Chapter Eleven #2
Brogan pointed down. “What happens to my fish?”
“Disappears, as everything does in the RR room.”
“Shame, I was proud of that.”
Camber laughed at the biggest smile on Brogan’s face.
Morrigan paced in the back area of the ship. They were getting nowhere and had made a retreat from Oipra and Abnobian space.
An idea had come to her, but Morrigan hated the thought of it. It’s for Brogan.
Morrigan closed her eyes and shook her head. She let out a big breath and said, “Margot, I have an idea.”
Margot turned around in her chair. “What?”
“There’s someone I can call on who usually has information.”
Thane gave her a pointed look. “What, the Abnobians?”
“No,” Morrigan spat. “Queen Emaris.”
Margot looked at Jhosa. “I understood you didn’t get on.”
“We don’t. But I’m willing to contact her so we can find Brogan and the Map Keeper. She has informants all over the realm.”
“I’m sure she does,” Thane said.
“Look, I didn’t choose to be neutral in the war you had with the Abnobians. If I was on the throne, we wouldn’t have done. So just stop.” Morrigan looked up at Margot. “I’ll use the station at the back.”
“Thank you for doing this. I know it’s hard for you,” Margot said.
She walked to the back of the shuttle. There was a bunk for longer journeys and a small workstation. Morrigan put her head in her hands and rocked back and forth.
The thought of asking her mother a favour churned her up inside. They’d never had a good relationship from as far back as she could remember.
She was brought up by the palace nannies, and only presented to Queen Emaris at nighttime. Her younger brother Balor, on the other hand, was doted on by the queen and often was called for during the day.
The queen would hold council meetings with him on her knee. He was spoiled, and as he grew he became wilder and wilder but still indulged. Their home planet was a matriarchal society, and so the heir was Morrigan.
Balor plotted and tried to get their mother to change the constitution, so he could take her throne. That was one thing her mother couldn’t do for him.
He left their planet and sought power on other worlds, grew darker and darker, until he was lost. Now Morrigan had helped banish him to another plane of existence. She no doubt had further damaged the mother-daughter relationship.
Morrigan’s fingers hovered above the console, trying to delay the inevitable, but her fingers swept over the controls and input the code for her mother’s private secretary.
An older man appeared on screen and said, “Your Royal Highness. How may I help?”
“I want to speak to my mother.”
He lowered his head. “I shall check if she is available.”
After their last conversation, Morrigan wasn’t entirely sure the queen would take her call, but much to her surprise, the queen’s face appeared on screen.
Queen Emaris was beautiful and had always been beautiful.
But even the long-lived fae queen looked older since the last time Morrigan saw her.
She had gorgeous short red hair that had been beautifully styled in a feminine cut, framing her green eyes.
She wore a long flowing white and pale blue gown, giving her an ethereal look.
That was all in contrast to Morrigan, who took after her father with her collar-length dark brown hair and blue eyes.
She suspected that was the root of their estrangement.
The queen didn’t love the daughter who looked like the man that hurt her deeply.
“Hello, Queen Emaris,” Morrigan said.
“Well, well, if it isn’t my long lost sheep. Are you calling to report your brother’s banishment, and your hand in it?”
News travelled quickly. Vetia had one of the best secret services in the realm, making the queen privy to most incendiary information before the rest of the realm knew it.
“He always was banished, Mother, for crimes that were abhorrent. Balor became a monster. You know that. He convinced a witch to help him escape his last dimensional prison, and I had no option than to help protect the Earth and banish him again,” Morrigan said.
Emaris looked up and sighed. “If only I could have had my time again with him. Made sure he didn’t end down this path.”
That made Morrigan furious. What about having the time over with her? Treat her the way a daughter should be? But if she opened her mouth about that now, she wouldn’t get the info she needed, just a big argument.
“So, Morrigan. Did you call to tell me about your brother or something else?”
“I knew you would know about Balor—you know everything that happens in this realm. Which is the reason I’m calling. Balor flung my friend through a portal while he was fighting us, and I promised the humans I was helping that I would try to find her. I know with your…connections you could help.”
“I see,” Queen Emaris said.
Morrigan didn’t want to say she was working with the resistance. Their anonymity was crucial. “She is called Brogan, a werewolf from Earth.”
“Ah, the one travelling with the Map Keeper?”
“You know about that?” Morrigan said with surprise.
