Lucerys' Dream

There was nothing that could stop her family from rounding up on Luke and asking question after question to the boy. She had never seen Lucerys so happy, he was such a serious child. Now he was all smiles and giggles as he butchered his words, answering everything they wanted as best as he could, and it was adorable to hear her mother tongue in such a young voice. 
Lucerys also had an accent different from almost everyone she’d ever met. The only person she had heard pronounce High Valyrian like that was her grandfather himself, Baelon.
Her son only understanding their ancient language was a problem, though, and she couldn’t bear the thought that the boy may want to communicate with those around him but not be able to because he couldn’t understand. 
And what would be of Luke in the future if he never became fluent in the common tongue? Some Targaryen never truly learn High Valyrian, what if it’s the same with her sweet boy and he found himself only knowing a few phrases? Luke would be lord of Driftmark one day, and he was a prince. He needed to speak the people’s language.
Still, the matter of who taught Luke the language still stood, considering no one spoke the language around the boy apart from a few words exactly because they feared the child would pick up on the Valyrian language instead of the common tongue, the one the men spoke.
No one in the garden admitted having done it, so it could not have been them. Rhaenyra herself only talked to her children when she was saying good morning, good night or a few other greetings she thought they should know.
Of course, she sang to them the Valyrian songs her mother had sung to hear as a child, but she did not have long conversations with them in their ancient language and she definitely did not teach them color. 
Laenor was not the best in High Valyrian – he had learned, it was expected of him as Heir of Driftmark – but years of not speaking the language made his fluency suffer a bit, therefore he was also ruled off.
By the rules of elimination there was only one person left, which was why Laenor and she were bringing their children to the King’s chambers after spending an entire afternoon of the adults, and children, fawn over their youngest’s voice.
Jace had actually gotten into his first fight with the twins over Lucerys, because Baela and Rhaena decided Luke would now be their brother.
They only calmed down once Laenor said they could all be siblings together, and by the time they left the gardens Jace had started to call the twins his sisters and they were even closer than before.
“Rytsa, Luce! (hi!)” Jacaerys shouted again in her arms, his high voice right beside her left ear hurting her a little, but she ignored it. Jace became obsessed with speaking to his brother now that he knew the younger boy was capable of answering, but he didn’t know many words in High Valyrian, so he kept asking her or his father to translate it to him.
It was the fifth time he said ‘hi’ to Luke, as always messing up his brother’s nickname because he still couldn’t make his tongue form the ‘K’ – something that always made her giggle and want to bite his puffy cheeks. Her babe boy was so cute it was unbearable sometimes.
“’y’sa!” Lucerys shouted back in his father’s arms, Laenor walking slowly beside her, as amused as her. And that was another thing; Luke didn’t seem to mind being greeted the same way again and again, he always answered with the same enthusiasm as the first time.
Jace squirmed in her arms, giggling. “Mama, he sai’ it bac’ again!”
The two of them had not yet stopped when they reached her father’s chambers. Jacaerys momentarily forgot about the knowledge that his brother could now talk to him in favor of greeting Ser Androw and Ser Robert with a large smile and a bunch of questions. The two men smiled back, already taken by her son and his bright personality from the other times they met each other. Lucerys, on the other hand, just waved one hand at them, stuffing the other one in his mouth.
Jace had always been the extroverted one.
The knights didn’t even ask her father if they were allowed in and simply opened the doors, Ser Androw announcing them just a few seconds before she entered.
Her father was staring at a few papers he had in his hand, but as she entered, he was already putting them down the divan and walking up to them, slowly and lethargic. “Rhaenyra, my child. Did I forget we had an appointment today?”
“No, father.” Viserys was already extending his hands to greet Jacaerys with a handshake that only the two of them knew. Jace had a special handshake for everyone in the family, the newest addition being Daemon. “We- I found out something of importance today.”
Hearing the worry she wasn’t able to hide in her voice, the man signaled the chairs by his side, his expression closing off. “Well, sit down. Tell me everything.” 
Rhaenyra put Jace down first so she could gather her skirts, picking the boy up once she was sitting. Jace curled into her immediately, resting his head on her shoulder. He was probably tired after missing his afternoon nap, too excited to spend some time with the twins to care about sleeping. Luke on the other hand had nodded off quite a few times during their little picnic and was now wide awake. “Father, have you been talking to Lucerys in High Valyrian? Teaching him colors?”
