Chapter 39

Thirty-Nine

We arrived home without fanfare,but everyone seemed to zoom in on us the second we cleared the gate. They pressed for answers, and it ended up with me standing on top of the wagon so I could project my voice and explain what we’d found and what it all meant. Then I had a lot of questions aimed in my direction, which meant it took a good hour to get everyone calmed down and satisfied.

The initial reaction to “we found dragon eggs” was one of pure alarm. Then they met the baby dragon clinging to Theon, and well, it was atrociously cute, which made it impossible for anyone to hold on to fear. Outrage was doomed from the start. The dragon core we’d left in place because no one had dared to move it, but it had already been fading when we’d left. The miasma had been slowly clearing on our walk back and I knew that given a few weeks, it would disappear completely.

Anyway, between getting home, getting the baby dragon fed and in bed, and all of that, it was nearly midnight before Theon and I managed to get into bed. Plus the baby snuck into bed with us at some point, which meant I had this cute lizard cuddled against my chest, and I didn’t have the heart to move. You’ve heard of feline or canine paralysis? I had dragon paralysis.

I, needless to say, had a later start in the morning because of it.

Shael was the one to roust both me and the baby out of bed. She dragged us down to the kitchens, all while not taking a single “wait” for an answer. Mothers were ruthless, I tell you. Ruthless.

The kitchen staff had already served up breakfast and were in the process of cleaning up. I had no idea why I was in this room, frankly. Although breakfast sounded grand.

Baby squawked in agreement, already reacting to the smell of bacon.

Mmm, bacon. Baby and I were of one mind on that.

Shael pointed us to a chair at the table in the center of the room, we obediently sat, and breakfast magically appeared in front of me.

Head Chef regarded the baby curiously. “Cute little one. What do you eat?”

Baby squawked while pointing at my plate, the “gimme gimme” very easy to interpret.

“Really? Meat at your age?”

“Tried milk,” I managed between heavenly bites of a bacon and egg biscuit. “Utter failure. He likes meat.”

“Oh. Well then.” Head Chef went back to the food supplies, piled something on a plate, then came back to the table. She’d offered a selection of raw eggs, bacon, and a sausage link.

Baby pounced on the plate like it would run away if given the chance, snatching up the bacon first. The first bite and those golden eyes flared wide with pleasure. Second bite, baby purred while he ate, a happy little camper.

Shael leaned in to stare at me right in the eyes.

Uhhh… “Yeeees?”

“I’m trying to judge if you’re awake enough for an actual conversation.”

“Getting there. What’s the game plan, Mom?”

Shael liked it when I called her Mom. I wasn’t technically her son yet, but she clearly thought of me as hers already from the way she acted.

“We’re going to hatch the rest of the eggs today.”

“Uh. A few concerns on that.” I pointed to the baby gobbling meat right now, still purring away. “While cute, he is very needy.”

“Yes, he’s a baby. What about it?” Shael’s expression was utterly dry with sarcasm.

“I’m saying, do we have a nursery and staff lined up to help take care of all four? There’s no way in hell Theon and I can handle it between everything else we’re doing.”

“Mom, Dad, and I will handle the kids while we get all of that figured out.”

Oh, well if those three were going to pinch hit, then sure. “Nursery?”

“We’re converting the bedroom across the hall from yours into a nursery. Staff are working on that already.”

Things had really happened while I’d cuddled dragon baby and slept in. I must try that more often.

“And you want to do this where?”

“Here.” Shael pointed to the baking ovens along the far wall. “Those will provide us with enough heat, it’s a controlled space, and we have sinks here to wash the babies. Plus food is readily available.”

Really couldn’t argue her logic. “Okay by me. Where’s Theon?”

“I told him to come down here in about an hour. I think, judging from this one’s hatching, that’ll be about right.”

Shael, as Momma, had spoken. I had no interest in arguing.

I finished up my breakfast, cleaned the baby’s mouth, and got him situated in a corner with a bone to gnaw. He loved his bone very much, similar to a dog, and before I knew it, I had dire wolves in the kitchen whining for bones as well. Head Chef magicked up enough bones to appease them all, fortunately. Truly magical, that woman, when it came to food.

“Jake.” Shael waved me over. “I think we’re set up here.”

I had to scoot around/hop over the wolves before I could reach her. Shael had two of the ovens going; their doors were closed, but the heat was obvious even from here. The eggs were swaddled in blankets and propped up against the sides of the wolves, who gave them random licks. Definitely a cozy setup.

“You thinking heat will do the trick like it did on the first one?”

Shael shrugged. “Certainly. But I also think some incubation magic and a little divine power wouldn’t go amiss. You need to learn how to do this anyway, for your own children.”

Ooooh, she was offering to teach me Fae magic. Hell yeah. “I’m all ears.”

Shael took a chair, getting comfortable, and I followed suit.

“The incubation spell is very, very old magic. Passed down through oral tradition before written records even existed.” Shael pointed to her own throat. “It’s hummed more than sung, like a lullaby would be.”

Of course it was musical in nature. Such was my luck. “Sing it for me?”

Shael obliged. Her voice was incredibly beautiful, a pure alto that soothed the nerves. The tune was simple, almost a Gregorian chant in a way, the words also very simple.

Child of mine

Welcome to the world

Grow hale and strong

We eagerly await you

A prayer, almost, from parent to child. To have, hold, and love without restraint. I didn’t know if it would work on dragons, but she was right in that I needed to know this for my own future children. Might as well learn and practice it now. If this didn’t work, we’d come up with a plan B.

