Ruin Me

Chapter Twenty

"Dranot. Dranot. Dranot. At the end?" Jacaerys guessed as his mother entered the great hall, rubbing a swollen belly beneath her orange dress.

"The mouth," she answered.

"Mouth! Come on, Jace, you knew that. Dranot. Dranot. Dranot."

"Isn't it true that speaking to oneself is a sign of madness, cousin?" Vaelon teased.

"You forget that you were once as skilled as Jace is, Vaelon. You have been practicing High Valyrian your entire life, Jacaerys made his start in recent months. Be kind."

"Issa, Muna," Vaelon sighed.

"Ever the dutiful son," Jace teased back while also having a go at translating what was said. Yes, Mother, was Vaelon's response to his aunt's scolding words.

"Perhaps that is enough for this morning," Rhaenyra suggested as she smiled at her sister before their sons could start wrestling each other over the war table.

"No! No. I want to keep going," Jace insisted. "Maester."

"Guesi misenakson Aegon undas."

"Aegon... ordered that the...trees should be...killed?"

"Felled," Daenyra corrected.

"It is a related word," Rhaenyra added. "I don't expect you to learn High Valyrian in a day, Jace."

"A king should honour the traditions of his forbears," Jace pointed out passionately.

"Well, it is a good thing that you are not a king then," Vaelon teased before he dodged his cousin's punch.

"Do you not have a wooden dummy to go and whack with that flimsy little sword of yours?" Jace asked.

"Oh, I would, if only my dearest mother would seek to provide her firstborn child with a new sword. Perhaps, one of Valyrian Steel?"

Daenyra's smile grew as her hand rested on Shadow Fang's hilt. "Nice try, Vaelon, but considering you near severed little Joffrey's head from his shoulders, you naught be touching my sword any time soon."

"But Mother –"

"No," she said sternly, but her lips remained smiling.

"Fine," he huffed as he relented his efforts.

"Vaelon does have a point," Rhaenyra piped up. "Unless you're planning to depose your own mother, you have plenty of time to study."

They turned to see the doors open as Daemon marched through.

"Leave us," Rhaenyra commanded as the Maester began to file out along with their sons.

"Joffrey," Jace called as his younger brother moved away from his nursemaid.

Vaelon walked past Daemon who squeezed his shoulder affectionately before heading straight to his wife.

Daenyra beamed as bright as the fire that burned nearby as Daemon approached her side. His hands slid about her hips as he pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"You look happy. I trust Syrax left a bountiful treasure for you to find?" she asked her husband as her hand covered his.

His nose rubbed at her temple. "Three eggs."

"Three eggs?!"

"Indeed. They are being placed in the warming chamber as we speak. How are our twins?"

Six years was a long time. And shortly after their small wedding ceremony where they were bound with blood, Daenyra's belly began to swell with not one but two babes. She had been nervous, of course, but Daemon held her hand just as he did the day that Vaelon was born. Because this time as Daenyra stood before a man at the altar and vowed, "I am yours and you are mine. Whatever may come," and he pledged the same, she knew he would uphold his vow. Especially because Daemon had brushed a finger on the necklace that was still draped around her neck when he spoke his vow.