Magnus stared at him as though he’d grown horns. “You’re saying our brother fathered children with ahuman?”
He spat the word as though it was dirty, and Eiric sat up straighter.
“Yes.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“No.”
Magnus threw his head back and groaned. “Fuuuck.”
Since that had pretty much been Eiric’s reaction before he got to know Lottie and the kids, he couldn’t exactly blame his brother.
“It’s not so bad,” he told him. “She’s a good one.”
That earned him a sharp glare. “You’ve spoken to her?”
Eiric rolled his eyes. “Of course. How else do you think I’m sure the babies are dragons? She came searching for Mikkel when I was at his house. She didn’t even know he was dead, Magnus.”
“Oh great, so they weren’t a couple?” Magnus’ cheeks were red with anger. “This was just some random hookup? How the fuck did he let this happen?”
“Hey,” Eiric warned. “Don’t talk about her like that.”
“Are you serious?”
Magnus surged to his feet and prowled around the table. Eiric stood as well—more because he couldn’t keep still than from any real wish to get in Magnus’ face.
“She’s a nice woman who found herself in way over her head.” He tightened the belt of his robe and followed Magnus. “She took the news really well.”
His brother whirled back. “The news? Oh gods, did youtellher?”
Ah, well, he could have kept that for a different conversation. But the cat—or the dragon, as it was—was out of the bag now.
“Yes.” Eiric looked him in the eyes. “I thought she deserved to know.”
“It’s not your decision to make,” Magnus growled. “We have laws for that.”
Eiric stood his ground. “We have no laws for when a human bears dragon offspring. It hasn’t happened in centuries, and there was no way to keep it from her any longer. It’s summertime, Magnus. What do you think would have happened if she put the kids in the sea on some public beach?”
“You should have come to me first,” Magnus roared. His voice echoed off the rafters, then a ringing silence replaced the noise. He breathed in through his nose and blew out an exhale. “Damn it, Eiric. I thought you’d be more careful. I never had to worry about you, not like I did with Mikkel.”
Eiric’s first impulse was to lower his head, but he refused to feel ashamed for telling Lottie. “Once you meet her, you’ll see. She’s strong. She’ll do just fine here.”
Magnus lifted his eyebrows. “Here? You mean to bring a human here?”
Eiric spread his arms. “Yes?” He hadn’t meant to voice that as a question, so he added, “The kids will need to grow up in a safe environment before they can control their changes.” This was standard, because they couldn’t have little dragonlings popping up as sea creatures every time some sea surf touched their skin. Every Norse dragon grew up on the steep slopes of Drageøy, given the best tutors that money could buy. Then they usually transferred to a school in Ålesund or one of the smaller nearby towns once they could be trusted to hold one shape for an extended period of time. Once they understood they needed to keep what they were quiet.
“Of course,” Magnus agreed.
And for a moment, Eiric thought his king was finally calming down, that this outburst would be the worst of it.
Then he added, “Bring the children here and compensate the mother for her silence.”
A beat passed. Then another. Eiric stared at his brother in disbelief. Words escaped him, and fury, raw and unchecked, boiled inside him.
“Are you insane?” His words came out on a hoarse whisper. He couldn’t even shout; he was so angry his vocal cords refused to cooperate. “You’d separatebabiesfrom their mother to keep to some ancient laws?”
Those laws, written centuries before their birth, forbade non-dragon individuals from stepping foot on the island. They’d been set for the good of all dragonkind, whose dwindling numbers and rare offspring had to be protected at all costs. They’d rarely been broken. But surely Magnus would make that exception for the mother of his niece and nephew.