Shael repeated it twice before I felt like I had the melody down. I hummed along with her, getting the feel for it. Only then did I try to sing along in harmony with her alto. It took me a moment to realize that all those in the kitchen had fallen silent, everyone turned and listening intently to us. It was a very soothing song, even to my ears, so I could see why they were captivated.

Baby dragon crawled out from where I’d set him, coming in closer to his siblings, and started giving the eggs a pat. A rather impatient one—an older sibling hurrying a younger one along.

I grew more confident in the song, singing along and adding my divine power into the mix. Shael gave me an approving nod, still singing along with me, so I must have been doing something right.

Craaaaack.

Oh! We had movement! I leaned in closer, pausing in my singing to get a visual. The egg farthest from me had a definite crack in it, and I might see the sliver of an eye peeking out?

“Hi, baby,” I greeted with a smile. “Hi there. Why don’t you come out?”

I sensed a wiggle from the way the egg rocked subtly back and forth, and then the crack grew immediately larger.

Uh. Wait, Theon wasn’t here yet. I sat up, panicked, and called to Moone. “Get Theon, quick!”

Moone darted out the door in a split second, already gone, only dust in her wake.

Head Chef sprang into action as well. “I’ll chop up more meat!”

Craaaaack.

My head whipped back around, automatically searching for the source. It felt like my heart was in my throat, anticipation and nerves tangling to make a knot I had to swallow around. Please oh please let them all hatch safely. I’d have no idea what to do if something went wrong.

Also, Theon better get his ass over here, or he was going to miss the births altogether.

Craaaaack.

And now the third egg had started hatching. Shit. I felt torn on whether or not I should be singing. I wanted to encourage the babies, but at the same time, Theon?—

Someone hit the doorjamb at a dead run, using it to stop their momentum before spinning into the room. I snapped around, hopeful—oh thank god, it was Theon. He was already leaping over wolves using the expedient method of hopping onto the table and using it as a launch pad to get to my side. Damn sexy when he showed off like that.

Anyway. Babies.

I caught his hand the second he was in range, urging him silently to sing with us.

Theon joined in like he’d only needed to catch his breath, his smooth baritone in perfect harmony with us. Of course he was used to singing with his mother—and me—but still, the ease with which he did so made me smile.

We sang, poised to go in and pull a baby out of an egg at any second. The eldest was still beating on the eggshells, encouraging them to hurry it up. With the way he sat between the three, he most resembled a punk band member trying out a new drum set.

The top of one egg abruptly came off. I was a touch slow compared to Theon’s reflexes, as he was right there with a towel to catch the baby and pull it out. This one was a touch smaller than the eldest, but still midnight blue, with big golden eyes.

That heralded the others popping right out too. I went from singing and waiting to my hands being ever so full. All three came out within seconds of each other, and the relief at having them all alive, and apparently healthy, felt like a heavy weight had been lifted off my heart.

With help, everyone was cleaned up, and then I sat with the smallest of the four, feeding her meat. She happily chewed, but her eyes were on me, and occasionally she’d reach up with gentle claws to poke at my cheek.

“Yes, I don’t look like you, do I?” I smiled back at her. She was atrociously adorable, which meant she’d be spoiled rotten. I (probably) wouldn’t even be the main culprit. “It’s okay, though. You’re in a safe space. Eat your meat, kiddo.”

“Thank the gods this worked out well.” Theon offered another meat sliver, which was promptly accepted. “Looks like we have an even amount—two boys, two girls.”

“Looks that way. Uh, names?” I glanced between the four. “Because we can’t keep calling them ‘baby;’ that’s going to get confusing quick.”

Shael cleared her throat to get our attention. “I have a suggestion.”

“I’m all for it.” I had neither Google nor a baby name book. I’d take any suggestion at hand.

“How about Ember and Flame for the girls?” Shael nodded to the one in my arms. “And Cole and Ashe for the boys.”

I didn’t even need to think about it. The names sounded perfect to me. They were, after all, fire-breathing dragons. “I love them. Theon?”

Theon pointed to each in turn. “So the eldest is Cole, he’s Ashe, Mom’s holding Ember, and you’ve got Flame?”

“Sure.”

“Honestly, I like it. Thanks, Mom, for saving us from racking our brains.”

“Your grandmother and I were up late last night coming up with names,” she admitted. “Those were the four we liked best.”

“Good job, then. I like them too.”

Coin piped up from my pocket, sounding oh-so-smug. “Congratulations. The quest is now complete.”

The quest…? What fucking— Oh, wait. Coin had mentioned before that I’d been brought here on its agenda, that there was a quest I was needed for. My eyes flew down to the baby dragon in my arms and all the pieces came together in a flurry.

“Wait. Wait, this was your quest? To save the last of the dragons?”

“They shouldn’t die out,” Coin said firmly. “Bad things will happen. I brought you here to rescue them and clear out the miasma.”

Ever felt like you were on a Tilt-A-Whirl and someone had deliberately kicked you off? Without warning? Yeah, me in this second. I could see why I’d been necessary. It took someone with an insane amount of divine power to even reach that area, hence me. Still, that I’d been brought here to save a race from extinction was just…

Words failed.

I think I needed to sit on this. I felt dizzy from an overdose of fate.