Dragon’s Weir

by Stephanie Burke

  “The female child is a strong protector,” Zaz nodded, reaching out to touch Zol on the face. He began to trill and instantly the glow lessened, and Zol sagged within his mate’s arms, closing his eyes and breathing deeply.

  “As if we could breed anything other than strength, beauty, and intelligence.” Father rolled his eyes, seemingly board with the whole affair.

  “Will you not reprimand us, Kyotyte?” Zaz asked, pulling away and nodding at his cousin before taking his mate into his arms. “My mate’s words did cause you some harm. It is not acceptable and I will not have a feud within the houses.”

  “I need nothing.” Father hugged Zol tightly, holding him against his size. “I have a healthy mate, a strong Quad, and beautiful children soon to be hatched. I cannot wait to brood, and that is a blessing that is far above any petty insults, perceived or intended.”

  And that took the wind out of the offended parties sails.

  “I look to what is most important.” Father hugged his mate again, then turned to Zen. He reached out and pulled his Alpha Secondary into his arms.

  And before the whole bath house, a place where the stern icon Kyotyte, the standard and archetype to which all warriors were held, leaned over and pressed his lips to his Alpha Second’s lips.

  There was a hushed silence as the Greta Kyotyte sank his tongue into his mate’s mouth, proving for once and for all that the icon found his mate irresistible.

  Pink flashes of tongue were seen as he proceeded to devour Zen’s mouth, as if he were pulling life-sustaining sustenance from his very body. Kyo refreshed his very soul at the front of his alpha second.

  When the kiss broke, he wasted no time in pulling his bonded into a similar kiss, leaving the pregnant young male panting and hanging onto his long white hair for balance.

  Then finally, he reached out and pulled Star to him, his long white hair mingling with her eclectic blue curls. Her hair devoured her as he lifted her slightly, holding her to his chest.

  After a few moments he set Star back on her feet next to her bonded, and turned to the Prince.

  “Indeed, with so much beauty, my good fortune runs over to nurture even the dry human deserts below. I am content and I am proud. My Quad is everything to me. How could I desire anything else?”

  There was silence as his words were digested, then with a small smile, Kyo directed his Quad to the nearest washing pool.

  “You need nor lack nothing,” Zaz agreed, a flash of envy flaring in his eyes before he hugged his own bonded to his chest. “But I feel that this insult must be addressed.”

  “It is over.” Kyo turned to smile at his Prince.

  “No, there must be something—”

  “If you feel so bad,” Zol recovered enough o stay, “Why don’t you give us a Belpith.”

  “Belpith?” Star asked, moving beside her bonded as he made his way to the washing pool, the Prince and his bonded mate at his side.

  “Wonderful idea,” Zaz smiled, the tension around him suddenly lightening.

  “A conception celebration,” Zen explained as he assisted his mate into the pool.

  The Royals followed, showing there was no conflict and that the issue had been resolved. It was important to show a united front and both Zaz and Father realized the implications of someone perceiving a rift in the family, a rift that could possibly be exploited and used to their advantage. There were still the unknown enemy out there, and he was clever. It was better not to give him any opening.

  “Oh I would love to!” Keria rushed to say, wanting nothing more than to mend the breech her thoughtless words had caused. She slid into the pool next to Zaz who settled beside Kyo.

  “Then in the next two risings, so be it,” Father stated, and the issue was dropped.

  Star soaked in the pool for a moment before her mate was fetching soaps and a soft brush. He began to wash her body, rubbing in gentle circles, looking ecstatic to be able to touch her flesh. Her glow was fading to more acceptable levels and unknowingly she purred.

  “A Belpith is a wonderful idea,” Star spoke, slipping her from her own soft hazy world.

  Zol was being pampered himself, Father tenderly washing a leg, slowly running his hands up to his groins, before repeating the process and ending massaging his toes.

  “What does it entail?” Star was curious and fought to hold her eyes open as Zen slowly washed her back.

