A Dragonlings' Easter (Dragon Lords of Valdier 6.5) (2 page)

“
What are they doing?” Trelon asked as he stepped into the kitchen of the palace the next morning.

H
e tried to hold onto his daughter, Jade’s, wiggling body before he finally gave up. Setting her down on the floor, he watched as she crawled over to her twin sister, Amber, who was eyeing Roam, Vox and Riley’s son, with a mischievous grin. Trelon scowled when he saw the twinkle in their eyes. They were up to something and that usually meant bad news… for him.

“
They are dyeing eggs,” Kelan replied holding Bálint by his ankles as his son climbed over his shoulder to hang upside down and babble at Jade and Amber. He grimaced when he felt the wetness of drool as it soaked the back of his shirt. “Trisha said the children will look for them.”

“
Why would they want to look for them? And why are they making them different colors?” Vox asked.

He glanced at Riley to see if she was watching him. They had arrived yesterday to visit with Carmen and Creon. At first, he couldn
’t understand why she was so excited when they woke up this morning. He had thought it was because Roam had finally slept through the night for the first time. When she had popped out of bed and said that she was going to help color eggs, he thought he had misunderstood her. That was before he discovered the other women were in the kitchen talking about the same thing. Now, his eyes glittered with mischief as he whispered to their son.

“
Go get them,” he murmured under his breath before setting Roam down on the floor.

“
You are going to get smacked again,” Riley warned him without turning around. “The girls are not chew toys.”

“
What?” Vox asked innocently.

A hiss filled the air before a loud crash followed it. Riley threw an exasperated glance at
Vox before she folded her arms and tapped her foot. She looked pointedly at where her son now sat under a crate, hissing at Amber while Jade sat on top of the crate holding him in. Amber had changed into a brilliant red and pink dragonling. She snorted and blew a puff of smoke at the hissing cub while Jade’s purple and pink dragonling tried to grab the twitching tail sticking out the other side.

A screeching yowl, followed by crying filled the room when Jade was successful
and chomped down on Roam’s furry tail. Roam’s whimper and tear-filled eyes blinked out from under the crate as he shifted back into a toddler. Jade, upset she had lost her current chew toy, shifted as well and started to cry.

“
He’ll never win against the two of them,” Trelon warned Vox under his breath as he lifted Jade up into his arms so Vox could rescue Roam. “Even I can’t sneak up on them. They have this weird way of knowing when I’m close to them.”

Everyone turned when Abby cried out
in surprise. Zohar had managed to climb up onto the table and was splashing in the colorful bowls. Cara laughed and reached for Amber who decided that Zohar was having way too much fun on his own.

“
Oh Zohar, no sweetheart. You aren’t supposed to bathe in the bowls,” Abby laughed as she tried to grab her son. “Zoran, help me!”

She squealed as Zohar, covered in blue, yellow, red
, orange and purple dye shook his little body. Color flew everywhere, drawing Spring and Phoenix’s attention away from where they had been chasing the eggs they had stolen.

“
It is for Easter. The Easter Bunny comes and hides the eggs for kids to find,” Paul explained to Vox as he grimaced and wiped the colorful water off his face. He brushed a kiss over Morian’s lips as she wiped a spot he missed. “Thank you,” he whispered in a husky voice.

“
My pleasure,” she replied with a grin. “Especially since you protected me from the worst of it.”

“
A rabbit hides eggs?” Kelan asked, puzzled. “Those are the long-eared creatures that I saw on your ranch, aren’t they? I don’t remember seeing them hiding colorful eggs.”

Ariel chuckled as she pulled
Jabir out from under the table. He had crawled under it, chasing one of the eggs Spring had been playing with a few moments earlier. She cradled him in her arms as he clutched his prize, a bright blue egg, in his small hands.

Mandra
looked over her shoulder to stare at the small oval object. “Why would they hide them? Why not just eat them?”

Ariel playfully slapped his hand when he tried to take the egg away to study it.
“That’s Jabir’s prize. He found it. It was originally based on the German
Easter Hare
which gave children brightly colored eggs and toys for those who were being good.”

