“No. Orion, that’s crazy.” She went pale. He could lose everything because of her. “You didn’t know this before?”
“Unfortunately, no. It’s a very obscure point of dragon law. The scrolls that cover this are five hundred years old. But still enforceable. I am calling for a meeting of the Dragon Elders and formally requesting a change of the law, but it would be next year before that happens. Too late for us.” He’d said “us”. But he’d tried to exclude her from this news, and from any plans that he’d make to deal with a situation that affected her entire future.
“Anyway, you shouldn’t even have to be concerned with this. It’s on me. And it’s far too early for us to worry about that yet.”
She sucked in a deep, frustrated breath, and when she let it out, a cloud of icy air enveloped them both. Small icicles dripped from his hair and frost coated his face.
He shuddered and rubbed his hands on his arms. “Well, that news got an icy reception.”
She glared at him. “You know, normally, I’m all for dark humor, but this involves your entire clan’s future, and the babies that might be growing in my stomach. You had absolutely no right to keep that information from me. When were you planning on telling me? When I’d delivered a clutch of ice dragons and someone tried to rip them away from me? They’d die trying, by the way.”
“Cadence, I would never—”
“We’re done talking about this,” she said furiously, stalking off.
She knew what would happen if she gave birth to ice dragons. She’d take them, flee, and find a place to hide out with them until they were grown up. She’d live deep in the woods if necessary, and hunt for their food. Nobody was taking her babies from her, and she wasn’t going to cause Orion’s family to be homeless – well, castle-less – and poverty-stricken because of her.
* * * * *
Cadence wandered across the field with the planners and volunteers, enjoying the spring sunshine as they paced out the grounds, planning where the various booths would go. They were making marks with paint rollers and flags – white for ice, red for fire.
“Your arm looks like a pincushion,” Gretel, a human accountant who worked for Orion’s family, observed to Cadence.
“Worth it,” Cadence said. “I’m working with that Pine Heights clinic to bank my blood in case I do turn out to be with dragonling. It’s part of the treatment.”
“Oh, that’s exciting. When do you find out?”
“I go in next week.”
“Here’s hoping you have a boy and a girl!” Gretel said excitedly as they paced between the painted-off squares that represented possible booth locations.
Here’s hoping nobody tries to take my babies from me, and I don’t cause an all-out war.
“Yes, here’s hoping!” Cadence said brightly.
“You don’t have to worry. I’ve heard nothing but good things about that clinic,” Aurelia reassured her, mistaking the reason for Cadence’s pained, too-wide smile. “We’re all very excited about it. Just think, you’re a pioneer for dragon families everywhere!” Then she glanced over at Darlene, who had stopped and was glaring at a painted square with her hands on her hips.
“We need to switch. The ice dragons need that shady area so their ice sculptures don’t melt,” Darlene said.
“We had it first,” Laetitia said smugly.
“See, that’s the problem with fire dragons,” Darlene retorted. “Stupid, stubborn—”
“Ladies!” Cadence said with exasperation.
“Yes?” Darlene said. “I’m sure you weren’t speaking to her,” she added smugly, nodding her head at them.
“Oh my, this field is so uneven!” Laetitia pretended to stumble and then let out a blast of flame that singed the flags marking off the four corners of a proposed ice dragon booth.
“Okay, I’ve had it with you two,” Cadence grumbled. “I can take it from Orion’s niece and nephew, because they’re ten and twelve. But you two are being ridiculous.” She turned and walked off.
Maude followed at her heels. She and Aurelia had volunteered to help, since they were going to be in town for a while anyway, helping Cadence with her training.
“I swear, just when you think they’re getting along, they start up with this ridiculousness again,” Cadence grumbled.
“You know, I honestly think those two kind of enjoy all the bickering,” Maude said. “Look around you. Ice and fire dragons actually having civil conversations, for the most part. Since you’ve been volunteering, animosity has simmered way down.”