Chapter Thirty-Two
Ghreid
As the wetness of autumn moved into the chill of winter, Varis spent all his days inside, fawning over their little ones.
The eggs had names chosen for them, and depending on gender, would be Ine for a male or Inessa for a female.
Kineer for a male, Kine for short, and Kin for a female.
Their third egg, the one whose soul hadn’t been traced, was a mystery to them.
A dragon somewhere had died, supposedly, or maybe there was a new soul born?
They didn’t know. Varis, though, seemed determined to find a name for them.
“Vaul?” Varis prodded the egg’s wrinkled seam and frowned, earning a rather unpleasant twinge along their bond. “No.”
“Chrysan,” Ghreid said, the suggestion earning a buzz of disapproval.
“Brothers, is this discussion going to go on all evening, or will you come to dinner?” Falustus stood in the doorway, arms crossed.
His ordinarily golden, lightly browned skin had a pale flush to it and he appeared tired.
Shifting into his greater draconic form to help with the restorations had weighed heavily on him.
Varis had done some work too. As a water dragon who had a certain kind of peace with the lacemaker beasts, he worked with the carpenters to set the posts for new piers.
“Our little one just won’t pick a name.” Varis stared at the egg and had a sneaking suspicion that the creature within was sticking its tongue out at him.
“Lurin! Come.” Falustus waved down the hall, and a rather pleasant sight greeted Varis.
Outside of his robes, standing tall with confidence and positively bulging from physical labor, was a smiling Lurin—though part of his mouth didn’t curl up quite right any longer.
The pale lines of scars still trailed the side of his face.
He never seemed to mind, claiming the marks made him feel like a new person, tough and someone else.
“Yes, sir?” Lurin blinked in and smiled warmly, posture shrinking slightly before Lust slapped at his back to remind him to stand tall.
“Offer my nephew a name. You saved his life, see if he likes it.”
“What if they’re a female?” Lurin stared at the egg and Lust shrugged.
“Then they learn to bear a male’s name with pride, but I swear to you that insolent little bond-buzzing snot is a male. I feel it.” Falustus shook a finger toward the nest, and Varis glanced down at the egg in question. It prickled their bond.
“I, personally, like Auril. Like the gold that shines in his shell.” Lurin smiled, and Varis sighed in utter relief and melted as a happy little coo purred along their bond.
“And so it will be, little Auril, the golden child.” Ghreid laughed. He’d always been the golden child of his father’s, and would have been chosen to be king next if it weren’t for Rath’s utter brutish stubbornness.
Ine and Kine, as they’d been referring to the first two, rumbled along their bond in jealousy. But time would tell their dynamic.
Varis stood with a stretch and rang a bell, summoning a guard to stand at attention to the room.
They’d brought in some dragons from Sauria to stay with them for a time, who would become tutors and minders when the children hatched.
With three, it would be far too difficult to corral them.
Graylan also had some warning that with the damage done to his body from carrying three eggs, it may be a good idea to take it easy and spend more time one-on-one with the children.
Nesting little ones kept a dragon’s cycle at bay, preventing having too many hatchlings running about.
Though, Ghreid thought Varis wouldn’t mind another clutch, despite how harsh their first had been. He wondered if that’d change once they’d hatched. He’d done well with Bessam and Naxima, their nephew and niece after all.
“Good job, Lurin. I think I might fuck you later as a reward.” Slath swatted the former priest’s bottom and earned a yelp.
“Sir!” He scooted back, and Falustus eyed the male with a playful grin.
“Leave it to you to corrupt a priest.” Ghreid sighed heavily, brow furrowed.
He sniffed the air and glanced the direction Lurin scuttled off to.
He didn’t smell like Falustus at all, as if their interactions had been tame.
In fact, a sweet scent lingered about the boy, masculine, innocent. Virginal. “Oh.”
Falustus sighed heavily. “If only.”
“Hang-ups?” Ghreid raised a brow.
“Something like that…” Falustus craned his neck to look farther down the hall with a half grin. “Fates alive, I love it when they make me wait.”
“I don’t need details.” Ghreid held his hands up in defeat as Falustus shrugged.
“No details to give. He’s just so oblivious that it’s hot.” Falustus chewed on his thumb and hummed before absentmindedly wandering off, lids hooded as a scent hung about him—arousal.
“Good to see he’s in better spirits.” Ghreid shook his head.
“Was he in bad ones?” Varis glanced up from their eggs and held a hand to Ine, rubbing in small circles.
“I can’t tell with him, but he’s certainly due to find a new bedservant, I can say that much.” Ghreid huffed and followed suit, hoping the kitchens had prepared something filling for dinner. Falustus looked like he could eat a cow.
Ghreid led Varis by the hand as they slid from their nest and strode purposefully toward their dining hall, joining Falustus and Lurin.
It was quiet without all their siblings, and Ghreid found he missed the bustling day-to-day of his home.
Still, it was nice having Falustus there, especially when he wasn’t brooding.
