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It did not take Perry long to return to Harrison’s office. When he arrived, the omega-beta was tapping the tip of a pen thoughtfully on the margin of an agenda, but he stopped and looked up when Perry entered, awarding him a beaming smile. “Hello, Perry! Thank you for helping Finch. He did seem awfully out of sorts.”
“He did, the poor dear.”
“Are you feeling out of sorts, too?” Harrison gestured invitingly at one of the armchairs in front of his desk. “Come have a seat and tell me what’s been going on. Just remember that while I’m a doctor, I’m not a medical doctor yet, so if it’s something serious, you’re probably better off making an appointment with Ev. I wouldn’t want my lack of practical experience to make things worse.”
“That is very sweet of you.” Perry came to sit in the armchair Harrison had gestured at, crossing one leg over the other and laying his hands daintily on his lap. “But you see, the reason I’m here today is because I have already been to see Everard, and I am left in want of a second opinion. One from an individual such as yourself, who I hope is more likely to understand.”
“An individual such as me?” Harrison pushed his glasses up his nose and crossed his arms on the desk, leaning forward on his elbows. “Do you mean as a descendant of the Opal clan, Perry?”
“No, darling.” Perry smiled thinly. “I mean as a dragonet.”
“Oh.” Harrison paused for a few seconds, seemingly to puzzle out his meaning. “Is there something the matter with your estrus cycle? The boys are eight now, so your heat is bound to start again at any time. Are you worried about being caught unaware? Because I sure was. Iggy says that as long as I can still feel the whelp bond I shouldn’t worry about it, but it’s so faint now that I’m sure it won’t be long before it goes away completely. I’ve got some heat dampeners on standby, just in case, but I’m not even sure if I’ll need them since I was born a beta. I can’t wait to find out!”
“My heat resumed after the boys’ seventh birthday,” Perry confided in him once he was sure Harrison had finished speaking. “My latest heat began on the day of the children’s birthday party. You remember the one?”
“Of course! Steve got to eat a strawberry. He’s been talking about it ever since.”
Perry paused. “I… suppose he did, yes. But all that aside, the reason I’m here has nothing to do with the regularity of my heats. They have, over the centuries, become more and more infrequent. I think it’s because I’m getting older. I could be wrong, certainly, but that feels right. I have discussed it with Ingrid, the oldest dragonet I know, and she says the same is true for her, but seems to be less the case for Yinju.” Perry shrugged. “But that has nothing to do with my motivation for coming here today. The trouble is…” He frowned. “I must confess, I haven’t been entirely truthful with you, darling. I have not been truthful at all.”
Harrison blinked. “What do you mean?”
“Many moons ago, I told you a fairy tale,” Perry admitted. He chose his words with care, not only for Harrison’s sake, but his own. “I did not do it for any nefarious purpose, I assure you. It’s just that there are some things that are too painful to talk about, no matter how many years go by. You see…” Perry’s lips wobbled, and he held back a sob. “I think there is something wrong with me. I do not know if it is some genetic defect, or if it is the result of an old injury, but there has to be something. It can’t be a matter of unending bad luck. Not after five hundred years.”
“I’m afraid I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” Harrison smiled hesitantly. “I’m happy to help you, but I need to know exactly what it is you think is wrong.”
“I have been pregnant many dozens of times,” Perry confessed in a hushed voice as centuries of old pain roiled inside of him. “But I have only been able to carry two pregnancies to term, and both of them clutches, never dragonets.”
Harrison, the dear, sat up quite straight. His eyes went very wide. “How many dozens?”
Perry closed his eyes and thought about something he usually tried not to dwell on. “The lost babes have become less common over the last three centuries or so, but added together, I think the number might be close to a hundred.”
“A hundred. I can’t believe it. It never even occurred to me that a mated dragonet could have so many children, but it makes sense. With two heats a year and without effective contraceptives or heat dampeners until relatively recently, there would be nothing stopping so many births from happening. Perhaps that’s why some dragonets have fewer heats over time. I need to study that. I might have a hypothesis that—”
“Harry, darling, please focus. I do need you to help me. If you can.”
“Oh. I do tend to go off onto tangents, don’t I?”
Perry smiled, even though anxiety chewed through his heart. “Science is a hard taskmaster.”
“Indeed it is.” Harrison blinked at Perry. “Where was I? Oh! I meant to say I am so sorry. I can’t imagine how terrible all of that must have been. What can I do to help?”
Perry dabbed his eyes with the sleeve of his blouse. “I’m pregnant again,” he admitted. “Everard has told me the best course of action is to rest and stay hydrated, but I know something more is wrong. I suspect it has to do with this…” Perry unbuttoned his blouse to show Harrison his most shameful imperfection—four long pink scars spanning from his pectoral to his hip. Marks left by a dragon’s claws. “This is an injury I sustained before I was Sebastian’s mate, and while it was healed by magic, none of the Drakes were as skilled then as they are now, and medicine has come quite a long way. The original injuries did sink quite deep and were longer than my scars. I fear there was internal damage done that has long gone unaddressed.”
Harrison hummed thoughtfully and came out from behind his desk to look at the scars up close. “Would it be okay if I touched them, Perry?”
“Please do.”
Harrison rubbed his hands together to warm them, then gently laid one of them over Perry’s scars. “I’m not very good at magic,” he admitted. “I’ve been learning it from Ev, but I’m still a beginner. If it hurts, tell me, and I’ll stop.”
Perry, who was well aware of how magic could be painful—even the kind meant to heal—nodded.
“Okay,” Harrison said, taking a deep breath. “Here I go.”
For a moment, nothing happened, then a rush of exploratory magic flowed through Perry. It was uncomfortably warm, but didn’t burn, so he said nothing and allowed Harrison to work.
“Oh, wow. This is interesting.” Harrison slid his hand from Perry’s chest to his abdomen, below his scars. “You’re right. At one time, these wounds were much larger. The tissue here is different than the tissue that surrounds it—a little tougher. It’s recovered from the trauma, but signs of it have never really gone away. And…” The magic lurched. It was rather like being on a ship, if Perry’s rising nausea was to be believed. He sank into the armchair and closed his eyes, hoping it would end before he retched all over Harrison’s carpet. “Oh,” Harrison breathed. “Oh, Perry. You are pregnant, aren’t you? I can feel it. How neat.”
“I’m sure you’re having a marvelous time, darling,” Perry said as cheerfully as he could, “but I am feeling a tad bit queasy. Would it be possible to wrap things up?”
