Page 25 of The Mentor
“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.”
