A Queen's Brood

Writers: AL, Suzee
Date Posted: 10th January 2012

Characters: R'enh, Meledei
Description: Clutching!
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 5, day 10 of Turn 6

R'enh

}:It's time for them to come.:{ That was all the warning Meledei got
before Elleth made her way toward the sands. She didn't actually start
clutching immediately, but the gold made it plain that it wasn't going
to be long. Of course, it was still dark - dawn hadn't even peeked
over the sky and Meledei was half asleep when the announcement was
made. She practically fell out of bed, legs flying and catching her
just before she managed to tumble in a heap on the floor. **Now!** It
was more a statement than a question. **Let R'ehn know!** And the
rider didn't even bother with getting dressed. In her excitement, she
flew out the door and through the hallways in only her dressing gown.

}:The eggs come,:{ was the intense wakeup call he got accompanied by a
bugle from the outer weyr. Sitting straight up in bed he blinked
several times and rubbed his eyes. Padding into the outer weyr he saw
the big bronze pacing on the ledge. **Ok, ok. Give me a second to get
dressed. Go ahead and tell them I'll be right there.**

The big bronze dropped off the ledge like a stone. R'enh didn't watch
but trotted back to his sleeping area. He slapped the round bottom of
his bedmate as he sat on the edge of the bed. "I have to go, Elleth is
clutching. You can stay if you want but I have no idea when I'll be
back." He dressed quickly as he talked.

He grabbed his lightest tunic but heavy boots for the hot sands. The
morning was only a trifle chilly when he ran down the stairs and into
the kitchen. Bussing the cook soundly he let her go and grabbed a
couple of hot pastries from the nearby tray along with a pot of hot
klah and a pair of mugs loading them onto a tray. "Elleth's clutching,"
he grinned like a fool explaining his mood.

"Well you best be running then," she grinned back.

He waggled his eyebrows at her and took off back through the door
toward the hatching grounds. Hearing Mnoranth's encouraging croon's he
couldn't help but smile.

"Meledei," he called. "May I come in?"

"Of course you can!" Meledei called out cheerfully. She really
couldn't hide her excitement. Elleth's eggs! Finally! She'd barely
finished giving him permission when she rushed up and grabbed his hand
to pull him down toward the sands. Elleth was just straining with the
first egg. "You have _excellent_ timing."

He chuckled and followed with an arched brow at her attire. It didn't
leave much to the imagination. "Hey, don't jostle! I brought you some
breakfast," he said trying to balance the pot, cups, and pastries
without dropping anything. He set the tray on the bench and bent to
pour a cup and shove it into her hands.

Meledei hadn't even noticed, far too intrigued by what her lifemate was
doing. The first egg was lain and Elleth turned around to sniff at it
and give it a good inspection. "There's one!" She exclaimed happily,
pointing.

}:Well done lovely one:{ Mnoranth crooned to his mate from where he
jealously guarded the entrance to the hatching grounds. Anyone silly
enough to try and slide past him was rather likely to receive a stern
rebuke.

"Oh, it's a very nice sized egg," said R'enh. "See? You didn't need to
worry." He picked up his own mug and watched for the tell tale dance
that would show him Meledei was beginning to feel the lack of footwear
on the hot sands.

Truly, it was already there. One foot up, one foot down. It was still
pretty sporadic - adrenaline from excitement distracting her from any
discomfort. "Here comes a second one!" Sort of. Elleth had turned
away from the second egg and moved slightly, just far enough away to
keep from knocking into the still soft egg to lay her next one. She
began to work on it, making soft, almost crooning noises. "This is
going pretty fast!"

"She's doing great," he smiled. "Maybe you should put on some clothes,
or shoes?" His eyes twinkled at the young goldrider. "Not that I mind
the view."

"I'm decent!" Meledei's nightgown was a lot more modest than a lot of
dragonrider's probably were. Her parts were covered at the very
least. "But yeah, shoes. Um. I don't want to leave."

The next egg came, quite a bit smaller than the first. }:Go. The next
is not immediately coming.:{ The gold assured her as she turned to
inspect her second piece of work.

**You sure?**

}:Yes.:{

"Ok...Elleth says I have a bit of time. Be right back!" Meledei
didn't give the man a chance to really respond before she turned to fly
out of the cavern. She wanted to get back in time for the rest of the
eggs!

R'enh's peal of laughter followed her out of the cavern. Then he
turned back to the queen. "The eggs are beautiful" he called in
admiration. Mnoranth's gleaming eyes whirled from the entrance as he
added his own compliments to the tiny gold.

}:Of course they are.:{ Elleth's eyes whirled emerald with
pleasure. }:They are ours.:{ She shifted, waiting for the next one to
prepare itself for an appearance.

Meledei was true to her word. She was back pretty quickly - barely
dressed. Clothes had been thrown on with little care. Her shirt was
covering her, but the ties were left loose. The trousers were on and
hastily tied and the boots were on with the legs of her trousers half
tucked in and half pulled out. She skidded to a halt when she reached
where R'enh stood and only then paid some attention to the ties of her
tunic. "Oh good, I didn't miss anything."

