Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy this latest chapter.

Note: To answer a reader's question Colin and Edward aren't based on specific characters or actors. Colin's look is very much like a LOTR elf in they're beauty and androgyny, while Edward is just good looking in a common sort of way and is sorta like an older, male version of Roxy in my head.

Keeper of Secrets

When Edward confirmed what Colin already knew but was stubbornly denying the omega was immediately engulfed by his family in a large group hug while Harry moved away to give them their space. Edward wasn't usually so demonstrative in public, he was very typically British that way, but this was a special occasion and Harry turned his attention elsewhere to give them what privacy he could. They'd give their own congratulations shortly.

Eggsy moved over to stand beside him, threading their fingers together. "So I never got the whole up the duff scent thing. Ow's that work exactly?"

Rather than point out that he was an omega and therefore didn't smell things as dominants did Harry gave a slight shoulder shrug. "I'm not sure, really. Apparently there's some minute change in their omega's scent that their dominant picks up on. It signals to their brains that they have young to care for. A couple weeks later other dominants pick up on it, and that's even if they weren't familiar with the omega's original scent. No one's ever been able to explain it to me well either."

"Oh."

Keeping his voice low, Harry asked Eggsy if he was all right.

"Yeah."

Not believing that for a minute, there was most certainly something troubling his mate, Harry was about to subtly try and pump Eggsy for more information when there came a knock at the door. Dammit. He and Eggsy really were going to have to work on both their timing and communication.

Harry guessed that it was Edward's assistant announcing that Rachel had arrived, so he stated that he'd answer the door to give the Mortons time to separate a little. And in Colin's case blot away tears with Edward's handkerchief. Rachel must have been in the area to have gotten here so quickly. Or Edward was needed for something, though he hoped that wasn't the case for Colin's sake.

Walking over Harry opened the door to find not just Edward's assistant standing in the doorway, but directly behind her a woman that Harry was sure he knew from somewhere, but where? She looked to be a little older than him and there was something about her eyes…

"Keeper."

"Harry. It is good to see you."

Telling the assistant that he'd take it from here so that she could return to her desk, Harry smiled at her and then moved to the side to let the Keeper pass by him, hearing the others' sounds surprise as they saw that it wasn't Rachel at the door.

The Keeper did not visit without an extremely important reason.

She was dressed in a simple black suit as well, which was why it had taken him a moment to recognize her even though he hadn't seen her that long ago. Keepers always wore ceremonial robes for the special occasions they presided over, and Harry wasn't entirely sure if he'd ever met one in ordinary clothing.

Closing the door firmly behind him and locking it just in case, Harry immediately lengthened his stride to take his place beside Eggsy as soon as he could while Edward kept Colin pressed up against his side with his children flanking them protectively. Keepers weren't violent, and if violence was required they sent someone from the Guild they presided over to do their dirty work for them, but still…

"I apologize for interrupting. Congratulations, Colin, on your happy news. He's going to be a lovely addition to your family and the Guild."

"Another boy." Colin repeated, his hands going protectively to his stomach. He still looked a little shocked and pale but Colin was a mother to his very bones. And when a Keeper showed interest in your child it was wise to pay attention and find out why ASAP.

"Yes. Though unlike all the others, who take after your mate's side of the family, this one will be just like you in face and at heart. I can't wait to meet him."

For a moment Colin just beamed with happiness to hear that. Which made sense to Harry since all his friend's children looked and for the most part acted like Edward. None of them really resembling Colin the slightest. Of course that didn't matter in terms of how much their mother loved them, but Harry suspected it had always been Colin's secret hope to have at least one child take after him.

The smile faded though when it occurred to Colin, along with everyone else, that the Keeper wouldn't have come all this way just to acknowledge the coming of a new dragon. Not unless there was more to it than that.

"My future son is of interest to you?" There was a hint of his dragon in both Edward's eyes and voice. Now that he knew Colin was pregnant the usually cool and stoic dominant was going to be inclined to show his teeth when faced with any possible threat. Even one as powerful as a Keeper.

"To a degree. But I've come about something else."

"And what's that?" Roxy asked, her hazel eyes showing more pupil, suggesting they might go slitted at any moment. Percival's were much the same.

"I'll explain if everyone will take a seat."

"Percival, we'll need more seats. Can you go get some please?"

"Yes, Father."

