The Cambion's Hoard

I sat between Biggs and Thatcher. Biggs had his hand snuggly in Henson’s grasp. Kelley sat across from us, his leg bouncing quickly. His nervousness came off in waves.

Thatcher idly rubbed my hand between his. “Explain it again only dumb it down for me.”

Kelley bobbed his head. “Dragons build nests based on temperature. If a single egg is laid, they build a cooler nest. If multiple eggs are laid they build multiple nests, and most of them are on the cooler side. One is usually built on the warmer side. Now eggs with twins in them, are cared for carefully. The nest is split in half.

“Your mother has never laid more than one egg at a time. Her sisters had multiple eggs, in multiple clutches. So when we candled your egg with two embryos she was so happy. We could take the appropriate steps and have a daughter and son.”

I shook my head. “Why not just have two girls?”

Kelley pursed his lips. “Females have to be strong, and twins from the same egg, one hatchling was always weaker than the other. So, they stopped trying to have twin girls. The weaker males would be taken care of so that all bloodlines had a chance at procreating.”

Henson leaned forward, arm still firmly wrapped around Biggs’s. “Reptiles, dragons are reptiles. They control the gender outcome of their children by temperature. Do you know how fucked up that is? They are choosing their children’s genders. If they stayed in their human form, they’d have equal odds of having girls or boys. No, they turn into giant lizards and lay their eggs and choose what that child becomes. Fuck that.”

Kelley continued to bounce nervously. This wasn’t fair to him. Having to explain how dragon spawning worked. Had Kelley been able to maintain the delicate brooding system Gida had set up. Biggs would be female, he’d have been raised with this ideal in mind. The system had failed and the boys had hatched. Biggs was here because of a snowstorm. They weren’t taught about this as males they weren’t supposed to know. Females were supposed to handle the brooding of eggs. Not males.

“Kelley, why would mom let you tend to our egg? I’ve seen her tend to the brooding for some of our younger brothers. Why not ours?” Biggs leaned forward but Henson pulled him back. Controlling Biggs’s reaction by holding his hand.

Wiping his hand down his jeans, Kelley tried steadying himself. “She felt the mating pull to another of her mates. But you don’t have any siblings from that pairing. I called her and asked her to come when the storm was moving through. She didn’t answer. I did everything I could think of to keep one side warm and one side not.

“It was freezing, I couldn’t do it. I was doing my best to keep your egg from freezing entirely. Snowdrifts, no power, and a mate that was somewhere else. I was lucky I didn’t lose you.”

Thatcher pulled me against him. “You did what needed to be done to keep your children alive. We can’t fault you for that. Now our mother on the other hand...”

Biggs stood and went to the door leading to the indoor pool. Henson and I looked over the back of the couch. Biggs’s hands rested on his hips. We waited for him to put his thoughts together.

He turned back to us, eyes glistening with anger. “She has had plenty of opportunity to have daughters. Use a singlet for fucks sake. It’s archaic, and complete bullshit. I am suffering for her lackluster performance as a mother.”

Kelley rubbed his knees again. “I’m sorry I haven’t been a better father. I’m sorry I didn’t advocate for you before your birth. I should have been better for you both.”

Henson got up and went to Biggs. He pulled Biggs into his arms and kissed him softly. Thatcher ran his hand down my back. They were both wrestling with the information they’d been presented.

I leaned into Thatcher. “I don’t get it. Why do they only have shared eggs to make girls? She has so many sons. If dragons choose how to brood a clutch, why not have more girls?”

Kelley bobbed his head, thinking about the answer. “I’m going to assume it’s because of how quickly a female can produce offspring. Males don’t always have children. They don’t always find a mate. But females find mates, more than they can even breed with sometimes. Not only that males don’t carry or lay. The ones that do have mates, have children by the females’ gestation. Female dragons don’t have to rely on their mates’ species’ gestation. Female dragons are prolific, and they have to control the population.”

Biggs let out a guttural sound. “It’s not fair. It’s not right. Want to be less prolific? Stay in human form. Carry for nine months and pop out whatever has been growing, boy or girl. Give that kid a chance to find themselves instead of forcing what you think they should be on them. Teach us all about how prolific dragons are. Educate the children. Do fucking better.”

“I agree with you completely. I told your mother to carry you like a human would have carried. For me, to let me take care of her but she said that’s not the way.” Kelley sighed heavily. He looked tormented by Gida’s decision.

“Why don’t we all take a break? Take some time to wrestle with the information we have. Kelley you can take Thatch’s room.”

Thatcher squeezed me. “That’s a good idea, Rose.” He stood and turned toward his brother. “Let’s go outside and talk. Henson can keep Rose company.”

Biggs grimaced and nodded. “Yeah.”

He kissed Henson’s cheek and headed outside. Thatcher leaned down and pressed his lips to mine.

“I’ll calm him down. We need to figure out how to confront our mother.” He squeezed my hand, then followed his brother out.

I could only imagine how Gida was going to take the news her sons were talking to their father. It was going to blow over like a thunderstorm.