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The world had faded away into a background blur and buzz, the only real thing Darya’s strong, big hand around his, and the unbearable stretch and pressure in his belly and between his legs.
A dragon was watching. A crowd was watching. Let them watch. He’d gone beyond the last of his endurance in the tunnel and the jolting carriage. His body had decided to birth these babies now and nothing could stop it.
He was... aaah... giving birth now, right now.
His legs opened more to make space for the baby’s head that was splitting him open. He groaned, wailed, hands propping him from behind, Darya murmuring reassuring things. Other hands were on his bare thighs.
Collieth, he thought dazedly. The ex-priest was between his legs, checking him. He felt disoriented, a bit dizzy. Probably because he kept panting.
Keep your calm, his training as a royal guard told him. Breathing deep and even. Mind focused on the here and now. Hands clasped—
“Aah!” The pain gripped his middle, squeezing harder and harder. His hole was widening, filling up, stretching until he thought he’d rip in two. “Gods!”
“Almost there,” Collieth was saying, “almost there, just keep pushing.”
“You’re incredible,” Darya was saying, kissing Arjun’s hair. “I love you more than words can ever say.”
Maybe that was what he needed to hear to keep pushing, keep struggling with the pain and pressure. Another contraction came at the heels of the last one, ripping a scream from his throat, and he burned. He burned down below, his hole stretched snuggly around...
“The baby’s crowning,” Collieth said. “If you reach down, you can touch the top of his head.”
Blinking dark spots from his vision, Arjun tried to reach around his belly to touch. Hands guided his fingers until he felt something soft and wet and slightly rounded.
His baby. His baby was coming.
Gripping Darya’s hand in a bone-grinding hold, he focused on that fact. His baby was coming, it was almost there, and he had to push it out.
It didn’t matter that he was sprawled on the steps of a carriage in a middle of a square full of elves and dragon, that his bare mountain of a belly was jutting up in front of him, that he was spread wide and open for everyone to see as he gave birth.
“Ooh Darya!”
“I’m right here, love. Not leaving you.”
“It’s coming!”
“I know. Just another push. You’re doing great.”
Was he? He pulled his hand up from between his legs to press on top of his heavy belly as another contraction gripped him. “Ah Melek! Fuck, I can’t.”
“You can, love,” Darya whispered, putting his other hand on top of Arjun’s belly. “Just push and it will happen.”
“Ooh...” The burn was intensifying, his hole on fire, aching as it stretched even more. He squirmed where he half-sat, half-sprawled on the wooden steps, his breath cut short at the incredible feeling of stretching and filling up. Instinctively, he brought one leg up and hunched over his belly as the urge to push took over. “Oh fuck oh gods...”
He was screaming before he was done with the contraction, his whole body bearing down, trying to push the baby out.
“Well done, well done,” Darya said, rubbing the top of Arjun’s belly. “Breathe. Remember to breathe.”
“Can’t.” Arjun let his head fall back, panting harshly. “Need to push.”
“Stop for a moment, Arjun,” Collieth was saying. “The head is out. Breathe through the next pain.”
It was so easy to say. Impossible to do. As his belly tightened again, he was screaming and pushing and panting, hanging on to Darya’s hand, probably cutting off his blood circulation.
What a random thought.
“Okay, let it come now, Arjun,” Collieth said. “It’s coming, just pant and let the shoulders come out.”
Arjun could barely hear him. He tried to pant when the next pain hit but he wasn’t sure that he wasn’t pushing. It felt as if his own belly was pushing the baby down and out, too full and too heavy. He ended up screaming again as the baby came out of him.
“Oh. Ow. Oh fuck. Oh Melek.”
A hush fell.
The dragon growled, a deep sound that went through the square’s stones and cobbles, through Arjun’s bones.
Then a baby wail was heard, and Arjun closed his eyes, exhausted.
He’d done it.
It didn’t seem possible, but he’d done it. He’d given birth.
“Congratulations, Arjun, King Darya, on your firstborn,” Collieth said and Arjun opened his eyes to see him stand up, the baby in his arms.