No one spoke as he left the room, the silence continuing and deafening as they waited for him to return with the chairs. Edward shepherded Colin with him around his desk and then when he took his chair again he pulled Colin down onto his knee. Roxy brought over one of the visitor's chairs for the Keeper to sit on, which she thanked her for. It was the only words spoken in the room.

Eggsy's fingers tightened around his, Harry holding on just as securely.

Once Percival returned he brought two chairs over for Eggsy and Harry, Eggsy murmuring that he'd stand before moving to take up position directly behind Harry's chair. Nodding his understanding Percival went over to give the other chair to his sister, who frowned but took the seat after placing the chair in front of her father's desk, careful not blocking him from view. Percival did the same on the other side.

Everyone seated, the Keeper's hands folded neatly in her lap, her ees scanned the room once before she finally addressed why she was there.

"Does everyone here know what a grand high dominant is?"

Going around the room Edward and Percival had some idea of what she spoke of while Roxy and Eggsy had little to no idea. Harry and Colin both stated that yes, they knew what it meant for a dragon to be called that. And Harry and Colin shared looks that contained more than a little confusion as to why she'd be asking them about THAT considering there hadn't been one in centuries and wasn't likely to be in the future. Hopefully.

And then Colin's eyes went huge as he clutched his stomach and demanded to know that his baby wasn't going to be one.

"No, Dear. He isn't. Now would you explain what one is?"

Breathing out in relief Colin did as asked without further question. "A grand high dominant is a dragon born with the power and talents of the earliest dragons. They're also all but unkillable upon conception. There are only two things that can kill them, and that's another grand high dominant or their mother. No poison or weapon made by man or magical being can affect it against its will. They're born seers, able to see both the past and future. They possess charisma gifts, telepathy, and physical prowess that make them unmatched on the field of battle. They also generally grow up to be some of the worst of our kind."

"Ah. But not because they're destined to be." The Keeper interjected smoothly. "It's true that the majority of grand high dominants did more harm than good during their time upon this earth, but it's not because they were born to do harm. They were raised to do it."

"Wot you mean?" Eggsy wanted to know, an air of urgency in his tone.

"All of you have lived in this world long enough to know what becomes of a child who is spoiled, isolated, and told from birth that they're all but gods. In the past the worst of the grand high dominants were raised by their Guilds instead of their parents. They were treated like little kings and queens with their every wish indulged without true discipline or any attempt made to teach them right from wrong. And as you may or may not know the mother is always key to the development of a grand high dominant because only the mother is immune to their child's magic. Only the mother can, at least while the dragon in question is a child, control him or her if necessary. Can use their will to shape that dragon into who he or she will become."

The Keeper sighed and shook her head then. "But too often in the past the child was taken from the mother or the Guild Master controlled the mother and therefore through the omega sought to control the child. Or, of course, the mother spoiled the child out of love or a desire to possess all that a grand high can acquire once they're old enough. When a grand high does wrong it's often been because those in its life focused only on the wealth, prestige, and power the child would bring them upon maturity. They failed to realize that they were creating an unstoppable, selfish and unfeeling monster who would want the same things regardless of the cost to others. Including those that 'raised' it."

Now the Keeper's eyes met Harry's knowingly. "You had a grand high dominant in your family tree, did you not?"

"In the late thirteenth century, yes. Or at least according to records." Dragon memories were long, their obsession with their bloodlines deep. "She was born to a Guild Master and his consort, and her own rule was one of great prosperity and relative peace to the best of my knowledge."

"Yes, it was. Had she been born into a century where females were allowed the same opportunities as men she would have elevated the human race as well as her own during her lifetime."

"Keeper, I mean no disrespect, but why are we discussing grand high dominants?" Percival asked, cutting straight to the heart of the matter which Harry very much appreciated. Good manners and confusion had kept him from doing the same as soon as the Keeper had brought the topic up. The magic levels were too low for such a dragon to be born, hence the fact there hadn't been one in centuries to contend with.

"I bring it up because your mother is not the only omega in this room carrying a child."

)

Later Harry would wonder if the reason the Keeper had asked that they all be seated for this discussion was because she'd foreseen that Harry's knees would give out on him when it hit him what she was saying. Telling them. Because the only other omega in the room was him. He and Colin were the only omegas, were they not? And therefore if someone else was pregnant it had to be him. And Keepers were seers so there was no way she could be wrong, but she had to be wrong, didn't she? He couldn't get pregnant. He was infertile. A failure as an omega. He'd always been told so and…and a Keeper was telling him differently. And a Keeper would never be wrong about something like this. So as unbelievable as it sounded…

Eggsy. "Fuck!"