  “They,” he nodded to Zaz who was cuddling a still shaky Keria in his arms. “Will provide food and drink at out aerie. They will arrange for guests to visit, musicians to play, agri-growers to provide fine food and drink, and we sit on pillows while they shower us with presents. It is a way to show respect and happiness that our numbers are increasing. All children are a welcome blessing from the Ghods.”

  “Oh.” Star shrugged. “The human have a similar celebration when the child is near birth.” She never realized that she referred to the humans as a separate entity from herself. But the members of her Quad did, and they silently rejoiced. Star jumped at the sharp flash of intense happiness that flowed from her mate, before she settled back under his caressing hands again.

  “What good is a gift when the child is near to birthing?” she asked, closing her eyes, trilling softly as Zen reached for her arms and hands. She never realized how sore they were from all her work before he began to rub the tension from her muscles. “You need to know what you have to obtain before the child gets that close. It is hard to gather and hunt when burdened by a baby belly.”

  And the dragonish within hearing distance froze.

  “They make the expectant one gather and hunt?” Father asked, for the first time his patience seeming to flee before his sudden shock.

  “While they are heavy with child?”

  “Well, yeah,” Star looked confused at their anger. “The males hunt, but the females can leave their homes and gather. Exercise is good and the danger is minimal.”

  “Animals!” Zaz hissed as Zen pulled her to his lap.

  “I am so happy to have gotten you away from that…that place! To put an expectant one in such danger….” He was so appalled at his stuttering. His disbelieve and anger rang through their bond.

  “That is unthinkable!” Father hissed, moving closer as if to protect his Quad.

  “Animals,” Keria repeated, burying her face in Zaz’s neck, shuddering.

  ”Makes me glad I’m not human,” Zol nodded, before closing his eyes and nudging Father to carry on with the washing. “Star is not there now, so the customs of others is no business of mine.” He turned his attention to Keria. “All I know is that you bring lots of gifts to make up for your overly large mouth and some of the things that flow from it.”

  “I apologize, Zol,” Keria looked down, nibbling at her bottom lip with her teeth. No insult was meant.”

  “And Zen does not deserve it.” He arched one eyebrow, daring her to go against anything he said.

  “And Zen does not deserve it,” she repeated, turning finally to look at the pale Dragonish. “You deserve nothing bad or negative, Zen. You are too much of a positive being to ever have anything bad visited upon you.”

  “Accepted,” Zen smiled, chuckling as he felt the smug acceptance from his mate through their bond. “I know that you had no ill intent.”

  Nodding, Keria settled back to enjoy her mate’s touch on her body.

  “So…” Zol drawled. “Gifts?”

  “What do you want, you vain creature?” Zaz chuckled, turning to face his cousin.

  “Star and I will require bedding for the Hatching Aerie. We cannot allow our mates to have anything less than the best of comforts.”

  “Of course,” Zaz again nodded but continued to soap his mate.

  “And Star will require new skeins of silk clothing to create their crèches.”

  “I will?” Star pulled herself out of her daze long enough to inquire.

  “You will.” Zol sniffed. “They will be masterpieces of form and function. They will provide protect
ing and give our mates that ability to move about more freely. And with my beadwork and designs, they will truly be magnificent.”

  “Magnificent. Yes.” she nodded to Zol. “Silks in red and white.”

  “And I will need golden beads for the design. Golden beads of all sizes; I want my males to sparkle. When they feel wonderful, then my children will feel wonderful.”

  “A good attitude,” Star spoke softly, a grin pulling at her lips.

  “Means that the baby will have a good attitude. I want my baby to have a great attitude.”

  “Then we must pamper the Alpha. A sad Alpha means a sad baby.” Zol leaned over to pat Star on the hand. “The attitude they have is based on the Alpha. That is why it is imperative that they handle the eggs, so that their contribution to the hatchling is accepted. If they lose close contact with the egg…” Zol shook his head. “If they lose close contact, then they start to behave like Keria, not knowing when to keep one’s mouth shut.”