Her father frowned, looking from her to Laenor in confusion. “Why? What’s the matter?”
“It will be easier if we show you, Your Grace.” Laenor put Lucerys on the carpet in front of them, the boy immediately using his hands to hold himself into place in spite of his father’s leg being pressed against his back to support him right after. “Luke, skoros ēnka iksos bisa (what color is this)?” Laenor leaned down and pointed at the carpet. 
“‘āsos! (brown)” Luke exclaimed. “'āpa! (soft)”
In a flash, her father’s exhaustion seemed to leave his body as he shoved himself off the divan and sat on his knees in front of Lucerys. “What is the meaning of this?”
“There’s more, father.”
“Lucerys, what colors is this?” Laenor repeated on the common tongue, pointing at the table. This time, Luke didn’t answer, his eyebrows coming together as they always did when he was confused by something.
“What- how?”
“We found out he understands High Valyrian today, and only High Valyrian. No one fluent in the language admitted having taught him.”
Wonder shined in the king’s eyes. She had never seen him this way, not even when during those several times he found out her mother was once again pregnant.
“How is this possible?”
His reaction told her everything she needed to know, but she still asked. “It wasn’t you, then? You didn’t teach him?”
“I can’t say that I have, no. I never speak our ancient language these days.” His hands hovered over her son’s small body as the man stared with awe. “It can only be a gift, a gift from the gods.”
“How can it be a gift, father? He’s unable to communicate with his peers. The first years are extremely important for a child’s social development and Lucerys will be behind everyone else because he can’t talk!” All the anxiety she felt ever since the discovery came out and she felt shame wash over her. All those years, all those betrayals she faced by her own father, and she still broke down at the first opportunity she had to be close to him.
“Rhaenyra, we will teach him.” Laenor was the first to speak. 
“What if we can’t Laenor? He doesn’t know a single word! He doesn’t know mother, or father. He doesn’t know what ‘hi’ means!”
Jacaerys seemed to understand something was wrong because he lifted his head and blinked worriedly at her. “Mama’s sad?”
She laughed wetly, blinking fast to chase the tears away. “No, my love. Mama is fine, it’s all fine.”
Her firstborn kept staring for a few more moments before deciding she was telling the truth and laying his head on her shoulder again.
Her father came to stand in front of her and held her hands onto his. Laenor watched the scene from his place near Luke, his face almost a mirror of Jace’s from a few seconds before.
“He’ll learn, Rhaenyra. A child so young speaking like this? Lucerys is smart, he’ll learn it in no time, I’ll make sure of it.” She bit her lip to stop it from trembling, gripping her father’s hands tightly. “I’ll hire the best tutors we have, all of them. Whatever is necessary, he’ll have it, child. I promise you.”
Part of her wanted to scoff at the promise, remembering how many times he broke it and left her to fend for herself. The many times he avoided her after the news that her siblings had been stillborn, the time after her mother died. The time he married her best friend and was too much of a coward to face her and admit his deceit.
Despite it all, he was all she had left. He was her only parent alive, her father, and she would always believe him.
“Alright, alright.”
The king smiled, patting her knee softly before turning around to go back to Luke. 
“Now I want to see what else my youngest grandson knows.” He nudged Luke’s foot the same way her uncle had hours ago. “Lucerys, gaomagon ao gīmigon qilōni nyke? (do you know who I am?)”
“Muñna ke’a! (Mother’s father).” They laughed at that.
“Muñkepa, vēzos. (grandsire, darling.)” She corrected. 
Luke crawled to his grandfather, climbing into the man’s lap. “’I’pa Bae’ion! (rode Balerion)”
Her father laughed in delight. “Who taught him that? Yes, I did ride Balerion.”
“It was probably my mother.” Laenor laughed, but Rhaenyra for some reason felt a malaise install itself on her chest.

That very same night, when she put Lucerys in his cradle, Rhaenyra remembered the other problem.
The dragon.
The silver beast had been growing in an alarming rate and was now at the same size of a horse, despite having born barely three moons past, big enough to hurt someone but not to kill them. 