His baby.
Darya tugged on his hand and Arjun released him. He’d forgotten he was still holding on to him, to his strength and reassurance. Looking back, he wasn’t sure he’d have made it without Darya. He turned, smiling, tears in his eyes, to thank him, and found Darya with the baby cradled in his powerful arms, leaning over him.
“Look, love,” he whispered. “Our first son.”
***
THE BABY HAD DARK HAIR and pale golden-green eyes. He gurgled when Darya placed him on top of Arjun’s still huge belly, and he immediately turned toward a nipple, wiggling to get to it.
Arjun carefully put his arms around the elfling, his mind blank with awe. This little creature had lived inside him, had come out of him, and now was demanding... what?
“What is he doing?” he whispered, then gasped when the baby latched on one of his aching nipples and sucked. “Ow, fuck.”
“Suckling, you mean?” Darya laughed.
Oh, right. Of course. Babies had to be fed. Honestly, Arjun hadn’t thought that far. Managing his belly, and then birth, had been the extent of his worries.
The dragon growled again, startling him. “Shit.”
“She’s... still watching you,” Darya said softly. He moved aside, and Arjun could now see her, that horned, enormous head lying on the cobbles, her spiny back like a mountain range, mimicking the Northern Mountains rising behind her. Her yellow eyes blinked once.
“What does she expect from me?” Arjun muttered. He was moved, and uneasy, and uncomfortable, and in some pain. The contractions had stopped for now, but his hole still burned, and his belly still ached, and the baby lying on top wasn’t helping things, especially since he was sucking so hard, the sensation odd and sharp.
Arjun stroked the wet dark hair, the tiny skull, the tiny pointy ear. “Baby...” he whispered.
The dragon lifted its head and a rumble came from her. Darya stepped in front of Arjun, but as she stood up, she towered over everyone. Over the fountain, over the houses.
She lowered her head and shoved Darya out of the way, then sniffled at Arjun and the baby.
“Darya!” Arjun needed to get up, see if the king was all right, but he couldn’t move, even if his huge belly allowed it, not with the dragon’s teeth inches from his face.
“I’m okay,” he heard Darya say, to his relief. “I was only in her way.”
“She doesn’t get to decide who’s in the way,” Arjun snarled, though how could you stop a dragon from deciding, huh?
His tone seemed to draw the dragon’s attention. She snuffled again, like an oversized dog, and the baby released Arjun’s nipple to wail.
That seemed to satisfy her.
With one last deep growl that raised the fine hairs on Arjun’s arms, she turned and walked back to the middle of the square, breaking the fountain with a swish of her tail.
Then, flapping her huge, leathery wings, she lifted off and flew away.
Leaving behind a big, scaly egg.
Arjun blinked.
Shouts and whispers broke out around him, and he saw the townsfolk coming out of their hiding places, shading their eyes to watch her fly away.
“I think...” Darya said thoughtfully. “I think she left you a playmate for the babies.”
Holy shit.
“Sarada elves have always been known as great horse masters,” Darya whispered. “Renowned horsemen, said to cast a spell over whole horse herds, have their horses do impossible tasks. Every kingdom had its amount of magic, in the olden days. Zora elves have an affinity to bears and are said to have a lineage leading back to the beasts. Ebora elves talk to trees and plants and grow the most luxurious gardens and orchards. Ellesbeth elves are said to feel the tides of the moon and affect the fertility of animals, a gift given to them by Melek himself. And Eara... Eara elves were said to be dragon masters.”
“I’m no dragon master,” Arjun said. He was starting to contract again, his focus on his surroundings fragmenting as his belly tightened.
“But maybe your babies will be.”
“Speaking of which...” Arjun panted through the contraction. “Take this baby. I think the other one is coming. I think it’s coming now!”
***
DARYA HAD MANAGED TO get Arjun standing, and now Arjun leaned against the carriage, one hand on his belly, moaning as the contraction grew stronger. His Sire had an arm around Arjun, grounding and supporting him.
