Page 47 of Winter's Dragons. Frozen Flames
It was much too soon to make such decisions. Technically, my dragons and I weren't even married, and I'd have to notify my parents of my intentions in some way. But I supposed it wouldn't hurt to reassure my soulmates' families that I wouldn't leave them heirless. "We'll keep in touch," I promised Emmerich's mother. "And yes, we will let you know of any news regarding possible hatchlings."
Brigid perked up at my words, obviously as excited as Jerika, if not more so. "Wonderful!" she exclaimed, her barbed tail swaying through the air in an almost hypnotic manner. "If there is anything we can do to help, we will happily assist you. I have an ancient book of names! Oh, we can pick hatchling names together. I can't..."
Devin cleared his throat, and his mate trailed off as if she had just realized what she was saying. "Not that we would intrude in your lair and your bond, of course," she continued hastily, "but if you do need us, we are at your disposal."
Despite the almost overwhelming enthusiasm, the exchange was sort of heartwarming. I probably wouldn't have felt the same had it been something daily, but since Kerryn's parents were leaving, and I probably wouldn't see them again for ages, I could be magnanimous about this."Thank you," I answered. "I appreciate your words and the offer. I'm sure your advice will come in handy in the future."
Kasumi curled her long, serpentine body around her very embarrassed-looking son and said, "You'll do fine. The first hatchling is always the toughest, but we are confident that a strong female like you can handle it. And of course, your males are more than capable of assisting you, both with the first pregnancy and with your future clutches."
"I believe that goes without saying," Brigid offered. "My Kerryn is a wonderful mate to Her Majesty. You only have to look at them to realize that they are meant to be."
Jerika huffed, a small flare of fire erupting from her nostrils."Perhaps, but you can't deny how well-matched Her Majesty is to my Emmerich. And you know what they say. Opposites attract. Clearly, he is the fire to her ice."
At this point, Kasumi decided to intervene once again, perhaps feeling slighted that her own son had yet to be mentioned by name. "Please. While it is understandable that we need to respect Her Majesty's choice and bond, you also have to accept that a ryu's magic will always be better aligned to a female like her."
The exchange reminded me of the argument Brigid, Kasumi and Jerika had had the day we'd first met. I decided to step in before it could escalate to proportions that might inflict more destruction upon my courtyard than February already had. "I am indeed a very fortunate woman, and I love my three soulmates equally. I assure you there is no reason to have this debate."
The three dragon females visibly relaxed at my words. "Ah," Brigid said. "I see. Our apologies. We are still getting accustomed to your way of doing things."
Kasumi released Raijin from her coils and bowed slightly. "It appears we were misinterpreting things yet again. I hope our behavior doesn't trouble you too much."
"Rest assured that despite our dispute, the offer for aid remains valid," Jerika chose to remind me. "You know you can rely on us."
At that, Emmerich's temper finally exploded. "Yes, Mother. She knows. And yes, we are more than capable of protecting her. For gods' sake, stop embarrassing us in front of our soulmate."
To his credit, he was managing to control his powers, but he was obviously not happy at having his ability to protect me repeatedly questioned like this. Raijin and Kerryn felt the same. "We understand your concern, but we will be able to handle Snegurka and her ilk just fine," Kerryn assured them.
"There is no need for reinforcements or anything like that," Raijin said.
Reinforcements? Oh, dear. Had my dragons' families been thinking about such an option? Yes, that probably wasn't a good plan. I didn't think my still recovering realm could handle an avalanche of dragons right now, no matter how well-meaning they might all be.
"Well, if you're sure," Brigid answered with a sigh. "But we will still be waiting for news on your clutches!"
It was as I watched them all fly away in a group that the meaning of those words—and that of the whole conversation—finally processed. In hindsight, I should have maybe realized it sooner, since I had known that my dragons were reptilian and their mothers had made similar references countless times before during their stay. I'd just been so distracted by other factors that the implications hadn't occurred to me.
"Wait, did your mothers just say 'clutch'?" I screeched at my dragons. "Does that mean I'm going to lay eggs?"
They froze as if I'd cast an actual spell on them instead of just asking a question. "Err... We're not sure," Raijin dared to reply. "Dragons rarely mate outside our own species, and we've never actually seen it happen throughout our lifetimes. Lerna is the only other case that is in any way similar to ours."
Emmerich eyed me with some wariness but seemed to decide that I was not very likely to eviscerate him anytime soon, because he provided a more elaborate explanation. "As far as we know, draconic genetics and reproduction methods tend to be dominant in any pairing, but we could be wrong. I can tell you that our females always have one hatchling during the first pregnancy and clutches of more than one child after that, but I don't know if it's different for humanoid females."
Well, wasn't that just great? I stared at them in exasperation, wondering how in the world my life had turned out this way. "Ugh, fine. But just so you know, any pregnancy I might have will be very unpleasant for you. I will likely be throwing a lot of things at your heads in the future." If I remembered well, my mother had been pretty foul-tempered when she'd been pregnant with my sisters, and my father's visits always unavoidably ended with him receiving at least some minor injuries. Considering the nature of my abilities, I suspected I would be far more violent than her.
"You can throw anything you like at us, treasure," Kerryn answered. "We'll happily be the targets of your wrath."
For a few seconds, the four of us stared at one another. I wasn't sure what actually set me off, but all of a sudden, I could no longer contain myself and exploded into bright peals of laughter. My dragons promptly followed, their chuckles holding both mirth and relief.
Truthfully, it was not a very funny situation. In fact, it was anything but funny. Maybe it wasn't amusement that even prompted our reaction to begin with, but the strange levity that the concept brought into my heart, clashing so powerfully with what I knew I had to do. I was supposed to defeat the evil ghost of the former queen of my nation, whose powers I had once claimed as my own, then when I was done, lay eggs for my three dragons. It sounded so absurd, and yet... Perhaps it was exactly what I needed.
As my giggles died out, I wiped my eyes of my mirthful tears and made a promise. "Hatchlings and clutches it is then, once Snegurka is dealt with."
"Once Snegurka is dealt with," Emmerich repeated, his tone as decisive as my own. "Yes, Your Majesty."
"You can count on us, Your Majesty."
"We won't fail you."
Kerryn and Raijin's respective words blended with Emmerich's in a vow, one as solid as the oath they had made to me the day of their arrival. They had already given me and shown me so much, even when I had tried to turn them away. No matter what happened, I was confident that the flame of the bond we shared would never be frozen or extinguished. Nobody, not Snegurka, not even the gods themselves, would be able to manage that.
