Chapter 317: 317: Lanterns Under Stone
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She hesitated only long enough to lean in once more and kiss him like a signature on a letter already sent. Then she set her feet and tested her balance. He moved at her pace, one hand near her shoulder, not because she was fragile from the mating, but because he was showing his gentleman nature.
The path down into Monarch Mountain curved in wide arcs, lit by ribs of bioluminescent moss that glowed a patient green. Kai walked at Naaro’s side with one arm around her human shoulders, his other hand steady at the hard seam where her torso met the sleek power of her four ant legs. The glow in her lower abdomen pulsed in small, even waves beneath his cloak, coloring the stone with a soft aureate shimmer as they moved.
"Slow," he said softly.
"I am steady," Naaro replied, and it was true. Pride lengthened her spine. Her steps were measured. The radiance under her skin looked like a lantern cupped in both palms so it would not go out.
The air grew warmer as they descended. The mountain’s scent changed from cool rock and night wind to damp mineral and faint sweetness, like warm rain falling through a grove. At an elbow in the corridor the essence hum of the new chamber reached them, a subtle thrum that matched the light under Naaro’s hands when she held her belly.
"Do you remember the southern forest," she asked suddenly, voice quiet, eyes forward. "When you were fierce and careful at the same time."
"Yes," Kai said. "You were braver than the danger."
"I am braver now," she said, and her antennae twitched with shy amusement. "Also heavier."
"I will carry whatever I must, especially my women," he said.
She leaned into him for three steps and then straightened again, determined to arrive on her own strength. He allowed it. There are promises one keeps with arms, and others one keeps by not using them too soon.
The chamber mouth opened like a great shell. Heat breathed out over them. Within, the domed ceiling gleamed with resin smooth stone. Warm vents stitched the floor with thin currents. The central pool held essence like liquid starlight, and seven cradles ringed the room, their silk-lined hollows ready. Runes glowed faintly along the walls where Kai had set them earlier, their loops and hooks tuned for aura, moisture, and shelter.
The system chimed in his mind, precise and serene.
[Ding! System Notification: Consort Naaro’s egg maturity confirmed.
Laying readiness: imminent.
Recommendation: induce calm state, maintain warmth, and provide aura guidance. Transfer to essence pool channels within one hour of laying for accelerated incubation.
Projected hatch time: one month.]
Naaro’s eyes swept the room. She released a breath that shivered at the edges. "It feels like a temple."
"It is," Kai said. "A temple that makes armies and children."
"Then be its priest," she answered, smiling faintly. "Stand with me."
He led her to the nearest cradle, the one he had lined twice with silk. He touched the rune to warm it. The cradle answered with a glow that matched the color beneath her skin. She eased down with careful dignity, four legs folding with a dancer’s poise. Kai knelt before her and set his palms lightly on either side of the glow.
[Ding! System Notification: Host aura guidance available. Would you like to open a Monarch’s Mark channel to synchronize heartbeat and breath for optimal laying?]
"Yes," Kai said.
A second pulse moved through him, then into her, steady and slow. Naaro’s shoulders relaxed as if a weight she had not been carrying alone stepped off at last and stood beside her. She breathed with him. He matched her. The two rhythms became one.
"I feel them," she whispered.
"I do too," he said.
The glow answered their voices with a brighter flush and then settled.
"Tell me what you need," he said.
"Stay near," she said. "Speak when I forget to be brave."
"You will not forget," he said, and then, softer, "but I will remind you anyway."
The first tightening came like a ring closing and opening around the light. Naaro’s jaw clenched for a heartbeat and then eased. Kai kept his palms steady over the glow and let his aura link do the quiet work of smoothing edges and keeping warmth.
[Ding! System Notification: Contraction cycle detected. Efficiency is high. Aura sharing is optimal. Begin transfer to the first cradle when release begins.]
They did not hurry. The chamber’s hum folded itself into their breathing. At the height of the next wave, Naaro’s hand found Kai’s wrist. Her grip was strong.
"Right here," he said, and she nodded.
When the first eggs came, it was ceremonial more than clinical, a rhythm older than fear. They were small in size and faintly warm, each one like a small moon folded in frost. Naaro’s body knew the work. Kai’s did too, in a different way. He moved with that knowledge, anchoring her through each release, catching each new hope with hands that were gentle and efficient, setting them into the silk lined cradle that waited.
Not numbers, he told himself. Names. Not yet spoken, but already his.
Between cycles he wiped her brow with the corner of his cloak and brought a shallow cup of warm essence liquid to her lips. She drank with a soldier’s economy and tipped her head, ready again before he asked if she was.
"You are steady," he said.
"You are the reason," she answered, and then a small laugh escaped her despite the strain. "And the cause."
He met her smile and let the next wave take their words away. This time she leaned forward and pressed her forehead to his chest. He held her, and the world narrowed to breath, light, and placement. The second cradle took shape, then the third. The glow along her abdomen brightened between the rings, then softened as each group found its nest.
The system kept pace with quiet bells like beads sliding along a string.
[Ding! Cycle two complete. Aura balance is stable.]
[Ding! Cycle three complete. Heat retention optimal.]
[Ding! Cycle four complete. Essence saturation within design parameters.]