Chapter 16
Gideon was more than a little antsy the next day, constantly asking her when they could go meet a certain half-sorceress and her dragon. He failed to realize he actually had a job to do now...which was more like just hanging out with a friend.
He had gotten up the next morning a few hours before Lyv did, ate a quick breakfast, and left before the sun even rose. And once Lyv was up and dressed, making sure Posy did the same, she grabbed one of the books on past palace healers and headed into the infirmary.
She took some time to reorganize the shelves. The list of what she needed was still on the table. After adding a few more things to it, she and Posy left for the apothecary to get everything. She'd only been in the store a few times before but was finally able to look at everything it had to offer, smelling the aromas of all the flowers and herbs, touching the crystals in one cabinet that were charmed by healers to help those with chronic illnesses, and grabbing a box of empty vials she would need for later. She knew that she would be able to heal a lot of those who came to her, but some would need tonics for later when she wasn't around to help.
Her canvas bag was filled once she left, the amount for everything put on the palace's tab as she was told to do whenever she needed to restock anything. She had learned to do this from the head palace housekeeper, Celestyna. She was one of the oldest Fae females Lyv had seen with white hair and sharp blue eyes and yet still looked like a human in her early fifties. She'd run into Izadora then as well, who told her Celestyna had been working for the royal family for over eight hundred years and not to take her serious look to heart. That's how she always looked but was pretty much like a grandmother to everyone once she had everyone organized for their duties.
Izadora had smiled as they watched the head housekeeper disappear down the hallway. "Even Queen Alexea says the palace would probably fall apart if she wasn't running the staff."
Once Lyv was back from the apothecary and dropped off the receipt for the bookkeeper to pay, she took another route back to the infirmary to check out more of the palace. It was so different from home, with a brightness and openness that seemed ethereal in and of itself. She slowed by every painting and portrait, strolled through the gardens filled with flowers Lyv had never even seen before. But with the bag weighing heavy on her shoulder, it was time to get back to work.
In no time, she and Posy had everything unloaded, the shelves restocked, and started labeling what hadn't already been.
And yet no one came.
She guessed that was a good thing that no one had gotten seriously hurt, but still. It was a little boring. So, with no one needing her, she and Posy went back into their rooms, sat in the small library, and started reading through the book of past palace healers she'd taken down earlier that morning.
It was the early afternoon when she decided to go exploring once more and ended up at the training grounds for the guardsmen. Except the only guardsman she saw was Gideon in his Vandor glamour, teaching Eamon how to quickly disarm someone, that someone being Destan. All three of them were sweating, undoubtedly being out there for hours.
"How long have you all been out here?" she called from the sidelines.
The three males looked her way and grinned at the sound of her voice.
"All day," Gideon grinned, and put his hand on the top of Eamon's head. "This one hasn't given us a break other than to go get food at lunch."
"Lady Roesia's going to be gone for weeks on a mission for father and I want to learn as much as I can to surprise her!" Eamon grinned, running up to give her a sweaty hug.
She spotted the smaller sword in Gideon's hand as he walked over with Destan. "Have you at least gotten in one good hit like you did with your brother yesterday?"
The little prince pouted. "No, so you don't have to heal anything."
She couldn't help but laugh.
"He's learning, though," Destan said, obviously proud of his little brother. "I think the training responsibilities around going to Vandor from now on, especially since Lady Roesia is going to be gone quite a lot over these next few months."
"Oh?"
Destan nodded but didn't say anything on the matter. So, there were some secrets being kept. She knew as the palace healer, she didn't have the clearance to know what was happening. Maybe Gideon would gain their trust and learn more...
"Do you mind if I steal my brother away? I have to go see my new friend Thia and he wanted to meet her."
Eamon apparently knew just who Thia was as well. "The female you saved? The one with the dragon?"
"Yes, that's the one."
"Can I go? I've never seen a dragon up close!"
Lyv looked up at both Gideon and Destan, who shrugged in agreement. "I don't see why not. All three of you are going to have to go wash up. You stink."
Gideon looked at him warningly and pointed a finger. "And don't be getting ideas of stealing my future wife away from me, all right?"
At that, Destan chuckled, winking at his little brother. "Well, if he's anything like me and Jai, you're doomed."
***
As soon as they set foot on the Branvon estate grounds, Lyv had a feeling Gideon really was doomed. Because as soon as Thia saw Eamon running toward her, a bright smile spread across her face.
"Hi!" he greeted as he ran up the front steps to the front doors where she was standing. "I am Prince Eamon." He immediately grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it. "It is my absolute please to meet you, Thia Branvon. I must say you are more beautiful than everyone says."
