“I feel fine.” Varis frowned.
“Headaches? Hunger? Nausea?” Rydel stared into his eyes and frowned. “Anything at all different.”
“I do feel a bit…” Varis waved a hand in the air, mind muddled. “Foggy? Is that a good word, like my mind is other places?”
“I’m no oracle, but my intuition is keen.” Rydel took a chain out, a glimmering golden one adorned with pearls and tiny flowers like honeysuckle, hanging like bells. He put it in a velvet bag and pushed it into Varis’s pocket. “But for now, no adornments other than earrings.”
Varis frowned and allowed Rydel to place a few black pearl studs in his ears. “Why?”
“Because when Graylan comes, I feel as if I know what he will tell you, my lord. You’re carrying two eggs. Because no dragon’s soul passes from this world until they’re ready to be reborn and made into something new.”
“If the king and queen are reincarnated with me… Wouldn’t that—they’re mates.” Varis frowned.
“They are. But Inessa isn’t Kineer’s true mate. There are many partners with potential when a dragon looks for their mate. She was the most suited at the time. Before her, there was another ashen that passed before she awakened. They never met, so Kineer was over a hundred before he found Inessa, andtheir bond was weak. They won’t remember their life before, just that their souls cooperate well.” Rydel ran his fingers over Varis’s jewelry box and stared at the pieces. “Keep that on you. If Graylan comes, he’ll confirm or deny my suspicions.”
“And I wear this if he confirms?” Varis stared at the lump in his tunic pocket. There lay the symbol of a future to come, what he’d prayed for, begged for in the throes of lust.
Rydel nodded.
“So, it’s my fault his parents died, if I am carrying eggs?” Varis leaned against the doorframe. Ghreid had been so generous to him, had professed that the stirrings of love flowed through him, if not already. Varis loved him, too, though he’d yet to say as much. It seemed too soon to say that word, which would make it such an arbitrary thing.
“No, no, not at all. Conception and souls are linked only by fate. And we’re not even certain the souls within are the same. They will be named in symbolism, if so Ghreid chooses, and likely he will.” Rydel shook his head. “Come join them.”
Varis nodded and took a deep breath. When Rydel led the way, Varis discreetly rested a hand over his belly, wondering if he should feel different, if he would feel it. No headache ailed him. No nausea squeezed his belly. The foggy sensation in his mind could be attached to his shifting body more than it was anything else.
In two deeply different ways, he prayed to both be and not be pregnant.
A chill prickled his spine as a feeling of rightness settled over him like a cloak.
He’d been told the fates and gods spoke to dragons, to enact their will. But words came to him without a single thing spoken.
It was time for a new era and new life. Carry them well into this new world.
Something tickled Varis’s cheek, and he reached up, finding wetness there just as Rydel glanced back. A second message tickled his ear with an almost giggle in the air.Tell your mate that your brother of lust is needed. And give him the temple.
Varis reached into his pocket to hold the velvet bag. “Put them on me, Rydel.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Ghreid
Draenvir, green of scale, dark hair pinned back at his temples, leaned over a plate, feeding on their stores of dried meat like a starving man, barely a breath between bites.
“The butcher is bringing meat, and dinner is still twenty off. Will you be fine?” Ghreid rested a hand on his brother’s shoulder and earned a bob of his head, his many-pointed horns bobbing in a nod.
He swallowed roughly and reached for the pitcher of water, drinking deeply before taking a breath. “I will be. Galatan found them. He’s been in the catacombs for weeks.”
“What’s he doing down there? Is he trying to sleep again?” Ghreid squeezed his brother’s shoulder and let loose a shaking breath. Every dragon knew that sleep could be the last time anyone saw a sleeper alive. The sleep came with goodbyes, and waking came with new beginnings.
“No. The sleeper you found. We can’t find any information on him, and when he wakes, he’s going to be confused. He’s sure the boy will wake soon.” Draenvir shook his head and took another bite.
“I thought it’d be easier… We knew… Sometimes.” Ghreid shook his head.
“Same,” Draenvir sighed as he put a handful of meat down and shook his head. “Fuck, it’s always like I’m a bottomless pit.”
“In the old days, we’d just eat a few cows and maybe the farmer.” Ghreid tried to offer a half smile that fell flat.
“I’ve never eaten a human. Bet they taste awful.” Draenvir shook his head.
