Chapter One
Kayluth
“Raissa, pleasse get off your brother,” Kayluth admonished his daughter. Raisa growled, rolled off Reykos, and threw herself at Kayluth, knowing he would catch her without fail. He hugged his little girl of six moon cycles, who stood as tall as a human child of five full sun cycles. Manning and Brandt, Kayluth’s mates and the fathers of his children, beheld their Drakken children with pride and awe.
“We were jusst playing, Father,” Raisa explained, her little arms hugging Kayluth’s neck as she stared into his eyes. She had the typical Drakken ebony braided locks, stones of varying shades of red tinkling as they swayed and clinked together. “Reykoss doessn’t mind.”
“That may be,” he responded, watching his son stand and straighten his tunic and leggings, “but we have guesstss vissiting, or did you forget?”
“Boo, hisss.” Raisa stuck out her tongue. “Don’t wanna.”
Kayluth shook his head in amazement. His children’s use of contractions in their speech was so surprising, though he really shouldn’t be. They soaked up the Volé language around them like little sponges.
“> Reykos asked, latching onto Kayluth’s leg. He sat on Kayluth’s boot, expecting a ride.
“>” Raisa chirped.
Kayluth headed for the osphena of their castle quarters at an awkward gait, weighed down on one foot as he was. “>”
“Party!” Raisa screeched in his ear, making Kayluth wince. She leaned back and patted his face, peering at him intently. “Party for me?” She grinned cheekily.
Father Tai laughed as he approached, arms outstretched to steal his granddaughter away. He lifted Raisa into the air and spun her around before settling her on his hip. “It iz a party, but the guesst of honor is Papa-moon. It iz hiss birth sselebration day.”
“He hass a hatching day like uss?” Reykos asked.
Kayluth scooped Reykos from the drakeen’s perch into his arms. He appraised his son’s neat appearance, including the scarlet stones in his hair, much like Kayluth’s own. “No. Remember, Papa-moon and Papa-ssun are not Drakken like uss. They were born az human infantss. They cannot sshift like we can.”
“That ssuckss.” Reykos frowned as he twisted to look for his papas, totally missing the matching frown Kayluth wore at his son’s bold statement. They were growing and learning so fast, taking everything in and then using their knowledge, often to their parent’s horror. Kayluth was going to have to have another talk with Sundrake about watching what he said around their little ones. There might even be a punishment…
“Indeed,” Kayluth whispered, both in response to his wandering thoughts and his mates’ lack of shifting, though that was about the only drawback they had. They spent their days taking care of their children while handling the day-to-day details of the Drakken and Volé integration. All their nights, however, they lay wrapped around each other in bed, giving and receiving pleasure from hands, mouths, and cocks.
Only when Kayluth shifted to teach his children in drakken form did they truly go their separate ways for an arn or more.
Moondrake often met with his brother, the newly crowned King Bjorn Dagrson, along with members of council and advisors to the king. Included in many of those meetings were Moondrake’s birth mother, Vidarina Svandis, and her sobroke, Mak and Kel.
Sundrake, meanwhile, met with General Ivar Karlson, First Lieutenant Sekvyn Kellson, Orm and his sobroke, Seraphina, in addition to the newly promoted Second Lieutenant Nik Magnusson, Sundrake’s brother-by-marriage. The Security Council spent arns discussing military strategies as they poured over maps of Volé and the solar system. General Ivar hoped to integrate more of the Drakken who had found their mates on Volé into their ranks. Kayluth and Svandis, as Drakken Vidar and Vidarina, along with King Bjorn encouraged the integration of their races.
Moondrake’s Drakken half-brother, Tyr, was never far from Bjorn’s side. Bjorn had been keeping him close but also at arm’s length, frustrating the young Tyr who recognized Bjorn as his mate. Bjorn saw Tyr’s youth as a nuisance, while Tyr saw Bjorn’s reluctance as a wall in need of crushing. Their spats were becoming legend, and the entirety of the castle’s inhabitants were growing tired of their arguments. Orm and Ardes had even started a betting pool as to when the new king would give in.
Kayluth had somehow become Tyr’s confidant. Not that he was opposed to helping the Drakken, but Tyr’s obstinance became tiresome after a while. Kayluth encouraged Tyr to seek out joy elsewhere, hoping the separation would remind Bjorn of what he would lose if he wasn’t careful. Tyr had immediately rejected the idea, but as the moon cycles dragged on, he’d finally realized that perhaps Kayluth’s notion had merit. Kayluth planned on speaking with his fathers today about taking Tyr under their wing to brush up on his diplomacy skills as well as teaching him more of the history of the Drakken and Volé. It would separate the two males, and it would, of course, be beneficial for the future King’s Consort to know these things.
“Tassair Ly!” Reykos shouted, leaning precariously towards Kayluth’s father. The three of them all bore the same red and gold-glimmered gemstones in their hair, clearly indicating their royal lineage.
Kayluth again wondered why Father Ly had chosen to not tell him of his heritage sooner. He doubted it would have made any impact on his expectations growing up. Surely, he’d never given more than a passing drakeen’s fantasy that he’d one day become a Vidar among the Drakken. All drakeen dream it could be them one day. There’d been plenty of playdates with his best friend, Orm, when they were little. They’d drag other friends into their games, pretending to be Vidareem. They’d detail who they would rule and how, and, of course, defeat the foul Fenrir who had once enslaved them.
Perhaps his fathers might have become Vidareem if they had found their triad sobroke. Maybe Father Ly still dreamed of it but gave it up after so many years. Maybe they had just stopped searching for their third, which would be a shame. His fathers had so much love to share.
“Auntie Lee iz here!” Lian shouted as she burst through the front door, carrying a large covered dish. The strong aroma of meat, cheese, and sauce wafted around the room, making its current occupants groan in anticipation. His sister had become quite adept at cooking all of Ivar’s favorite foods. Volé’s extensive menu of new flavors was a welcome change to their normal Drakken diet.
General Ivar followed his sobroke, a soft smile on his lips as he watched Lian hand off her dish to Father Tai so she could smother Raisa and Reykos. As she lifted Raisa into her arms, she turned to look at Kayluth, and he gasped in surprise, seeing a ssol gracing her right cheek. She winked at him as Kayluth approached.
“Onnesski, Lian. >” Kayluth rubbed his cheek against hers as he hugged her, including Raisa in the circle of his arms. He stepped back to allow Ivar to stand beside her.
“Tak-kou, Kay. I told our fatherss already but wanted to ssurprisse you and your ssobroke.” She leaned into Ivar, who slid a hand around her waist.
Ivar gently tugged on one of Raisa’s braids. “A new cousin for you and your brother.”
“Yeh!” Raisa cheered. “We’ll be the best of friends.”
