#Buqari

[raybyanothername]

dueling mother tongues

Another Daemon POV for the prompt driven fic! This time with eavesdropping and the Green siblings having their own mixed language of Valyrian and the Common Tongue.

This drabble escaped containment long ago: Parts 1 2 3 4 5

He'd left the girls with Rhaenys. And Moondancer. The young dragon nesting in their chambers. Daemon expected he'd find the dragon in Baela's bed upon his return.

Caraxes could not fit in his bed though. He'd been too large for such a thing even before Daemon's birth according to the stories his father had told. His uncle Aemon had certainly tried in his youth, had snuck the young dragon into both the Red Keep and Dragonstone before Caraxes had grown too big for the doorways.

Smiling to himself, Daemon descended the stairs of the main tower. He'd always enjoyed his uncle's stories.

The ones about Caraxes and Meleys especially. The only two red dragons. His mother had claimed they were the most Targaryen: the regal Red Queen and the protective Blood Wyrm.

Two sides of the same coin. The same two that every Targaryen had. Fire and Blood. Conquest and Justice. Caraxes and Meleys.

He'd thought Viserys to be the other side of his coin. The even tempered monarch to his chaotic prince. Viserys would rule and Daemon would protect.

"The king will never forgive us!" The hissed whisper had Daemon pausing in his steps along the path down to the caverns beneath Driftmark. He squinted as he tried to place the voice.

Familiar as it was, Daemon had never heard Valyrian spoken quite like that. Half the words had been in the common tongue at that, or pronounced as if they were, which made it even more difficult for him to understand.

"Who gives a fuck about him?!" Another voice hissed in the same odd mix of Valyrian and the common tongue. The curse had made it easier to place the speaker at least.

Aegon's voice was raw, and wet, just as it had been earlier before Daemon had left his cousin's chambers. Emotion filled his every breath, stuttering as some of them were.

"Muna will never forgive us, forgive me!" Aegon said, half whimpering by the end. The only word in Valyrian he'd managed to pronounce properly was 'mother' and Daemon's heart twisted at the lilt in his voice.

It sounded almost identical to Laena's. The thick Westerosi accent that both she and Laenor had inherited. In King's Landing, only those of royal blood were likely to speak Valyrian. Even then, some never learned it. Aemma hadn't.

Both Valyrian and the common tongue were used on Driftmark though. So while Rhaenys typically had the familiar bite of High Valyrian when she spoke, her children had learned the language with an accent. One Daemon had grown quite fond of over the years, as his wife had whispered in his ears and shouted at him across rooms.

"Mother doesn't hate you," a feminine voice caught his attention and the harsh whispers of the other two voices went quiet.

Soft and melodic. Helaena pronounced every word of Valyrian as if it were common, and every word of common as if it were Valyrian. The two languages mixing together in a her mellow voice.

"She wanted her father back and I'm the reason he's dead," Aegon said, exhaling slowly, "I've always been a disappointment." He huffed, "Now I'm... I'm... buqarys."

Daemon blinked. Hated? Was he trying to say hated? His nose wrinkled as he listened to the three of them talk. To their rapid fire discussion of the current situation. He could barely follow.

Aegon, Helaena, Aemond. None of them spoke a single sentence entirely in Valyrian. He understood them, yes, but only just. Half their words were pronounced wrong. Or differently, at least. And not in the same way as the Westerosi spoke Valyrian on Driftmark or Dragonstone.

This was different. Their own mash of their dueling mother tongues. They spoke the common tongue properly before others, but it seemed that when alone they spoke... this. Quickly at that, without concern that the other two might misunderstand them.

But what of their Valyrian? Could they speak that properly as well?

Brow furrowing, Daemon tried to recall if he'd ever heard one of them speak Valyrian before, on his sporadic visits to the Red Keep since Helaena's birth. He and Rhaenyea had used it at dinner, with Laenor and Laena. Viserys as well.

The children had followed their conversation, but they'd not spoken. Jacaerys had, once. Daemon had laughed at his pronunciation and the boy had flushed crimson.

Eyes squeezing shut, Daemon sagged against the nearest stone wall. His chest grew tight and his head ached.

His parents had been the ones to teach him Valyrian. His aunts. His uncle.