Soon he would be too dangerous to be kept inside and Rhaenyra dreaded the conversation she would need to have with her boy regarding the dragon’s new placement.
For some reason, Lucerys hated the pit. Every time Laenor or she tried to get the dragonkeepers to bring the dragon there, Lucerys would go from a quiet, calm babe to a raging 2,5 feet storm and since the beast had never hurt or tried to hurt anyone, she was willing to ignore it.
For now.
Rhaenys wasn’t very much in agreement with her, but Rhaenys wouldn’t be the one who had to deal with an angry Lucerys so she had no say in the matter. 
They would need to solve the issue with the dragon soon, however. 
As soon as Luke’s bum hit the sheets, the boy turned around on his belly and crawled closer to his dragon, fitting his little hand between the bars until he could touch his dragon’s muzzle.
“A’x!”
“Is that his name, sweet boy?” She asked, caressing her son’s head. She would never get over how his and Jace’s hair were soft.
“Mmmm, A’x!”
The dragon snorted, drops of mucus hitting the ground, but Luke didn’t care and just giggled. Rhaenyra smiled, shaking her head. Nothing would ever make Lucerys happier than his dragon, it seemed.
She let them have a few minutes together before the tiredness in her legs turned too much. She had been walking around all morning to make sure all her duties were done and that she could spend the day with her family.
“Alright, love, now it’s time to rest.”
Luke went willingly, laying down unmoving as he waited for her to tuck him in, big eyes staring deep into hers and he blinked drowsily, little mouth opening in a yawn.
She bent over to kiss him on the forehead and began singing her favorite song as a child. Lucerys seemed satisfied by that and managed to stay awake just long enough for Laenor to come give him a kiss, a sleepy Jace in his arms. 
She closed the doors behind her and turned to bump on her firstborn’s nose, making him giggle. “Alright. Let’s put this one to bed.” 

“Good morning.” Was what Rhaenyra first heard as she came into consciousness. She scrunched up her nose, trying to hide her face on the pillow beneath her, only it wasn’t a pillow because it was just the right amount of warmth and soft in a way only human flesh could be. 
Oh, right.
That was why she was so well rested; all the exercise she had done the night before.
It had been her idea, this time. The danger of being caught by one of the many servants only making her feel hotter and the others, well, none of them seemed to care much about being seen in the first place.
Hands started massaging her head, then, and she hummed. “Good morning.”
When Rhaenyra opened her eyes, she saw a pale chest on the corner of her eyes; Daemon. The man was still sleeping, face turned to the side to try and escape the sunlight. 
The Princess turned around to see who had talked to her and saw Laenor sleeping with his head on Daemon’s arm, but her attention was quickly stolen by Laena, who was walking around gloriously naked with a cup of tea on her hands and Rhaenyra felt more than a part of her awake at that. 
She rubbed her legs together. “Fuck.” She murmured quietly.
“You should have seen the servant's face when she saw me. I think she knows.” Laena laughed, laying down on the divan to grab a bread made with cheese. 
“You’re insane.” Rhaenyra whispered so as not to wake the others, laying back down on Daemon’s chest. “They already talk, you know?”
“And what will they say? That we ditched our husbands to sleep together?” Laena giggled. “They may believe it when it comes to my little brother, but Daemon? He has quite the reputation.”
“I care not for my reputation so long as you let me watch.” Daemon’s voice came out raspy in the way that made Rhaenyra’s toes curl. “Good morning, my darlings.”
“Be quiet, Laenor’s still asleep.” Rhaenyra kissed his lips.
Daemon tried to grab her with his free arm, but she kissed his chest and moved away, walking up to Laena, who offered her a cup of her own tea.
“Thank you.” 
“Ah, ah, ah.” Laena moved the cup away. “A kiss for a tea.”
Rhaenyra rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face betrayed her giddiness. “That does not rhyme.”
“And yet I got my kiss.” Laena brought one for Daemon, who was now cuddling a barely awake Laenor. The man held Laena’s hand and gave it a kiss. 
“I wish we could spend our mornings this way forever,” Rhaenyra murmured, watching them together.
She was her happiest when she had them with her, all three of them.
“You’ll be leaving today by night?” The Princess asked, already knowing she wouldn’t be seeing them until then. Her morning would be busy after two days of relaxation and since it was a council day, so would her afternoon.
