Surprisingly, Boon was the first one to hatch, as miserable as ever. He wailed so long that Indel had to take him from Nala and pace back and forth, patting his back.

They’d taken nearly one cycle to form.

With Boon’s gray body slender and meek, Indel felt fortunate that he knew how to be gentle thanks to Nala’s physically fragile state.

Boon struggled to rub his face against his father’s throat.

Indel chuckled. “None of that. We have a crane-mare now, so you won’t be needing to be so desperate.”

Nala stood. “Should I milk it?”

“No. It’s not like a sloth. It’ll buck when we get close. One of us has to hold it. We’ll wait for Crane before trying.”

But Crane didn’t hatch. Two more months passed.

Indel feared the worst.

Laying on the hay, Boon’s small frame tucked between them, Indel stared at the chrysalis and said, “We’ll wait two more days.”

Nala lay to rest.

“But if there’s only one, you will take him back, won’t you?”

“The queen’s brood is complete. She’ll challenge us soon enough,” Indel meant to answer directly but he didn’t want to think that burying one child would ever benefit them. It was true, he would have to select between the two in time.

Boon cried often, but with milk and some berries, he’d calm again. Tonight, his temperament was good, which was rare as he would usually whine until he fell asleep nearly tucked under Nala’s arm.

“He is so like you,” Indel said, genuinely pleased. “I’m glad.”

“Yes, but who’s Crane like?” Nala asked. “You?”

“Perhaps.”

When Boon turned over and tried to bite at his brother’s chrysalis, they chuckled. Even Indel thought nothing of it, Boon was not the most veracious of attackers. The worst he’d do was latch onto Nala or Indel’s neck when they made the mistake of holding him while he was hungry. He still hadn’t opened his eyes in the two months he was born.

To see him play with the chrysalis was cute until he took one bite too many and pierced the shell. It cracked.

“Gava!” Nala cursed. “Gava, gava! Can we close it back?”

Indel watched on with a numbness he’d noticed a month before. It hardly mattered anymore with the time running too long.

Boon’s pod had been wet inside upon its hatching, Crane’s was bone dry, all the nourishment gone.

They waited and when he didn’t stir, Nala whispered, “Can we do something?”

“There’s nothing to do for him,” Indel said.

As was Boon’s silly way, he bit into Crane’s shoulders.

“He’s latched again.” Nala groan.

“This child...” Indel growled as he tried to pry him off.

It came as a cough at first, then a wheeze and then a cry as Crane wailed from the pain.

“Help me get him off!” Indel said. “He’s really gotten his teeth in.”

Nala had to hold Boon’s small jaws open with her hands.

Crane still drew in weak breaths as he curled into Indel’s hold. He was big and fat as expected, and Indel laughed.

“You’ve eaten so much it’s made you lazy,” he teased.

And there they lay, Indel cradling Crane, Boon once again whining in Nala’s arms.

Indel brushed the remains of the chrysalis aside and closed his eyes.

“I do hope Crane won’t eat you alive before I wake, Summoner.”

Nala chuckled. “I doubt he has the energy today to make the attempt.”

Another day saw the babes back on schedule; Crane opened his eyes after one day. Right behind him, Boon did the same day as well—technically after two months.

Fortunately, Crane didn’t seem as interested in eating. Unfortunately, they found out the hard way that his digestion was working just fine.

Indel held him out, refusing to look down at his own feet. “This stench is unlike any other!”

Two more incidents before midday forced them to abandon the bed of hay. Indel concluded that some things might need burning if they ever hoped to sleep in that structure again.

As fire was a difficult thing to make, Nala carried the straw out and threw it as far from the house as she could—just where the berries met the woods.

It took days before they could perfect a proper routine. Once Crane began eating fruit and berries, Boon mirrored him. Despite their young age they seem to follow each other’s lead.

The mess after the berries had forced Indel to be adamant in selecting their foods.

One month passed with no signs of physical limitations for either child; both were fit and healthy. Fewer animals passed their gates, too.

Indel joked that the babes rancid bowels might have helped in that regard.

Caring for two of them was no easy task. Because Nala was better at working the farm, she was often outside while Indel remained within, determined to keep the wiggling kings from eating the fresh hay.

