Page 96 of In the Embrace of Dragons

“Very active little critter,” I say, adjusting myself so I can put one ear to Nissia’s belly. I hear the faintestthrumof a heartbeat. “Just like their mother.”

She pouts. “Not lately. I feel stiff all over and I’m sick of lying in bed.”

We do the best we can for her, but it will all have to be put on hold until the dragonling comes.

It isa long two months until one day, my footman comes frantically knocking while I’m working with Syzari.

“The queen,” he wheezes. “You have to come.”

I know right then what’s happening. I sprint from the room, Ragnakor following close behind. When we reach our quarters, I hear Nissia cry out behind the door, and the captain nearly breaks it down trying to get inside.

She is already in the throes of birth, which is far faster than any of us anticipated.

“I thought there was supposed to be hours and hours of labor,” she says, interrupting herself with another cry of pain.

The healer, who has been staying in the castle of late, comes running. We cover the bed in towels and Nissia is laid upon them, while Ari comes in to sit beside her and hold her hand.

Ragnakor puts an arm around me, and it’s only then I realize I’ve been trembling.

“She will be all right,” he murmurs in my ear. “Don’t worry.”

But I can’t help it.

RAGNAKOR

There is nothing I can do, and that is the worst feeling I have ever experienced.

Even now, Ari is the one at Nissia’s side, coaching her and speaking quietly to her. Vizarios and I stand there watching, clutching each other as her cries of pain rise. We had all expected this process to go much more slowly, to draw out over many hours.

“You are fully dilated,” the healer tells her. “I need you to push as hard as you can.”

Nissia sobs and screams as she does what she’s told. I hold Vizarios’s hand so tight I worry I might just pull it off.

We wait, and our wife cries out her misery, until we see it—our dragonling’s head poking out.

“Push harder!” the healer demands, and she moans in agony.

Then, it’s over. The dragonling’s small body falls free, and the healer draws it away, quickly cutting the cord that connects them. Its small mouth opens, and a monstrous wail comes out, filling the entire room.

They’re here, at last.

Ari steps aside as Vizarios and I fall to our knees at the side of the bed, eager to see. The healer deposits our new infant in Nissia’s waiting arms.

“It is a male,” he says. Then he shows our wife how to bring the infant to her nipple and latch.

I don’t notice when the healer and Ari both leave, as fixed as my attention is on Nissia and our new offspring. We aresilent as we lie on the bed to either side of her, watching while the dragonling sucks.

He is a light rust-red, like I was when I was younger. He has no horns on his head yet, but I imagine they will grow in to look like mine, too. It is fascinating to see, and I curl an arm around Nissia’s back, and Vizarios grins at me over the top of her head.

Alzar, we decide to call him. Alzar, the fruit of our hearts.

When the dragonlingis presented to the kingdom... there are whispers of his resemblance to me, how his scales are rusty orange like mine. But regardless of who sired him, he is now royalty and always will be.

The queen’s plan to draw humans to our kingdom has succeeded, and her kind and generous nature has already earned her much goodwill. The wardens are all happy to travel to receive the new heir. There is a big celebration that encompasses the entire city of Selvumrrest, which results in the dragonling wailing from all the noise. Everyone brings gifts we don’t need, but at least I know that our child is safe and accepted here.

When I leave the celebration with Alzar in my arms, he falls quiet again, turning his head into my chest. Outside the castle there is a swing that hangs from a tree, and I sit in it with our infant, rocking him in time with the gentle swings. Eventually, he falls asleep that way, and I lean down to kiss his head.

I don’t know how I ended up so lucky.