“Yes, we can’t stay away for much longer.”
The Princess nodded, of course. She understood. 
A knock sounded through the room, so soft they almost didn’t hear it, but the seriousness of the conversation made silence reign on the room.
Laenor, who was still in the process of waking up, jumped from the bed stark naked and went looking around for his trousers. “By the gods, you two need to go.” 
“Who is it? How do they just come in like that?” Laena whisper-shouted harshly as she put on her clothes.
This time the knock wasn’t so soft. It was strong, so strong it made the door move and the walls tremble.
Rhaenyra jumped from her spot, grabbing onto Laenor’s arm.
“Fuck, what was that?” Daemon grabbed Dark sister, signaling for the other three to stay behind him as he stalked closer to the doors.
Rhaenyra let out a suffocated scream when the doors and walls trembled again. Her uncle began to turn on the key. “Uncle, don’t! Don’t!”
“A’x, stop!” A tiny, high-pitched voice came from the other side of the doors and they all stared at each other in incredulity before Daemon quickly unlocked the doors and opened them.
There, standing in front of them was Lucerys and Ax, the babe using the dragon to keep himself standing.
“Lucerys!” Rhaenyra ran past Daemon and gathered her son in her arms. “What are you doing here? How did you get here?”
“D'os. (walls)” The babe pointed nonsensically. “A’x i'on (go).”
“What?” She asked, not understanding.
Luke ignored her question, his child attention spam making him squeal in delight when he saw Daemon and he waved at him, who confusedly waved back. To a child so wary of strangers, Lucerys got comfortable with her uncle fast over the last two days.
Laena looked short of passing out, but she still managed greet him with a kiss on the cheek. Luke, copying what she just did, smacked his lips together and made a ‘mwah’ sound, ripping a disbelief laugh from the people in the room.
Then he saw Laenor.
“Ke’a!”
“Lucerys.” Laenor smiled, still clutching his sword at the scare.
Daemon shook his head in amusement and sheered Rhaenyra inside the rooms again, stopping by the door and looking at the dragon, who also stopped following his future rider to stare at Daemon.
“Why is your child bringing a dragon around as if it were a pup?” Daemon asked, then he sighed tiredly. “Zira. (enter)” 
Ax huffed as he walked in, Lucerys bending down on her arms so he could touch his dragon. Her uncle closed the doors behind them.
Neither him nor Laena believed her and Laenor’s talk about Lucerys’ dragon not staying in the Pit until they saw it by themselves, but from that to Luke bringing the dragon from his room to theirs without causing a panic was a jump.
Rhaenyra sat down as soon as she came close to the divan, legs still weak from the scare. “Lucerys,” She began.
“A’x.” At that the boy babe-talked his way to the end of the phrase. “D’a’one.”
“What did he say?” Daemon frowned.
“He said he wants Ax to go to Dragonstone.” Laenor translated, pausing on his words as if he wasn’t sure of what he heard.
But it was what they said, a parent always understands its child, and despite how confusing it was that Luke would rather have Ax go to Dragonstone instead of just staying close to him in the Dragon Pit, Rhaenyra knew that’s what the babe meant.
Should she let him make that decision? He was too young to know how hollow it felt to spend so much time away from your dragon.
Daemon kneeled in front of Lucerys. “Jāhor ao daor miss zirȳla? Jāhor ao daor miss zirȳla Ax lo nyke gūrogon zirȳla rūsīr issa?  (Won’t you miss him? Won’t you miss Ax if I take him with me?)”
“‘essa. (yes)” Luke agreed in that strange overly serious for a child face of his, deep eyes staring right into Daemon's. “A’x...e’on 'i’a’on. (Ax has to go)”
“He said yes, but that Ax has to go.”
Rhaenyra looked at the dragon, but obviously nothing in the beast’s eyes made her confirm what Lucerys was saying. Whatever a dragon wanted, or felt, only its rider could tell.
“My very own babe talker.” Daemon teased Laenor, watching him blush avidly, but when he turned to Lucerys, he stopped smirking, matching the babe’s seriousness. “Nyke shall gūrogon zirȳla naejot Zaldrīzesdōron, pār.  (I shall take him to Dragonstone, then)”
Luke seemed satisfied with that and stopped his stare match with Daemon to look at Laenor instead. “’epa?”
