Page 61 of The Wrath of Ashes
Asha hesitated as he ceased sketching.
“My liege. May I touch your neck and hands for a moment?” Graylan turned to Asha and extended his claw-tipped hand. Scales rose along Asha’s arms at the feel of another dragon invading his space, but he tamped the defensiveness down before agreeing. Slath’s nudge to his shoulder and gesture had Asha stiffening to stand before him.
“If Slath says it’s proper.”
“I’m a physician. Dragonkind has called on me for near a hundred years for their ailments.” Graylan rolled his frilled sleeve ends up and reached forward to feel along Asha’s neck, pushing back the fine silk collar of his embroidered coat. Asha loved the feel of Rath’s magic surrounding him.
“I doubt I’m ill. I’m merely a little tired.” Asha laughed, his chuckle a nervous and tentative thing that had Graylan snorting.
“Not ill at all, strictly speaking. I suppose I should thank you for this juicy gossip, Slath.” Graylan winked and took Asha’s hands and turned them over. “Now look me in the eyes—yes, I know it’s difficult. I need to see your sclera—yes. I think so.”
Asha bit his lip at the admission but twitched at the sensation of foreign magic brushing over him, vibrating through his body and into his belly. Graylan’s deep gaze and the sensation combined and Asha had a feeling….
“Clutches do run in your lines, do they not?” Graylan squeezed Asha’s hands. “Two eggs.”
Slath fumbled his brush and grinned, a splatter of yellow trailing the page. “Two?”
“Fortune smiles, and fate has called. Send word to the castle to check the catacombs to see who has passed. Would you?” His somber smile faded. “Do tell the kingdom who has left this world.”
Asha must have had a strange expression mixed with his shock, because Slath leaned over and whispered, “We do not announce an egg or expectations. We announce the passing of an elder—so it is assumed they are to be reborn in spirit.”
Asha nodded, his entire body numb as he tried to piece together what he’d been told.
“Honestly, nobody here would think ill of you if you left early.” Graylan smiled, the expression far more somber than Asha would have expected.
“I think that may be a good idea, all things said.” Slath patted Asha’s shoulder and aided him in packing up their things.
Asha nodded in thanks to Graylan and helped Slath put a dry sheet of paper over the wet painting before rolling it up. Despite the sizeable news he’d just gotten, his mind wouldn’t focus on it, only on other things. “We’ll need to straighten that out when we get back to the castle.”
Slath furrowed his brow as if lost, before brightening for a moment. “Ah. Yes, we’ll see to it. I’ll have Pryd go check the catacombs while we get you settled.”
Asha nodded as he walked away, bidding a polite farewell to a few onlookers as they made their way to the stables.
Heckle gave him an extra sniff and nuzzle—overly affectionate as he’d always been. Then again, the past few days, the wyvern had been less playful and more simpering. Perhaps it was the eggs.Eggs.Asha sidled atop Heckle and rested a hand over his navel. It did feel alittledifferent, maybe tauter, muscles slightly distended there. Nothing that would have alerted him to a child.Er. Egg—eggs.
“Fly gentle. It’s not too far to the castle.” Slath took off first, and Asha followed. The headache he’d sported still stung, but that was an afterthought as he held Heckle’s reins tightly.
He had a lot to think about.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Mezerath
Rath pored over his usual sheafs of paperwork, Nadi at his side stamping one packet then another.
“I’m surprised you didn’t attend the garden party with your mate.” Nadi folded a few sheets of parchment carefully and slid them into a leather pouch before sealing the contents with wax.
“They’re boring, and we needed the time apart. I cannot control myself around him as of yet. We’d be canoodling in the stables while all manner of society wondered where we’d gotten off to.” Rath rested his chin on his palm and flipped a sheet, narrowing his gaze at some judicial findings for an ongoing litigation between two merchants.Fools, the both of them.The judge had been fair, though.
“I see the logic.” Nadi stuffed another envelope and moved a stack of papers. “I’ve become rather fond of the new laundry-maid. Lyss.”
“I’ve heard. Is she getting on well?” Rath scribbled a note and attached it to a document before handing it to Nadi for review.
“She seems to like it. I like her, and Asha is pleased to have her.” Nadi dripped wax onto another envelope for the king’s seal.
“Mmm.” Rath made a soft noise of acknowledgement and continued on, pausing as the light tap of footsteps drew him out of his stupor. “Pryd?”
There was no mistaking the quick, confident swagger, even if it was a little clipped. “I know you can hear me, Brother!”
