Chapter 5
The new babes were now asleep, nestled between blankets as they lay in Jaehaerys and Jaehaera's old crib, while their cousins stared in awe at the two of them. Neither twin had ever seen a newborn before, but they had been around Lucerys for the duration of his pregnancy. Their little hands would press against the swell of his belly anytime he mentioned to their Muna that his children were moving. Both pups had been excited, claiming that the new children would be their friends before the two of them had been born.
But even at a young age, they knew something was wrong.
Their Uncle Aemond, who would always smile at Uncle Luke, had slowly disappeared from their visits. He no longer talked about finding dragon eggs for their new cousins with them, and had even stopped talking to Uncle Luke! And that was silly of him! Uncle Aemond loved Uncle Luke! Not in the way Kepa loved Muna. But, it was still a good way. They had seen Uncle Aemond go from being angry at grandmother and Ser Cole to smiling at Uncle Luke. He would always be hugging Uncle Luke with his hand over a weird-looking mark on his shoulder.
Jaehaerys had poked the mark one day as he sat in his uncle's lap and asked what it was. Uncle Aemond had said it showed that he and Uncle Luke belonged together.
Jaehaera then pointed out that Uncle Aemond didn't have the same mark, but their uncle only said he had been marked in a different way.
The twins later asked their Muna why she and Kepa did not have a mark like Uncle Luke. She smiled and said that while she cared for their Kepa, and he cared for her, they were not meant to be marked like their uncles. Both twins began to tear up, did that mean their Muna was not loved like Uncle Luke?
"Don't cry, my creatures," She said as they clung to her skirts, "I was not to be marked by your Kepa, but my Morning will find me soon and will love the two of you as well as myself,"
Neither twin understood what she meant, but with each new day, they asked their Muna if this was the morning she was waiting for. Each time she kissed their foreheads and said it was not, but it would be soon.
They were both happy that their Muna would be loved like Uncle Aemond and Uncle Luke.
And they both knew Uncle Luke loved Uncle Aemond because Uncle Luke became sad when he couldn't talk to Uncle Aemond anymore. He didn't talk to a lot of people besides them and Muna and didn't smile as much.
But he always smiled at them.
The twins knew something was wrong, and that their Uncle Aemond was the cause since Muna had angrily said his name multiple times as she talked to the strange adults in the room.
Jaehaerys and Jaehaera did not know who they were, but they could tell that they cared about their Uncle Luke.
One lady had her hair back in a long braid and kept calling their Muna her sweet sister as she held Uncle Luke's hand. Beside her was a man who would run his hand through Uncle Luke's hair while speaking quietly with the other man in the room.
His skin was dark and his hair was braided in a way that neither twin had seen before. He was angry, they could tell, but they felt no danger being in the same room as him. They knew he was there to protect their uncle and their Muna stood at his side without fear.
The other lady was dressed for flying and her hair was piled atop her head. She stood on the other side of Muna and kept looking between Uncle Luke and the new babies.
There was also a man with a very long necklace that spoke with a worried expression that made everyone upset.
Jaehaera tilted her head as one of her cousins began to squirm in the crib and reached a small, chubby hand to brush against the thick curls on the pup's head.
Jaehaerys, deciding that he would wait for his new cousins to wake up before bothering them, toddled over to his Muna's bed and pulled himself up. He managed to crawl over to Uncle Luke and nestle into his side with a frown,
"Hot, Muna," Jaehaerys said, drawing the adult's attention to him, "Unca Lu hot,"
"Your uncle isn't feeling well, Jaehaerys. He's warm because he's fighting his illness," The pup frowned at his Muna and looked at his uncle,
"No feel good?" When he got a nod, Jaeaerys leaned down and placed a clumsy kiss on his uncle's cheek, "Be'er?"
His Muna nodded with a smile,
"I'm sure your uncle will feel a lot better now,"
There was the sound of little grunts as Jaehaera also clambered onto the bed. She pushed her brother out of the way and placed her own noisy kiss to her uncle's cheek and looked up at Helaena as the lady sitting next to Uncle Luke smiled,
"Now I know he will be feeling better," Jaehaera smiled shyly at her before nestling close to Uncle Luke and pressing her face into his shoulder.
Jaehaerys, upset that his sister was now blocking him from his uncle, decided to crawl over Lucerys' stomach which caused all the adults to jolt forward,
"Oh! No! My creature!" His Muna quickly picked him up under his arms and set him back beside Jaehaera, "Your uncle is not well. You need to be gentle with him,"
Jaehaerys pouted a bit before nodding as he curled around his sister and clumsily reached out to pat Lucerys' cheek.
As both twins settled against their uncle, their eyes closing as they began to nod off, the adults resumed their conversation. They kept using words that neither child understood. They kept saying things like 'annulment,' 'midwives, 'fuck', 'cunt', and 'one-eyed cunt.'
Jaehaerys wanted to ask what a cunt was and why there was more than one kind, but his Muna looked upset while everyone else looked mad. So he closed his eyes and succumbed to sleep.
He woke up later as a shaky, sweaty hand was running over the back of his head and sleepily sat up.
His tiny fist rubbed his eyes as he looked around the room. His Muna and the other strangers were gone. He saw Dyana standing near the fireplace, one of his cousins in her hands as another lady held the other baby. Though, she had the front of her dress open for some reason.
Jaehaerys yawned and looked behind him, then blinked slowly.
He leaned down, his face inches from his uncle's and the child whispered,
"'wake, Unca Lu?"
Jaehaerys received a slow, confused nod in response.