Page 78 of Dark Princess: Shadows
"Yeah. Ouch is right. Anyway, the funny part is that one of them was a compeller, but in the heat of the battle, he forgot that he could force her to stop fighting by commanding it. He used that skill later to get her to help them free the others who were trapped and couldn't swim across the freezing water of the lake, especially the pregnant female. They also explained who they were and that they weren't there to harm her. After spending some time with them, she chose to come live in the village, met Vrog, another hybrid Kra-ell, and they lived happily ever after."
Morelle frowned. "Why are you talking about them in past tense? Did they die?"
"Fates forbid. Many fictional stories end with that line, so people started saying it when telling a real story with a happy ending."
"That's nice." She glanced at the ocean. "Kra-ell stories don't have happy endings. The best ending is for the heroes to sacrifice their lives in a brutal battle and end up in the Fields of the Brave."
"Yes, I've heard that. Your Mother of All Life is not a kind deity. She is vicious and bloodthirsty."
"I'm not a believer," Morelle said. "If I invoke the Mother, it is due to imitation and habit, not out of reverence. But life does not have many happy endings, if any. It is better to die in battle than from old age."
"I disagree, but then immortals don't age, and neither will you since you are half goddess."
"True." She let out a breath. "Do you know any stories with bad endings?"
"Regrettably, I know too many of them," he admitted. "But we should head to Annani's." He rose to his feet and offered Morelle a hand up.
She took it and let him pull her up. "Are the bad stories about the clan?"
"The clan has always been a force for good, and I'm not just saying that out of loyalty or bias. Some truths are universal." He helped her climb into the cart with just a little help. "But we have enemies, powerful ones, bent on eradicating Annani and her people over an ancient feud and twisted ideology." He started the cart and backed out of the lookout point and back onto the main path. "We have been forced to defend ourselves against them many times, and sometimes we had to go with preemptive strikes, but most of the time, we prefer to hide from them." He smiled at her. "If they can't find us, they can't kill us."
"Why don't you just fight to win and be done with them?"
"Several reasons, the main one being that they have superior numbers." He navigated around a curve in the path. "The other consideration is that the Clan Mother, your sister, has a soft heart, and she doesn't want to annihilate all those immortals. There aren't many of us on Earth."
Morelle looked like she didn't accept that argument, and Brandon had a feeling that she would discuss it with Annani later. His princess was not softhearted, and she wasn't merciful, and for some reason, it made him want her even more.
"What are they called?" Morelle's voice held that sharp edge again, which proved to him that he'd been right about her. "Your enemies. What are they called?"
"The Brotherhood of the Devout Order of Mortdh, or the Doomers for short. And before you ask, that's also one of the stories your sister will want to tell you herself."
49
MORELLE
The cart slowed as they approached a bridge spanning a small ravine. The houses on the other side looked bigger than the ones they had passed so far and farther apart.
"We're crossing into the newest section of the village," Brandon explained as they started across. "This is where Annani and her children live, along with the council members and many of the Guardian force."
Morelle tried to follow as he detailed the village's expansion—something about phases and different groups settling in different areas. There was mention of someone named Kalugal wanting his own section, but she found her attention divided between his words and the overwhelming sensory experience around her.
A bird called from somewhere nearby, its song unlike anything she'd heard before. Even the air here carried different scents than the dense vegetation of her home planet, which always smelled a little of rot because of the humidity. It was much drier here and more comfortable.
Her mind kept drifting back to Brandon's story about Aliya. He had a gift for storytelling, making even the shortened version come alive in Morelle's imagination. She could picture Annani's daughter, he hadn't told her which one, touring with a group of immortals or maybe leading them in some remote area on Earth, and then someone having a prophetic vision about a girl. Poor Aliya, living alone in those caves, terrified when the warriors chased her...
Morelle wanted to ask about the seer, and whether it was common for immortals to have visions, but before she could voice the question, the cart came to a stop in front of a house with wide windows and a large porch. It wasn't much different in size or style from the other houses lining the pathways, but it was easily recognizable because each house had a few features that were different from the others. This one had straight white railing posts, while the one next to it had an iron railing with a scrolling design.
The front door opened and two squat males, who couldn't possibly be immortals given their weathered features, hurried out to meet them. They looked almost identical and were dressed similarly.
Were they human?
Did Annani employ human servants?
Despite looking elderly, they moved with an oddly fluid grace that set her instincts on edge, and when they bowed in perfect synchronization, she felt a chill run down her spine.
These were not humans.
"Welcome, Mistress Morelle, Master Brandon," one of them said. "We came to collect the packages."