"Nope," said R'enh and put an arm around her shoulders as he handed
her one of the pastries. "You need to eat something Mel. Here."

Meledei accepted a pastry, but eating was second on her mind and she
didn't really seem to taste what she put in her mouth. "Oh, here comes
another one!" She stated excitedly as Elleth began to move again.

~~~
"Do you think there are any more?" R'enh sat next to the empty tray
and pitcher in the first row. Hours had passed and though he'd thought
about going to grab them some lunch, he didn't want to leave any more
than Meledei did. It had been a little while since Elleth had added
another egg to the group near her.

"Elleth says there are, but she's almost done." Meledei stood up from
her chair and moved back to the sands. She wandered around, examining
- but not touching - the eggs. After a few moments, she trotted back
over to R'enh. "There are thirty." She stated with more excitement
in her voice. "That's a good number!"

"That's a very good number," he agreed. "No wonder she looked so big."
He honestly had wondered how the little gold was going to walk if she
got any bigger. Once again she began to make those sounds that told
them another one was coming.

The two watched together as Elleth laid another egg, this one of a
medium size. Then, without a word, the gold curled up, the tip of her
tail against her nose and closed her eyes.

"Well, I guess we'd better get some lunch." Meledei stated after the
gold didn't move for a few minutes. "Thirty one eggs! Great job
Elleth!" And still the gold didn't reply.

"That is a very good number for her first clutch. Beautifully done
Elleth." But the gold was already asleep. Mnoranth crept in from the
entrance and though he kept back from the eggs R'enh could feel his
pride in the size of this clutch. He laid down a careful distance from
the eggs but between the clutch and the entrance, his head lifted and
alert while his tired mate slept.

"Lunch it is," smiled R'enh. Long experience with his lifemate told
him that the big bronze wasn't going to budge from his guardian stance
until the queen was again awake and alert. "Thirty One!"

Meledei grinned and slipped an arm through R'enh. "Food! Let's go get
some. Then we can visit the eggs again before we actually have to go do
something productive." She craned her neck back to gaze briefly at her
lifemate and the new brood - pride welling up.

"Sounds good," he said and pressed her fingers where they curved
around his arm. His stomach was beginning to talk to him and a growly
voice.

Meledei escorted - or maybe R'enh escorted Meledei - to the dining hall
where lunch was in full swing. The goldrider practically inhaled her
food. She really wanted to just sit on the sands all day with the
eggs. Or rather, maybe sit on Elleth since the sands were hot. Of
course, she couldn't do that - she had work she had to do. But that
didn't mean she couldn't take one last look, even if it was out of
her way!

As soon as she had completely scarfed down her meal, Meledei tugged
at the bronzerider. "They're probably hardened by now. She might
let us touch some!"

He stuffed one last bite into his mouth and brushed the crumbs off his
fingers as he stood. "Mmhmm," me mumbled around the food in his mouth.
Then he picked up his glass of ale to polish off on the way back to
the hatching grounds.

Meledei kept a brisk pace. They didn't have much time. They were
given leave because of the clutching but they both had work they had to
take care of. Of course, Meledei wouldn't have to fly Thread until the
eggs hatched but that didn't mean she wouldn't keep busy!

When they arrived at the sands, Elleth opened one eye and gazed at
them. Meledei froze for a moment, then turned to R'enh. "She says the
first ones are hard. We can touch those if we want!"

Elleth had been quite organised about how she lain her eggs. From
where one came down to the hatching sands, she had started on the left
and arched a path toward the right. When that row had filled up, she
had gone all the way back to the left. Each egg was now neatly lined
up in a rainbow, their shades very subtle, but still beautiful. "So
the first row."

He followed her lead and approached very carefully with one eye on the
golden head just in case she really didn't want _him_ near the eggs.
All queens were different in their likes and dislikes.

Elleth didn't seem to care one whit about whether or not R'enh was
among her eggs. Perhaps she trusted him. She stood up and stretched,
then turned around and around where she had taken a perch, but didn't
settle back down.

"She still looks a little restless to me," he said. Then his attention
turned back to the eggs. They really were perfectly formed. "I've never
seen them laid like this before. It's very organized."

"Elleth was never the most _normal_ of dragons." Meledei stated with a
giggle and then looks more closely at Elleth. "Why you sneaky little
thing! She exclaimed as the gold let out a sigh and moved - revealing
one last egg. "I guess that brings the count up to thirty-two!"

}:I flew her well:{

**Yes you did** chuckled R'enh. "Mnoranth is very proud." The big
bronze crooned to Elleth and moved to nuzzle her affectionately. "It
is an excellent clutch."

Elleth trilled in response and looked over her eggs before she settled
down among them, a queen and her brood. }:Yes.:{ She stated without
any trace of doubt. }:Yes they are.:{

Last updated on the January 28th 2012

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A Queen's Brood