Cursed
Page 4
Adrienne struggled to breathe, not to mention walk, as Eivonne embraced her. “Thank the gods you’re alive! I almost had to marry that slimeball to keep him from taking complete control of everything! But how in the name of the sun did you do that?”
Adrienne squeezed her sister’s shoulder and marched forward at the sound of a yelp across the courtyard. “Later. It sounds like Markus caught his quarry.”
EPILOGUE
Markus stroked his wife’s hair as she lay in his lap, watching her belly dance and wiggle with the life growing within. The fire crackled in the fireplace of their little cabin, and all seemed at peace with the world. After her public transformation, neither of them would gain the support of the people or Council to rule the kingdom again. So Eivonne sat on the throne, by herself, after rigorous testing to prove that she was not also a dragon, and was proving both efficient and just. Havard would not be seeing the light of day for a very long time . T he rest of the Council had denied having anything to do with his scheme . T he rift between commoner and noble had also lessened after learning there was another race living in their midst to whom none knew how to respond.
Adrienne laughed as their baby kicked again, though she also managed to sound annoyed. “If she keeps going like this, my ribs are going to break before she comes out.”
Markus grinned. “She takes after her mother.” His wife rolled her eyes and hoisted herself up. “Where are you going?”
“To relieve myself, if you must know. You know, if you’d been a dragon, too, I could have just laid an egg and not had to have dealt with all this.” She gestured to her scarred, swollen, pregnant body.
Markus smirked and stood to kiss her. “But I love all of this.”
The baby kicked him as he leaned in close and Adrienne ran away with a squeak to the lavatory as he laughed.
A knock on the door distracted him for a moment and he pulled on a tunic from their pile of half-folded laundry. There was much Adrienne would have to learn now that they had no servants.
Claudius grinned at him from the door. “I come with gifts.”
Markus lifted a brow. “But the baby-”
“We know, we know.” Agniss shoved her way through the door. “But there be some things er’ry baby, dragon or human, needs afore they be born, an’ this’n’ll be comin’ soon. I do hope the Momma is takin’ her nap?”
Markus shook his head. “She’s… busy.”
Agniss marched deeper into the little house, muttering to herself. Markus turned to his father-in-law. “Let’s go outside, shall we? I don’t want to be here wh en those two butt heads. ”
Claudius nodded and chuckled as th ey leaned against the porch pillars. “You should have seen her face when I told her dragons couldn’t have children until after their first transformation. It was like catching a glimpse of how she might have been excited as a child . Priceless.”
Markus smiled. “I’m sure. I know I was excited when she told me.”
“Any names chosen yet?”
He shook his head. “ Adrienne says there are t oo many to choose from. I don’t know what the big deal is . She can use the other names on other children .”
They sat in silence for a while, watching the other Drakes, some in dragon form, others human, mingle and interact with each other.
Markus brought out a dagger and started polishing it. “I’m sorry you had to move the entire clan.”
Claudius shook his head. “I’m not. We do it every so often anyway and it’s worth it to keep my family safe.”
A scream came from the cabin and both men ran in, Claudius’ skin becoming pebbled, Markus’ dagger at the ready. Adrienne stood hunched over, a puddle of what looked like water underneath her, panting. Agniss ran out, already burdened with towels.
“Markus, ye git the water an’ start ta boilin’. Claudius, ye take these an’ lay ‘em on the bed. I’ma gonna git our momma here walkin’ and workin’. Looks like this li’l one likes ta make a grand entrance.”
Markus grinned at Adrienne. “Just like her-”
“Shut. U p.”
---
Hours of grueling labor later, Markus sat next to his family on their bed, stroking his nursing daughter’s fuzz on the top of her soft head.
“ Thought of any more names yet?”
Adrienne sighed. “Eternity?”
“Eternity?”
“Because it took that long to get her.”
They laughed. Markus thought for a moment. “You know, you’re a dragon.”
“Really?”
“And I’d say she’s your treasure.”
“You both are.”
“Let’s name her Jewl.”
Adrienne beamed. “Perfect. It fits her sapphire eyes.”
“You know most babies lose their blue eyes as they grow older, don’t you? ”
“Let me dream, okay? It would be nice if they looked like my mother’s.”
Markus laughed. “You know, this was not how I pictured our lives happening.”
Adrienne laughed as well.
He kissed his wife’s head. “But I wouldn’t change any of it.”
She sighed, resting against his chest as their daughter hiccupped and snuggled into her breast to sleep. “Me neither.”
THE END
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