Roxy. "Holy shit."

Colin. "Harry!"

Edward and Percival just stared with visible surprise.

Eggsy was also the first to draw the most logical conclusion, which was why the Keeper would feel the needed a history lesson about grand high dominants and the importance of properly parenting them so that they didn't end the world as they knew it.

"So wot you're telling us is that our sprog's one of them high dominants?"

"Yes. It's why King tried to claim your mate as his own. Despite our warnings to the contrary." The set of the older woman's jaw made it clear how she still felt about that.

She'd mentioned that before, at the mating ceremony, Harry distantly recalled.

Colin's voice cut through those thoughts with his next words. "What do you mean about that being why King mated with him before? How could he even know that there was a chance Harry would have one when there shouldn't be enough magic here to begin with."

"Your Guild Master is a student of history. The mothers of grand high dominants are always dominants born into the bodies of omegas. They have to be that strong to stand a chance of parenting such powerful offspring. Harry's dual nature was obvious even as a young man and that, paired with the fact that the blood of a grand high dominant already flowed through his veins…the possibility of having the most powerful dragon in the world as his son or daughter was worth mating with someone he had no interest in otherwise."

The indrawn breaths and looks on everyone's faces made it clear that they were all thinking how catastrophic it would have been if King had gotten the child he wanted from Harry.

"It's why your dragon would have nothing to do with him, Harry. He knew you'd have to kill your own child someday if the sire was King."

Harry found his voice then, his snarled 'No!' echoing in the silent room as he got to his feet in one fluid motion, his arms wrapping protectively around his waist to echo Colin's earlier reaction. To an omega there was nothing and no one more important than their offspring. They'd die before they'd let anyone hurt them.

Eggsy had moved up behind him, his arms coming up to pull Harry back against him so that Eggsy could hug him from behind as he whispered that it was going to be all right. He'd protect them. He wouldn't let no one or nothin hurt them.

The Keeper lifted a hand in a placating manner. "No. As long as the child and his sister, when she comes, remains in yours and Eggsy's care they will be the greatest dragons born in centuries. They will save not only our kind from ourselves, but make great strides when it comes to the rest of the world as well."

"A…a boy? And…" Harry trailed off, still unable to quite wrap his mind all the way around the idea of one child, much less the possibility of two. And even more than that the fact that apparently said children were going to grow up to reshape the world. For the better from the sounds of it, though really, who decided that? The mind boggled.

"The boy now, then in a few years a daughter. Or that is how the Powers that Be intend for it to be."

Eggsy's statement that King would take his babies from him over his dead body was more snarled than spoken.

"Our dead bodies." Harry corrected with a growl.

"Yes." The Keeper nodded her head knowingly. "Which is why I've called a meeting of the Kingsman Guild for this Sunday. Colin, you'll want to have your father there. Both pregnancies will be announced, and I will be on hand to paint very clear pictures of what will happen if any attempt is made against the best interests of Harry and Eggsy's child."

Colin's gaze was fierce as he stated that his father would be there.

"We'll ALL be there." Roxy promised, her expression suggesting anyone who disagreed should fear for their life.

'You do know who he'll kill first, right?'

Blinking in response to the unexpectedness of his dragon hissing in his ear, though really, what had taken him so long, Harry silently demanded to know what he meant.

'King. He'll kill our mate. He'll think that if he removes Eggsy from the equation he can force us to become his again. Raise our son as his. We cannot allow that to happen.'

Of course he would. That was exactly what Chester would do. At this point his former mate hated Eggsy enough that the only reason Chester probably hadn't had him killed was that he didn't want to deal with the rumors and backlash. But he wouldn't care that everyone would know he was responsible for Eggsy's death if it meant he got what he'd apparently sought to get from Harry decades before. He'd be counting on the fact that Eggsy didn't have any family in the Guild to seek revenge for his death aside from Harry. Yes he'd have to know that the Mortons and Merlin and his family would try and help him seek justice, but for the chance to have a grand high dominant of his very own…King would risk all their wraths. Would arrange for all their deaths if that what it took to have the boy.

Snarling in his fury, Harry burst out of Eggsy's hold and whirled around to face his mate, cupping Eggsy's face between his hands.

"He'll try and kill you. King. He'll see you as the only thing standing between him and what he wants. The fact that the child won't be his in blood won't matter. He won't let you live."

Not looking worried Eggsy put his hands over Harry's. "Good thing I ain't easy ta kill then, ain't it?"