getting to know each other. Most of them still kept to the children they had come with, however.
Archer had argued that fight training should be after lunch to get the blood pumping, so we started up with an hour of fight training that afternoon.
“Welcome to your first fight training,” Archer said loudly. “Since some of you have already trained for years and some of you have never trained at all, we’ll separate you into two groups. If you’re new at fighting, go with Magni while the rest of you come with me.”
The children quickly formed two groups and Archer, who had tied his hair back and put on a pair of comfortable low-hanging shorts and a tank top, continued: “Magni and Marco will stay with the group of beginners to assist.”
“Gather in a circle, sit down, and keep quiet,” Magni instructed. “First I’m going to show you some basic movements that are…”
“I don’t want to fight,” Nicki objected and ran to me. “I don’t like it when people fight.” Nicki was only ten and I knew from her file that she’d experienced some unpleasant things in her early childhood.
“It’s okay.” I stroked her hair. “No one is going to hurt you, but we have to learn about their culture, and fighting is one of the things that children are taught in school here.”
Nicki’s shoulders sank and she looked down with a sad pout.
“You know what, sweetie, why don’t I learn with you? I wasn’t lucky enough to go to school where I could learn things like this, and I trust that Magni won’t hurt me.” I stepped into the circle of children. “I know he looks big and dangerous, but Magni is a very good friend of mine.”
Magni frowned, but didn’t challenge my statement.
“Okay, ehhm, let’s see,” he said and looked directly at Nicki. “Rather than teaching you how to fight, why don’t we focus on how you can protect yourself? First you have to learn how to block a punch.” He instructed and I played along, doing as he told me to. Next he wanted to teach us how to get out of a strong grip from behind. “Let’s say someone attacks you from behind and grabs you like this.” He pulled my back against his chest, placing one arm across my belly and the other just above my breasts. “What are you gonna do? How will you get out of this grip?”
“Try to get free, Kya.” Raven got up from her cross-legged position to sit on her knees and follow closely. “You can do it.”
I wriggled my body, but his grip just tightened and I could feel Magni’s warm breath against my neck. Pushing at his arms didn’t help either, and when I tried stomping his foot, Magni lifted me from the ground as if I weighed nothing. I didn’t give up, though, and kept struggling, until he released me very suddenly.
“Maybe it’s better if Marco steps in here to demonstrate,” he said.
“Why? I wanna learn too,” I objected because now I was annoyed after having felt helpless in his arms. I wanted to know how to get out of it if it ever happened in real life.
“Then look.” He signaled for Marco to come and join him and together they demonstrated what to do before they had the rest of us do it. I was especially impressed with Raven, who fought with everything she had.
“For the last ten minutes of today’s session, I want you to go and watch the Nboys fight. It’s just so you can get an idea of what we’re going for,” Magni told them, and Marco, Shelly, and all the children went to watch the Nboys and Archer train, while Magni pulled me aside.
“Don’t fucking do that again,” he scolded me.
“What did I do?” I asked in confusion.
“You fucking wriggled up against me like a cat in heat.”
“Uhh, that’s not true,” I sputtered with indignation. “I was trying to get out of your grip.”
“Well then, let me tell you right now, if a man actually does attack you, wriggling your butt into his dick is only going to entice him further. I’m a married man and I can’t be in front of a group of kids with a racing heart and a hard-on.”
“Don’t be vulgar!”
Magni raised a brow. “I don’t fucking care if my words offend you. Just don’t do it again, okay?”
“Maybe this isn’t about me,” I said, taking a deep breath to steady myself. “I can see that you’re hurting, and missing your wife. Do you want to talk about it?”
He rolled his eyes. “No, all you need to know is that Laura is coming back.”
“That’s great. When can I meet her?”
“I’m not sure.” He rubbed his nose as a sign of irritation. “I sent her a video but I didn’t get a reply yet.”
“So, you don’t know for sure if she’s coming back?”
Magni’s eyes pinned me, but he didn’t answer.
I had to ask the question that was burning in my throat: “How long will you wait for her?”
“Why? Are you offering yourself as a substitute?” His voice was gruff with emotion.
I was taken aback by his directness. “That’s not what I said.”
“Well, I’m no fucking mind reader and I’m confused about the signals you’re sending, so tell me straight up: Are you coming on to me?”
“No! Why would you think that?” I asked, taking a small step back.
“Because you smile and laugh at me, and tell me about your sexual fantasies. I would say that’s coming on to me,” he argued. “Not to forget the time in your apartment when you were rubbing yourself against me.”
“I didn’t!” I was stunned that he could’ve misread me like that.
Magni arched an eyebrow. “Just say it, Kya. Are you asking to have a sexual relationship with me?”
Something inside of me snapped. I might be curious about them, I might even do some things that were strange to them, like touching; but for Magni to think that I wanted to have sex with him and accuse me so blatantly of coming on to him was so off. Boiling with annoyance, I didn’t play nice.
“I told you about a sexual fantasy that I had long before I even met you. I also pointed out that I couldn’t imagine doing it with someone here in the Northlands and yet in your arrogant little head, you managed to make it about you.”
“Did you just call me arrogant?”
“Right to your face!” I raised my chin up.
Magni lowered his eyebrows and shifted his balance. “So, you’re not interested in having sex with me?” he asked slowly.
“That’s right. You’re completely safe and don’t have to worry about me throwing myself at you like… what was it that you said?… a cat in heat.”
“Huh!” He huffed. “I completely misread your signals then. I was sure you were horny.”
That comment had me flashing bright red, pivoting around and leaving with an offended snort.