They broke through at the same time, flashes of colour through the now scorched exterior of their eggs. She turned the heat down immediately, and used air to funnel away any lingering heat. She levitated the remaining logs into the fireplace, and watched as one by one they caught light.
Then one of the eggs shattered.
She stood spellbound as pearlescent smoke engulfed the fireplace, followed by another crack. Both eggs were hatched fully.
She turned the fire to embers in that instant, even as she blew the smoke away with tiny gusts of air.
Her first thought was that their scales had set quickly; her second was that she was fully transfixed.
In that moment the two pairs of eyes, one brilliant startling white and the other a glittering red, shone through the smoke. Their snakelike pupils pinned her to the spot, even as the smoke cleared and they were revealed.
They were smaller than she’d expected, given the size of the eggs; each around the size of a puppy. Their wings were tucked tightly to their backs, but as she watched, they unfurled slowly, showing scale covered veins across leathery skin. Each wing ended in a dramatic point, and she was reminded how predatory their species was when she saw the scaled daggers that ended each vein.
Their bodies were completely scaled, but for a line of fur along their back and at the ends of their tails, marking where larger scales would eventually grow. Each paw held five dangerously sharp claws, which ended in a slight curl.
As she moved her gaze onto their heads, she found that despite her earlier prejudice that a baby dragon could, in no way, be described as cute, she was wrong. Their eyes, although uncannily resembling those of a snake, were inquisitive and blinked furiously against the light of the lamps. Instead of eyebrows, they had high ridges above their eyes, which were raised outwards from their faces, giving stark definition to their features in this light. Their noses were angular and straight like the rest of their faces; the angles of their jaws were similarly harsh for children. Their teeth glinted razor-sharp, and she made a note to stay away from those.
Walking over, she pulled on the oven gloves, feeling ridiculous even as she did so, and picked them up, one in each hand. They were surprisingly heavy, or rather not so surprisingly when she remembered how close their scales were to the jewels they represented.
Placing each of them carefully in the trough, she heard a hiss as steam poured out, and she directed it away from her with more air magic.
“Mother.” The moonstone dragon said, and although the words were shaky, and in a language she had never heard before, she understood.
“Mother.” The red diamond dragon repeated in the same language.
“Yes.” She replied, and instinctively she slipped into the same tongue as them. It must be the language Kate had spoken of, the one she shared only with her familiars. It felt soft on her ears; unlike the harsh dragonish she’d heard used by the ambassadors.
When the steam had stopped, and their scales were shining, she took off the oven gloves, and pulled each of them out onto towels, where she began drying them. Being so careful she doubted she’d ever been this gentle, even with Katelyn she’d been less wary of breaking her.
“Are you hungry?” She asked them as she finished. “Or would you prefer to sleep now and eat later?”
In answer they lightly took the hem of the dress she wore in their mouths and led her over to the nest, where they tugged lightly to indicate she should lay down.
She did and they instantly coiled up against her, furry tails tucked under their heads. Instinctively she curled around them, and fell asleep, exhausted after hour after hour spent using so much of her magic.
When she woke, it was to find Kate standing over her, the dawn sky visible behind her through the open door. When Romana moved to get up, both baby dragons were up and snarling at Kate, perceiving her to be a threat.
“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Romana reassured them in their language.
“Mother, she dangerous.” The moonstone dragon informed her.
“I know, but she’s a friend. She means us no harm.” Romana replied, stroking them until they curled back up.
“I see they ate everything we left earlier.” Kate commented.
“You left food?”
“Five hours after we felt the heat stop we came in and left three deer carcasses. Not even the bones are left now.”
Romana looked up and found, to her surprise, that Kate was right. Blood stained the floor near to the open doorway.
“I didn’t even sense them move.”
“You were exhausted. In fact, I’d guess you were close to being completely drained. As it was you slept for close to a day, so no more hatching anything for you.”
“I suppose I’m lucky they haven’t burned the place down while I was asleep.”
“They will never be able to hurt you.” Kate replied. “It’s ingrained into them deeper than the survival instinct. There’s no way they could ever do anything to harm you. They’ll also be intensely possessive of you. You might have your princeling competing with them later.” She paused. “Please do something about Prince Marten. He’s been bugging me ever since he woke up and found that we’d locked him in his room.”
“You locked him in his room?” Romana asked, astonished, rushing to her feet, which, of course, made the two children leap upright as well. “Sleep now my babies,” She quickly told them, “I just have to go somewhere, but I won’t go far, I promise.”
“We come with you.” The red diamond dragon informed her.
“Erm, Romana?” Kate asked. “I don’t suppose you’ve named these little darlings?” She tried to stroke the moonstone dragon’s head, only to get shrugged off, making her face fall.
“I haven’t.” Romana replied, then to the dragons she said. “What would you like to be called?”
“What is there to be called?” They asked, clearly confused at the prospect of being called anything.
“What do I name them?” Romana asked Kate.
“That’s up to you, they are yours after all.”
She thought for a moment. But it took only seconds for her to think of them.
