“I was in service to an estate. I understand when a servant says they’re fine to continue, they aren’t always so. There’s the truth and what you tell your masters.” Asha shrugged. “Not that mine ever cared.”
“Were they cruel?” Varis hesitated.
“The circumstances of my birth were such that made me an object of ire to the earl of my estate. I was from my mother’s first husband, who died very shortly after my conception. I was a reminder that she’d been with another man, so I was raised a bastard.” Asha stared at the table before looking up. “But that’s not me. That’s a life I turned my back on and a life I no longer wish to have lived. But you, how was your life?”
“The mark of an ashen is the mark of sacrifice to my people. I was meant to be an offering to Alim.” Varis stared out at the open sea again. “I come from a land where love between men is acceptable, commonplace even. We take wives to have sons, of course, but we take lovers as we see fit. I had a mother who was mostly disinterested in me, but my father and his paramour raised me quite well. They did love me.”
“It must have been hard to leave.” Asha reached for his hand and held it, a kind gesture and one reserved for intimate partners in Kaliman custom, but Varis tolerated the gesture for what it was.
“It was, but it was that or my life. They will still demand I return. I know it.” Varis gave Asha’s hand a squeeze and drew his back.
“They cannot demand a dragon go back. All dragons are citizens of Sauria and under Rath’s…and my…rule.” The words came out of Asha’s mouth with a hesitant lilt, as if not accustomed to the power.
“That can’t be the only reason I would want to be a dragon. I have Ghreid. I want to be a dragon. I will take the change, but not because I am running away from something, but because I am stepping up to something.” Varis nodded once.
“Of all the dragons it could have been, Ghreid is a good one. He’s sweet, dedicated and—”
“Are any of the brothers bad?” Varis perked up.
“Oh, no. I mean, Falustus is randy as sin and Draenvir is a know-it-all but I adore them.” Asha laughed, his teeth sharpening a little.
Because it seemed the thing to do, Varis pointed to his teeth and at Asha, who covered his mouth and focused to draw them back to normal. “I have to focus a lot, and when I get excited or happy—yeah. The only downside.”
“So, anything else I should be forewarned about?” Varis raised a brow conspiratorially as an attendant jogged up the stairs to leave a few drinks and a snack.
“Full moons.” Asha snorted, biting his lower lip. “Zero control. Just the second you see that big ball in the sky—bam. You’re sporting a cockstand and leaking and crying for it.”
He gushed as if he had nobody to speak with about it and blushed so brightly. “Apologies. I don’t have anyone I can speak about this freely with.”
“Speak freely with me. In Kaliman, sex is nothing to be ashamed of. It is free and easy. You hold compunctions I will never judge you for.” Varis smiled and thought, truly, for a moment, that he was as much help to Asha as vice versa.
“I don’t have much to compare it to, but the arrivals are fiercer. And when you are carrying a clutch—fates alive! It gets better. As uncomfortable as some parts are, I will conceive another at Rath’s first inclination just to experience it again.” Asha fanned himself as his eyes flashed with that flame-addled blue. “If you wish to take the change while we’re here, we will support you.”
Varis reached for his plate to take a slice of toasted bread with preserved fruit atop. He took a nibble and pondered. “I’ve somewhat of an inclination toward that. I’ve envied women for a long time for their ability to carry. Fantasized about it.”
Asha cleared his throat. “Never gave it much thought until… I didn’t hate it, either.”
“And what about conception… The likelihood?” Varis leaned over with interest.
“I am to understand that the first few heats you’re very fertile—Galatan was born from their mother and father’s first… Subsequent couplings are less likely. It took several years before my mate and Slath were born.” Asha twisted his lips. “One’s the norm, but it appears that clutches run in their family and it’s sire dependent… I’m inclined to believe, based on polite conversation with the doctor, that it can depend on the virility of the sire. The morestimulatedthey can keep their bearer…”
Varis gestured his hand gently. “I suppose I will need nannies…”
“If you can bear to part. I find being away from my hatchlings for any length of time is trying. They are remarkably well-behaved, as compared to human toddlers. At least I know if a hatchling falls from the top of a bookcase, they’ll survive.” Asha smirked. “Two is difficult, but worthwhile. They occupy one another.”
“So, no nannies?” Varis leaned on an elbow as Asha took a slice of toast as well. “Does your king not help?”
“I have Jeron and Lyss. They’re more than enough, but they’re backup.” Asha chuckled and took a sip of water from a glass on the tray brought to them. “Rath is as much help as he’s capable of, considering his station. I honestly don’t give him much opportunity. I’m trying, though. It’s a territorial instinct.”
Varis nodded gently. “Well. Would you feel better if we retrieved the young from your mate and we let them frolic about the solar? We’ve not put furniture in so there’s nothing to tear up.”
“He instructed me to let him spend time with them. It’s part of the process of getting me less territorial. And it is aprocess.” Asha took another tentative bite of the toast.
“Then I shan’t press the issue further. So, what is the next step? How do I kick-start this dragon business? I’m anxious.” Varis clapped his hands.
“Moonlight, stimulation, dragony business. Ghreiden will work you through it.” Asha shrugged. “And there’s a wedding?”
“I’m uncertain when.” Varis cleared his throat. “That’s been rather nebulous.”