“Hm?” 
“‘rugh. (I pooped)” He deadpanned.

After talking to Laenor about it, they both decided to let Ax fly over to Dragonstone with Laena and Daemon. If Lucerys wanted the dragon back, they just had to fly there and take Ax back, no harm done, and as a bonus they’d see the couple again.
They were all just waiting for Luke to ask for Ax back one day, but the boy never did and with Ax in Dragonstone she didn’t need to find a solution for the ever-growing dragon and could now focus on her other problem: Luke’s inability of understanding anything in the common language.
Her father tried his best to find someone that specialized in teaching children the common tongue, but it was harder than one would think. Not only was it rare to find such people, but they also had to wait for the advisors to check on the teachers’ past and reputation; Lucerys was a prince, after all, and for that he would make an expensive bounty.
Everyday Laenor and she made Lucerys repeat a few words and taught him the meaning of them, but she could tell it was hard for the babe.
The solution to her problem came in the manner of a heavy brown package that the Princess received a moon later.
Rhaenyra knew who it was from before she even opened it by the way it was horribly wrapped, with uneven edges and too many strings.
“Daemon?” Laenor asked, taking his eyes off his own work from his chair by the window.
They’d been doing this ever since they got married, sitting together in the office, that is. It was a way for them to easily appear together without trying to and since both of them enjoyed each other’s company, there’s no cons for it.
“Yes.” She nodded and looked around the table for a cut letter knife.
By the format, it could only be a book, but she’s still delighted when she saw which one. “A TALE OF OLD VALYRIA” was what stood in the title. She remembered this book, remembered spending days and nights reading it, completely obsessed with it since the day Daemon first read it to her. She did not remember much of the times he did because she was too little, but there’s a vague memory of her younger self between her uncle’s legs, staring at the book full of words she could not understand as Daemon read it. 
It took him a moon just to finish the first chapter, having stopped in every sentence to translate them word for word – for the book was written in High Valyrian. At the time her knowledge of High Valyrian was smaller than her height, but by the time Daemon was once again exiled, she could not only understand, but already read it on her own.
As she took the book out of the package, a nostalgic smile on her face, she saw he had also put a letter there. 
He started by stressing out a possessive pronoun, successfully achieving what he probably wanted; for Rhaenyra to roll her eyes.
‘My dear niece,
I noticed you were worried over Lucerys and his inability to speak the common tongue. While I thought it exquisite, at first, I now understand the boy may later find himself in a difficult situation should he not learn it fast.
I suggest you read and translate every word and sentence to him every day. It was how I taught you High Valyrian when you were little, and it is how my youngest nephew will learn the common language.
As the heir to the throne, Jacaerys must also learn our ancient tongue. Read it to both of them, and the desired results shall be achieved.
Always, 
Daemon’
Rhaenyra lifted it in her hands, and turned it around, admiring the red cover. The book was in the same state as before and it was as big and majestic as she remembered. She couldn’t help but settle to read a bit. 
In the end, Rhaenyra spent so much time reading that she had to rush through her papers to finish them in time to see her children.
She greeted the servants as she went, because her mother taught her they’re the people who royals spend more time around apart from each other and therefore having a good relationship with them was important.
Her boys were in the nursery, being watched by handmaids. Ever since Lucerys was able to sit on his own, she began to let him out of her chambers so he could be supervised by a maid in the nursery along with Jace while she went to work on her duties.
The royal nursery was the place all child princes and princesses spent most of their days, but Rhaenyra had never seen any of her siblings because Alicent’s illness had worsened and she never let them leave her rooms, so it was a surprise to see all four of them together, standing far away from each other. 
Aemond was on the opposite corner of Aegon’s, sitting alone as Rhaenyra heard from the maids was something he was bound to do every day. Her brother was staring at a book that she recognized as well as the one she was holding, having spent many hours staring at it too. It was a figure book, its size almost as big as Aemond and it contained many pictures detailing the most glorious events of Westeros.
Helaena’s handmaid was trying to get her to play with some toys while her little sister just kept staring at the wall where a couple of ants were carrying small crumbles of food.
Daeron, her youngest brother, was ripping off parts of a trinket she knew nothing of, but that to him seemed was quite interesting.
