The Mouth of the Dragon, The Eyes of the Lamb

Chapter 7

Daemon and Lucela were sitting on the floor of Driftmark's throne room. He had asked Lucela what she was interested in, and she promptly began talking about her flowers and her treasured flower book. Now, here they sat. Daemon had the book open in his lap and was turning the pages. Lucela was tucked into his side and would point at random pages before telling Daemon all about the flower.

"Luce?" Lucela jerked her head over to the doors as she heard a panicked voice calling her name. "Luce?" The doors opened, and Rhaenyra all but ran inside. Jace and Luke were trailing closely behind her. Lucela jumped up and smiled. "Luce!"

The relief was evident in Rhaenyra's voice at seeing her only daughter running over to her. She didn't hesitate to crouch down and catch Lucela in her arms in a hug. She pressed her lips to her cheek in a series of quick kisses.

"Hi, Mama!"

Rhaenyra pulled back slightly and ran her hands along Lucela's hair and cheeks. She never wanted to be away from her daughter again. "Where is your father?" Lucela shrugged, and Rhaenyra's smile fell slightly. "What about your grandparents?"

"I haven't seen Grandfather or Father today. Grandmother is with Baela and Rhaena."

Rhaenyra stood quickly but didn't take her gaze off of Lucela. She was going to beat Laenor with the closest thing she could find as soon as she found him. How could he leave their daughter alone in a strange place? How could Corlys and Rhaenys?

"Who has been with you?"

"Uncle Daemon," Lucela said with a small bounce and a huge grin. Rhaenyra felt like the floor had fallen out from under her as she jerked her head up.

Daemon had approached, but he was still some distance away. He didn't want to intrude on Rhaenyra reuniting with her daughter. His eyes fell on the two boys behind her, and he smirked softly. There was no denying that her sons belonged to Harwin Strong. If not for her dark curls, Lucela looked to be pure Targaryen.

"Nyra," Daemon said in a way of greeting. He finally closed the gap and handed Lucela her book back. "Thank you for teaching me about flowers, little lamb."

Lucela took her book and smiled up at him before looking back at her mother. "Where are Aemond and Helaena, Mama?"

"They were only a slight way behind me, sweet girl." Rhaenyra couldn't tear her eyes away from Daemon. Lucela glanced between the two adults before frowning slightly. She walked around Rhaenyra to meet Jace and Luke.

Luke smiled as he slung his arms around his twin sister in an embrace. Lucela giggled softly and hugged Luke back. Even though it had only been a day, Lucela had missed Luke like crazy.

"They're twins, you say?" Daemon asked Rhaenyra softly as he stared at the two children. "They look nothing alike."

Rhaenyra smiled softly as she tore her gaze away from Daemon to stare at her twins. "Only their hair. They act alike, though. My sweet twins." Daemon shifted his gaze back to Rhaenyra. He remembered the feisty young girl she was when he left, the one that didn't want children. Yet, here she stood, a proud mother of four.

Jace grimaced like he was in pain before his arms shot out and wrapped around Lucela. Her violet eyes widened in surprise as she felt his arms squeeze for a moment before he let go. "I missed you, Luce."

"Luce!" Two voices called out from the doorway. Lucela was still reeling about Jace as she turned to the noise. Aemond and Helaena came through the doorway. Aemond was almost frantic in his searching before his violet eyes landed on his best friend. His face broke out in a smile as he ran over to her.

Helaena didn't run; she simply walked over to the small group. Aemond now had his hand firmly clasped in Lucela's and refused to let her go. Daemon arched a brow at them but kept his mouth closed. Corlys had told him that she was close to Helaena and Aemond. Aemond dragged Lucela away from the group, and Daemon kept his eye on them.