Page 41 of Box of Frogs
Oh. I’d already known that. ‘So Morgan for short? Can I call you Mo?’
He tutted. ‘A madrona is a type of flowering tree. Viburna, who you just met, is named after a type of hedgerow. Opulus’s namesake is a rose.’
Cravat Man? He certainly hadn’t been sweet enough to be named after a flower, even if it did have sharp thorns. I was beginning to see a trend, though. ‘And Morganus? What kind of plant is that?’
‘A morganus isn’t a plant.’
I raised my eyebrows. ‘What makes you so special?’
‘I’m not special,’ he grunted. ‘Let’s move on.’
Hang on. ‘What’s a morganus?’
‘It’s really not important.’
‘If it wasn’t important,’ I drawled, ‘you would have told me.’ I flicked back my hair before belatedly remembering that I still didn’t have enough hair to flick back. ‘Go on. What’s a morganus?’
Morgan clenched his jaw. ‘Antigulareus Morganus is a small sea creature.’
From the look on his face there was more to it than that. ‘What kind of sea creature? A whale? A dolphin? A shark?’
‘A snail,’ he said stiffly.
I let out a crow of laughter. ‘You’re named after a snail?’
‘The sea snail is a very noble creature.’
‘Mm-hmm.’ I pressed my lips together and tried to keep a straight face.
‘Moving on…’ Morgan said.
A small giggle escaped me. I choked with the effort of trying to hold back but it was no good. Before too long, I was doubled over. ‘You’re named after a snail.’ I laughed harder. ‘Is that because you’re very slow? Or because you’re very small?’ I held up my pinky, crooking it to indicate what I was referring to.
‘You’re being ridiculously childish.’
I gasped for breath. ‘You’re named after a slimy snail!’
He folded his arms and glared. ‘The coil on a sea snail’s shell is extraordinarily elegant. The spiral is also a vital part of all nature. It forms the very basis of mathematics. The Fibonacci sequence is mirrored on certain shells. The golden ratio of maths is expressed through the humble sea snail.’
I wiped away the tears from my eyes. ‘Yep. Sure.’
Morgan sighed. ‘Madrona, do you want to hear about Mag Mell and the Fey or don’t you?’
‘Sure.’ I nodded, trying to bring myself under control. ‘Speak on, Snail Boy.’
The throbbing muscle in his cheek gave away his irritation. ‘I’m so very refreshed and challenged by your unique point of view.’ He glowered. ‘As I was saying, Mag Mell is not a separate world. It’s more like an extension of this one, or vice-versa. Both demesnes are intrinsically linked, not that the humans know that. What happens here affects Mag Mell. Fey were regularly dispatched here to ensure that the environmental damage caused by the onslaught of technological advances was not too great. We would minimise the effects, which would minimise the mirrored damage in Mag Mell, which in turn would keep the human demesne equally healthy. It’s a symbiotic relationship.’
‘It sounds,’ I said, recovering from my giggling fit and beginning to appreciate that this was actually rather serious, ‘that all this was in the past. We don’t do anything now for the environment?’
His answer was flat. ‘Very little. Not because we don’t want to but because we can’t. When the border crossings closed, we were effectively shut off from our own power source. There is next to nothing we can do, even as Fey, without the invisible ties and links to Mag Mell. Without our interference, and without Mag Mell’s continued support, the damage here is getting worse.’ A grim note entered his voice. ‘No doubt the reverse is true in Mag Mell. We cannot tell because we have been unable to communicate with anyone there for a decade.’
I examined his sober expression. ‘What happens if the borders never re-open?’ I asked softly.
Morgan raised his shoulders. ‘We don’t really know. The humans may discover ways to maintain a better balance on their own. They are trying to improve their ways. Or our lack of ability to interfere may lead to total catastrophe. We can’t really tell – no one knows what the future will bring. Many of us still try to mitigate the effects of the border closures and influence the humans to look after their world.’
‘I’m guessing,’ I said drily, ‘you’re referring to people like yourself.’
He inclined his head although there was nothing self-congratulatory about the look on his face. ‘There are other Fey who choose to live their lives selfishly, uncaring about what might happen next.’
