Kestrel ran her hand over her back as sharp pain stabbed her. The last three weeks had been painful. The baby was growing and unhappy for some reason. Kestrel was worried about the coming storm, and so was Andrik. They had spread the word throughout the mountain to the other dragons so they could warn their spellcasters along with the Athenaeum. Kestrel had been offered a position as a teacher or guest lecturer, but the time hadn’t come for her to go yet. The child kicked again and pushed its foot against her stomach. Kestrel looked down and saw the sharp points of her daughter’s nails pressing into her skin.
“Hush, little one, there’s nothing to worry about. The storm will come and it will pass. We will be protected.” As she said it, she hoped to hear from Savanna. Ever since the last contact, there had been nothing, and she worried about Savanna. She seemed to be a nice enough woman, and Kestrel could relate to her. Maybe it was the feeling she got that Savanna was lonely and in her own way an outcast among her people. There was power in the woman. There had to be in order for her to make the journey, even if it was in spirit, between the two worlds. Even if she was bonded to the dragon, it wasn’t his power that had propelled her to this realm. Something must have happened if she hadn’t returned.
Andrik’s hands wrapped around her. Once they had contact, relief filled her. The baby stopped moving. He nuzzled her neck and rubbed the small of her back, pushing his thumbs into the pressure points. She groaned and leaned against him. “She still giving you problems?”
“Yes. She senses the unease from us, and who knows what else. She’s different than Dravik in many ways. I don’t know exactly how yet.”
He kneaded a little deeper before growling low in his throat next to her ear. Even as pregnant as she was, the desire that he stirred in her made her shudder. “She’ll calm down once you do. How about you come to bed? Everyone is on high alert about the storm. We have a week to go. I’m sure it’ll all work out. For whatever it’s worth, we have the spellcasters working on enchantments to fortify the mountain. I already have a place in the tombs ready for us. Come with me. I know you’re hungry.”
She giggled. “You just want to get me into bed.”
“You figured it out. Any excuse I can get. I’ll have one of the servants bring up a plate of meat.” He trailed his fingers up her sides and squeezed her breasts before leaving her.
It would be nice to leave her cares behind just for a little while. Once Andrik and she were together, she would share his mind and the world around them would fall away. Kestrel enjoyed the sharing she had with Andrik. She once thought she would never have anyone in her life. When Castigan was died, it left her broken. She had been insane and inconsolable for months. She had burned one of her friends with the dragon fire that she had inherited because she didn’t know how to control it. Having that piece of her lost dragon inside of her then was a constant reminder of the events that occurred and how she was all alone. However, she had risen out of the bleakness that devastated her soul and now she was whole.
Sometimes she found herself in the crypts within the mountain where the corpses of the royal family were kept until they crumbled back to the earth as dust. She would settle into the crook of his front paw and wing and reminisce about the times they had together. He remained so lifelike that sometimes it seemed he had been sleeping. She would tell him about her day or if she was having troubles. Andrik would find her. He never minded that she was with Cas because he understood. Only once she had asked Andrik to regress and let the part of his soul that had been Cas come forward. All she wanted to know was if Cas was happy. He had said he was, and for once he wanted to hold her. Castigan had never known he could switch his shape, but being born into the incarnation of Andrik he had found that fulfillment. Now they were together. She loved Andrik with all her heart and soul, but sometimes Kestrel wondered. Tonight with all that loomed before her, she wondered.
What was the outcome of the storm going to be? Would Savanna speak to her once more? Would Meruke answer her questions? Had something happened to him or the three of them?
Questions plagued her mind. As she thought about it, she felt Andrik tugging at her mind, wondering when she would join him. She sent him a reassuring feeling and looked over the books one more time. They were far from the ocean, but not far enough they didn’t get the storms from it. Soon it would come. Kestrel prayed it would wash over them and spare all of her people.