The Gender End (The Gender Game #7)

“Violet…” Morgan trailed off, her hand reaching out and taking mine. “It’s over now. There’s nothing you can do but find some way to move on. You saved our worlds—we are fundamentally changed in extraordinary and unprecedented ways. You’ve done great and amazing things for the people here.”

I smiled. Morgan had misunderstood my melancholy over Dina’s death. I just didn’t dismiss it easily. I carried the guilt of that memory within me so it could temper my anger, hone it and contain it, until I was certain it was pointed in the right direction.

“I’m fine,” I told her. “And it’s your wedding. Josefine, you didn’t do anything wrong, and you aren’t responsible for any of this. Morgan, your soon-to-be-husband has probably been rushed to get ready and is feeling pretty uncertain. Shall we?”

Morgan smiled and nodded. I helped her stand up and held her train as we moved over to the door.

“You should go find your parents now,” I whispered to Josefine. “I’ll make sure you have an invitation to the reception. I want to see more of you, especially if your family is moving to Patrus.”

“Of course,” she breathed. “I’ll let them know!” She turned to run off, and then paused, turning back. “You also did great and amazing things for the boys,” she added, and it took me a minute to put the comment into context. By the time I had, she had already disappeared, and I smiled at the sound of her feet carrying down the tunnel.

“You have a fan,” Morgan said as she ducked under the archway. “And she’s right, you know. The boys are all thriving now.”

She wasn’t wrong, but she didn’t give herself or Viggo enough credit. If anything, the project was their brain child; I was just one of the only people who had enough free time to oversee it and make Viggo’s ideas reality. It made me happy to shoulder the load, not only for him, but so that I could spend time helping them. The program at the school we’d established in a secluded area in the Patrian farmlands included therapy, education, medication, gene therapy for the more extreme cases… even outpatient counseling and a housing and foster family program—anything the boys might need to start building lives from the wreckage Desmond and Elena’s plans had left for them.

Morgan’s scientists had discovered a number of things from combing through Mr. Jenks’ research—one of the biggest ones directly affected Morgan and Tim both, a welcome relief that had come as a complete shock to the two of them. They’d been able to uncover the reasons that they, and some of the other boys as well, were so sensitive to touch, and a drug to deal with the problem had been developed shortly afterward. Now both of them could experience human contact in a way that had been denied them their entire lives. I was thrilled beyond words for them—it was hard to imagine Morgan going through with a wedding without the new drugs.

Beyond that, Cody was more stable too. He’d chosen to live with Morgan in the palace, and she referred to him fondly as her little brother—and she had just finished establishing a sister school in Matrus, so the boys could decide where and how they were going to live, and hopefully be reunited with their families.

“I’m just glad I could do something to help them,” I replied. “And Josefine isn’t a fan, she’s a friend. One I’m happy to see alive and well. She suffered greatly under the past regimes. Her father was Patrian, her mother Matrian, and the law broke them apart.”

“Really? Then it’s a good thing she got to meet the woman who was directly responsible for making a lot of those changes. Y’know, before she got so famous.”

“Ugh, that really is Owen’s fault,” I said with a chuckle.

“He took to art. It… It helped him to draw it.”

“But those books are so topical,” I insisted as we walked down the long tunnel. “They skip over the horrific stuff.”

“He painted the horrific stuff too,” Morgan said quietly, her gaze directed far away for a moment. “All of it. The pieces are in a studio if you want to see them—he won’t go in there though. Once he paints them, he never wants to see them again.”

I felt my heart clench in my chest. “Oh.”

“He doesn’t like to talk about it. I can imagine you don’t like to talk about it either. But please tell me you at least talk to someone about it.”

“I talk to Viggo. We share everything, including each other’s nightmares.” I thought about it for a long moment, and added, “And there was the oral history thing. I included an audio file. It was… cathartic, actually. It hurt, of course, like tearing duct tape off of my heart, but afterward, everything felt a little better.”

“Good. I worry about you sometimes.”

“You could pick up a handheld and call,” I replied tartly, and she chuckled.

“You know the council hates that,” she replied. “They don’t like the idea of me having so many direct conversations with various people in Patrus, actually. They prefer to work as intermediaries. Maybe it makes them feel important?”

I chuckled, but a pang of sadness washed over me. She was right, of course. We were friends, but we were citizens—no, not just citizens, leaders—of two different countries, and unfortunately, there was always going to be someone upset with the status quo. Someone who wanted to change things or interfere with what we had built.

And who knew—maybe that change could be good. All I could do was hope and pray that for now, our way was working, and would continue to work for as long as possible.

“How do I look?” she asked, and a peek over her shoulder told me we were near the main chamber. There was a murmur of voices coming from it—a soft din of hushed conversation that was happening everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

“Perfect,” I replied as Amber pressed by, followed by Meera and Dr. Tierney. I smiled as I saw the two other women, and moved back a few steps to let Meera go first—she was the matron of honor, after all. Sierra took up the front as Morgan’s family member, consenting to the union, just as Cody did for Owen on the groom’s side.

“I’m really sorry I couldn’t ask Margot,” Morgan whispered from ahead.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “Henry has the flu anyway. They weren’t going to be able to make it.” Especially since Margot was pregnant with baby number three, but it wasn’t my news to announce, especially not right now.

Not to mention, my Aunt Sarah and Uncle Kurtis were spending time with their grandchildren. We still hadn’t really formed a relationship, although to be honest, they didn’t seem particularly interested. Neither was I, for that matter—their behavior after I rescued them from Tabitha hadn’t really bred the happy warm feelings of family between us. Then again… I had all the family I could possibly hope for, so it was a moot point. If they didn’t want a relationship with me, I could accept that. Even if it drove Cad crazy.