Chapter Eleven #3
Brogan cut into the meat. It was a purple colour inside, with blood oozing out. “I’m a wolf. I like rare meat. The rarer the better.”
“I could never—uh-uh, no—have meat like that. I like it charred, well done, as if it had been through an incinerator.”
Brogan shook her head. “You might as well eat shoe leather. What about you? A salad? That wouldn’t fill up a small space in my stomach.”
“It’s a big seafood salad, and enough for me,” Camber said, “and don’t worry, we’ve got dessert to come soon.”
Brogan took her first bite and hummed in pleasure. “Oh Great Mother, this is so good.”
Camber smiled. “Really? You like it?”
Brogan was hoovering up bites of meat. “I think this is the best meal I’ve ever had. Just think—I’ve come all this way, light years probably, and I’ve found the best steak.”
“I’m glad you’re happy,” Camber said, while starting on her own meal.
“Are you happy with yours?” Brogan asked.
“Yes, I just love seafood.”
“Pity I couldn’t have brought that fish from the RR,” Brogan joked.
As they continued eating, Camber said, “Tell me about the friends you were telling me about. Sometimes it helps me get a feel for the place I need to find on the map. It’s a small thing, but it can help.”
Brogan had finished her last bite, so she sat back with her cup of ale. “Well…”
Camber watched Brogan as she got comfortable. She just couldn’t take her eyes off her. This was so different. Camber felt pulled to her, hungry for her. She wanted to crawl over there and beg Brogan to touch her.
“Are you with me, Camber?”
Camber shook her head and shook herself, trying to shake this hunger off. “Yes, go ahead.”
“A huge number of the paranormals stood with us, but the groups I was closest to were our brother and sister packs, from all over the world, and—”
“Wait.” Camber stopped her. “You have other wolf packs on the same planet?”
“Yes, we were all descended from the same wolf and her mate. It’s said that she instructed us to make packs all over the world. We think of them as our sister and brother packs.”
Camber thought this was an unusual concept. “The GallowGlas wolves have never wanted to be expansionist. They have local leaders, but all under the one alpha. What about the other paranormals?”
“The leaders of the defence were a couple. One a vampire, one a witch.”
That thought blew her mind. “A Derag Due? Surely not? They use people as portable blood banks and cause death everywhere they go.”
“The Debrek clan are the most powerful vampires on the planet. They are called born vampires. A long, long time ago, a powerful witch fell in love with a Debrek. They were given the gift of children, so with each new birth they grow stronger every generation, and they only take blood by consent.”
“Consent?” Camber said with surprise. “I can’t imagine that, and marriage to a witch? Our realms might have some things in common, but some are so far apart.”
“Byron is a good friend, and Byron and her wife Amelia are amazing leaders, and along with the witches, fae, and shifters, we defeated Balor, fighting side by side with his sister Morrigan.”
Camber’s fork clattered on her plate. “Morrigan?”
“If you mean the Goddess of war and fate, yes,” Brogan said.
Camber couldn’t believe that name came up on Earth. “She’s calling herself a Goddess?”
“She was worshipped as a Goddess in my part of Earth a long, long, time ago. But not any more. Morrigan told me she still visited Earth because she was fond of us. She was the one who tried to warn us about Balor and fought by our side.”
“She’s added a bit of loyalty and good nature, has she?” Camber said.
“How do you know her?” Brogan asked.
“She’s the heir to her mother’s throne. She’s Princess Morrigan, and it looks like she’s been having her kind of fun while waiting for her throne. There are many different kinds of fae, but Vetia’s are known as tricksters.”
“Yeah, I have heard she was one, like a shapeshifter, taking many forms. Well, she did help us a lot.”
Camber laughed. “There are a few people around these parts that might find that hard to believe. I suppose people can change.”
Brogan took a last sip of ale and flopped back on the couch. “Hmm. That was so good. I could eat another one, though,” Brogan said.
“You’ve got dessert to come. Make sure you have enough space,” Camber said.
“I’ve got plenty of space, don’t you worry about me. There’s no dessert that can defeat me. I’ve got a very big sweet fang.”
“Oh, you do?” Camber replied.
“Yes, I do. You hurry up and finish your green salad thing so we can get on to it.”
This was so nice, Camber thought. She taken a chance on bringing Brogan to Ziggy’s with her. She’d never done so before with anyone, and here she was trusting and having a laugh with a wolf.
And have her body experience new feelings.