Carmen looked at her sister in surprise.
“A hare-y Santa Claus?” She asked with a quiet chuckle.

“
Who is Santa Claus?” Creon asked as knelt down to accept the purple egg Phoenix held out to him.

“
That’s a whole different holiday,” Abby said with a sigh as she wiped fruitlessly at Zohar who was now a multi-colored little boy. “You, young man, are going to be as colorful as the eggs for a few days.”

Zohar squealed with delight and clapped his hands.
Laughter filled the kitchen area drawing smiles from everyone, including the kitchen staff that stood to the side. The women looked between each other with delight. It would be interesting to see how the kids did on their first Easter egg hunt the next morning.

“
Is everything ready?” Trisha asked Morian who was watching Cara and Pearl round up the kids who were scattered about the smaller garden area wrestling with each other or chasing a dozen small golden rabbits.

“
Yes, we are just waiting for Ha’ven and Emma,” Morian responded. “Ha’ven wanted Emma and Alice both to rest for a bit after their journey.”

“
I’m so glad they could make it even if Alice is too young to join in. Are the symbiots ready?” Trisha asked before turning to watch Cara as she came bounding up to them.

“
Are you kidding? We have like a hundred golden rabbits out there hiding eggs! This is the most awesome Easter ever!! It is even better than the time I made that automatic egg launcher. I could shoot fifty eggs a minute through the thing,” Cara said with a sigh. “The problem was it didn’t shoot very straight and the buttheads in Alpha Sigma Jerk-offs stole it before the competition.”

“
You didn’t tell us about that,” Trisha said as she handed a basket of eggs to Bio, Kelan’s symbiot that had adopted her as well. He was in the shape of a huge rabbit for the occasion. “What happened?”

Cara shook her head in disgust and rolled her eyes.
“They didn’t have a clue what they were doing and overfilled it. One got stuck and it exploded inside their sorority house. They had splattered eggs everywhere! The bad thing was they had the nerve to try to blame me for it.”

“
What did you do?” Trelon asked as he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. “I can return to Earth and take care of them if you wish.”

Cara
giggled and turned in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed a hot kiss to his lips. A low moan escaped her as he deepened it. They both groaned when he lifted her up against him, forgetting for a moment where they were at. It took several long minutes before the sound of Trisha clearing her throat sunk in and Cara pulled back, dazed. She gazed into Trelon’s heated gold eyes and cupped his face between her hands.

“
You are the most amazing man I have ever known,” she whispered with a tender smile.

“
Does this mean you want me to go to Earth?” Trelon asked in a husky voice.

Cara grinned and shook her head.
“No, but thank you for asking. I got even with them. I knew the cheeky bastards were eyeing it so I filled their basket with rotten eggs. The place probably still stinks to high heaven.”

“Why can’t I look for eggs as well?” Vox demanded an hour later as everyone moved out into the center gardens. He folded his arms and scowled stubbornly down at Riley. “I have been good. I brought your sister and Pearl to you.”

“
Your brother kidnapped them,” Riley pointed out dryly. “And Easter egg hunting is for kids.”

“
Semantics,” Vox replied stubbornly with a wave of his hand. “Your family is happy and they are here. That is all that matters. Now, I will hunt the colorful eggs with the younglings.”

Riley watched in disbelief as he turned and walked away. She growled low under her breath at his retreating back.
She started to take a step forward but Pearl touched her arm, drawing her attention away for a moment. She shot a frustrated glare at her hard-headed mate who had joined the other men that were grouped in a tight circle.

“
Let him and the others look for the eggs,” Pearl muttered to Riley. “They don’t stand a chance.”

Riley
’s eyes narrowed on the satisfied smirk on her grandmother’s face. The only time Pearl had an expression like that was when she was up to something.
That
always meant someone was about to get their ass whipped BIG time.

“
What are you up to?” Riley hissed, glaring at Pearl.

“
It’s okay, Riley,” Cara said with a grin. “The guys are determined they are going to find the most eggs. Pearl and I figured it would be fun to watch them try, sort of like a reality television contest.”