Lyv had to cover her mouth so her laugh was muffled. And it wasn't just because of how Eamon had introduced himself or the look Gideon was giving the little prince, but rather what Destan had leaned over to whisper to her.
"I told him I'd let him go to the bakery and get five of whatever he wanted later if he said that."
"Well, aren't I the luckiest female in all of Dalcaine," Thia grinned at Eamon, giving him a curtsy of her own in her leather riding gear. She looked up and eyed the other two males before looking at Lyv. "Well, Audry, you've brought more friends today, didn't you?"
"I hope that's okay."
"Of course," she nodded, and took Eamon's hand to walk down to them. She smiled at Destan then. "I see you are still okay with me stealing Audry away from you."
"Well, she's working at the palace now, so I get to see her more than you will."
Thia gave him a knowing smirk. "I don't know about that. I have to stick around Ayveri for a while. I might even move here permanently now that I've got a friend."
Gideon shifted beside Lyv then and both her and Thia's eyes went to him...before they both smirked.
"Well, you must be Vandor," Thia grinned. "Audry's told me a little bit about you."
"Only a little?" Gideon grinned.
She smiled sweetly and looked up at him through her lashes. "Am I really the female of your dreams?"
Lyv pressed her knuckles to her lips to try and not laugh. She was failing miserably. Destan and Eamon weren't even trying.
"Ever since I heard what you did back in the war. And I'd rather you be the female of my waking moments as well as my dreams."
Thia took a step closer to him, reaching up to brush some invisible dirt of his chest...and Gideon held his breath.
But she just shrugged and shook her head, grinning. "Thank you, but I'm good."
Lyv couldn't contain her laugh at Gideon's gape as Thia brushed past him, still holding Eamon's hand.
"It's all right," Destan told him, clasping a hand on his shoulder. "Just woo her a little more and then..."
"I think you've finally met your match, brother," Lyv laughed, and started toward Thia and Eamon.
Gideon wasn't even phased, watching her walk away, and breathed, "Mother above..."
"Oh, come on," she grinned, looping her arm through his.
The five of them headed for Erly's quarters, Eamon looking up at it with wide eyes as the doors were already opened...and even more when Erly emerged. At that point, he'd been holding both Lyv and Thia's hands – having dragged Lyv away from Destan and Gideon – at that point and stopped at the sight of the dragon.
Thia knelt next to him. "Trust me, Prince, she would never hurt you. Especially you. She loves children more than me sometimes."
Eamon looked up at the enormous dragon as she paused outside the cave, stretching out her wings as if she'd just gotten up from taking a nap. Lyv felt Gideon step up on her other side, his eyes also wide as he took her in.
"Amazing," he breathed.
Thia took Eamon forward first as Erly lowered her head almost to the ground. Her gray eyes met Lyv's and she huffed out a breath in greeting. The hum in her chest started as he stepped closer.
"Looks like you're going to learn proper dragon etiquette before you go to university yourself," Thia smiled at him. "All right. You saw how slowly we came up to her, right?"
Eamon nodded without saying anything.
"That is always what you need to do. You do not make the first move other than getting close, the dragon does. So, hold out your hand...good, just like that. She'll sniff at you and it'll probably tickle."
Eamon did just as she said and so did Erly. The enormous dragon sniffed at the little prince...before nuzzling against it. Eamon started laughing.
"See, she likes you. Now, lets see if she'll take to these other two males behind us like she did you."
Destan did the same as Eamon and Erly seemed to like him fine. It wasn't until Gideon walked up that she changed. Both Thia and Lyv couldn't help but see the excitement and nervousness that basically rolled off him. They shared a smile as he walked closer...but Thia's smile dropped as soon as Erly sniffed at Gideon's outstretched hand.
The dragon's demeanor changed so drastically that it even caught Lyv off guard. She was...excited, to say the least. As soon as Gideon touched his hand to her nose, her tail swished happily and her shoulders wiggled as she took a few heavy steps forward. She buried her head into his stomach, nuzzling against him. The hum in her chest was louder then and Lyv knew the dragon had found another someone to be completely in love with.
"Erly, what the hell?" Thia complained, stomping one boot on the ground in frustration. "We talked about this! You were supposed to scare him off!"
The dragon just hummed again and Gideon grinned as she wrapped herself around him, making him basically fall into her side.
"Well, at least I've won over your dragon, even if I've yet to charm you. Think she likes me more than you now?"
"We have a bloodrite bond. She can't like you more."
"And what text is that written in? Thia and Erly's Guide to Dragon Training? Pretty sure I didn't study that at university."
Thia looked over at Lyv with a flat look. "I'm going to kill your brother."
At that point, though, Lyv was about to die laughing as she looked at Gideon. "What happened to wooing her?"
"That was before I knew her dragon loved me."
