“Then testing shall be done immediately, and if found conclusive, will be considered during Sigric Brand’s hearing. If there are any other surprise guests hiding in the woodwork who support the theory of these inter-dragon ‘polybonds’—” Grimbold glared at the doorway, “—then come forward now. We have no more time for games.”
“Usually I would correct you and tell you that it’s just a hypothesis, not a theory,” Harry said, “but in this case, your use of theory is correct—multiple mate bondsarewell-substantiated and confirmed through the research I’ve done, so they’re not just a woo-woo idea. Can you believe it, Steve? At long last, we’ve proved a scientific theory! Well, technically two, if you count the fact we proved Disgraces are dragons. I couldn’t have dreamed this would happen to us!”
Steve fanned his dewlap. Darwin chirped happily.
The testing, of course, proved conclusive—Ian had never doubted that it would. Before the council, his bond with Matthieu, then with Geoffrey, was put under duress to prove its legitimacy, just as his brother Alistair had once proven his bond with Nate. Likewise, Snorre and each of his mates were tested and proven to share a connection. While certain members of the council were not thrilled to accept that the world as they knew it had been upended for the second time in under a year, none could dispute what they witnessed with their own eyes.
The twin egg, likewise, was examined carefully and verified not just by Everard as legitimate, but by a Gold doctor who confessed to the council, blood drained from his face, that there was no trickery afoot. Within the egg, two whelps were developing, and the egg’s shell had, in no way, been manipulated into looking the way it did.
“I should know,” Matthieu muttered under his breath after the doctor confirmed what they already knew. “I laid it. But no one listens to the omega, do they?”
After today, Ian had a feeling that would change.
* * *
After close to four hours of deliberations following Sigric Brand’s appearance before the council and his inimical testimony, the council ruled that he was in violation of trespassing on Amethyst grounds and guilty of attempted murder. Subsequently, he was stripped of his council seat and banished for his crimes.
Ian felt no remorse for his father, whose abhorrent behavior had always made Ian feel unsafe and unwelcome within his own family, and whose hatred had threatened Ian’s mates, unborn children, and life. As he was led from the council room, Sigric’s eyes locked with Ian’s, but he did not speak. Ian watched him go. A dark chapter of his life had ended, but a new, brighter one had already begun—the council, swayed by Matthieu’s argument and Harry’s findings, acknowledged that while Ian, Geoffrey, and Matthieu’s situation was not conventional, their status as mates was sanctioned as per the existence of their bonds.
The same would be said, the council decreed, for any dragon who shared a demonstrable mate bond with another dragon, regardless of whether that dragon had been hatched from an egg, or birthed in the guise of a human child.
“This is what happens when you do science,” Harry said on his way out the door after the verdict had been reached. He sighed dreamily and took Everard’s hand. “You change the world. You really do.”
But whether it was science, magic, skill, or even luck that was accountable for what had happened today, Ian’s world hadn’t changed in the slightest. With Geoffrey, Matthieu, their crazy peacocks, and their precious clutch to care for, the world around him could cease to be, and Ian wouldn’t notice. With his men, he’d found his anchor. Love, in all its incarnations, would see them through, and that same love would keep them together no matter where life led them.
39
Geoffrey
“A word, Geoffrey. In my office. Now.” As usual, Grimbold looked stern and forbidding, no trace of humor on his face.
“Yes, Father. I’ll be right there.”
A nerve ticked in Grimbold’s jaw, but he nodded and turned to leave without saying anything further.
Matthieu looked mutinous. “We will all go,” he said heatedly. “You are not alone.”
Ian rested his hand on the small of Geoffrey’s back and he realized with a small thrill that it was allowed. The other dragons might not like it, or approve, but the Council had voted and now would stand by their ruling. Alpha-alpha pairings might be distasteful, but they were no longer illegal or unrecognized. He could touch his lover—his lovers—in public and no one could gainsay him.
“We love you,” Ian said simply, and Geoffrey knew it to be true. All the pain, uncertainty, doubt, and anguish had been worth it for this love he possessed. Ian, his other half, and Matthieu, his fiercely beating heart. They were his. More importantly, he was theirs. They were indivisible.
Still. Some things needed to be done on one’s own, and one of those things was to face his father.
“I know you do,” Geoffrey said. “I know it like…” He paused, wanting to give them the right words even though they knew the sentiment through their bonds.
“Like the beating of your heart?” Matthieu asked.
“The sound of your own breath?”
Geoffrey pursed his lips. “I was thinking more of Draconi’s Code, but yes, those two as well.”
Matthieu looked confused, but Ian broke into one of his wide, sunny smiles and shone at Geoffrey. He pulled Geoffrey’s face to his and kissed him soundly, heedless of who saw. “I love you,” he said. “Now go talk to your dad.”
* * *
“You took your time,” Grimbold complained.
“I’m sorry, Father.” Geoffrey stood in front of his sire, who sat behind his massive office desk. He felt like a child again; a disobedient whelp being called to task.