“
Yeah, Survivor,” Trisha muttered walking up to stand by them. “I’m betting on the kids. Pearl and Cara have already got them primed. I swear I saw them feeding the kids Pixy Stixs.”

Riley
’s eyes widened at the mention of the pure sugar-filled concoction. “You didn’t even let me or Tina have those when we were kids!” Riley said, glaring at her grandmother. “Now you are feeding them to your great-grandson?”

Pearl shrugged as she watched Roam turning around and around in a circle trying to catch his own tail. A huge grin crossed her face when he stopped suddenly and fell over. Of course, the minute he did Amber, Jade,
Spring and Phoenix were on top of him.

“
All’s fair in love and war. And darling, we are going to have a war. The kids want those eggs. I just gave them the extra umpf they needed to win. They’ll sleep like rocks tonight after the sugar wears off. Now, as for the guys… well, let’s say they don’t have a clue as to what they have gotten themselves into being so damn stubborn. This is going to be more fun than a fight at the bar on a Saturday night,” Pearl said with a smirk.

“
You…” Riley hissed, pointing her finger at Pearl. “… are a menace to the universe.”

“
Well, someone had to take the position,” Pearl retorted. “Now, let the games begin.”

“
You mean the slaughter,” Cara giggled.

They watched
as Amber and Jade looked up as Harvey, Carmen and Creon’s symbiot, and Symba, her and Trelon’s symbiot, hopped over. It was so strange to see golden rabbits the size of a miniature pony.

“
I think everything is ready. The men are working on their ‘strategy’ to figure out where the eggs might be hidden,” Abby said with a shake of her head as she joined them. “I tried to talk Zoran out of it but he pulled his ‘I’m the King of Valdier’ attitude on me.”

Riley rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“Vox did that to me, too.”

“
And you let him?” Carmen asked in surprise as she bent to hand small baskets out to the symbiot ‘bunnies’ who would accompany each child.

Riley raised her eyebrow at Carmen and looked at her in disbelief.
“Of course not! But the big oaf wouldn’t listen to me so I told Roam to bite daddy on the ass the first chance he got if daddy dearest got in his way.”

Emma
’s soft giggle drew smothered laughs from the other women as they turned to watch the guys plan their opening battle. They had no idea that the odds were stacked against them. The kids already had their eyes on the colorful prizes and they weren’t about to let anyone else get them – not even their dads.

“Okay, on the count of one hundred you guys can go,” Abby called out.

“
One hundred! Why are they getting to go now?” Vox demanded, pointing to where the kids, along with a symbiot bunny, were either crawling or wobbling toward the lush flowerbeds.

“
Because they are kids, you dope!” Riley snapped. “It’s called a head start.”

“
Personally, I think they got the head start when Cara and Pearl gave them the sugar candy,” Trelon muttered as he watched Amber and Jade race across the thick grass on their hands and knees squealing with glee.

“
Trelon!” Cara rebuked.

“
What? We’ve never done this either and our dragons love eggs,” he complained. “Shouldn’t that count for something?”

“
He’s right,” Kelan finally admitted, rubbing his stomach. “I’m hungry and my dragon thinks the colored eggs will taste better for some reason.”

“
Is that what he’s complaining about?” Paul muttered with a frown. “I thought he was just making it up because you guys were grumbling.”

“
Daddy!” Trisha laughed. “Not you too?”

Paul had the good grace to look
embarrassed. “It’s not me. I’ve done this a hundred times. It is the smell of the eggs. It is driving my dragon nuts.”

“
Why aren’t we having the same problem then and why is Vox having issues? He’s not a dragon,” Carmen asked watching as Creon edged a little further away. “Creon, don’t you dare!”

Creon froze, his eyes darting to where
Spring and Phoenix were pulling a couple of eggs out from under a bush. “I’m just keeping an eye on the girls,” he said defensively. “They looked like they needed some help.”

Carmen glanced at where the girls were babbling back and forth to each other then back at Creon with a raised eyebrow. He flushed and grinned at her. She couldn
’t resist walking over and wrapping her arms around him. Rising up onto her tiptoes, she brushed a kiss across his lips.