Thia was the one growling as she stomped into Erly's quarters with Eamon and Destan following behind her. Erly was still loving on Gideon, who was eating it up, as Lyv laughed once more. She walked toward the two of them and Erly let him go so she could greet Lyv.
"How's our baby dragon doing?" she asked as she ran her hand along the side of her head. But Erly seemed to understand the question, her gray eyes widening...and turned to go back into her quarters.
When Lyv and Gideon went inside, they found Thia standing a few feet from the egg with Destan and Eamon on either side of her.
And the egg had a crack along the top of its black shiny surface.
"That was not there this morning," Thia breathed in astonishment.
As the five of them and the dragon stood in a semi-circle around the egg, they all jumped as it suddenly shook and cracked even more.
"We've got a baby coming!" Thia yelled happily. "Finally! And all it took was Audry to become its bloodrite bond!"
"What?" Destan asked, looking over to her. "What do you mean, she's its bloodrite bond?"
"Exactly that," Lyv grinned at him.
As Erly moved closer to the egg, so did Lyv. It was almost subconscious, like she knew she had to be right there by it once the baby dragon had hatched...its dragon momma and human momma there to help it. So, she sat down and crossed her legs only a foot away from it and Erly rested her head the same distance away.
Thia was saying something to Gideon, Destan, and Eamon, but she and Erly were still watching the egg as another crack appeared.
Behind her, Eamon asked a question she herself was wanting to know. "How do you know if it's a male or female dragon?"
Thia was more than happy to answer the question. "Well, their bodies are the same, but the easiest way is to look at their spikes on their heads. The males have spikes that go lower on their foreheads and down between their eyes. Females don't. There are a few other tells, but you wouldn't be able to see them until they were completely grown. Body size and shape for one..."
She stopped talking when the egg shuttered and cracked again...and a small hole caved in the top.
Lyv held her breath when a small nose poked through and then disappeared.
The others behind her got a little closer when it happened.
"Any second now," Thia whispered excitedly. "I've never really seen one hatch from their egg before, so...oh."
Multiple cracks formed then and the egg shuddered, falling to pieces.
And a black baby dragon with a red neck and belly like the color of its momma flopped out onto the stone floor in the goo from inside the egg.
Almost immediately, it flipped back onto its legs, shaking out and unfurling its wings that had been stuck to its back. Erly immediately shifted her head closer to the baby to clean it off. It made a small noise that started out as a squeak before a grumble as she did. After most of the goo was gone, the baby dragon took a few shaky steps, its clear gray eyes finally opening.
And immediately locked eyes with Lyv.
Just like when Erly had chosen her and the bloodrite bond had settled into place, a warmth spread through her...and she couldn't help but smile at the baby dragon that was hers as he bounded forward toward her, tripping over his shaky legs. It was a male, too, by the spikes on his head that Thia had said would determine the gender.
"He's...a cross between two breeds," Lyv said, looking back at the others. "Does that happen normally? He's got Erly's coloring on his chest and belly, but everything else..."
"You sneaky thing," Thia said to her own dragon, shaking her head as she looked down at the baby. "I knew you had something going on with that Alzriade Black back in Eld you kept hanging around..."
Erly grumbled but couldn't stop looking at her baby. A proud momma. The baby curled up in Lyv's lap as Erly moved to them, still cleaning him off and making sure he was fine overall. Even for being only a few minutes old, he snapped at her, trying to get his momma to stop being so overbearing. Erly gave him a growl of warning and he huffed out a little cloud of smoke through his nostrils.
"Two breeds mating...it doesn't happen too often, but it does," she finally answered. "He's going to be a handful since he's part-Alzriade and part-Tarvor. He'll going to go through a growth spurt in the next week. Just you wait. And in a month, he's definitely not going to be able to sit in your lap without crushing you."
Lyv started laughing as the baby dragon started crawling up her, sticking his face in hers.
"What are you going to name him?" Eamon asked, his eyes wide as the baby peered at him over her shoulder.
Lyv thought of some names, but there was one that stuck out since this morning. It was in the book of past palace healers she'd read that morning. A Fae healer and warrior who was one of the longest to serve. It had been a been well over a few millennia since he had passed in a conflict between Dalcaine and the people of Ethran before their cities were built.
And the name was perfect for the baby dragon in her lap.
"Roshan. His name is Roshan."
***Baby dragon Roshan! Gideon and Thia! Ugh, don't even make me tell you how much I adored this chapter because I will go on and on!
And the next one...well, I have no doubt I'll be starting it right now. This is one of those I've been waiting forever to write and will basically be the unofficial start part two of the book.
You know how much I love hearing from you guys, so comment and vote!
Happy reading!
- Ansley***