The Gender End (The Gender Game #7)

Violet nodded, her eyes solemn.

“I regret,” Henrik said finally, “to say that we have to move on to the things that are actually going to affect our situation here. While this is all fascinating… fascinating… it’s just too big for us to even deal with right now, I’m afraid. So here are our next items on the agenda: one, coordinating a vote to see if the people in Patrus wish to continue letting King Maxen rule over us, and two, the ongoing threat that is Queen Elena.”

Slowly, we all settled back into having to deal with the world we faced just outside our doors. “We can’t deal with Elena until we have a leader,” grumbled Drew. “We need to set up a provisional government and alert the people about it.”

“Which is why I think we should table this discussion, for now,” announced Ms. Dale, leaning forward. “What you’re talking about is going to take a lot of time, and that’s something we don’t have right now. Elena is coming, and you can bet that she’ll be using enhanced humans to try to finish the job.”

“She’s going to have a pretty easy time of it,” announced Mags tiredly. “We haven’t completed a full census yet, but a rough estimate based on the numbers we have so far is that there’s only about two thousand people left in Patrus—and that was before the groups left to go back to the farms around the city. Not to mention, most of them are women, which means they’ve had no education in self-defense or fighting.”

“Just another way the Patrian… lifestyle has made this fight exceptionally difficult,” remarked Amber.

“I’m surprised Elena’s forces aren’t here already,” commented Logan. “From what you all have been saying about her, it seems like she would be pressing the advantage. We’re not much of a threat at the moment, sad to say, although the fully stocked and loaded heloships will certainly help to act as a deterrent.”

“Well, I have a theory on that,” announced Thomas. “And that theory is—in the simplest terms—that by hitting that airfield, we may have set her plans back some, which buys us time to think of a solution.”

“We might just have that solution,” Henrik said. “With young Miss Morgan here.”

Morgan started, and then looked around the room at all of us, her green eyes taking us all in, one by one. She swallowed visibly. “You mean a coup, don’t you?”

That… wasn’t the worst idea I’d heard, but I didn’t have enough information. I needed to know her whole story before I could entertain the possibility. For all we knew, she was a criminal to her own people, which would make any claim she had to the throne illegitimate.

Luckily, Henrik had the same idea. “That is a possibility, but before we do anything, we need to hear your story, young lady.”

I followed Henrik’s gaze over to Morgan again. Her eyes slid from his face to Violet’s, and her mouth tightened slightly. She stood up abruptly, and moved over to the large screen mounted on the wall.

“Will this thing be on for a while?” she asked, pulling a chain off her neck. I craned forward, curious as to what she was doing.

“It will. The generators in this building are full for the time being, although I calculate that running every piece of technology in here would eat through the fuel in thirty-six to forty-two hours.” A shuffle of papers drew my gaze over from Morgan to Thomas, and he looked up at me, adjusting his glasses. “I gave everyone reports on it.” He delivered his last line awkwardly, as if suddenly uncertain whether he had revealed too much, and I couldn’t help but smile.

“That’s good to know,” said Ms. Dale cheerfully. “What are you doing, Morgana?”

Morgan’s back was to us, but I saw her spine stiffen. She was silent for a moment before shaking her head and bending over to fiddle with the data chip reader at the base of the screen.

“Much like Amber, I am not the biggest fan of my full name. Morgan is fine.” She reached over and hit something on the side of the screen, and it flicked on.

Immediately, blocks of typed words filled the screen.

Morgana, my beloved daughter.

I was reckless. Foolhardy and blind. If you and your sisters were the only good thing to come out of the poor decisions I made, then I consider myself blessed in spite of the suffering I have caused.

Please don’t blame yourself, my daughter. You are not responsible for the mistakes of your mother, and I hate the burden my mistakes have become to you. I am doing everything I can to fix it. Believe me, you are my heart, my world… my everything. To have come so close to losing you… I can’t even begin to describe the searing pain in my heart… the sickness in my stomach.

I visit you every day, sweetling. You lie in the bed, still as a statue, while machines and doctors fight to keep you alive. I brush your hair and sing to you. Can you hear me? I hope you can… I want you to know you are loved. You were born a fighter, my love. Desmond sings your praises after every one of your training sessions. She says that one day, no one will be able to stand up to you.

That was all I ever wanted for you and your sisters. I wanted to give you strengths and abilities that would keep you safe. It is true what they say. Most men are physically stronger than us. Evolution has made them that way, and I tried to defy evolution, but I see the cost of that every time I see you in that bed.

I will fix it, baby. I will, but please don’t leave me.

With love,

Mother

I looked at Morgan, who had moved over to the side of the screen, her hands shoved deep into her pockets. Her back was rigid, her gaze locked on a spot on the wall.

“What happened to you?” Violet asked, the words tumbling from her mouth. I looked over to see the concern on her face, and realized she had come to care about the renegade princess, and I couldn’t blame her—there was definitely something about her that made me want to care too. It was just a gut instinct, really, but I had learned to listen to it long ago.

Morgan licked her lips and took in a long deep breath, then exhaled, counting slowly, and I suddenly felt bad that we all needed to hear her story. I could see how hard this was for her.