Crown of Dahlias

Hurt Feelings

The group made it back to the antechamber for dinner, everyone happily feeding their mates delicious cuts of meat. Haelan was trying to get his Drake to take a bite of a piece of bread, Jarek lifting his nose at it. When the meal had finished and everyone was resting with quiet talk, did a startling statement come from Jarek.

"The Drakain should hide their incoming horns, for now. Kieren's were difficult to catch, but if they grow bigger, they will be obvious," Jarek said, brushing his knuckle across Haelan's cheek. Confusion was easily felt through the Drakain, but the Drakes and Betas seemed to have grown worried.

"I'm afraid you are right. At least until-" Xan began, closing his mouth and eyes, pressing his nose into Launie's hair.

"My Drake?" Launie asked quietly, resting his hand over his Drake's heart. It seemed that the Drakes, Cam and Bellion seemed to nod in agreement about something, the Drakes quick to take their mates away and back to their bedchambers. Cam and Bellion seemed to drag Ezra with them, likely explaining whatever it was to the Drakain.

Kieren waited until they were back in their room before bombarding his mate with questions that were on the tip of his tongue. Kieren undressed for bed, deciding to pull on one of Val's large white shirts that dropped to the bottom of his tush. Crawling onto the bed as Val headed for his desk, Kieren waited a few minutes for his mate to tell him why Jarek had suggested he and the other Drakain needed to cover their horns. Kieren's heart grew a little unsteady in his chest, Val not saying a word as he wrote furiously on a piece of paper. Kieren knew his Drake could feel his gaze, Kieren biting his lip.

"My Drake?" Kieren called, Val closing his eyes as he set down his pen. With a deep sigh, Val headed over to the bed, sitting on the edge of it. Kieren crawled over to him, sitting next to him.

"Kieren," Val looking to be holding back words, "there are old customs amongst dragon-kind. Many of which younger dragons like myself and my zeymah have worked to eradicate. However, there are far more laws for protecting Drakain. With all the changes that have happened with the supposed last three Drakain in the world, not including your nest-sibling who has not found his Drake yet, it is best to keep some things secret. For now. I know that it is hard to understand and I haven't explained much, but I do ask that you trust me. My zeymah and I, our assisstants as well, have been working on something that we think may help ease the new things that have come about for us and our Drakain. The scales for one thing are very new, Camilla still not finding anything in the old texts. The shifting and horns of our Drakain is something all dragon-kind thought were lost, never to be possible again. You, my one, have made so many things that all thought were impossible, possible. There are some who could take this negatively, and some who could try to take advantage of you and the other Drakain to their benefit," Kieren's brows furrowed at Val's words.

"Let us handle this for right now. Do not worry for a thing, my Drakain," Val asked gently, kissing Kieren softly. Kieren bit his lip, looking away, crawling back up the bed to lay down. Val sighed deeply, heading back to his desk.

"Will you come to bed soon?" Kieren asked with a whisper, curling into the sheets.

"I will, my love," Val said, continuing his furious writing and planning. Kieren, who loved his Drake and his family, had worry gnaw at him.

*

As the days passed, Kieren was starting to see less and less of his Drake. Val was there in the mornings with him, but Kieren hardly ever saw him at night when his eyelids began to droop. They would share warm kisses in the morning as they got dressed and as they ate their meals, but even Kieren trying to get his Drake into sex was becoming a task. Val always scented more and more stressed along with the rest of his family, including Ezra.