Page 121 of The Mentor
“They told her,” she breathed. “Look how blissfully happy they look.”
“If you hadn’t been so damn slow to realize that you loved me, we could have been the parents of Raven,” I whispered and kissed her.
After Boulder made the announcement to all the children that he and Christina had adopted Raven, we predictably got questions from some of them.
William wanted to know why only children from the Motherlands could have parents and I told him to go and raise that question with Pearl and Khan.
Mila came and asked Kya if she could get adopted too.
“You never know,” Kya told the girl and placed a kiss on her forehead. “I’m sure that every adult would be proud to have a daughter like you.”
“Can I beyourdaughter?” Mila asked Kya with a shy smile.
“Yes,” I said resolutely, but Kya shook her head. “Archer and I have to treat all the children here the same. We love all of yousomuch, but I’m sure you can imagine how hard it would be for you if we adopted you. The other children would get jealous, don’t you think?”
Mila bit her lip and nodded. “I guess so.”
When she ran off, Pearl came over to talk to us. “I have to say that I’m surprised about you two. With all the bickering between you, I naïvely thought you didn’t like each other much.”
Kya laughed. “We didn’t. I truly thought Archer was the most stubborn and annoying man in this world.”
“Impossible.” Pearl laughed. “That would be Khan for sure.”
“Have you chosen the five men to represent the Northlands?” I asked Pearl.
“Well,” she breathed. “There’s Finn, of course, and Christina recommended one of the men who helped her on her archaeological digging site. His name is Bruce Lee and after meeting him, I agree that he should be included in the project.”
“That’s only two.”
“Yes, but I’m interviewing ten candidates tomorrow. They have all been recommended to me and described as intelligent, warm, and respectful men.”
“I’m not sure I would describe Finn as respectful.” Kya grinned. “His jokes can be pretty crude.”
“Well, I meant respectful by Nman standards,” Pearl corrected herself.
As the two women continued talking, I walked over to sit next to Finn, who lay alone on a patch of grass in the sun.
“If it isn’t the lucky groom,” he said and opened one eye to look at me. “I thought you would be busy consummating your marriage by now.”
“There’s still time,” I answered and stretched my legs in front of me.
Finn was using his hands as a pillow and squinted because of the sun. “I saw what you did to Solomon.”
“Uh-huh.”
“He will never forgive you for that.”
“Probably not, but at least I jumped in to protect him from Magni’s wrath. That’s more than I can say about you.”
“Hey, I think you’re forgetting something.” He propped himself up on his elbows. “I’m a doctor; my job is to fix the wounded people – not to get wounded myself.”
“Is that why you never fight in tournaments?” I asked. “You’re a good fighter, but I’ve never seen you participate.”
He tilted his head back and forth as if weighing evidence. “I wanted to fight for Laura, but when Magni said he would be in the tournament, I changed my mind.
“Because he’s your best friend?” I asked.
“That, and because with Magni being the best goddamn fighter and the second most important man in the country, it was a given that she would pick him,” he said matter-of-factly. “Turned out it was a good call, since Magni is now alone while I’m going to be swimming in women in a few days.”
