The Dark Blooded Duchess. Ep1

I get the idea that Morgen’s never been in a vehicle.

Call it a hunch.

When she tries everything to open the Rover’s passenger door except pull the door handle, I figure it may be more than a cultural difference.

Obviously, I jump to help her but by the time I’m out and around the vehicle, she looks like, well, not exactly herself. Her now pointy ears poke through her hair that’s tied back into a low, messy ponytail. Her face seems to be protruding from her skull ever so slightly and she’s baring her super sharp canines at the car like some sort of animal.

But I blink and it’s gone. All that’s left is her, heaving at the door in frustration.

I shake myself mentally. I must be watching too much anime again.

‘here, let me,’ I say and in the back of my mind I can hear my mother telling me that I should’ve done that in the first place.

She clears her throat, composing herself ‘thanks’

‘You just sit, like a chair.’ I say and leave her to get back in the car myself.

I make sure to do all of it slowly and clearly; I sit and position myself, close the door, it locks, and then I press the button for the seatbelts.

Of course, I don’t look at her but out of the corner of my eye, I can see her mimicking my actions. Once her seatbelts adjust themselves to her height and build, I start the Rover and head South, to the watch tower, it’s the most South Secernere has.

‘So where are we going?’ I say, waiting as if her answer changes the direction.

I half-expect her to say South but she exhales deeply and gently says ‘The darkness of the forest.’

She turns her gaze to me then, her golden eyes smolder like viscid gold, melted over a great, hot fire.

All at once, I sense her power like a bottomless pit and her kindness as broad as the sky, the one tries to be more significant than the other. Neither succeeds and it’s unnerving.

‘Will you take me as far as the darkness?’ she asks ‘I will do the last stretch alone’

I open my mouth to protest but she stops me by adding ‘I have to. I have to do it alone. I know it.’

‘Well the darkness is about two days’ travel’ I say, rubbing the stubble on my chin ‘if all goes well, that is.’

‘Why wouldn’t it?’ she asks but as the Rover starts moving she makes a yacking sound as if she’s going to puke.

I stop, ‘are you alright?’

Please puke outside, please puke outside, not in the rover.

‘I’m - yes. Yes, I think I’m -’ she purses her lips, looking pale and weak ‘no. I’m not.’ she says and opens the door.

She hurls over and over.

I hope that this will help her feel better, that we can have a smooth journey from here on.

Of course, I don’t realize how wrong I am.

So very, very wrong.

✥

‘So there’s good news and there’s bad news’ I say, as I get back into the rover after scouting the area in the rain.

Morgen’s morale has improved greatly since we stopped and I gave her some food, except she hasn’t stopped eating.

‘I’m listening’ she mumbles with a mouth stuffed full of sandwich. When I look at her curiously, she wobbles her eyebrows at me.

I chuckle.

I’d love to see one of the females my mom set me up with do that with as much confidence and flair.

Then again Morgen’s probably high off her ass.

‘With all the rain, the river’s being flooded and the rapids are out of control. If we try to cross now it will, without a doubt, sweep us away.’

She swallows with a loud, dry gulp. ‘Please tell me that’s not your idea of good news.’

‘Let me finish’ I say, with the most serious look I can muster. She nods then and takes another bite of a sandwich.

‘we may have to wait until the tide of the river subsides’

‘how long would that take?’ she mumbles

‘I’m not an expert in weather maths but maybe like 2 odd days’

Morgen curses. Badly. ‘no, no, no, no, no. we can’t wait that long’

‘Well, either way, we’re going to have to camp out here tonight.’

‘where are we going to sleep?’

‘The rover.’ I say ‘I have blow-up mattresses that fit over the seats, we’ll be fine. And dry.’

‘And warm,’ she says.

‘And warm’ I repeat.

Later that night as Morgen and I are set to sleep, her on the back seat mattress and me in front, the clouds have cleared to show us a patch of the bluish black night sky and a sprinkle of stars.