The crowd had closed in around them, watching in relative silence as Arjun strained and rocked his hips, feeling the second baby descending inside him.
“Ooh, Darya.” Turning he propped both hands on the carriage, bending his knees and groaning through the pain. “Oh gods.”
Collieth was nearby, and he crouched down behind Arjun, checking him inside. “It’s there,” he said quietly. “Bear down with the next contraction, Arjun. I’m here to catch the baby.”
When the next contraction hit, Arjun started to push and then cried out when his hole suddenly filled up, stretching to full capacity. “Melek! Ow.”
“Almost there,” Collieth said.
“Ooh... ow.” When Darya tugged him back to lean against him, Arjun let his Sire support him, leaning back, bending his knees more. He tried to reach between his legs to feel, but the position wasn’t good for that, and ow, he hurt.
“I see the head,” Collieth said. “You should feel the burn any moment now.”
“Fuck...” It was like trying to push out a melon. Arjun cried out, rocking against Darya, feeling his opening stretching wider, wider, then yeah, there it was, a ring of fire. “Ow...”
“Good work,” Collieth said. “Now stop pushing, and pant. Let it happen.”
Maybe it was the position, standing, leaning back, but it felt like this baby was coming out faster. Arjun tried to pant but soon he was screaming, his hole full, too full.
“It’s okay,” Darya soothed, “it’s okay.”
“It’s out!” Arjun screamed, arms around his belly. “Oh gods!”
“The head is out,” Collieth said, a distant insect buzzing, almost lost in the rushing in Arjun’s ears. “Pant through the next contraction, Arjun, let the baby slip out.”
Slip out. Just like that. Arjun wailed, leaning back, sagging down, yelping when the baby moved down more. “Ooh!”
“It’s done, he’s here.” Collieth was doing something.
“What is it? Is he all right?” That was Darya asking. Arjun was too busy trying to breathe, the loss of that enormous pressure between his legs shaking him.
“He’s fine. He’s just...”
He was interrupted by a healthy, loud baby wail.
“Oh thank the gods,” Arjun whispered.
“You did it, love.” Darya kissed the side of Arjun’s head. “You did it. You’re unbelievable.”
It was unbelievable. Arjun allowed himself to slump back in relief.
It was done.
***
WITH BOTH BABIES SUCKING on his nipples, Arjun sat on the carriage steps, his robe leaving his still very swollen belly bare but modestly covering his thighs.
He stared at the egg cradled in Darya’s arms and didn’t know what to think. Was it true, then? That wild story about a dragon prince, a lost prince from Eara, and his connection to dragons? Could that be the key that unlocked the mystery, gave everything sense? True, Arjun didn’t know who his fathers were. He never thought he’d know one day. In fact, he still didn’t, not really. His Bearer Father was an Earan prince, and the Sire Father...?
Somehow he was certain that Darya would look into this, wouldn’t leave a stone unturned until he found out everything there was to know. And not because it mattered to him whether Arjun was a High Elf, or royalty, or a magical unicorn for all that was worth—but because he’d want Arjun to know, to have everything he needed, including a family line, a history.
An answer.
And maybe Arjun would like that. He’d like to know what had really happened that landed him at a temple orphanage, why that she-dragon had taken him, why she’d come back and left him with a dragon egg. What was his past. What was expected of him. What else might happen.
Though for now, he was mostly concerned about the new cramps squeezing his belly. And, for real, it was still way too large and heavy. He’d thought that after delivering the babies, it would have gone down more. He didn’t expect miracles—after all, he’d been huge for the past two moons, so he didn’t expect an instant flat belly, that’d be stupid, and—
“Ow...” The babies’ suckling seemed to flow right into his belly, tightening it more and more. “Ow, damn.”
“What’s going on?” Darya lifted his gaze from the large, scaly egg, frowning at Arjun. “What’s wrong, love?”
“Belly hurts. Ooh...” Another pain gripped his swollen middle and he gritted his teeth. Damn, but it was bad and getting worse. “Aah!”
Darya was by his side in two strides. “Collieth, what’s happening?”
