Page 75 of Dark Princess: Shadows

When he steered her toward a boxy-looking vehicle, Morelle was first struck by the large number of packages loaded onto the rear seat. "What are all these?"

"They are all for you. You need a proper wardrobe." Brandon put both hands on her waist and lifted her onto the front seat. "You now have everything a beautiful princess needs, from casual wear to formal attire and everything in between."

"Thank you," she said when he got in the vehicle beside her. "That's very generous of you, and I don't know how to repay you." When he opened his mouth to protest, she put a finger on his lips. "Don't say that being with me is all you expect in return. I'll find a way to repay you. It might not be anytime soon, but I never forget a debt, whether it is a debt of gratitude or a debt of revenge."

He seemed taken aback by her words. "Who do you want to avenge?"

"My mother. She was murdered, and it is my duty as her daughter to find those responsible and kill them."

Brandon frowned. "How do you know she was murdered?"

"She told me. She came to me in my dreams and told me that I needed to wake up. She also told me to listen, and when I did, I heard you talking to me."

The truth was that her mother hadn't said anything about a murder, but that was the only way her life could have been cut short.

Brandon shivered even though it was a warm day and rubbed his arms. "That's profound. Do you often get dreams like that?"

Morelle shrugged. "Not at all, but then you have to consider that I slept a dreamless sleep for seven thousand Earth years."

"And you still believe that it was your mother speaking to you?"

She nodded. "I'm positive."

"Did she tell you that she was murdered?"

"No, but she said that she crossed beyond the veil before her time. That can only mean that she did not die from natural causes."

He tilted his head. "Even if you are right, and she was assassinated, the killers are long gone by now."

"If they were Kra-ell, but I don't think they were. I think it was my grandfather's assassins."

Brandon nodded. "He would be my prime suspect as well, but since there is no way for you to get back to Anumati, there is no way for you to avenge your mother either."

That was another surprise. "The gods no longer send transports to collect the gold mined on Earth?"

"There is no contact with the planet of the gods. The Eternal King ordered Earth erased from the galactic maps." Brandon did something, and the vehicle started moving slowly. "Let's leave talk of Anumati for a later time. I promised you a tour, right?"

"Yes." She settled into her seat.

Morelle had so many questions about what Brandon had just said, but he seemed upset by her need for revenge, or maybe he just didn't want to spoil the mood by talking about dark topics.

"Over there is the playground, and as you can see, most of the children and mothers are Kra-ell. Immortals have a much lower fertility rate, and we don't have many children who can enjoy the playground. We hope for more, though."

The children looked happy, and then one uttered a joyful shriek that had her jump in her seat. Morelle had never heard a sound like that. She'd never even seen children at play before.

In the temple, even the youngest acolytes maintained strict decorum.

"That's the café." Brandon pointed. "You can get superb coffee, a sandwich, or a pastry and enjoy them on one of these outdoor tables or take them to go if you are in a rush."

People sat at tables in the open air, sipping beverages and chatting. They smiled and waved as the cart passed them so slowly that Morelle got to smile back and even tried to memorize some faces. A group of Kra-ell walked past, but they were not fully Kra-ell. They looked part human. Two of them stopped byone of the tables and started chatting with the immortals sitting there.

"They are on their way to training," Brandon said. "Many of the young Kra-ell want to join our Guardian force, and we welcome them with open arms. They are good fighters."

She turned to look at the group of five young males while Brandon navigated the cart into one of the paths forking from the one they were on. "They look half human."

"That's because they are. The Kra-ell also realized that their numbers were not sufficient to maintain a genetically viable society, but their experiment was less successful than ours."

She turned to him. "What do you mean?"