Emaris laughed. “Of course I do. The Abnobians put bounty hunters on notice to find the Map Keeper travelling with a wolf. Most came back to Davor empty-handed and were struck down, but…”
“But what?” Morrigan asked.
“A Derag Due called Cardo was given the chance to lead a squad of Drazani warriors after them.”
“Do you know if they got any tips for where they were?”
Queen Emaris sat back. “Is this the only reason you contact your mother? To get information?”
“The last time we spoke didn’t exactly go well,” Morrigan said.
“You should be here, my heir, learning what is expected of a Queen of Vetia. I’m not getting any younger.”
“You’re also fit and healthy, Mother. Once this is all over, and I find my friend, I will come home for a visit.”
Queen Emaris leaned forward onto her desk. “Do you promise?”
“I’m not a child, Mother. You don’t have to bribe me to come home to see you. If you had contacted me at any time and asked me, I would have come. But since you have now, I will,” Morrigan promised.
“Very well, I’ll trust you. Our intelligence found out that Cardo and his men went to a mechanic moon, where old ships go to die and people to hide.
The bar manager there sells information.
He has a listening post there. People usually pay with money for what he sells, but this time he paid with his life. ”
“What did he tell them, do you know?” Morrigan asked impatiently.
“Yes. Cardo is going to Ziggy’s Place.”
“The gaming moon?”
Queen Emaris nodded. “He has a head start, but I can have one of our ships hold him up with an inspection, since they will go through the edge of our space.”
“You would do that?”
“Yes, just come home and visit when you are free,” Queen Emaris said. “I’d like to see my child again.”
This was the most open and honest conversation she’d had with her mother ever. Maybe she was feeling her age?
“I will come back. Once all this is sorted out.”
“I’ll take your word for it, then. Goodbye, Morrigan.”
The signal cut, and Morrigan flopped back in her seat. That call was emotionally confusing, a lifetime of hurt feelings challenged by one honest call, where her mother expressed she wanted to see her.
Morrigan couldn’t think too deeply about those emotions right now, or she would lose herself.
She got up quickly and walked through the sliding door. Margot turned to her and said, “Anything?”
Morrigan smiled. “Ziggy’s Place.”
Jhosa let out a whoop. “Let’s go find them, then.”
Brogan waited patiently for Camber to join her on the couch. She was showering, and their food had just arrived. Brogan had built up quite a hunger with her run.
Luckily in the bathroom there was a small supply of nightwear they could use, so Brogan was dressed in boxers and a sleeveless T-shirt. She sipped on the ale that Ziggy had introduced her to.
I’m really starting to get a taste for this, Brogan thought. It wasn’t quite as good as in Ireland, but then, nothing ever was. So to get something close in another realm, another part of the universe, was quite remarkable.
She heard doors opening and closing, signalling that Camber might be about to join her. After a few minutes the bedroom door finally opened, and out came Camber, with slightly damp hair, flushed skin, white pyjama shorts, and a little top that exposed her belly button.
Brogan found her utterly sexy and stunningly beautiful. How had this woman gone all this time without someone to cherish her?
All Brogan wanted to do was stand up, walk over to Camber, and kiss her softly and taste her. But she couldn’t, of course.
That was something that could never happen. Brogan was looking for a way home, and Camber, whose life was a solitary one, moving from place to place, was never able to settle.
Besides, she seemed to annoy Camber most of the time. She doubted her desire was reciprocated.
“Is the food here?” Camber asked.
“All ready for you.”
Camber sat down and rubbed her hands together. “Great. Ziggy’s restaurants are all delicious.”
Brogan inhaled the scent of Camber’s fruity shower gel. But below this, many layers below, one only a wolf can smell, was Camber’s own scent. It was intoxicating and made every part of her senses tingle.
Stop thinking this way. You know nothing can come of it, Brogan told herself. Drink your ale, eat your dinner, and enjoy her company. Don’t look any further.
Camber took the lid off her meal, and Brogan saw it was a large salad, topped with different colours of small bits of meat, which Brogan could hardly guess at. But one thing was for sure, it was very light, and it certainly wouldn’t fill Brogan up.
Brogan took the lid off her food and inhaled a strong, raw, meaty scent. When she’d looked at the menu, she didn’t know where to start. So Brogan described what she wanted to Camber and let her choose.
It looked approximately like a steak, except the colour was different. It had some veggies on the side and bread to mop up the juices.
“How can you eat that?” Camber said.