_{Warning: This story can be upsetting as it includes slight child mistreatment but nothing abusive?}

Debts

It was an arrival 5 months in the making, three he’d carried the eggs within him as they grew and formed, cast from the fruits of the October rut. Two they’d lain dormant under the earth where their parent had carefully and almost lovingly shaped a nest for them, incubating them under layers of fermenting plant matter under his watchful gaze.

Like all newborns that share crocodilian blood, at the sound of their hatchling the ‘mother’ stirred from his perch on the rock and crawled on his stomach down to their level, lying next to the unmoving reed mound and listening to their errant cheeping.

****

Burgundy hued, soft bodied. Blaire led his stumbling newborn away from the next to test its… her, legs. She gave a testing bleat, scurried forth with adorable fawn face aloft to search at his underside, before giving another soft bleat when her mother kept moving.

Such young innocence couldn’t place the feeling of wrongness, couldn’t begin to understand why it was the snake refused to look back at her, or when he did just for a moment his face seemed agonised. All the little girl felt was happiness, love for the one that called her out of her shell and up out of the nestpile, and expectation, albeit subdued slightly with abject curiosity on where they must be heading.

It wasn’t until the young female noticed two large, upright creatures did she give a startled sound, darting in precaution behind her mother and tucked under his long tail, peering out and watching as Blaire waited for the two legged, freakish appearing monsters to amble towards him. The first was thin and angular, with long spindly feet and multiple arms from which similarly long thin hands sprouted. A squat face with a beak-like mouth and large, bulging eyes framed by curly, short hair.

“Rasui.” Blaire greeted them by name, gaining a curt nod.

The second appeared more like a man, not that the newborn had any concept of men, with curled ram horns and multiple eyes fixed on a well muscled body, ending in a two pronged tail that swept around him in seeming irritation;

"You said there was more than one, enough for us both!” The male growled in a deep, acidic voice.

It didn’t stir the snake though, who only replied with monotony;

“The others didn’t incubate. There is only one. I had no way of knowing when I sent for you.”

“This one… This one is miiiine.” Crowed Rasui, creeping forward in ungainly steps and sweeping behind Blaire, plucking the fawn by its leg.

The child gave many alarmed squeals, kicking out with its spare leg as its mother forced a face of indifference at the handling;

“That one is yours.” Blaire confirmed, to which the male demon gave an irritated hiss. Rasui turned the daughter a few times by alternating hands grabbing alternating limbs, before holding it by the shoulders.

“Will do nicely. The debt is paid.” With that the pale female turned and slunk away, in odd, jarring steps with the gently squeal-sobbing child under one arm.

“You still owe me now, Snake.” Came the short snap from the ram-horned male, before the other could answer he disappeared into a puff of hot smoke, whose heat Blaire could feel from where he was stood.

And for once he suddenly felt the great weight of being alone. And he began to cry as the realization of what he’d done settled on him.

****

Moving back to his rock, staring emptily at the disturbed nest pile where he’d dug into the earth to expose the eggs. Idly the vodun king swept the empty egg shells back and forth with his paw, before shooting a calloused look around.

No one. It was merely early dawn, the sun had not even started to expose itself over the horizon and the nights chill was only just starting to fade. In the distance an owl called as it was returning to its roost for the day, and he merely waited.

Turning slowly he stared at his discarded cape lying in a heap at the base of the rock. Prowling towards it and slowly laying down, he nosed it aside.

And stared with a moment of tenderness at the two newborns snuggled together for warmth, their pale brown and almost-white coats staring back at him and eliciting an almost-smile if not for the bereaved face he currently sported.

Trying to tell himself he sold the third daughter because she was the smallest, or perhaps because of her coat, too obviously inherited from either Vinay or Lucchaine it hindered his cuckoo behaviour of sliding them in with whichever male seemed appropriate.

But it made his heart ache for a child lost, and having to choose between either of these two to sate the male demon was the hardest decision he simply could not make.

He opted to call the lost daughter Dawn, so that he could think of her as an individual, and hoped she never knew what he had done.

For now he had two, equally precious daughters to care for, and so leaned to give soft yet bristly smooches to each of their heads, then lying absently by their sides.

_{BLAIRE

ISLA

SORCHA

Characters to their respective owners.

Rasui belongs to Foxinthestars, UNNAMED DEMON DOOD to Novaqi. Used with permission.

Art is by me and one by Foxinthestars.

CSS also by me you can tell because ITS AWFUL.}