Page 40 of Dark Princess Emerging

Brandon wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "There are still many pieces missing from the picture. We don't know why she left, what she tried to communicate to her daughter through the items she left for her, and how she found herself among the Kurdish rebels." He rubbed his hand over her arm. "If this was a plot idea I was presented with, I would return the script to the writers and tell them to make it make sense."

"You mean to make it realistic."

He nodded. "People are willing to suspend disbelief, but they still expect the story to follow a certain logic. I have a feeling that the story will make much more sense once we have at least some of the missing pieces after talking with Jasmine's father."

"I don't like the idea of Ell-rom leaving the village," Morelle admitted. "I know that nobody on Earth is seeking to harm him, but I'm so used to us having to hide that it makes me uncomfortable. I still marvel at the feeling of the sun on my face every time I leave this house."

"I've noticed." He kissed the top of her head. "But you are fighting against the ingrained fear and winning. You are a warrior."

"That's how I was raised. Well, I was raised to become a priestess, but even the priestesses are taught how to fight. Ell-rom and I practiced hand-to-hand combat daily, and we had weapons training every other day." She turned to look at him. "I can't believe that these Kurdish women have to fight for their freedom. What kind of a society do they live in?"

"Unfortunately, many places on Earth are far from enlightened," Brandon said. "The Kurdish women are remarkable because they've taken up arms not just for their own freedom, but for their entire people."

"I would like to meet them and hear their stories." She straightened. "Tell me more about them."

"I don't know much," he said. "They fight alongside their male counterparts but maintain separate command structures. They've been pivotal in many battles, especially against extremist groups who believe being killed by a woman denies them paradise."

"Just for saying that, they deserve to be killed by women." Morelle felt a smile tug at her lips. "That's the sort of fight the head priestess would have approved of even for a servant of the Mother of All Life. She would have called it divine justice against the enemies of the Mother's chosen. When I'm at full strength, I would like to help these Kurdish women. They could use someone like me, who is hard to kill."

Brandon lifted a brow. "Is that a note of approval for the head priestess I hear? I thought you didn't like her?"

"I didn't," Morelle admitted. "But I could still appreciate her wisdom and her viciousness. Both traits are highly praised in the Kra-ell society."

Brandon chuckled, the sound reverberating through his chest where she leaned against him. "I don't know why I find your viciousness so attractive, but I do. Only I don't think of it as viciousness. It's fearsomeness and a strong moral compass. You have no problem differentiating between good and evil."

"Isn't that true of everyone? It's not hard to do."

"You'd be surprised how easily humans can inverse the two in their minds. As I told you before, the gods are at fault for that. They made humans highly susceptible to influence, and that susceptibility is exploited by those who know how to manipulate it for their own evil agendas."

"You should find them and eliminate them." Her words lacked the vehemence she'd intended because she was too tired to feel extreme emotions. The lack of energy and physical vulnerability was irritating her, and she wished she could speed up her recovery. "I mean not you personally, but the clan. It's easier tocut off the head of thediagarathan keep fighting the offspring she spawns."

Amusement danced in Brandon's eyes. "What's adiagara?"

He wouldn't be so amused if he ever encountered it in the forests of her home planet. "It's a huge multi-legged creature that devours everything in its path. She first injects her prey with poison, making it incapable of resisting, and then she eats it piece by piece while it is still alive. Once she's eaten enough, she finds a place to hide and spawn."

He pretended to shiver in disgust. "Now that could make a good script for a horror movie."

Weren't movies supposed to be about made-up things? Did he think that she invented thediagara?

"But it's real."

"I know, sweetheart." His fingers tightened on her shoulder. "The best fiction is based on reality."

The warmth of his body and the steady rhythm of his heartbeat made her both aroused and sleepy, which were contradictory reactions, but her body wasn't behaving as it should.

Morelle stifled a yawn and snuggled closer to Brandon.

"I should head home. You need rest." He sounded like that was the last thing he wanted.

"Stay. I don't want you to go."

He usually waited until she fell asleep, but she didn't want him to leave at all. She wanted him to share her bed.

After a moment, he nodded. "I'll be on the couch until you fall asleep."

"Not tonight." She pushed to her feet. "I want you to stay."

He swallowed. "I don't have anything with me. Not even a toothbrush."

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