“What do you think of Icarus and Ash?” She asked Kate.
“Which one for which?” Kate asked in turn.
“Ash would be the moonstone dragon, while Icarus would be the red diamond.”
“Perfect.”
“You think so?”
“They’re the exact opposite of what that murderer queen would have called them. They’re faultless.”
“Now I just have to tell them.”
“Good luck with that. I’ve got to run.”
“What’s wrong?” Romana asked, sensing something amiss.
“There’s a new girl arriving. She has the pure telekinetic gift. They’re almost as rare as elemental gifts.”
“I’d like to meet her.”
“Knowing your luck, you’ll end up being her mentor.”
“I’d think that there would be someone else more capable of teaching a telekinetic than me.”
“But you can use air currents to move things. Still though, of all the wytches here, you are one of the least likely to be chosen to mentor just yet. Maybe in the future I’ll have to summon you back here to teach, but I don’t think that’ll be just yet.”
“Bye then.” Romana replied. “Just leave me here to deal with two baby dragons and a human prince bent on bringing me back to his palace.”
“I am going to deal with an out of control six year old that was dumped at the bridge by her own parents when they couldn’t look after her. I’d rather have you there with me. You do have experience with them after all.”
“Just stay truthful with her.”
“I’ll do that.” Kate replied, “Now go deal with your man problems. Either get rid of him or keep him. The drama is getting too much.”
Kate teleported away, causing the dragons to jump out of their skins, and growl again.
“Mother, what are
we to be called?” Icarus asked.
“You are called Icarus.” Romana informed him.
“And me?” Ash asked before she could continue.
“Your name is Ash.” She replied.
“Are we going somewhere now mother?” He enquired.
“Yes, we’re going to meet an important man.” She explained
“Does he want to hurt you?” Icarus asked.
“I don’t think so.”
“We protect you.” They said at the same time, which made her laugh.
“I can protect myself.”
“It doesn’t mean you should have to.” Ash informed her, clearly getting more and more used to talking as he did it. “We keep you safe.”
She clearly wasn’t going to get far on this point, so she let it drop, using her magic to blow open the big doors and then close them after them. As they moved through her rooms, the dragons flew beside her banging into light fittings occasionally, but for the most part the rooms remained unscathed.
When they reached Marten’s rooms she checked the locks that Kate had put in place and laughed.
The locks were programmed magically to only engage if Marten was in the room, effectively making him a personalised jail cell.
She opened the door and walked in, Ash and Icarus right behind her, each settling on her shoulders as she came to a stop, their eyes warily fixed on Marten.
“I see Kate got you settled.” Romana started.
“She invited me to stay here and not leave, after giving me a few days of unconsciousness.” Marten replied dryly.
“I know, I saw.”
“I know you saw. But you did nothing about it.” His tone became slightly aggressive and almost instantly the dragons growled. “I see you hatched your familiars. Care to introduce me?” He wisely changed the subject.
“Ash, Icarus, meet Prince Marten.” She informed them in their language. “Marten, meet Ash and Icarus.”
“Nice to meet you guys.” Marten replied.
“They won’t understand you.” She informed him.
“We do.” Ash replied, his voice uncertain as he tried out human tongue for the first time. “It takes us a few minutes to learn most languages.” He turned to Marten. “I am Ash, if you hurt mother I will kill you with Icarus.”
“And stop right there!” Romana interrupted when Icarus looked like he wanted to add details to that little bombshell. “No-one is killing anybody today.”
“Why not?” Icarus asked, and he looked a little crestfallen. “We protect you.”
“And Marten won’t hurt me, will you Marten?”
“No.”
“See, it’s just friendly arguing.” Romana replied. “He won’t hurt me.”
“Didn’t he rip your throat out at one point?” Ash asked.
“How do you know that?”
“We yours, we know all your thoughts.”
“We kill him for hurting you.”
“Okay, all this talking of killing is disturbing.” Romana informed them. “If you two can’t accept that Marten and I are friends then you will have to leave.”
“We can’t leave you.” Icarus said indignantly. “We will not kill him, yet.”
“Not kill him ever!” She insisted. “If you can see my thoughts you know that him dying would upset me greatly.”
“It would?” Marten asked, faking shock. “And here I thought you wanted rid of me.”
“Why did you come?” She asked, “I thought you were in Morendor.”
“I rode back when I saw you fly over me. I was worried about you being outside the shield. “Endis and Katelyn have set up camp a day’s ride from here. I was supposed to report back to them today. They will come here if I do not speak to them soon.”
“I can fly us to them now if you’d like.” Romana informed him, “Providing that Ash and Icarus can stand the flight.”
“We can.” They chirped in unison.
“That would be wonderful.” Marten replied, “And I don’t suppose I could have my horse flown with me?”
“I think that would be a no. Allie probably already got attached to it. However, I might be able to get Kate to teleport it to the camp when she finishes dealing with the six year old telekinetic we just received.”
“A child was abandoned here?” Marten looked incredulous.
