Chapter 7

Chapter

Seven

Triton geared himself up to go see Elowyn as if he was going into battle. He dressed carefully so he was not too imposing or formal, and he made his way to the midwife's quarters, rehearsing his apology.

He was not well-versed in such things.

Rowan answered the door, a thunderous frown on his face, and the little man protecting his family so fiercely made him happy. He understood this. "Can I help you?"

He cleared his throat. "I would like to speak to Elowyn if I may, please."

Rowan's scowl deepened, if anything. "Why?"

"I owe him an apology."

"You do. He is a good dragon, a healer. He is important. You were cruel!"

"Sollon." Elowyn appeared next to Rowan, dark bags under the pretty eyes. "I will speak to him."

He bowed. "Thank you, Elowyn. I apologize to you as well, sagraa Rowan. I was unkind last night."

"Yes. Please, come in."

"No. No, we can go up. I know you have to get ready for work, Sollon." Elowyn kissed Rowan's cheek. "Don't worry. I'm safe."

"You'd better be." Rowan continued to glower at him. "I'm serious."

"I understand. Would you like to step into the hall, Elowyn?" he offered.

"I would not. I do not need gossip circulating about me not doing my job."

Triton had heard that counting to ten gave one patience. He tried it. It was partially successful.

"Please. Let's go to your quarters, we can discuss the situation there without ears." Elowyn shook his head. "Rowan deserves to be able to work without his brother causing trouble."

"Of course." He stepped back to let Elowyn proceed him. "I would not disturb him any more than I have." He felt…well and truly berated. He deserved it, and well he knew it, but it did not sit well with his pride. So he tamped it down as Cerran had reminded him to do and fell back on his ingrained manners.

"No. I realize that. This floor has…ears. Everyone deserves their privacy."

Oh.

Oh! Perhaps this was not about him, not completely.

"I see." So he kept his own counsel until they were at the doors to his and Cerran's quarters, where he allowed Elowyn to enter ahead of him. The silence had been…less uncomfortable than he'd feared. "Would you like something to drink?"

"I—I would, please. I haven't even had a cup of coffee."

"Coffee I can do." And he would put out some juice, as well. Cerran had ordered that and some pastries from the kitchen early this morning so they could be prepared. "Do you take cream or sugar?"

"Just a little of both, please."

He poured, giving himself time to think about what to say first.

Elowyn sat there, quiet and still, watching him with a hawklike stare.

He laid out the coffee things, the juice, and the pastry before joining Elowyn at the table. He folded his hands, meeting that sherry-colored gaze head-on. "I owe you an apology. Probably more than one."

"Yes. Thank you." Elowyn seemed as though he had more to say, but he didn't elaborate.

"I'm sorry if I frightened you. I overreacted to not knowing where Leilani was. And I have been less than kind to you in general."

"Do you wish me to go?" Elowyn asked.

"What? What, no, of course not."

Elowyn looked at him with very serious eyes. "I believe that may not be the truth. I have worked with you for six weeks, and you are no more happy with me now than you were at the beginning." Elowyn frowned, and a small line appeared between his eyebrows. "It is my belief that you need someone, alpha dragon, to assist you about the house. I do not necessarily believe it must be me. However, I am willing to discuss our options."

Discuss. Oh help him, this was Cerran's job. He did not like to discuss things. He was a dragon of action. However, he was already in relatively serious trouble with his mate, and he had the feeling, should he return from this meeting with bad news, that he might never have sex again in his entire life.

That seemed extreme to him.

"Very well." He opened one arm wide, trying to appear magnanimous. "Let us discuss."

"I believe that there are many options open. However, not many are sustainable." That odd line was still there, and Triton decided he didn't like it very much. "Our first option is that I can simply pack my bags and go. Then you can go to Cain, arrange for a new caretaker, and our working relationship would be over immediately."

Oh, he did not think this was a good idea. Moreover, he knew that Cerran would not think it a good idea. He forced himself to take another deep drink of his coffee and maintain calm. "That seems rather drastic to me. The baby knows you. You know our habits. Also, the rooms were made with you in mind."

"All exceptional points."

His brain perked up.

"However—"

Damn it.

"If I stay, I believe that there are some changes that must be made." Elowyn tapped the edge of his cup, the sound creating the barest ring. "For example, I believe that the space that was a door into my rooms from the nursery should be made into a wall. I will no longer care for the child after hours without prior consent. I will enter your quarters as I did before—where I come in through the front door, arrange for breakfast, assure that the home is cleaned, and that the child is taken care of during working hours, arrange your supper, and then I will leave. That way there is no question about whether or not Leilani is in my quarters." Elowyn looked hurt, but the expression lasted only for a moment, and then disappeared. "There will be no point wherein the baby is in my quarters. In addition, there will be no point wherein you will be in my quarters. If that causes you discomfort, I will move back down into the mountain and come up for the care and feeding."

The care and feeding of alpha dragons.

Cerran was going to hit him with a stick.

He had absolutely no idea what to do. He was required by his honor to do what Elowyn asked. Elowyn had been wronged. Elowyn had been frightened. Elowyn's requests were not unreasonable.

His heart told him this was a mistake.

"Alpha?"

"Forgive me. I was in the wrong last night, and I regret it very much. I panicked."

"But why? I swear to you I have never hurt that child." Elowyn's heart was written clear across the lean face, and Triton noticed the different variations of red in the long curly hair. He'd never seen hair quite like Elowyn's ever before.