She didn’t have these feelings with Ziggy or any of the resistance. Plus, the resistance was designed to keep itself blocked off in cells, so that information couldn’t be shared. It was a lonely life. One she’d never chosen.
Sometimes when she’d bedded down for the night on some remote moon or planet, she would daydream about having been brought up in a real family, with parents, siblings, and then a loving partner. Her mind could not have imagined someone like Brogan the wolf.
“Are we ready for dessert yet?” Brogan was impatient.
“Okay, Wolf.”
Camber took the lids off the chilled desserts, and she heard Brogan growl at the sight of her double-sized cake. Brogan had explained what chocolate was on Earth, and Camber ordered what she thought was the closest thing to it. And Camber ordered herself a smaller, more delicate cake.
While hoovering up her cake, Brogan asked, “What were you thinking about?”
“When?”
“Just before we started on these cakes. I could feel your anxiety, your tension.”
“You can sense that?” Camber asked.
Brogan nodded. She’d read it on Camber’s scent. Scent was descriptive but only went so far, unless the person felt like pack, like home.
“I was just thinking how nice this was. You and me eating great food and laughing with each other. I don’t get to do these kind of things…ever, really.”
Brogan’s heart beat louder in her chest. Was Camber starting to feel the same emotions that she did?
“What about people in your resistance, or Ziggy?”
“The resistance…it’s not intentional, but sometimes it feels like they are taking care of a commodity.
” Camber rubbed her face. “No, that’s not fair.
More a precious thing to protect than anything else.
The resistance took care of me until I was old enough to run.
I left friends that had brought me up, and I suppose I shut down on feelings of friendship so it didn’t hurt so much. ”
Brogan didn’t say anything but reached for Camber’s hand and held it. Camber didn’t pull her hand away but put her plate down on the coffee table.
“Ziggy is like my favourite big sister, and she always takes care of me when I come here, but in the end, I come up to the hotel room on my own.”
Brogan squeezed her hand and said, “You’re not alone tonight, and you won’t be tomorrow or however long it takes.”
“Thank you.”
Brogan didn’t know how much longer that would be, but she imagined letting go of this beautiful woman would be hard.
The tension hung heavy between them, and Brogan inched closer, but Camber pulled her hand back, and she stood up, breaking the moment.
“I’m supposed to be working on my map. I’ll get it.”
Kartog’s shuttle pulled into one of the exclusive entrances, kept for people like the Abnobians and their escheals.
An attendant met her at her shuttle door. “Good evening, Escheal Kartog, will Goddess Ninti be with you?”
“No, just a solo trip,” Kartog said.
Even though escheals were servants, that role came with great trust, so others treated escheals with great respect.
“If you’d like to sign in at the desk, Escheal Kartog, I will take your bags to your room and leave you free to have a drink or something to eat at one of our restaurants. Thank you, Escheal.”
He bowed his head, and Kartog walked through the VIP entrance. She hated people treating her as if they were subservient. Freedom was so precious, and no one should ever live in bondage or feel subservient to another.
She knew how much worse it was for Ninti. Ninti hated being treated as a god. That’s why they were both fighting for the future, where everyone would be equal, and the Abnobians would learn humility.
Kartog hoped rather than expected them to ever feel that emotion.
She walked in the doors to reception and was immediately recognized.
“Escheal Kartog. A pleasure to have you with us again,” the receptionist said.
“A pleasure as always, Lara.”
Kartog pressed her hand to the desk, and an untold amount of programmable matter engulfed her hand and took her signature.
Sometimes she had to be incognito, to further the rebellion, but not here. Ninti told Davor that she was sending her escheal on a mission—just a different mission than Kartog was really on.
“Thank you, Escheal Kartog. Your room will be ready when you wish, and as always enjoy chips on the house for the gaming room.”
“Perhaps later. At the moment I’d like to have a drink and something to eat.”
“Of course. Choose any restaurant you please. It will be on the house and complimentary.”
Kartog squeezed her nails into the palm of her hand, trying to act normally. This reverence, wherever she went, wherever the Abnobians went—they paid for nothing, but expected everything. Not out of generosity, but out of fear.
She walked over to the elevator and went down. She decided to pick a dining room that overlooked one of the gaming halls.
There was a long line waiting by the door, but as soon as a staff member saw her, he walked over.
“Kartog, so pleased to have you with us again. Please follow me and pick a table. Any one you wish.”
Again through gritted teeth Kartog said, “Thank you. Perhaps the table overlooking the hall, please.”