“Yes. But rest assured, here she will be loved, and she will be treasured in the way her parents neglected to treasure her.”
“You really like it here?” Marten guessed. “You don’t mind all the frea—”
“If you’re about to say freaks then remember you’re talking to one.” Romana warned him.
“I don’t mean it like that.”
“Well, yes. I do like it here. Marten, these women are so much more than a bunch of people with strange powers. I was so wrong to fear them. You’ve seen them, they’re—”
“Torturers who introduce their guests to pain upon arrival.”
“It was only because you wanted me to be yours.” She insisted, even as she felt the dragons bristle on her shoulders.
“I still want it.” Marten replied. “You carry my mark. For all intents and purposes you are mine.”
“No.” She replied. “I won’t be treated as a possession. I’ve told you this.”
Then Ash did something remarkable, he pulled down the neck of her dress, exposing the mark. Just as she was about to drag the collar back up, her baby dragon, the last moonstone dragon on the planet, breathed over her scars.
And they disappeared. This only caused Marten to look murderous before Ash explained:
“She didn’t want your claim.” Ash told him. “Now she doesn’t have it.”
“She’s mine anyway.” Marten replied. “She’ll always be mine.”
“I refute that statement.” Icarus commented. “She’s ours. And she hasn’t denied our claim.”
Marten’s eyes and claws turned animal.
“Guys!” Romana roared. “I can’t believe you’re doing this!”
Ash and Icarus seemed to listen to something – her thoughts? – before they stopped glaring at Marten. Marten took some deep breaths and his claws retracted, but his eyes still held shadows of the animal.
“We know the real reasons why you won’t accept his claim as your lover.” Icarus told her in their language. “Since they seem so petty, we will not kill him for insulting you.”
“Enlighten me. What are my real reasons?” She replied, using their language.
“You’re scared he’ll reject you later, and scared of his possessiveness.” Ash replied simply. “We understand fear. That is the only reason you do not allow yourself to love him. We also understand his determination. He will not allow you to leave him because of your fear.”
Romana wasn’t sure what to say to that, so she ignored them, and turned her attention to Marten.
“Would you like to leave now?”
“No. I want you to show me what it is about this place that you love so much.”
“I can’t. Men aren’t allowed on the isle as a general rule. That you have seen so much is enough to get you killed, why Kate hasn’t I don’t know.”
“I think she likes me. But back to my question, what do you like so much about this place?”
“I—” But she was cut off by the dragons hissing and flying from the room. “Excuse me, I just need to go and save some unfortunate visitor.”
“Please do.” He replied sarcastically.
Chapter Eight
AS LONG AS I HAVE YOU
She ran from the room after the two babies to find them in the hangar, perched on the chandelier and growling furiously at Kate and a small girl who was trying desperately to hide. The telekinetic? Aww hell.
“Icarus, Ash, stop that!” She commanded, realising that she was going to have to be tough on their guard dog routine. “They’re not going to hurt you.”
“Protect you.” They insisted.
“This isn’t a threat.” She argued, and then tu
rned to Kate, “Please say you’re kidding me.”
“Nope.” Kate replied. “I was just as surprised as you are.”
“I haven’t even finished learning magic yet.” She retorted, this time in elvish, not wanting to upset the little girl. “How am I supposed to teach a little girl? Is that crystal faulty?”
“Nope.” Kate persisted. “She’s in your custody now. Congratulations on becoming a mentor.”
“But what about Katelyn?”
“They’re both yours now. I can bring Katelyn here if you’d like.”
“Please.” She replied, “Why didn’t you let me bring her here before?”
“Because you were too unstable.”
“Bring Katelyn here please, and if you could…”
“You want me to give you time to say goodbye to Marten before I take him and Endis back to Morendor.”
“Please.” She replied. “I can’t deal with him right now.”
“I understand. But he’s about to get a great shock. He will need you in the next few weeks.”
“What’s happened Kate?” Romana asked, shock overtaking her.
Kate bowed her head slowly, and looked up, pain in her eyes. “The king is gravely ill.”
“Is Marten…?”
“Marten is not king yet. The queen will rule for the time of his sickness, but I know there is no way for the king to survive more than two months without magical aid.”
“Then we can heal him.” Romana replied.
“No. We cannot. Not unless Marten asks for our help.” Kate stopped there, and pulled the small girl around from her hiding place. Then in human tongue she introduced them. “Bronwyn, meet Princess Romana of the Elven Lands.”
“Nice to meet you, milady.” Bronwyn dipped into a low curtsey, and stayed there.
Romana shot Kate a death look. “Your manners are impeccable Bronwyn. But you shouldn’t curtsey to me.”
The girl rose, but her eyes were glued to the floor.
“Bronwyn, look at me, I don’t care for all these manners, I’m just Romy to you, okay? None of this royal rubbish.”
Bronwyn raised her head immediately and her eyes were glued to the dragons that had flown back to their places on Romana’s shoulders.
Kate's Legacy (Soul Merge Saga Book 2) Page 6