Once they were crawling, each morning was hell waking up to see just what they’d managed to climb together. Indel considered tying themselves to the babes. In the end, they had to safeguard the room.

A cave would have been better suited for newborns.

Often times, Nala held onto Boon firmer as he slept because while Crane was impulsive, he always sought Boon out before starting his mischief.

Most days Boon and Crane wrestled with one another and when they were finally big enough to take their first steps Indel sat on the bed of hay and smiled at them.

“I will bring them to see Sessel,” Indel said. As Nala busied herself with making their second, and final, meal for the day, Indel waited for an answer.

Finally, he said, “I cannot manage with both of them on my own. I must take on a lower stage to hide from the sun but their bodies aren’t fit yet.”

Still with her back to him, Nala said, “Forcing them to stay long hours in the suns is cruel.”

“But they are strapped to our backs most days as we worked the farm,” Indel contested.

Nala gave no reply. As soon as she sat down, both babes, who were busy trying to eat the hay, crawled toward her. Indel loved those moments, the times when they gravitated to Nala as all babes would to their rightful mother.

Crane picked himself up and took several wobbly steps before he fell yet again.

Indel smiled. He supposed if they went back, the nurses and other females would take the babes into their care. Even if they were in the same roost, he wouldn’t see them often.

Boon tried to mimic his brother’s action but didn’t manage to even stand before he fell over, crying.

Crane was prompt in crying along with him.

“Oh, no, no, no,” Nala cooed. She stood, taking Boon by both arms, trying to encourage him to walk. “You can do it, too.”

That was when she gasped.

Indel sat up. “What?”

“Blue,” Nala said, her eyes wide. “On the top of his head. His minor scales are blue!”

Leaning over, Indel tugged Boon close. Just above the forehead, above the false-horn, several blue scaled peeked through the red.

“Well, yes, I suppose Boon’s would be blue,” Indel admitted. “Summoners and Levelers are one in essence. Crane has eaten far more meat and blood than Boon who prefers berries and grain.”

Nala’s gaze traveled from a wobbly Boon to Indel. “You knew this?”

Indel shrugged. “Yes, of course. Don’t you know this as well?”

The glare in Nala’s eyes wasn’t one Indel could easily recognize but it held a hint of betrayal.

“Is it because he’s gentler, he uses more thought, is that why you intended to doom him to be a Summoner!” Nala asked.

Indel sat up. “Na’am, what are you saying? You gave him so much greens, nearly twice what you gave Crane. I thought it was your intention for his scales to be blue.”

“There’s no such thing as a Summoner king! So what is your intent?”

Her words, as truthful as they were, highlighted something stranger. When Indel looked at both babes, although he felt pride for them equally, he could never trust his people in the hands of a tentative ruler.

Crane’s hearts beat without falter. Boon seemed the sort who would have to will them to respond yet again and again with all his thoughtful studying. Crane could eat anything and still wanted more. Boon often nibbled before he tried to consume what was before him. Crane loved to wrestle. Boon would allow it then cry.

When Indel compared them, as he would have to eventually, he’d never considered Boon a true option. His intention was to go to Sessel and present Crane, Boon along with him as a protector or a private guard.

The disappointment in Nala’s eyes fueled Indel to stand.

“I will find meat. It’s been some time since I’ve hunted, but I cannot in this form. Is that all right?”

That news troubled Nala even more.

“For how long?” she asked, but Indel had no answer. It would be a waste to do it for only a few weeks. Nala wouldn’t allow more than half a cycle either. After the babes ate a good fill extensively, Indel was certain they would take on the third and final chrysalis. “Three months.”

Nala’s posture drooped.

“Three?”

“That is the fastest I can go before willing a change. When the mating season arrives, it’s a bit easier but I no longer follow the seasons naturally. I was even able to resist changing to Idrus after the mating season ended. I fear my body won’t allow a faster shift,” Indel said. “We can leave the babes as they are now, allow them to take on their scales and the new chrysalis as they are.”

With that, Nala looked down at Boon, pulling him closer. She came to a new conclusion.

“No. Boon needs meat. Let’s sacrifice and try it.” She hurried to add, “But let’s wait until they go down for a short sleep and you and I...we....”

Indel nodded, “Meet outside in the woods one last time?”

Nala’s skin dampened as she nodded. “Yes.”

“Understood.”