Page 121 of The Seducer
Raven pushed her jaw out and narrowed her eyes. “That’s mean.”
But Nero, a handsome twelve-year-old Nboy, just shrugged, uninterested.
“You should apologize,” she insisted.
He snorted. “Forget it. But I’ll make you a deal.”
Raven was more than a head smaller than him but she placed her hands on her hips and took a firm stance. “What kind of deal?”
“If you go away, I’ll promise to miss you.” His smirk said that he was lying.
Unafraid, Raven took a step forward. “That’s very immature, Nero. You know, I would ask you how old you are, but I doubt that you can count above five.”
It was Nero’s turn to get mad. “I’m eleven months older than you are, and a lot wiser too.”
“No, you’re not,” Raven argued, biting her lips, trying to find some sort of comeback. I thought about interfering but I wanted to give her the chance to work it out herself.
“Look, Raven,” Nero said and leaned back with a superior posture. “Remember when Solo asked you if you wanted to be in the infantry, and you thought it was where the babies live?” He gave a condescending laugh. “Only an idiot would think babies can be found in the infantry.”
Tears welled up in Raven’s eyes. “We don’t have armies in the Motherlands – how was I supposed to know that Magni’s warriors are in the infantry?”
Nero rolled his eyes as if that was common knowledge.
“So what if I don’t know much about the Northlands yet? I’ll learn, and at least I don’t have so many gaps in my teeth that it looks like my tongue is in jail,” Raven threw at him.
Nero stared her down. “You’re lucky we Nmen don’t beat up girls or I would have whipped your ass by now.”
“What Nman? You’re nothing but a child,” she goaded him, and I stepped in before the boy lost his temper and got physical.
“How about you two take a break for a moment?” I suggested but they kept up their mean-stare contest.
“Did you know that I speak five languages?” I asked to distract them. “It’s true, and you know what I’ve learned?”
“What?” Raven asked and finally looked at me, her manners too rooted to ignore an adult.
“That speaking five languages is great, but the ability to keep quiet in any language is just as important, and you know why?”
Nero shook his head.
“Because words can be very hurtful and abusive. Look at how upset you both are.”
“Nero started it,” Raven said and crossed her arms. “He’s always mean to me.”
He gave a rude shrug. “Because I don’t like you.”
“Listen,” I said, not prepared to let them start another fight. “I once heard a fascinating story about a wise man, and you know what he said?”
Nero shook his head. “No idea.”
“He saidnothing.”
Nero scrunched up his face. “That’s a lame story.” The boy was taller than me and when I placed my hand on both his and Raven’s shoulders, he pulled back.
“My advice to you two is to practice the silence. You both want the last word, but notice how fast it escalates into a war of words between you.”
“That’s just because I’m not allowed to beat her up,” Nero said with an attitude. “I would never argue like this with a boy.”
“I’m not afraid of you.” Raven lifted her chin. “One day, I’ll fight you and I’ll beat you. Just you wait and see. My dad is a great fighter and he’s teaching me.”
