Kai Drakon's Arc

Chapter 13 of 30

Kai did not sleep well. Azure's words sat in his chest all night. A child. She had said it plain, the way she said everything. He lay beside her and watched the dark ceiling of the cavern and tried to picture it. A small bed. A small voice. He was not against it. He was only surprised at the speed. In the morning he made tea. Azure came out of the bedroom in her apron and sat across from him. She turned the ring on her finger. "You didn't sleep," she said. "No." "You're scared." "Not scared. Thinking." She waited. He set down his cup. "You want one now?" he said. "Soon." "How soon?" "I don't know. Sooner than never." He almost laughed. She did not smile, but her tail flicked once against the leg of her chair. "We don't have the room," Kai said. He meant it as a fact, not a refusal. He looked past her into the cavern. One bed. A table. Crates of dried peppers stacked along the far wall. Her jars lined the shelf above the hearth. There was no corner for a crib. No space to put a small person and their small things. Azure looked where he looked. Her shoulders dropped a little. "I know," she said. "I've been thinking about it. We aren't ready." "We could be." "How." He stood and walked the length of the room. He counted his steps. He touched the wall behind the pepper crates and knocked on it. The stone was thin there. Behind it the tunnel widened. He had noticed it when he moved in and forgotten. "There's space back here," he said. "The cavern goes further. I can open it. Clear it out. Move the crates in there and keep this room for us. Then the small room at the back becomes a nursery." Azure came and put her hand on the wall beside his. "You'd dig it out." "I'd dig it out." "How long." "A month. Less if Kael helps." She was quiet. He watched her face and read what she did not say. She was afraid they were rushing. She was afraid they were not. "We wait," Kai said. "I'll build the room first. You keep the farm going. When the room is done and we've lived with it empty a while, we try." "How long a while." "Until you say." She pressed her forehead to his shoulder. Her horns were cool against his jacket. "Alright," she said. "That's the plan." He kissed the top of her head before she caught the collar of his shirt and pulled him down into a kiss.