| Lirmal "If you would please shut up, Lirmal, it would make us all a whole lot happier," Venqua glared at her fellow Holdbrat. He was talkative, alright, and hated by pretty much everyone at the hold for reasons other than that. His mother and father had not been married, so his birth was looked upon with general disgust. Prenca, perched on his right shoulder, growled deep in her throat. "It's okay, girl," Lirmal whispered to the golden firelizard, and the growl softened slightly. He glared at Venqua. "I still haven't given out Prenca's eggs," He reminded the Holdbrat in a soft voice. Prenca had risen for her first time, and had been caught for a whild bronze. Many of the Holdbrats had been begging him for eggs, and some had even offered marks for the largest of the eggs. Venqua then shut up. Lirmal turned to go help with the canines, hoping that she wouldn't follow him and annoy him more. The firey redhead was the attraction of most of the male Holdbrats, with Lirmal excluded. He simply couldn't bear her company, even for the slightest moment. "Hey, Spink," Lirmal whispered to one of the female canines at Mouvar Hold as she jumped against the wooden slats of her cage. She had just whelped a litter of puppies, and only trust Lirmal. He was the only one that could get close to her, although she hadn't allowed him near her puppies. By now, though, they had opened their eyes, and the more curious ones had begun stumbling around their domain. He slipped inside the door, ordering Preca back to his room. Lirmal doubted that Spink would enjoy the golden firelizard with him while he inspected her puppies. The bitch whined softly as Lirmal headed towards her puppies, but he scratched behind her ear with a slender hand, and she immediately quieted. "There, Spink," He whispered, kneeling down in the soft straw to examine the nine puppies. "What's the count?" The Head Canine-handler stuck his head over the wire door. "All of them healthy?" "Five dogs and four bitches," Lirmal replied. "Not bad, eh?" The handler nodded in agreement, and Lirmal felt quite a bit of pride. He'd been the one who had picked out the dog that Spink was mated to, a wiry, lean, bluish-gray dog that was used quite often for herding burdenbeasts. He examined the smallest female. "The runt has a bit of a limp, but she should be fine for breeding stock, especially for a runt." "I think that the runt in this litter is about as large as most of our average sized dogs in other litters. What do you think?" The man asked, and Lirmal nodded in agreement. A very good litter, indeed. |