Even more unexpected was the sight of her children and Aegon together. The three of them were whispering things around, Lucerys between his brother’s legs as Jace hugged him tight from behind and Aegon sitting cross legged in front of them, showing objects and toys to her boys before putting them on the ground.
She inched closer, trying to hear what they were saying.
“Se bisa? (and this)?” Aegon asked, the words coming out in the strange, forced way they do when one is not familiar with a language yet, lifting a wooden horse toy.
“Anne. (horse)” Lucerys answered and Jace, whose part in this conversation was to be the translator, repeated the same word, this time adding the consonants to it although he himself couldn’t pronounce them sometimes.
It never failed to impress her how good her firstborn was at understanding his brother. Jace was getting better fast at his Valyrian and wanted to learn it quickly so he could talk with his baby brother. He managed to understand the way to pronounce Lucerys’ words even when he couldn’t speak the language himself.
Aegon nodded his head, and when her brother spoke next his pronunciation was almost perfect. 
She frowned, trying to understand how he could say words in their ancient tongue in such a proficient way at times while sounding just like a dragonkeeper at others. 
The answer came to her as soon as the question materialized in her head and Rhaenyra flushed in embarrassment. Of course Aegon would not know the correct pronunciation for Valyrian words, there was no one to teach him, only the Maesters who trained him just enough to be able control his Dragon, Sunfyre. The men didn’t actually know the language themselves and the words they spoke had no real meaning to them. 
Oh, how ashamed she was of herself at that moment, of her father. How could they let their family go around so oblivious to their culture? It was outrageous.
Even worse was seeing the proof that Aegon wanted to learn High Valyrian, was trying to learn it by himself and now that he found out a source – as unreliable as Lucerys was, considering the way the babe could not yet pronounce every syllable – he was thriving, and Luke, who usually was quiet and distant when he didn’t know someone, seemed as loose as he was with all the other members of their family, as if he knew Aegon and liked him.
As Lucerys moved in his brother’s arms, the Princess realized the reason why Jace was holding his brother so tight; Luke was trying to reach out to Aegon. Jacaerys was incredibly possessive of his baby brother and did not like it when other children were closer to Lucerys than him – well, except for Baela and Rhaena, her firstborn now saw them as siblings, which made her feel all sorts of bubbles on her stomach.
“Ae’on, Ae’on!” Luke repeated, clapping his small hands and Jace tried to get the babe to say his name, unsuccessfully.
Biting down on a laugh, she made the first sound since entering the room by grabbing a drink from the table pushed all the way to the wall, casually drawing attention to herself and the children’s eyes turned to her.
Once Jace saw her, he got up and ran, little legs working fast. “Mama!” He hugged her legs, looking up with a beautiful smile.
Rhaenyra was quick to put the book beneath her arm and crouched down, giving her firstborn a kiss on the cheek and rubbing his arms. “Hello, my darling. Did you enjoy your day?”
“Yes! I pla’d with un’ Aegon!” Jace exclaimed and Aegon shrank on himself when she looked at him, prompting an uncomfortable feeling to rise on her. She was never mean or rude to Aegon – never gave any reason for the boy to be afraid or tense around her so why was he?
“You did, huh?” Rhaenyra smiled at her boy, trying to get rid of the nagging feeling. “And how about we spend some time together now?”
Jacaerys nodded his head fast, silver curls going everywhere, and she laughed, running her fingers through the strands to get them back into place.
The Princess held her son’s hand and guided him towards Lucerys. Her boy only glanced at her before returning his attention to the dragon toy Aegon was showing him before she made her presence known. Her brother, on the other hand, tensed as she got closer.
She stopped a few feet away from the children and extended a hand for Lucerys to grab, not wanting to make her sibling afraid of her. She may be his sister but he did not know her. He probably was simply on edge after having only Alicent as an adult for company for so long – apropos, where was their mother? “Māzigon, Lucerys. (come)”
Her babe pushed his little hands against the floor to help him get up, but lost his balance and was about to fall on his bottom when Aegon stretched out his arm, helping Luke keep standing. 
“‘imvos’. (thank you)” Her boy thanked, politely, but considering the way Aegon frowned, her brother did not know what Luke had said to him.