“
You are a terrible liar,” she murmured.

“
Only with you,” he replied, pulling her closer. “You can always distract me though.” A shiver raced through Carmen at his suggestive voice.

“
So, why are the guys and Vox having problems and we aren’t?” Ariel asked folding her arms and shooting a look at Mandra who was watching the kids like a hawk.

“
It’s a male thing,” Morian replied. “To them, it is like the chocolate you brought back from Earth. My dragon goes nuts over that. Except for the Maratts and Grombots, I’ve never had a reaction like that before. Their father was the same way with eggs that were boiled.”

“
So, how do you explain Vox?” Trisha asked looking at where Riley was holding on to the back of Vox’s shirt as he twisted and growled.

“
It’s the hunt,” Riley replied, tossing her thick curly blonde ponytail over her shoulder as she glanced at Trisha. “His cat loves the hunt.”

“
Haven’t you reached one hundred yet?” Vox impatiently growled to Abby.

“
One hundred,” Abby called out with a laugh.

“
What the... Vox, you are such a dweeb sometimes,” Riley called out as her mate shifted and she found herself gripping thick fur. “Oh!” She gasped as he pinned her underneath his massive body.

She fought back a giggle
when he ran his rough tongue over her cheek before twisting and darting to where Roam was disappearing under a thick bush. She sat up and shook her head as she watched her overgrown mate bounce across the open grass. God, she loved that big cat.

“
Well, I don’t know about you ladies but I think a nice cold drink is in order,” Pearl called out as she settled into one of the many seats lining the area. “Now comes the entertainment.”

Riley glanced up at
Ha’ven as he offered his hand to help her stand. She smiled her thanks before glancing around at all the women who were chatting and laughing. Her eyes moved back to the bush where her mate’s well-rounded ass was up in the air.

“
It’s different but good, the way things are here,” Emma said quietly, rocking her tiny daughter in her arms.

Riley glanced at the quiet female that
Vox had told her so much about. She knew that Emma had been through a lot and was amazed that the delicate human could bring someone as dark as Ha’ven Ha’darra to his knees with a smile. She grinned when Ha’ven slipped his arm protectively around Emma and pulled her and their daughter closer to him.

“
So, how did you miss the desire to join the hunt?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.

Ha
’ven chuckled. “Who says I missed out?” He replied with a twinkle in his eyes.

Riley
’s eyes widened when he held his hand up and a glittering pink egg sat in the palm of it. All of them gasped when a moment later it disappeared. Riley’s mouth dropped open when it reappeared between Alice’s tiny hands.

“
Ha’ven!” Emma breathed out in awe, staring in amazement at her daughter.

Ha
’ven’s face glowed with pride as he tenderly ran his finger along Alice’s smooth cheek. He blinked back the emotion that threatened to overwhelm him. Wrapping his arm tighter around his mate and daughter, he looked at Riley with a serious expression.

“
Please…” He started to say before releasing a deep sigh and explaining. “Not many people are aware of what we can do”

Riley shook her head and glanced about with a mischievous grin.
“I won’t say a thing. Mums the word.”

“
I think we will retire to our rooms,” he said with a grateful smile as Alice yawned.

“
Thank you, Riley,” Emma whispered softly, turning back toward the palace.

Riley watched as they quietly slipped down the garden path. She shook her head in wonder. If she thought she had her hands full, she could just imagine what
Ha’ven and Emma were going to face. At least she could put a leash on her guys when she needed to. Just as that thought crossed her mind, she heard Roam’s loud hiss followed by Vox’s loud roar. Turning, she covered her mouth to keep the laughter from exploding out. Roam’s small, sharp teeth were firmly attached to the back of Vox’s pants. Roam was growling and pulling his dad backwards as Bálint, in the form of a dark purple and gold dragon, scooped up two eggs just out of his reach.

“
Oh god,” she laughed. “The men vs the Dragonlings plus one cub.”

“
Told you it would be better than a fight at the bar,” Pearl called out. “Dragonlings two, Vox zero.”

“
Damn it, Roam. You got flesh that time,” Vox cried out, rubbing his ass.