Chapter 307: A Crisis Beneath the Sheet

Orien Vathros, the great dragonling whose might would one day be heard all over Eryndra, was currently not feeling very mighty at all.

In fact, he was experiencing an existential crisis of unprecedented proportions.

Marriage?

What marriage?

Who was getting married?

And why were they saying it would be him?

“!!!”

He had too many questions. Far too many. And if not for the flimsy cloth draped over his head, preserving the last scraps of dignity he possessed, everyone present would have immediately seen just how thoroughly shell-shocked the baby dragon was.

How was he supposed to know that the red glimmering thing was proof of marriage?

How was he supposed to know that his uncle and auntie were now legally bound because of that tiny booklet?

That if they wanted people to know about their union, they could simply show it to everyone, and they would succumb to its glimmering might.

But a booklet.

That was it?

How could the marriage simply be noted in such a tiny thing called a marriage registration booklet?!

What about etching it in stone or at the very least, large crystals?

Apparently not. Instead, the hard-earned proof was simply a booklet.

Clearly he had a different opinion of the precious thing, but he had to complain because, by doing such a tragic thing, they were denying him access to the thing without going through inexplicable conditions!

At the very least, if it had been something grand, something substantial, they could have given the booklets away to those who also wanted them!

Like to him.

They could have given him one. Or two.

Instead, he had stared at it for too long, wanted it too much, and somehow ended up engaged to the little sprite in the process.

“!!!”

Orien was practically hyperventilating beneath the sheet.

His breathing came too fast. His thoughts tangled over one another. Every time he felt like he might dry-heave from the shock, the situation only got worse.

Because the suddenly shameless little sprite would just open his mouth.

“Are you alright, Lord Orien?” Liam asked earnestly, looking up at him with wide, concerned eyes.

Of course he couldn’t see those eyes behind the sunglasses but who was Orien? He was a mighty golden dragon who was so sure that behind such tinted protectors lay chocolate brown eyes that might even be a bit watery.

Oh gods!

“I know I already promised to take care of you before, but now I have to take even better care of you.”

What?

WHAT?!

The golden dragonling’s mind simply couldn’t cope.

Before he could even attempt to process that sentence, they were already being ushered along again. His uncle had commandeered yet another unfortunate human, one who brought out a small, dull box and pointed it at them with visibly trembling hands.

Now Orien would have normally judged. He would have scoffed at the shivering human and silently lamented the poor soul’s fate.

But this time?

He couldn’t.

Because he understood.

He was just as shaken.

So shaken, in fact, that when the human nervously said, “Please smile,” Orien’s eye twitched instead.

Only twitched.

That was all he could manage.

Then again, even if he cried beneath the sheet, no one would have known.

Just like no one could see how the usual red in his body was creeping through his normally pristine, gleaming golden scales, blooming beneath the cloth as embarrassment and panic overwhelmed him so thoroughly he felt like he might actually perish from it.

The only reason he survived that moment at all was because of the sheet and the oversized sunglasses. Truly, they were miraculous creations. Just like the handheld that was home to his little people, the inventor of sunglasses also deserved to be honored and remembered.

Possibly with a statue.

Orien would suggest it later.

That was if he survived today.

__

Which unfortunately for the mighty one, was proving to be difficult.

The golden dragonling didn’t move.

He stood there beneath the sheet, frozen so completely that if anyone had tried to check, they might have mistaken him for an unusually shaped piece of furniture someone had forgotten to move.

The impromptu photography session that actually took a long time and would have normally never happened was clearly over. The human had lowered his tools. The unfamiliar witnesses had slowly dispersed, probably in a bid to escape first. But overall, with the marriage successfully concluding, the air around them had relaxed.

Only Orien had not.

He remained exactly where he was, mind entirely elsewhere.

“Lord Orien?” Liam called softly.

No response. A very unusual thing for the usually chatty dragon.

“My lord?” the youngster tried again, worry creeping into his voice. “Are you okay? We have to move now, my lord…”

The covered dragonling did not so much as twitch.