As Ghreid thought, Falustus was ravenous, sticking to meats as he cleared two plates.
“Do we need to get a lamb or something in for you, Lust?” Ghreid stared at his brother’s empty plate.
“Hmm? No. I’ll go fishing after this.” Lust shook his head, and Lurin cleared his throat before reaching over to touch his arm in a kind sort of way.
“You’re overworked. Rest and let him get you a lamb or something.” Lurin frowned, genuine care in his eyes.
“Better yet, I could use a swim.” Varis stood and stretched, earning a wary glance from Ghreid.
“Are you sure?”
“Graylan said it was fine. I’ll get myself a few fish while I’m out.” Varis limbered up a little before striding out of the dining room with purpose, muttering something about a lacemaker beast that had nipped at him that he was looking forward to snacking on.
Ghreid tapped his fork a few times in nervous thought before glancing off the way his mate went. “Want to skip dessert and watch him swim?”
“I was thinking the same thing, Brother. I don’t see many water dragons, and I have no fondness for the toothy bastards, either.”
“Do they taste good?” Lurin perked up curiously.
“They need to be skinned first, and their organs are disgusting, but their meat is as fine as pinkfin.” Falustus stood and daubed at his mouth with a napkin before wandering off toward the wyvern roost where they often took flight.
Lurin followed, his gait a complicated mix of stooping and standing tall, wavering back and forth as he seemed to remind himself he wasn’t to caper. And whatever Baltheir’s best had done to him? It would be there in part for the rest of his life. Just like the scar Varis had given him.
As Ghreid stood with his brother, his thoughts drifted to those claw marks. “Lurin, I must ask. Why did you ask Varis do that?”
The male’s face darkened as he glanced off. “A way for me to control my own fate.”
“I could find a way to heal it for you, but it’s very distinguished,” Lapryda said, reaching over as Lurin dodged his touch.
“No. As told in the book of voices, chapter eleven, the beauty of Baltheir is inward, and reflects outward. Ugliness is punishment for ugliness of the soul.” Lurin stared out at the ocean as the small figure of Ghreid’s mate in his greater form swooped down over the water and disappeared into a wave.
“I dislike that. How can dragons be the antithesis of sin to Baltheir, regarded only for their abilities if they’re so beautiful?” Ghreid huffed and crossed his arms.
Lurin waited a long few minutes before speaking, eyes tracing the sea before them, likely following the dark mass of Varis beneath the turbulent surface.
“Because I needed to show them that I was marked for aiding them. Whoever is really pulling the strings knows I’d never allow my face to be marked as a devout Baltheirian.
” Lurin huffed. “So, what I was ordered to do needed to be sin. This was me showing them, and simultaneously ensuring they never asked anything of me again. I want to prove to you that I haven’t taken their side. ”
“So that’s why you won’t let your scars be healed?” Ghreid raised a brow.
Lurin nodded. “As long as my face is marked, you know I am unfit for their ranks. I am in service to the Saurians alone.
“And what of your family?” Ghreid stared as Varis rose to the surface of the water and treaded before diving again. Watching him swim truly was a glorious thing.
“They moved on years ago when the war ramped up. Too many mouths to feed and left me with the church. Haven’t gotten a letter back in five years. So, I assume they’ve grown beyond me or forgotten me.” Lurin shrugged.
“What was your family name? Perhaps we could hunt them down?” Ghreid raised a brow.
Lurin shrugged. “We were Au’Kossak, no family name.”
“So you were originally from Kossak?” Ghreid gave Lust a curious gaze. The small country had been absorbed into Rammolia some decades ago and were home to many enemies of dragons.
“I’m not like that,” Lurin said, gesturing to his face. “And anything I can do to prove you otherwise, I will.”
Lust gave Ghreid a halfhearted gesture, a wave that told him to drop the issue. He’d have to trust Lust knew what he was doing.
In the moment it took Ghreid to have the discussion, his mate exploded from the water’s surface with a twirl and roar; within his talons gripped a handsome specimen of lacemaker beast with its beady eyes and sharp fins.
“May have to send him back for another,” Lust said, rubbing his hands together. And if Ghreid wasn’t mistaken, Lurin licked his lips, a wet sheen of drool narrowly missing leaking.
Lust never missed an opportunity to disrobe, and he did so with speed and grace before shifting and running out to meet Varis, eyes blazing with red-hot hunger.
Ghreid turned his head politely as he prepared for the two to rip into the beast, but Lurin had other plans. He unsheathed a gleaming hunting knife and strode up with casual ease, carefully skinning the beast for them as they nuzzled in and nipped at discarded fins.
Varis, as if certain the one wouldn’t be enough, backed up and took off once more.
Lurin? He skinned the beast and openly fed Lust with an unexpected grace. Maybe there would be hope for the boy as a bedservant after all.
Time would tell, but Ghreid had other things on his mind.
Three eggs sat waiting for their parents to return for a night’s rest, and many more before they’d hatch.