  “You accepted my apology!” Keria sniffed, leaning over to stare at the two plotting submissive. “Let my misspoken words dissipate!”

  “They go when I have the gold in my hands,” Zol sang to her. “And not a moment sooner.”

  “So that means your blood Alpha took every advantage to get what he wanted from those around him?” Keria snarked. “After all, as you say, the attitude of the Alpha shows in the child.”

  “Damn right,” Zol laughed as Keria’s narrowed eyes changed to an expression of shock, then disbelief before settling into curls of amusement. “And it is what I used to get my hands on my Alpha.”

  Everyone looked pointedly at Father, who still continued to wash his mate, ignoring the conversation going on around.

  ”He could not resist my charms,” Zol added, right before he was gently lifted then dumped into the water, his look of surprise sending them all into peals of laughter as his whole face disappeared beneath the bubbly water.

  “A lesson,” Father spoke to the others as his bonded mate rose from the depths of the bathing pool sputtering and resembling a drowned sea creature. “Never harm your submissive when proving a point. Actions carry more weight than words. You take the correct action, then your bonded will be won over to your way of thinking without you having to utter a single word.”

  “Kyotyte!” Zol sputtered, soapy water dripping from his eyes.

  “Yes, love, I do believe it is time to rinse. Pardon us.”

  And then Zol was lifted into his mate’s arms and carried, still sputtering, over to the waterfall that they used for rinsing.

  As the water closed over their heads, Kyo was seen lowering his face and taking his mate’s lips into another passionate kiss, one so fraught with need, want, and love that it again managed to silence all those watching.

  Zol’s arms lifted to wrap around the large body of his mate and all could feel the love that hummed between the two of them as his slender body rested against Father’s much larger one.

  Star’s bond hummed in contentment as she observed. She turned to stare at her own dragon and the love she felt nearly brought tears to her eyes.

  That gnawing aching feeling that had plagued her for so long was disappearing. And in its place she felt happiness, contentment, needed, respected, and wanted.

  She felt like she was home.

  It seemed that the whole Aerie was filled to capacity.

  Everywhere Star looked, there were Dragonish and their bonded in all colors and hues of the sunset falling over the desert sands.

  And there were so many names to remember, so many family lines and histories.

  She had been sniffed countless times, returned happy greetings and had been greeted more in return by a people who generally wanted to see her happy.

  She finally allowed Zol to manipulate her bonds so that the emotions she felt with him were less intense, but still present so that she could not feel the brunt of his anxiety at having this many Dragonish in their aeries.

  The one who wished her dead had not been caught, and everyone was still cautious. It had been almost three weeks after the attack and still they had no clue as to who would want her dead. But Father and Zaz had many clues, clues that they refused to share. Zenxian had a few ideas, as well, and he spent many long hours with Father and the Prince in discussion on how to handle the situation.

  But another attack did not happen and Star began to suspect that the killer was closer than any of them thought. The attacker was clever, yes. But his action seemed rather personal.

  First he was spying, then he was attacking her… it seemed that he felt more like a jilted lover than someone who just wanted her dead.

  No attacks had occurred since she had become pregnant, so maybe he wanted to kill her and not the child….

  Did Zen leave a lover to bond with her?

  It was a valid question and it made sense…in human terms.

  She sighed and shook her head, remembering for the hundredth time that the humans and the Dragonish thought differently.

  And those thoughts only led to her becoming upset and paranoid. Already she had Zen build waist-high hand holds along the bridges, and longer curtains were hung at the windows, but she would have to draw the line at making him discuss his past lovers.

  If he had past lovers.

  Maybe the culprit was someone who wanted to be a lover and lost the chance. Maybe she needed to look at people paying undue attention to her bonded mate!

  Maybe…

  “Dragonish are leaving.”

  Zol’s words jerked her out of her musings. She looked around from where she had been ensconced on a huge pile of pillows and furs to see that, indeed, the Aerie was clearing out.