“He said thank you. Kirimvose.” She explained, watching attentively Aegon’s timid body expression. The boy nodded his head but did not say anything, so she asked Luke to come again.
Lucerys did, but not before grabbing hold of Aegon’s hand and pulling the boy with him. Aegon, surprised, let Luke drag him a few steps forwards before coming to himself and putting his feet down. 
Rhaenyra carefully lifted Jace in her arms so she could hide her smile in the toddler’s hair.
Lucerys tried to keep pulling him, but when he couldn’t he turned to Aegon, puffing his cheeks out. “Mā’i’on, Ae’on! (come, Aegon)” And when Aegon still wouldn’t move, her babe turned his small face towards her, pleading for help. “Muña!”
“You could come with us.” Rhaenyra offered, putting Jace down and lowering herself to Aegon’s level so she wouldn’t be so intimidating. “I’m about to read a book for them, a story of the beginning of our Targaryen history. There are battles, and dragons and,” Rhaenyra said in a louder voice and looked around, catching Helaena, Aemond and Daeron’s eyes. Helaena was staring at her unblinkingly while Aemond pretended he wasn’t listening, eyes hidden by his book but head inclining to her direction. Daeron had his hand shoved in his mouth, but he was listening attentively.
Even without knowing it, Lucerys was giving her the perfect opportunity to get to know her siblings better. “The three of you could come listen to it, too. It would be nice, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes!” Jace answered, bouncing on his feet beside her and trying to get back into her arms. “Yes! D’gons and battles!”
Helaena, surprisingly, was the first one of her siblings to stand. “I would like to hear your story, sister.” The girl stated, looking straight at Lucerys.
Seeing Helaena in the vicinity of Rhaenyra with no repercussions whatsoever gave Aemond the courage to get closer, the figure book clenched in his small hands and Daeron followed him right after. The only one left was Aegon, who seemed the most skittish of them. Luke had the babe-grab in his hand and wasn’t letting go of it anytime soon, however, no matter how much her brother tried to free himself.
Rhaenyra didn’t let the awkwardness build up; she rushed to grab a few blankets from the stages and, with the handmaids’ help, she created a comfortable space for the children to sit around. 
She chose the place in front of a column so she could have a support for her back and sat down, helping Lucerys sit by her side and Jace in her lap. The boys were so small Daeron could easily fit in, and Helaena pushed their youngest brother’s back so he could get by Jace’s other side, the girl herself standing a few inches away from her leg. She didn’t get any more near her no matter how many times Rhaenyra tried, but the Princess didn’t take it to heart since the handmaid told her Helaena didn’t enjoy being touched a lot. Aegon, whose hand Lucerys still held on to, had no choice but to sit beside the babe, body taut as an arrow. 
Aemond hovered awkwardly for a few seconds before she patted down on the space beside Daeron, on her left side. The four-year-old sat down quickly, seeming to have been only waiting for her permission to move closer. 
Rhaenyra made a show of opening her arms with a long yawn that caused both Jace and Luke to giggle, already knowing by experience what was about to happen, before putting her arms around the five boys, pressing them against each other by the shoulders and bringing them closer to her. After that, her sons were not the only ones laughing as she heard Aemond and Daeron let out a surprised squeak and Aegon huff a small laughter. Helaena smiled from her place, leaning her body further until her elbows were pressed against her little tights.
“Alright, alright, let’s begin.” Rhaenyra opened the large book and put it in her lap, clearing her throat and beginning. “In the ole days, Old Valyria was a prosperous realm said to be on its path to become the richest land in the world.” The words, spoken in High Valyrian came out with the suavity of a song.  
She explained what every word meant, then, both to her siblings and Jacaerys’ sake since they didn’t yet understand High Valyrian completely and to Lucerys’, who hopefully would also make the connection between the two languages. None of the children say anything, completely entranced by the story and the intricacies of their ancient tongue.
Was this what Daemon felt when he taught her? Powerful, admired?
As she read, Rhaenyra raised her arms, making wild gestures and strange voices until all of them were giggling, not caring for the amused stares of the maids present, and only stopped when the night came, and the maids started to light up the candles. 
By the time they left the room, Aemond was walking closely to her, and Daeron was clutching the fabric of her skirt, Helaena showing her a small centipede on her hands.
Aegon was the only one that did not approach her willingly that day.