178: Hard Confessions

178: Hard Confessions
\[Carnelia\]

There is another scream. There is no doubt in our minds. That has to be Ona.

"When I came in to find you," I explain realizing Primus is unaware of his sister's condition, "She was carrying a clutch."

Primus' eyes widen in horror as the truth settles in. If she is carrying eggs, she might be ready to lay them.

But as another scream rips through the room, if she is laying her eggs here, in this strange place, something has gone terribly wrong.

A flash of fear and pain rattle into me from the bangle I share with Ona, projecting her feelings into me as vibrantly as if I were feeling them myself and I pick up speed. I'm not sure how I can help, but I can be there.

The hallway is long and smooth, formed from shell and glass. I've never seen anything quite like it. Finding a window, I notice we are underwater when a large tropical fish floats past. We are in Undersea, Tritus' realm. I would stop and take a moment to marvel if Ona wasn't in so much distress.

As more screams reverberate down the hall, I rush after Primus towards the source.

I don't see the drake until our limbs tangle together as we both crash to the floor.

"Good Gods! Watch what you are doing you incompetent commoner. Oh, a sun dragon!" he snarls, adjusting the circlet in his hair as he awkwardly stands.

Primus turns and growls.  The princely-attired drake backs down, taking a step back, startled at Primus' promised ferocity as his eyes dart between us. Something flashes in his eyes and a small curl twists his lips into a sideways sneer. "If you'll excuse me," he dusts off his tunic as he turns from us.

If it weren't for my love of Ona and the need I hear in her screams, I might feel a need to investigate that look in the strange drake's eye, and the hate in his tone, but Ona needs me more than I need to satisfy my curiosity.

When we finally reach Ona, she is standing with her arms against a wall in what looks like a regal bedroom. Thalan and Daax are assisting her, but based on the drawn look on their faces, things are not going well.

"Primus," she gasps between grunts of pain. "You made it. Both of you did."

My heart warms to hear the gratitude in her voice as she reaches out to the two of us. I quickly take one of her arms to support her as another wave of pain washes through her, shaking her.

When I labored, Queen Cressida was here guiding me, praising and encouraging me. But she is gone, lost to us, and never have I felt her lost more greatly.

"Welcome back," Thalan gives us a cursory glance. Primus is confused, not quite remembering who he is because he wasn't himself when he last encountered the Elf King. He probably doesn't even remember the drake I danced with when he was driven almost mad with lust and rage that night at the Queen's ball.

"Support her arms," he orders the two of us. "I need to check her progress."

Pressing his hand on her abdomen, he asks Daax who is standing nearby, his face ashen, how many she was expecting.

"Three," he answers nervously, unable to look anywhere but his mate.

Thalan's face becomes grim. "The first egg still feels very high," he reports before dropping to his knees. Making sure to get eye contact with Daax he clarifies his intention to check Ona's passage before moving her skirts out of the way. Daax nods his understanding and Thalan disappears beneath her voluminous skirts. 

Ona squeezes my hand in agony, her talons piercing my flesh.

Thalan emerges, his face lined with worry. "Try shifting into a large form," he suggests. "Your eggs need more room to progress."

Ona nods her head, closes her eyes, and begins to shift, but stops about halfway between her beast and typical form before collapsing into her usual self. "I can't," she weeps. "My body."

Thalan turns to Daax who's eyes are glowing gold. "Get Kora. Have Orion carry her. We don't want her risking her own clutch."

"Kora?" Primus' eyes are unable to focus, his mind flooded with all the new information he has had to absorb in only a handful of minutes after waking. He missed so much. Not just the time we were dreaming, but all of the time before when the false queen had him in her thrall.

But in this situation, I am just as confused. How can Orion's potential mate, the girl we met at the fair, be any help in this situation? It seems that we both have to get caught up on now that we are back in reality.

Orion looks haggard, the youthful young drake full of so much hope and swagger looks as if he has lived a decade in the last few months. Kora looks even worse, her body frail, her skin almost translucent, and her eyes glassy with pain.

"Set me down," she requests, pointing at Ona. "I can't help her if I'm being carried."

Orion looks hesitant to let her feet touch the floor, but he does what she asks. Gingerly, she makes settles down next to Ona. Placing her head on her belly, she listens for a few moments before looking up at Thalan.

He nods in confirmation. "I had the same conclusion," he expresses even though no words were exchanged. "That is the only reason I had you brought here, Princess. We need your specific expertise. I have some skills, but you have more experience and I didn't trust myself to perform the necessary procedure without your guidance. I am no midwife, and I'm certainly no surgeon.

"Nobody is cutting my wife," Daax snaps looking one word away from going feral.

"Daax..." Ona cries. "Please, please hear them out."

"She's eggbound," Kora explains. "Her eggs are not progressing through the channel. If we cannot get them out of her body, the babies will die, and they will kill their mother from within," she is gasping for air, suffering from an ailment of her own. "The procedure we need to perform has a lot of risks. We need to cut her abdomen down to her womb and pull the eggs out that way.  But the sooner we start, the better our chances will be to save both the mother and children. If we do nothing. Both will die."

"You are NOT cutting her," Daax growls again, tears rolling down his face as he clenches and unclenches his teeth. "I will not allow it."

"It is not...your...decision," she grunts, "to make. It is mine."

"You are my mate!" he sobs. "Please, Ona. I can't watch them kill you."

"And I am your queen," she moans. "And these are our babies. I want them to live, Daax."

Ona's face is drawn but determined. Her body is already showing signs of extreme exhaustion. If it isn't soon, she might not be able to manage much of anything.

I want to speak reason into him, to tell him how much this battle is costing her, that his hesitation is the thing that will more likely kill her than the cut of any knife, but it isn't my place to speak.

Primus, however, feels no such reservations. "Daax, if she can save them both, we need to let her try."

"And I will be here to assist," Thalan assures him. "She will be as safe as we can make her.

Daax's posture begins to soften into acceptance. But then something shifts in his expression and he turns sharply toward Kora,

"Why you," Daax takes a step closer to Kora, only to be blocked by his son. There is a darkness in Daax's eyes, one that promises violence. "For someone so young, someone raised as a princess, you seem to have a lot of knowledge."

"I do," she confirms, not denying it. "Out of necessity, I had to learn lots of things under the command of Segundus. I've performed this procedure hundreds of times," she blinks up at him, her face devoid of emotion.

"Please let her help," Ona begs, her legs shaking. I let her lean on me for support and some of the shaking lessens. "She is our best chance."

"I'll answer all of your questions later," Kora promises. "But I insist you let me try to save her. I ..." she pauses. "I can't have any more deaths on my hands, especially the death of someone I admire. Please..." she looks at Daax. "You and I can have this discussion after she is safe."

"Tell me now!" he demands. "How do you..."

"Because HE made me do it. Segundus made me do so many things I never wanted to do, things I had no control over. I still regret what I did, every single thing that I did."

"Say it," Daax demands. "Say what you mean you butcher."

Orion growls grow deeper. "Watch what you say to my mate, father."

"Don't you know who she is," Daax's eyes are wide as he froths at the mouth. "Haven't you figured it out yet?"

I've never seen Daax have such a strong reaction to anything. Since returning to himself fully and recovering from his torture under Segundus' control, he has proven to be the cool voice of reason to balance Ona's passion.

"SAY IT!"

"I'm The Technician."