Page 101 of Dead Crown
They had said they wanted to keep Jacqueline’s schedule the same so she wouldn’t feel too jarred by the new arrival.
Lumi’s second pregnancy had been far different from his first. Jaki had doted on him the entire time. He hadn’t thought Lumiwould even want another child for a long time. But he’d brought it up on his own.
It hadn’t taken long for him to conceive.
It was still almost unreal as he took their daughter to her rooms. They had a girl and a boy now. While he bathed Jacqueline, he asked her what she thought of the new arrival, and she shrugged. Maybe she didn’t understand he was staying and wasn’t some sort of visitor.
Elswere would have to be told in the morning since he’d gone to bed already. To Jacqueline, he was Grandpa, and he preferred to never mention the past involving Lumi, who was content to also never speak of it. They’d settled into a cordial relationship, and while Elswere didn’t exactly approve of Jaki and Lumi’s choice, he didn’t treat Jacqueline differently.
With Jaki and Lumi as Kings, and the court not invited back, they’d fallen into a peaceful routine at home. Lumi didn’t do much office work, although Jaki didn’t mind.
Iceland was united once more. Since Tivar had died, and the story of what happened spread, there hadn’t been a war. Jaki had taken the army out, split up at the border, and sent groups all over the west side to tell the people and lords that Iceland was one and under King Jaki and King Lumi.
He’d returned with no bloodshed, but not until one task had been finished.
Jaki had gone to the Castle at Lilling, headed upstairs to the bedroom where Lumi had been kept, and set it all alight. After setting fires on the lower floors and quickly retreating, he’d left it there to burn itself out, contained by the stone walls.
Lumi’s past prison was destroyed.
The land was blossoming with life once more. Fires lasted longer, crops were growing, and livestock were thriving. The hunting was better. There were still issues with the economy since the events of the past years wouldn’t go away overnight.
Still, the slow march toward the end had stopped. As Jacqueline sat on a little stool in her bedroom, and Jaki crouched behind her to comb her hair, he felt a little rush of relief. His husband and children were safe, and Jacqueline wouldn’t even remember the bad times. His family would live as they should even if it wasn’t a typical family.
People whispered. Some said Jaki had married Lumi only because they had an oopsie baby. Others said Jacqueline wasn’t his, and how could he believe the man who’d once been the court’s pleasure slave? Of course, the pleasure slave had picked the best option out of the many who’d fucked him.
That one particularly angered him. Also, wasn’t it obvious his daughter was truly his? She looked just like him.
A few whispers said Lumi was Edur, thought dead but actually alive. His appearance was too much of a coincidence, especially compared to Jaki. He wondered if the servants at Lilling had started questioning the incident with him and his baby. Perhaps later, they’d remembered his appearance and put two and two together.
Rumors had even started about Jaki himself, saying he was Reesing’s child, not Elswere’s.
He had to be. He and his new husband looked alike. Like brothers. They couldn’t possibly be first cousins, and Jaki looked more like Lumi than Elswere, who had folded-down ears.
Lumi said the best thing was to ignore the rumors going around, and if anyone ever brought up just how similar they were in looks, they could say they weren’t the only cat fairies with white coloring. Let people think about what they wanted. They would, no matter what they were told, and now that the lands weren’t dying, people would have the energy to gossip and wonder.
It didn’t matter. They had each other, and Iceland was saved.
Jaki plaited his daughter’s hair since she asked. She liked the way it was wavy in the morning after a night in plaits. Despite her rough start in life, she was strong and healthy. Dressed in a nightgown with ribbons, she kicked her legs and fidgeted on the stool. Jaki did his best, although plaiting wasn’t exactly his talent. Once he’d done a passable job, and the ends were secured with ribbons, he told her to get in bed, and he’d read her story.
“Are you still sad?” she asked once she was tucked under blankets.
Jaki settled on the edge of the bed with one of her favorite storybooks. “No, I’m not sad. I’m very happy that we’ve given you a little brother.”
“Is Daddy still sad?”
She often called them both Daddy, which could make it a little confusing when she called for them, and they both thought to respond. “He was sad, but…”
Aisi’s body had been found.
Whoever had buried her had done it rather hastily. She’d still been dressed, and the grave hadn’t been as deep as one would expect. Her murderers hadn’t taken anything from the corpse either, so she still had a necklace with an inscription on the back.
To Aisi. My Moon. My Sun.
Lumi said the last time he saw her, she had been wearing a brown dress and the necklace, although he hadn’t thought much about it. Mother had often worn jewelry gifted from Father. Reesing had given it to her months before the war started.
“He was sad, but he’s feeling better,” said Jaki. Lumi had said it was a relief that Aisi could finally rest in the tomb by her husband and the real baby Tivar.
Someday, they could explain it better and why Lumi had been both sad and relieved. There were a lot of things they couldn’t explain to her about the past, especially Lumi’s past, which still affected him in the present and had left its scars.
