Page 13 of The Mentor
It was late in the evening; Raven was asleep up at Boulder’s estate while I put the last touches on the preparations. Christina, Pearl, Raven, and I had prepared most of the lunch with help from Council Chairwoman Isobel, who was here to oversee the beginning of this important experiment.
I just needed the last batch of bread to be done and the table to be set before I could call it a night. Archer was helping me and of course Magni was here to make sure I was safe.
“I don’t like him touching you,” Magni grunted.
“I didn’t touch her.Shetouched me,” Archer pointed out and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. I didn’t blame him, as Magni was hovering constantly.
“I can’t help it,” I told Magni. “I’m a kinesthetic person and touching comes naturally to me.”
“Only your protecto–” Magni started for the umpteenth time, but I cut him off.
“Yes, I’ve heard you, but I’ve decided those laws don’t apply to me. Women here in the Northlands might be okay with living in a bubble, but I’m not! I demand that you stop fussing over me and let me touch whomever I want to.”
“You don’t mean that?” Magni said and put down the large pile of plates he’d been carrying.
“Yes, I do. It’s natural to stroke a hand and give a hug and I don’t want to limit myself.”
“Maybe in the Motherlands but here we do things differently,” Magni insisted. “How am I supposed to keep you safe if you go around touching men? They’ll think you want to marry them.”
“I’m not going to touchallmen, just you, Archer, and my other friends.”
“What friends?” Archer asked and picked up the plates Magni had set down.
I followed him to the long dining table with cutlery in my hands.
“The friends I’ll meet while living here,” I said patiently and put down one fork and knife for every plate he placed along the long table. “You forget that I’m not one of your Nwomen waiting for a tournament to select my husband. I will never marry.”
Magni stood watching us. “I know that,” he said and sat down on the table only to quickly get back up with a frown at the cracking sounds from it.
“Magni, go get some glasses in the kitchen, will you?” I asked and continued in a louder voice so he could still hear me. “In the Motherlands men and women can be friends without any sexual undertones. Gender really means very little to us.”
“Only because your men are more feminine than your women,” Archer said dryly.
“That’s not true. And for your information sex between men and women does happen. I know several who tried it. We would just never monopolize a person like you do with your marriages. It’s impossibly old-fashioned.”
“If it happens then tell me this: have you had sex with a man?” Archer’s brow furrowed.
“You know we only have one man per fourteen women, right? And then take away the ones that aren’t interested in females. It’s not like there’s a bunch of willing men to choose from and besides, sex-bots are much more efficient and hygienic anyway.” I spoke in a matter-of-fact tone.
“Is that so?” Archer’s frown had lessened. “Does that mean you were never tempted to have sex with a man?”
I hesitated before I answered honestly. “Actually, I was a little tempted once.” I didn’t say that he was the man who had tempted me.
Magni called out from the kitchen. “What was that?”
“Kya was tempted to have sex once,” Archer half shouted and turned to me with his lips pursing. “Now you have me interested.”
“Yeah, me too.” Magni came back into the dining room balancing two tall stacks of glasses.
“Don’t drop them,” I warned. “And why can’t you just take a few at a time?”
“Don’t worry about the glasses. Focus on what you were going to say.”
I shook my head. “It’s really nothing. It was just a fantasy I had,” I lied.
“I assume we’re talking about asexualfantasy,” Magni clarified.
“Yes, but it’s not relevant for this conversation. The point is that I’m not going to change who I am just because you don’t like me touching a man. And as for your argument, I’m sure Archer doesn’t think I want to marry him just because I pat his shoulder or arm.”
