Chapter Text
Maekar believed firmly that fear and daring built character. The moment Daeron’s front baby tooth began wobbling while the boy spoke or laughed, Maekar reacted as if he was about to prepare for battle.
“Dyanna!” Maekar called his beautiful wife from across the chambers. “Darling! I need one of your threads. The boy’s tooth is loose!”
Daeron, little Prince Daeron, was all but five years old. He looked at his almost twin, his cousin, little Princess Vaera, who also had a wobbling tooth, and narrowed his eyes.
“Why?” He asked his father, but Maekar ignored him and called again for his wife. “Dyanna!”
“Dyanna!” He called again, “Bring me a damned sewing thread!”
Dyanna sighed from where she was sitting in the nook of her window and slammed the book shut. She was pregnant with what she wished was a girl for her niece, Vaera, to play with.
Dyanna was a woman who, in the six years of marriage to Maekar, had become accustomed to his nonsense and questioned her husband as she handed him a length of pale purple silk thread. “Please do not traumatize the children.”
“No promises.”
“That was not reassuring!” She said as she extended her sun-kissed hand to her niece, “Come, my darling. Let’s leave the boys to do boy things!”
“No!” Daeron jumped, tugging at Vaera’s arm. “Please stay!”
Within minutes, Maekar had Daeron now sitting on a stool, looking betrayed, while Maekar tied one end of the thread around the tiny loose tooth with the concentration of a man preparing his warhorse.
“There!” Maekar said, tapping his son’s shoulder.
“Will it hurt?”A nervous Daeron asked as he touched the thread of silk.
“No.”
Dyanna sighed as Maekar looked at her.
“You can either stay or leave.”
“Vaera?” Dyanna asked her niece. “Aerion?
“She stays!” Daeron cried.
“But I don’t want to,” Vaera said, her lip curling up as she looked at her cousin Daeron.
“It will be fun!” The four-year-old Prince Aerion said as he sat next to his cousin.
“Please!”
Vaera sat next to Daeron while Maekar tied the other end of the thread to the doorknob.
“I leave you with this nonsense of yours.” Dyanna said before leaving.
Vaera sat next to Daeron and asked her Uncle, “What is happening?”
“You’ll see!” Maekar grinned.
“I don’t like this.” The little princess said before Maekar placed his hand on the door, “Now, when I shut the door, the tooth shall come out as quick as breath. I’ll count to three. Are you ready, Daeron?” Maekar asked.
Daeron shook his head.
“One—” Maekar started, but he never reached too. Aerion had stood up and kicked the door shut in a burst of energy that no one could truly understand. The tooth flew free. For one second, there was absolute profound silence before Daeron realized what had happened. Daeron looked to the side, locked eyes with his cousin and younger brother, then looked at the floor, seeing the threat with his tooth. Young Prince Daeron looked at his father, and then, with his tiny baby hand, he touched his gums and then looked at his finger.
The young prince burst into tears.
“You . . . you said. . . you said. . . You said it wouldn’t hurt!” He cried, his lavender eyes starting to drown in tears.
“It barely did Daeron,” Maekar said with a smile. “Oh come on, Daeron!”
“Mama!” Daeron opened the door and ran towards his mother with blood on his lip. “Mama! Kepa . . . Papa lied!”
Dyanna shook her head, “I told you not to do it!” She said to Maekar, who looked proud.
“It builds character!” Maekar said, smiling at Aerion.
“It builds distrust!” Dyanna said to Maekar while Aerion reached for his brother’s tooth.
“Did you see it fly? It flew like a dragon.” Aerion giggled as his eyes landed on Vaera’s loose tooth.
“Can we do Vaera’s next?” Aerion asked his father, who looked at his niece and smiled.
“Do you wish to be brave?” Maekar asked her while she looked completely horrified.
“No . . . not really!” Vaera said as she stood up, starting to walk toward her aunt’s skirt.
Aerion stood up and grabbed Vaera by her braid, but Vaera hissed at him, a habit she had picked up from the four cats she and her mother had brought in.
“Vaeraaaaaa—” Aerion called after her, but Dyanna grabbed him by the collar.
“No!” Dyanna said while the girl bolted, fleeing the apartments of her Uncle Maekar’s and Aunt Dyanna’s.
Vaera ran. She lost one slipper as she sprinted through the hall in panic, as Aerion had escaped his mother’s grip.
“COME BACK!” Aerion chased her down the hall, “I wish to pull your tooth!”
“PAPA!” Vaera called as she spotted her father, who had been talking with several knights. She slammed into him, almost like a kitten hiding behind its mother.
Baelor excused the knights and asked what had happened.
“Uncle Maekar used cruel ways to rid Daeron of his tooth, and now Aerion wants to do it to me.
Baelor soon saw Maekar, who was now holding Daeron in his arms like a very angry cat. “Maekar?”
“It worked, right, Daeron?”
“You lied! You said it wouldn’t hurt!” Daeron said, kicking his father, essentially freeing himself from Maekar’s grip.
Vaera was holding Baelor’s hand very dramatically. “I don’t want the door.”
Baelor rolled his eyes, “Really? The door?”
“Papa, please don’t. Daeron says it hurts!”
“Kepa . . . he betrayed me!” Daeron said, as he looked at his father not too kindly.
“Papa, would you please take it off?” Vaera asked Baelor.
Baelor, unlike his brother, possessed both the patience and survival instincts when it came to children. Baelor crouched to Vaera’s level and pulled a clean handkerchief from his doublet.
“No buggers?” Vaera asked, making Baelor laugh, wanting to kiss his daughter’s forehead.
“Never!” He smiled as he wrapped the handkerchief around Vaera’s tooth, and with one pull, he had the tooth out.
“There, my brave little stormy dragoness!” Baelor said, kissing her forehead. Daeron stood, offended by how easily and simply and gently Baelor took care of Vaera’s tooth. He could not believe how his father had betrayed him. He was devastated, with tear-stained cheeks.
“I want Uncle Baelor next time,” Daeron said, sticking his tongue out at Maekar, who couldn’t help but laugh. “The door is mean and loud and scary!”
“That was boring,” Aerion said as he started to touch his teeth, but none were loose enough. Then, young Prince Aerion remembered, “Oh Matarys!” Aerion called in, almost like a song, remembering his elder cousin had a loose tooth.