Ezeru

“The baby turned into a dragon inside her,” one of the healers said. “When the first twin left the womb, it sensed that it had space. This is very bad.”

“I am not going to let her die,” Seron said. “I told her I would give her everything I had rather than let her die.” He climbed into the bed behind her and wrapped her body in his arms.

Himika was unconscious.

“Don’t do anything stupid, Seron,” Aurek said.

“It’s not stupid. We all need her.”

The crystal dragon healers were both touching her carefully, and they looked at each other and exchanged a grim nod. Then they looked at me. I had thought I was nearly forgotten, and I wanted it that way. I didn’t know anything about giving birth or healing. I took a step back.

“King Ezeru,” one of them said. “We…we both sense the same thing. The crystal magic inside the queen was coming entirely from the first boy. The other child…is a rock dragon.”

“Rock dragon?” I repeated the words. I didn’t want to believe them.

“This is your child. We need you to use your magic to convey to the baby that it needs to turn back.”

“A rock dragon…” No. They told me the children were crystal dragons…

I thought I was safe from having to stare my own bloodline in the face.

“It’s Himika’s baby! Do something already!” Oszin pushed me toward her.

My hands were shaking a little as I put them on Himika’s belly and felt the child moving inside her. If my child killed her, I would never forgive myself. I already didn’t want to forgive myself, just for…this. Seron’s child had already healed his own parents, and I glanced over and saw the midwife holding a perfect baby with a head of fluffy fair hair.

“Himika…” I tried to concentrate. “How do I connect with it? I’m just used to shaping rock.”

Aurek put his hand on mine. “In a moment, you’re going to be holding your own son or daughter in your arms. It’ll be a wonderful kid. When Himika sees that she has a little Seron and a little Ezeru, she’s going to be beside herself with happiness.”

His words cut through my panic. Aurek understood that it wasn’t the how of the magic I was having trouble with, it was the how of loving my own. “Yes—”

I sensed the dragon inside her, and I felt the warmth of the crystal dragon magic surrounding her, keeping her alive even as the rock dragon strained her body and tore at her. It made me feel a little sick, thinking about the rough scales of a rock dragon inside of her, even a baby one before it hardened…

“Come on,” I said.

Aurek’s hand was still on mine and I felt his own crystal affinity—citrine, warm and golden.

It would take all three of us, while the midwife handed the first boy to Oszin.

“Come on!” My eyes teared with frustration. “Don’t hurt her anymore…”

“Moth?”

I looked up and saw Himika’s eyes flutter open briefly. “I want to see her…,” she said in a pained little voice that tore at me, before her eyes closed again.

Her?

Did I have a daughter?

Maybe I do want to see her too.

I felt the dragon inside Himika make another abrupt shift. She had changed back into a human form.

“That’s it!” Seron said. “Wake up…Himika…”

Himika twitched and writhed and then seemed to come to with another scream of pain.

“You’re almost there, my lady,” the midwife said.

She pushed, her screams filling the room, but before long, my child came out almost all at once.

“A girl! It is a girl. Oh dear, you sure gave us a scare!”

“The queen seems to be stable now,” one of the healers said.

“Ohhh…” Himika clutched Seron, her face whiter than her sheets.

In human form, the baby was quite a bit smaller than her brother. Black hair, grayish skin, intense dark eyes, a strong brow, and a shrill scream that erupted immediately. Until that moment, I held out some hope that she would look like her mother.

But no.

She looked just like me.

Before anyone could give her to me, I left the room.