  “You were brooding, so Father felt it was time you rested. And that was after Zen almost took the hand away from an eager submissive who wanted to touch your belly.”

  It was amazing. The golden glow had faded days ago, and with its passing began the plumping of her belly. She was only about a month along in this pregnancy and already she was showing.

  “It’s so big,” she complained, scowling down at what once used to be a flat plane of flesh.

  “It’s normal.” Zol sniffed, rubbing at his own rounded belly. “And it means that they are healthy.”

  Those words made Star smile. Happy and healthy, her babies would be perfect!

  “Are you sure I am carrying the male?”

  “You could not carry the female,” Zol scoffed. “The little slasher would cut your insides to thread. She has claws and you lack the ability to shift. I have that ability; therefore my internal organs are made to withstand a lot of damage. My son will just lie there and rest, waiting for the shell to develop. Males are more civilized than you crazy females.”

  Star rolled her eyes. “Yeah, whatever you say, Zol.”

  “Good,” he nodded sagely. “It is about time you learned that lesson.”

  Further conversation was cut off as the last of their guests left and the Alpha’s returned to their side.

  “That was fun,” Zen smiled, leaning down to kiss his mate. “I believe that we have very little hunting to do to ensure that the hatching aerie will be complete.

  “And we have been given enough food,” father added, “so that any and all of your cravings will be met.”

  “I want to open presents.” Zol grinned as he leapt from his pile of pillows, snagging Star’s arms almost as an afterthought. He dragged his submissive partner over to the huge mound of presents, laughing in eagerness. “Who doesn’t love presents?”

  Star moved faster to keep up instead of being dragged, and soon stood before the waist-high pile of gifts.

  “Some are directed specifically towards us as individuals and some are for the Quad to share.”

  Star looked back and saw that Father and Zen had finally begun to relax. They were now seated on the huge pile of pillows and furs, and observed them with some amusement.

  “Remember who runs this place when you are egg sitting,” Star calle
d back, chuckling as they both frowned.

  “Way to clip their wings,” Zol congratulated her, shoving a box in her hands. “This one is addressed to you.”

  Star looked down and saw… She lifted the box and turned it sideways, then rotated it towards the front. “Huh?” There were some odd markings and scratches.

  “That’s your name, Star! Honestly, can’t you read…Oh.”

  “Oh?” She frowned at the box, twisting it from side to side, trying to make some semblance of order out of the scratches that danced across the wrapping.

  “We never taught you to read. You have our language thanks to your bind with Zenxian, but we neglected to teach you how to read our written language.”

  “So teach me,” she finally put the package down. “Because this all looks like badly rendered drawings, if you ask me.”

  Zol rolled his eyes and handed her another package. “I will teach you starting tomorrow, I cannot abide ignorance of any sort.” He looked over as her face transformed into a scowl of vengeance and swiftly carried on with his statements. “Not saying that you are ignorant, that it is time to fill in the gaps in your education.”

  “Nice save,” Father called from across the room and they all laughed as a rare blush reddened Zol’s cheeks.

  While they were laughing and teasing Zol, Star began to unravel the ribbons that held the stone gift box gift closed. Something gently knocked against the side of the box when she gave it a shake, so she knew whatever was inside was hard.

  Ignoring the rest and intent on her present, Star lifted the lid and saw… “An egg?”

  “A Klika melon,” Zol corrected her. “They are delicious. They are also a sign of good fortune for hatching. I suspect that we will receive a lot of them.”

  “Oh. That’s nice, I suppose.”

  She went on opening whatever Zol thrust in her hands until she had a huge pile of silks, beads, strange containers and platters, and jewelry.

  They had made some headway into the pile of presents, laughing and joking all the while, when she ran into another box like the first one she opened, what she recognized as her name scribbled along the top.

  “Another melon,” she supposed, and Zol paused in ribbing Father about how sexy he would look carrying an egg crèche to smile at her.