“Probably the afterbirth,” Collieth said. “I’ll check him.”
“Give me the babies, love.” Darya passed the egg to King Asha who received it with raised brows, and reached for the babies. “Here we go.”
“Ooh...” Arjun held onto the frame of the carriage door as Collieth pulled Arjun’s robe wide open once more and spread his legs. “Holy shit, ooh...”
“This is... odd,” Collieth said, checking Arjun, though Arjun barely felt it.
“Odd, how?” Darya asked, concern in his deep voice, rocking the two babies in his arms. “Is he okay?”
“Yes, he’s...” Collieth put his hands on Arjun’s belly, pressing on the sides, making Arjun groan. “He’s still full.”
“Full?”
“Ooh...” Another pain, taking Arjun’s breath away. His round belly was tightening and dipping as the contraction peaked. “I need to... push, oh gods...”
“Is it the afterbirth?” Suriden asked.
“It feels like...” Collieth pressed his hands into Arjun’s lower belly, and fuck, it hurt. “Like another baby.”
“Ooh... ow...” Arjun was bearing down, his birth canal filling up in a by now familiar way. “Yes... So big...”
“Guess your bloodline held true after all, huh, Darya?” King Asha laughed.
“My bloodline is mostly quadruplets,” Darya said, sounding distracted. “I need to be with him. Suriden, would you hold the babies?”
“My pleasure,” King Asha’s Mate said.
Arjun heard it all but it seemed distant as he wailed with another contraction, feeling the baby moving lower. “Oh help me...”
“You’re doing great,” Collieth reassured him, and then Darya was there, shifting Arjun so he was sitting in Darya’s lap, legs spread wide, hands on his large belly.
“I don’t know if I’m doing great, I’m... aah! It’s coming!”
“Push,” Collieth instructed.
As if Arjun wasn’t doing exactly that. It was out of his control, his body doing what it had to in order to get the baby out. “Ooow.”
“I can see the head now,” Collieth said. “Almost there, just push.”
“Good work, love,” Darya whispered, kissing Arjun’s cheek, his large hands pressing down on top of Arjun’s belly. “You truly are amazing.”
Arjun arched back and cried out as the vise around his belly became unbearable. “Oh gods!” His hole burned like fire and he pushed with all he had. “It’s coming out!”
“I’ll catch the baby, don’t you worry about that,” Collieth said. “Next pain just bear down as hard as you can and I’ll help you.”
Help him, how? But it didn’t matter, because Arjun had no choice. The next contraction started right on the heels of the previous one, wrenching a scream from his throat as his hole opened wide, stretched to its limits, to let the baby’s head slide out.
“Good,” Collieth was saying, “yes, very good. The head is almost out.”
“Wasn’t it... supposed to...” Arjun panted, groaned. “To get easier with every baby?”
“Sometimes it does,” Collieth said.
“Oh great. Ow... Ow! Ah!”
“Good work. Now the shoulders...”
“Fuck,” Arjun said with feeling.
Darya let out a shaky laugh. “I feel like I should apologize for my seed and my bloodline.”
“Maybe later,” Arjun said, “after it’s all— ooh! Oh gods!” He pressed his chin to his chest and groaned as more pressure tormented him, his legs straining wider, shaking, the burn in his hole intensifying. “It’s—”
“Here we go,” Collieth said, doing something, and the pressure was gone. “Another pretty baby.”
Arjun was panting harshly, his blood rushing in his ears, but he heard the baby’s cry and relaxed back against his Sire. “Melek. Ow fuck. Damn.”
“Yes.” Darya laughed again, kissing Arjun’s brow, his neck, his cheek. “You did amazing, love. Nobody would have such strength.”
“Not sure I’d have strength for another, though.” Arjun was still panting, exhausted. “Birthing is hard work.”
“It sure is.”
“I love you,” Arjun, Darya whispered. “And you’ve already given me so much more than I’d ever hoped to have in my life, all thanks to you.”
“I love you, too,” Arjun whispered back. “You’ve also given me more than I could ever hope for. But now, if you don’t mind... Just take me home.”