I wonder if she’s feeling her skin itch to touch me like mine is with her.

But just laying here with her is extraordinary.

‘You know I would escape from hell a thousand times over just to see those’ she says dreamily.

‘You should see them when there are no clouds, just an endless sky of stars. It’s like magic.’

I smile.

‘It is actually, the purest kind.’ she says ‘The magic of light and dark.’

I don’t know what she means by that, but I just let her talk. Her voice is so soothing.

‘You know, people believe that light and dark are opposite things. And I guess in the most basic sense, they are.’ she sighs ‘but neither can exist without the other. They give each other strength at their own expense. If that isn’t the most selfless display of greater good I don’t know what is’

‘hmmm. I never thought about it that way’

‘how can you not?’ I can hear the smile in her voice ‘all I see in this world is magic. It’s everywhere. In everything’

‘And in hell?’ I ask gently ‘is there no magic there?’

‘No, there is’ she sighs heavily ‘but it’s different. It’s magic of malice and madness. Torture. Destruction. The darkest things you can imagine. It’s tainted energy. All of it.’

Gods and divinity. What that must be like.

‘Is that why you left? Because of how tainted it is?’

‘No,’ she says ’It was lots of things. Small things. A million little papercuts bleeding me dry.

I don’t have anything to say about that.

She continues ‘I guess it started when I realized that my mom wasn’t coming back-’

‘So your mom is a demon?’ I know she’s half-demon from the stories that Peggy and her mom have told me.

‘Yeah. But it’s a long and winding story. Anyway, she could come and go as she pleased because she’s still worshipped on earth in some places.’

‘Wait. I’m sorry - your mom is a demon and a goddess?’

She chuckles ‘And a really amazing mom if we’re counting all the things she’s great at. When she was in hell she’d make a beeline right to wherever I was and she’d nuzzle my nose. She'd bring me mochi and treats and gifts she got from her worshippers at her altar. Then she’d tell me stories about our people. Their power. And I’d lay on her lap, no matter how old I got to listen to her while she stroked my hair.’

Is it ironic that this woman raised in hell has a more loving relationship with her mom than I do?

‘She sounds great, Morgen.’ I smile for her ‘you’re incredibly lucky to have her.’

‘I am’ she says.

We fall into a comfortable silence then and I think she’s fallen asleep but then she stirs.

‘What’s the good news?’ she asks ‘earlier, you said you had good news and bad news’

‘You’re right,’ I chuckle ‘I almost forgot about that.’

‘So are you just going to keep me in suspense or?’

‘After rain this heavy, any creatures lurking in the area would have found shelter to wait it out. Which means we should be safe if we decide to travel by gliders from here on out.’

Morgen makes a weird sound like she’s biting her tongue ‘We really need to work on your concept of what is acceptable to use as an offset to bad news. Because that, that wasn’t it.’

I burst into laughter that shakes the rover in its tracks.

‘We can work on that tomorrow.’

‘Yeah’ she says ‘and tomorrow we get to dissect you like you’ve been doing to me’

‘That’s fair’ I scratch the back of my neck ‘as long as we’re not talking torture’

‘Oh Lilith no,’ she chuckles ‘I much prefer magic to torture.’

I suppose I already knew that. She’s a creator, I’ve known it since the first time we spoke. She would only ever use violence when she needed to.

‘At least for now’ she adds quietly.

I would have to remember to ask her about that.

‘Goodnight Morgen’

She chuckles ‘Is it really necessary for earthlings to keep greeting each other?’

‘Yeah’ I say, pulling up the blankets to under my chin ‘because what if we never wake up?’

She blows a raspberry ‘Well that’s dark’ she laughs ‘I think I like it.’

‘Goodnight, Ardon.’ she says.

And I’ve never loved the sound of my full name until this very second.

I turn on my side to get comfortable.

Tomorrow we would cross the river and Morgen would face whatever is waiting for her in the darkness.

But with the Great Divine as my witness, she will not face it alone.

✥End of episode 1✥