"My fear had nothing to do with you," he growled. "This pain came from my past."

"I am a soul healer," Elowyn offered himself to Triton, hands open wide on the table. "I am happy to try and help."

"No one can help."

"Has anyone tried?"

Triton closed his eyes, and suddenly he was back there again in that awful dank wet prison, pretending to guard. He'd had to pretend that he was willing to murder babies, his mate, his friends, his fellow soldiers, on the whim of a tyrant. He had watched his child suffer, be cold and wet and hungry. Friends of his compatriots had been crippled and died. He could smell rotting flesh, mold, and suddenly it was as if he could not hold his head up.

"I hear you, alpha dragon. I hear you."

Suddenly it was as if Elowyn's words filled him with strength.

"When Cerran and Leilani were taken, when they were imprisoned, I was ordered to murder them. We gave up everything to come here, and when I saw the cradle empty, I knew someone had taken her." His heart had screamed that his family was being torn apart again. That rage there had been building for so many years over so many wrongdoings popped its head up and had taken his good sense.

"What an awful thing." Elowyn reached out, the red scales on the back of his hand seeming to glow, and that hand covered his. A rash of pure energy filled him—not light, not exactly, but a type of fire, nonetheless.

He gasped. Of course he did, what else was possible? And in his mind, he reached for Cerran.

His mate came flying in not long after, as though he'd expected trouble, that gaze searching Triton's face. Then those same eyes caught sight of their hands together on the table. "Triton? Are you well?"

Was he?

He absolutely had no idea what to do. He couldn't even speak.

When Cerran reached down to put his hand on top of their joined ones, Triton wasn't sure whether or not to rejoice or just scream out in warning.

The jolt when their hands all three touched was enough to shake the mountain itself.

Cerran gasped, those eyes he knew so well going wide.

Elowyn watched them, the scales popping out on his face now, and Triton had no idea if that was distress or not. He hoped not. He wanted Elowyn to be…pleased.

Triton? Did you feel that? Cerran sounded stunned.

I did. I do. I think we're in over our heads, mate. He wanted to laugh, but that would be inappropriate.

"I—" Elowyn seemed dazed. "Is the baby all right?"

"She's fine." Cerran chuckled. "She's asleep. She can sleep through almost anything."

"Yes. So long as she doesn't have gas. That was the problem last night. Her belly hurt."

"Ah." Cerran nodded. "She went hungry long enough that she still eats too fast."

Were they having a conversation?

Triton didn't know what to think about it. Not that it was awful. In fact, it was kind of pleasant. Not to mention having Cerran and Elowyn have a conversation meant that he could focus on the connections that were building in their joined hands.

Because something unusual was happening to them. The energy strong and alive, sliding around visibly, with a mind of its own.

Triton had never experienced anything quite like this. It wasn't exactly mating bond, or at least, it wasn't exactly like what he experienced with Cerran. It was powerful, though, and his entire body responded to it.

Were they bonding with the little omega?

Could two alphas do that?

He'd never heard of it, but he'd never heard of two alphas falling in love, and they had. Magic didn't lie—dragons did, but magic couldn't.

Suddenly, he was back in the circumstance wherein he wasn't in control of his situation, but this time, instead of being angry, he fell back upon his faith and upon the trust he had in his lover.

Cerran? Are you feeling this?

Cerran never stopped his discussion with Elowyn, but he did nod, the motion almost imperceptible. Something is going on, and I don't know what it means.

No. I don't either. That wasn't absolutely true. They were building a bond, he could see the energy sliding up his arm—red from Elowyn, blue from his Cerran, and his own silver. It created a braid that began to glow.

It was moving up along Cerran's arm as well, and Elowyn's too.

Is it harming you?

No, Triton. I think we're bonding with Elowyn.

Perhaps we would ask the little omega.

Elowyn.

Right. He rolled his eyes. "Elowyn?"

The little omega nodded at him. "Alpha Dragon?"

"Do you see what's happening with us?"

Elowyn nodded, those burgundy scales flushing yet again. "I'm sorry. I can't make it stop. It's as if it has a mind of its own."

Cerran nodded. "We do seem to be forming a bond…"

"No. No, that can't be what it is." Elowyn shook his head. "The seers—all of them—say I can't bond to an alpha. Maybe this is about little Leilani?"

"She is special," Cerran admitted. "And I don't mean just because she's ours."

"Why did they want to kill her?" the little omega asked, then covered his mouth with his free hand in shock. "Oh goddess. I'm so sorry. That was totally inappropriate of me."

"It seems as if we're forming a band of energy that is sinking into our skin." Triton pointed out. "It does seem as if, possibly, it's not all that inappropriate."

Cerran's lips twisted. You do like him, don't you?

Stop it. We're having a discussion.

Right. You're trying to make a point. He heard a soft chuckle in the pit of his brain. Possibly a lot of points.

Oh, his mate was in an amazing mood. Obviously, he wasn't going to be kicked out of bed for eating crackers. Not tonight.

"Leilani's heartstone—you've seen it—it is incredibly valuable," Cerran said. "The nobles in our higher echelons did not want to lose the stone to an infant."

Elowyn's eyes went wide. "Pardon me?"

Then those scales went dark, shining with anger. Suddenly, Triton could feel it, the deep care, the love that Elowyn had for their baby.

Still.

Even after what had happened between them.

He had made a terrible mistake.

He had almost lost them their omega.