Liam frowned beneath his own sheet.

That was strange.

He hesitated, then thought back. Thought carefully. Thought very seriously and referenced what he knew and had observed about the dragons.

When Big Brother Dragon Lord didn’t respond, it was always because he was waiting to be called properly.

Hmm.

Maybe that was it.

Maybe the problem was how he was being addressed.

After all, things had apparently changed.

Liam swallowed, heart thumping a little faster as he adjusted his grip on the bundled stump beside him.

“…Orien?” he tried.

The effect was immediate.

The sheet shuddered.

A sharp inhale echoed from beneath it, followed by a sound that could only be described as a strangled squeak.

“I hope you don’t mind me calling you that,” Liam hurried on, suddenly flustered. “I know there are other terms and all, but I think we’re too young to call each other honey…? But if there are other nicknames you want then maybe we could do that too?”

“What about Ori? Or goldie?”

The stump swayed.

Then very slowly, it tilted.

Somewhere in the room, a black dragon who was very much supposed to be a mature adult had to turn away, one hand clamped over his mouth as laughter threatened to spill out in an undignified rush.

Orien, meanwhile, made a sound that suggested his soul had temporarily left his body.

__

But Riley was no demon, and on a day as good as this one, he had no real desire to torture the children even if Orien very much had it coming.

While it often looked like the young dragon was the one in charge of that friendship, everyone knew better. It had always been Liam who understood how the golden dragonling’s mind worked.

And now, Orien was being bested at his own game by the child who was deathly obsessed with dragons. Really, what had he expected?

If given the chance to get closer, did he really think Liam, the child who could confidently feed dragons from his little hand, would say no?

Riley had to keep himself from laughing outright.

Thankfully his immense amusement helped make him look positively radiant in the photos they took.

So radiant, in fact, that during one of the family shots, he reached out and pulled his new husband in for a kiss without a second thought. It didn’t matter that their other family members were there.

Radiant. Truly.

In that moment, he looked undeniably happy.

But as it turned out, karma was a bitch.

And the newly married black dragon probably should not have laughed at Orien at all.

Because without even taking a day, retribution hit back.

Fast.

__

They were already walking back when Riley finally cleared his throat.

It was the kind of sound an adult made when trying very hard to keep things together and say something sensible.

“About earlier,” he began carefully, eyes flicking toward the two bundled shapes in front of them. “Marriage is… something that should be talked about when you’re older. And more mature. When you can actually understand what it means.”

The two stumps slowed.

Then stopped.

One of them wiggled. The other shifted awkwardly as its carrier coaxed it forward again, claws fumbling under fabric.

Riley watched this exchange for a moment. It was almost funny. Almost.

He sighed softly and continued anyway. It was better to say it.

“It’s not something to decide lightly,” he added, trying to sound calm and reasonable. “It’s a long commitment. One you make after thinking about it for a very long time.”

He glanced sideways and nudged his husband with his elbow.

“Right?” Riley prompted. “Didn’t you just say something about taking two millennia before getting married?”

Surely Kael would back him up.

Surely.

But instead of agreeing, the golden dragon lord answered with only a beat of hesitation.

“Might not apply to them.”

“Huh?”

Everyone stopped.

The corridor they had been redirected into was purposefully quiet and private, the sounds of the bureau fading away behind them.

Riley turned slowly.

But the golden dragon lord didn’t elaborate right away.

Instead, he raised a hand.

The air shifted.

A barrier went up around them, clean and absolute, cutting them off from everything else.

Only then did Kael speak again.

“I don’t think they could really wait,” he said calmly. “Or stop it.”

Riley frowned. “Stop what?”

Kael looked toward the bundled children.

“Earlier,” he continued, tone steady, “Liam came into contact with a piece of dragon heart.”

There was a solid whiplash.

Riley nearly broke his neck turning around.

“What?”

But when he turned to look at his very golden husband, he didn’t look like he was shitting him.

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