It was both.
30
Geoffrey
Geoffrey stared at the last egg. It was near twice the size of the smallest of the other four, but the babies inside would be smaller than their brothers, and even more vulnerable. His heart constricted in his chest, wonder battling with worry. It was, Geoffrey decided, probably a typical parental response, and that thought constricted his heart even further.
“Mon Dieu,” Matthieu breathed.
A small cry of delight was heard from behind Ian, and then the sound was hushed.
“It’s beautiful,” Ian whispered, sounding transfixed. “They’re beautiful. Our children.”
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Everard pronounced. “Not in the over eight centuries that I’ve attended layings and seen to eggs. This is unprecedented.”
Harrison came forward and bent down over the egg, but did not touch it. He held his hands behind his back as if to ward off temptation.
“I wonder,” he said.
“Yes, crumpet?” Everard asked in that besotted way he had around his mate, as if every word the omega-beta uttered was a perfect pearl of wisdom.
“Well.” Harrison bit his lip and stood back up. “The swirls. The marbleization. It’s not that dissimilar to the swirls we saw in the pretty Indian omega’s egg.”
“Aruna,” said Geoffrey automatically. Snorre and his family had left an indelible mark on Geoffrey’s memory, and he would not forget them. Since leaving the Opal consulate, they’d been in irregular contact, but with the birth of their clutch, Geoffrey knew it wouldn’t be long before he had to call on them again.
“Mm,” Harrison agreed. “Remember how the egg was green, but swirled with white? And how the baby dragons with the white scales glimmered like snow?”
“Very like an opal, potato chip.”
“Yes, but Ev, think of Darwin! Remember his shell? And what about his eyes? There are so many colors swirling within them. Doesn’t that suggest anything to you?”
“Is this necessary?” barked a very impatient Matthieu. He startled Flake, who honked in protest.
“This is all very fascinating,” Ian began, running a soothing hand over Flake’s snowy crest feathers, “but I think—”
Harrison huffed in frustration. “What if Opals are the result of matings like this? Instead of monogamous pairs, the Opal dragon clan might have risen from alpha-alpha-omega unions such as these.” The statement was met with complete silence. “Or alpha-alpha-alpha-omega. Or alpha-alpha-alpha-alpha-omega. The combinations could be endless!”
“Seriously?” Matthieu asked flatly. He skimmed a hand over each of the eggs in turn, as if reassuring himself that they were real.
“Yes!” Harrison exclaimed, causing Everard to put a restraining hand on his mate’s shoulder. “I’m always serious and yet people and dragons keep asking me that. I don’t know why.”
“Never mind, popover. Let’s go home now. We can discuss this later.”
“But—”
“Later,” Everard said, and steered his mate out of the room. He pushed Harrison outside very gently, kissed his forehead, then shut the door in his mate’s face. “We’re still working on his bedside manner. Now, I know you’re eager to get both of us out of here, but I do need to briefly touch the eggs to determine viability, and before that, see to Matthieu.”
“I can—” Geoffrey began to say, but Everard gave him his doctor’s look, then started to shoo the peacocks out the window and onto the tree outside. All except Ashley, Matthieu’s favorite. He perched on the headboard and would not be moved.
“No, Geoff. Blast, these peacocks are a menace. You know you’re a middling healer at best. Out, you dratted avians. Gentlemen, allow me to make sure your mate is fully healed.” Everard slammed the window shut, gave the oblivious Ashley a withering stare filled with scorn, then went to attend Matthieu. He touched the omega very gently. Matthieu growled at him in response. “I wish I knew your and Alistair’s fascination for Ruby omegas, brother. Such tempers. Sheath those claws, Sauvignon, and stop wiggling. This will just take a minute, and then you won’t be at risk for bleeding to death. Won’t that be nice?”
Matthieu hissed and bared his teeth. “Be quick,monsieur dragon odieux. I am very much done with your company,merci beaucoup.”
“All healed,” Everard pronounced brightly, “but try to keep it to one dick in him at a time, for at least a week. If that’s at all possible.”
Matthieu scowled and Ian looked murderous, but Geoffrey, long used to his brother’s ways, merely sighed and kept his silence, knowing that to say anything at all would only spur him on to more annoying heights.
Everard then went on to briefly touch each egg. Geoffrey had no idea at all what his brother sensed, since he didn’t have his resonance with magic, but he knew that whatever Everard felt when he touched dragon young was always true.
