The Gender End by Bella Forrest (the giving tree read aloud TXT) 📕

has been given a blanket pardon, and you are all considered state heroes, free to come and go as you please.”

I blinked, momentarily speechless. “That’s a lot to take in,” I breathed.

Morgan grimaced. “Don’t get excited yet—that was the good news. There’s more.”

“Bad?” asked Viggo. Morgan gave a small twitch in her shoulders.

“Just listen. There are two things you aren’t going to like. The first one is regarding the egg. It was on the heloship, and survived unharmed—those things are damn near indestructible. The council met and decided they weren’t going to destroy the egg.”

“But you’re the queen,” I said. “That egg is the result of cruel genetic testing done on the boys!”

Morgan gave a self-depreciating laugh and shook her head at me.

“They added another law in the charter,” she said. “The council can, with a unanimous vote, overrule a queen’s orders or commands. They don’t want to risk another Elena ever again. But… they want to study the egg.”

“No, they can’t! It’s—”

Viggo placed a hand on my shoulder and looked at Morgan.

“We won’t argue,” he announced, and I blinked up at him in surprise, wondering what he was planning. “But I think we should stipulate that the Matrians have to share any and all discoveries made, experiments done, and research, with Patrus. And access to any medicine developed as a result.”

Morgan smiled at him for a long moment.

“You might just be the man to make that request,” she announced finally, and he blinked.

“What do you mean by that?”

“She means you’re in charge of Patrus,” announced a masculine voice from behind us, and I turned and saw Henrik stepping in. He looked… weathered, tired, and as if the world had just ground him down using the heel of its massive boot.

I immediately turned and wrapped my arms around him, hugging him close.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, my heart breaking for Ms. Dale all over again.

He didn’t say anything as I hugged him, and as I pulled back, I saw him wiping his already red eyes with a knuckle.

“I can’t talk about it,” he said hoarsely. “I just… I can’t. But… I want you to know she loved you both… very dearly. She wasn’t so good at showing it, but… she did.”

I sniffled, tears beginning to fall from my eyes again, and Viggo pulled me into his side, sheltering me from the pain.

“Thank you, Henrik,” he replied softly. “How did you get here?”

“I got a call from Ms. Carmichael asking me to testify. I wanted to know what happened to you, so I came. They wouldn’t let me see you—not until the trial was finished—but…”

“They never even questioned us,” Viggo cut in, and Henrik sighed.

“They didn’t need to. Now, can you let me get out what I came here to say? I’m… I’m tired. And there’s a lot to do over in Patrus.”

“I’m sorry. What did you come here to say?”

“We finally got a provisional government in place. It was quite a little event, but since I know you’re dying to know, I think first we should start with the boys. They were pressing in, and we were about to give the orders to fire, when they just… stopped. Almost as if someone had flipped a switch. We followed them back when they started to leave and tracked them to the place they’d obviously been kept. We then collected their handlers. The boys are safe, and Dr. Tierney is working to get them off the Benuxupane, although we are having to keep the older boys on it for now—they are too unstable.

“Now, onto the other bit of news, and why I’m really here. Mags, Drew, one or two of the old Patrian politicians who have come out of hiding, and I have created positions, and a scaffolding of rules and laws to hold them in place. But the people demanded a leader, and you’re it until a proper election. I hope you don’t mind, but we took the liberty of changing the official title to ‘Chancellor.’”

For a moment, I got to experience the strange sensation of watching my husband freeze in complete and utter shock.

“That’s… That’s crazy,” Viggo said after he’d found his voice, but Henrik shook his head.

“It was delightfully simple,” he replied. “Your legend has grown, young man. People have noticed your bravery and willingness to save people. We even held a second election to make it more democratic, and we handled it as simply as possible: one leader collected the votes with guards to make sure there was no tampering. There were many other candidates, but Jeff, Mags, and a couple of Drew’s men campaigned hard for you. So you’re it, provisionally. That is, until new elections in the spring, which was when we’ll hopefully have ideas about term limits and elected positions.” He ran a hand through his hair and sighed softly. “I have a heloship on the roof, ready to take you back to Patrus—but we’ve been invited to stay the night in the palace before going home. I would take them up on it. There isn’t much luxury on the other side of the river, unfortunately.”

He moved toward the door.

“Thank you for coming, Henrik,” Morgan said softly from her bed, and Henrik slowed, but didn’t stop.

“Yes, thank you,” added Sierra formally. “My sister and I will be in touch in a few days to help figure out what your people will need, but we already decided to load your heloship with food, water, medicine, blankets, and fuel.”

“Thank you,” Henrik replied, pulling the door closed. We fell silent, and then I turned to Morgan.

“Morgan, you said there were two things I wasn’t going to like. What’s the second?”

Morgan sighed and shifted.

“Ms. Dale has been found guilty of matricide. She won’t be recognized as a hero due to her actions. She… The only way to keep it from looking like an assassination plot was to censure her to spare you.”

“What?” I breathed, my stomach dropping out from under me and the world suddenly lurching off the tracks.