"Not everyone will be happy, perhaps, but they will be envious as well. A child of your lineage means power. He . . ."

"Is it a boy?" Val asked. She clapped her hands to her ears. "No! I don't want to know!"

Mai grabbed her left wrist and pulled it down. "Or she. I could look, but I don't care. It doesn't matter, Valerie. This will be a dragon baby. You should be proud."

"I'm not ready!"

"It doesn't matter. That is why it takes eleven months to bring one into the world. It gives you time to prepare."

"Eleven! It only takes nine months to have a baby!"

Mai shrugged. "We are not humans, however we look. Our gestation period is different."

"Ohhh," Val moaned. She rubbed her forehead. "I was just about reconciled with nine months, and now you tell me it's going to be longer?"

"I did tell you before. You just didn't want to hear it. Some women blossom in pregnancy."

"Not me. I'm already starting to walk funny," Val said, tottering out into the bedroom and sinking onto the edge of her bed. "The extra weight's throwing off my pace when I run."

Mai followed. She lit gracefully on Val's desk chair like a butterfly touching onto a flower. "You will cope. All females have coped since the beginning of gender. You should be thinking of more important matters."

"Such as?"

"For a start, in what surroundings you will bring up this marvel." Mai looked around the small room, her mouth pursed with disapproval. Val was suddenly keenly aware of the laundry piled on the dresser and the smudgy windowpanes. "It is a shame you live this way."

Val was hurt. "On my salary, this is what I can afford."

"There are resources. You can avail yourself of them."

"I don't like the idea of throwing me or Griffen in debt to anyone."

Mai tossed her head. "Why look at it that way? Plenty of people would like to do you favors. It is an honor to serve you. Nearly pure-blooded dragons are powerful. Those who are their friends benefit by association."