The Mouth of the Dragon, The Eyes of the Lamb

Chapter 5

Name days came and went. Aegon simply drank himself into oblivion on his own name day. Lucela had gotten Helaena more bugs for her name day. For Aemond's tenth name day, Lucela refused to give him his gift until they went to the training yard.

"Luce, why do we have to come out here?" Aemond groaned as Lucela dragged him by his hand. She simply giggled before leaving him in the middle of the field and running over to the table that held a variety of weapons. "Be careful!"

Lucela found what she was looking for and grabbed it off the table before walking back over to Aemond with her hands behind her back. He arched a brow at her as he watched her walk slowly back over to him.

"Close your eyes."

Aemond made sure to roll them before letting them close. He could feel Lucela grab his hands and position them where she wanted before she dropped something in his hands. He frowned as he felt the weight and finally let his eyes open.

He noticed the size first. He could tell it was a dagger by that alone. The sheath was silver with a filigree design on it. The handle is what really caught his attention. The cross guard that protected his hand from the blade was a darker silver, as was the pommel. The handle itself was made of sapphire. He looked at Lucela in awe before looking back at the dagger and unsheathing it. The sharp blade glinted in the sunlight, and he quickly resheathed it before pulling her into a hug.

"Luce, I love it! How did you get it?"

"You would be surprised at what I can convince Father to buy me." Aemond grinned and attached the sheath to his belt, and there it remained.

For Lucela's name day, Aemond refused to give her her gifts much like she had done to him. He pulled her into her chambers with a grin and pushed her towards the table in the center of the room.

On the table sat two boxes and a cluster of flowers. The flowers grabbed Lucela's attention, and she turned to look at Aemond in shock.

"Deadly nightshade? Where did you find deadly nightshade?" She asked excitedly as she turned her attention back to the purple flower. "You didn't touch it did you?"

"No, I didn't touch it. And I'm not going to tell you where I got it." Aemond's tone was teasing, and Lucela stuck her tongue out at him before grabbing one of the boxes.

Inside was a ring attached to a chain. Lucela pulled it out gently as Aemond walked over to her. The ring was beautiful with an amethyst cut into an oval shape in the middle of a simple silver band.

"Aemond...." Lucela said softly. Aemond smirked and grabbed the chain from her so he could clasp it around her neck.

"It's too big for you right now, so I figured you could wear it like this until you grow into it."

Lucela smiled at him over her shoulder before reaching for the last box on the table. Nestled inside was a silver hair comb with amethysts decorating it. Like her ring, an oval amethyst sat in the middle with smaller ones surrounding it.

"How?" She asked softly as she ran her small fingers along the stones.

"You would be surprised at what I can get my father to buy," Aemond said with a smirk. Lucela carefully put the hair comb back into the box and closed the lid. They both knew that they were too young for such extravagant gifts, but they didn't care. They knew that they would be careful with them, and that's all that mattered.

Rhaenyra arched a brow when Lucela and Aemond reentered the throne room. Her eyes immediately went to the chain around Lucela's neck. Aemond had bought her jewelry? How had he managed that? Her own fingers quickly found the necklace her own uncle, Daemon, had gifted her many years prior.