A sharp scoff dragged Daemon's attention back to the siblings, to their makeshift Valyrian. To the resounding evidence of his failure as their uncle.

"You don't really think the king will let mother stay behind do you?" Aemond drawled, "He might let Helaena stay for a bit, if Rhaenyra asks, but his wife?"

"His queen," Aegon corrected with a snort, "And why wouldn't he? It's not like she serves a purpose for him now. She's barren remember? And he can't lie with anyone in his condition anyway."

Bile rose in his throat. Aegon did not mince his words. Entirely cavalier, in fact. Daemon found himself pressing a hand to his lips, fingers curled into a ball as he silenced himself.

"The only thing the king cares about is Rhaenyra. That's always been true, and it certainly is now." Aegon's voice rattled in his head as Daemon stood stiffly outside the cave where Dreamfyre had taken to nest upon her arrival.

"He cared for Otto," Helaena hummed, "Mother is his daughter. He may wish to keep her close."

Another snort, a shuffle. Aegon's voice grew sharper, his pronunciations crisper. Almost correct even. "Maybe that's why he married her."

Aemond made a gagging noise, "Gross!"

Eyes fluttering, Daemon certainly agreed with him. His nose wrinkled as Aegon laughed, "What? Men lie together too. They just can't marry because the Faith says it's unnatural."

"I know that!" Aemond snapped. He sniffed, words mumbling as he groused, "Mother says that's what Ser Laenor does with that one knight."

"Qarl," Aegon supplied, sighing once again, "And mother says significantly more than that, but only because she's angry with the king and if she insulted Rhaenyra directly he'd punish her again."

Footsteps sounded above him and Daemon looked up. Laenor paused, brows furrowing as their eyes met. Daemon held a finger to his lips and the brows rose up.

"It's why she said all those things about Ser Harwin too," Helaena tacked on as her younger brother grumbled. Her voice grew sharper then too.

For perhaps the first time, Daemon heard his younger niece's temper rise. Her anger, not just in her words, but in the subtle shift of her tone. Laenor's eyes widened beside him as she spoke.

"If the king hadn't sent Daeron away, mother wouldn't care that he favors Rhaenyra so much. She wouldn't be afraid!"

"She wouldn't have wanted grandfather to come either," Aemond asserted. His words were accompanied by the crunch of footsteps. Solid and stomping. "This is all his fault!"

Whether the boy meant Otto or Viserys, Daemon found himself nodding in agreement. He turned his head to face Laenor, eyebrow arching as he mouthed a silent 'why?'

A question that quickly became redundant as Aegon let out a hollow laugh, "You say that like it matters."

His siblings went quiet. Aemond's angry pacing pausing as Aegon's began. His strides decidely slower and echoing far less. Which only made it that much easier to hear his words.

"The maesters told him mother needed time to recover after you were born, but he still blamed her when she became barren after Daeron's birth."

Daemon cringed. His teeth scraped over the top of his knuckle as he held in a scream. Laenor bowed his head to Daemon's shoulder, hand squeezing at his bicep. Tears gathered on both of their lashes as the boy continued, his voice cracking now.

"He sent Daeron away because mother said as much," Aegon announced, wetly. His next breath stuttered as he spat out, "The king never takes the blame, Aem. That's how it works."

"If mother can't stay, neither can I," Helaena whispered as her brother's crying filled the air. "She shouldn't be alone. Not now."

Silence reigned inside the cavern for a moment. Long enough for Daemon to grow nervous that they might be discovered, that the children might leave the safety of Dreamfyre's nest to search for their mother.

Aemond's low croak startled him, "You really think he'll let her stay?" Daemon squeezed his eyes shut as the boy hiccuped, "It wouldn't be so bad, living here, if mother could stay."

Laenor's breath hitched. His hand squeezed at Daemon's arm, grip tight. Daemon's whole body shuddered as his nephew answered.

"Yeah," Aegon assured his brother, "I think the king will let her stay." His little chuckle came with a short sniffle, "She's not the one he's punishing this time."

[hzimammehdimauodjaunpurias-blog]

Ishq-e-Muhammed SAWS

Bina Ishq-e-Muhammed (SAWS), Jo padhta hai Buqari, Aata hai use Buqaar, nahi aati Buqari.