"Well, now. What have we got here?" Sheba asked, gathering her skirts and crouching down at the child's level with a quiet groan. Good Lord, she was getting too damn old.
She'd have arthritis like her mother before too long. What a nice legacy to inherit.
"She's got some lungs on her, I'll give her that."
Ygraine wailed before Lyanna could greet her friend properly, and at once she pried her daughter's little fat fingers free of the tourney sword, just barely avoiding a tap to the face with the blunted weapon.
"Lungs and a mighty swing," Lyanna sighed and leaned over to give Sheba a kiss on the cheek, then pulled back as Ygraine crawled to Sheba's skirts. The child briefly quieted, wet-faced and mesmerized by the puddles of fabric, but Lyanna knew the reprieve wouldn't last very long.
"Oh, we're getting fangs now?" Sheba asked with a laugh, pulling the damp and whiny child into her lap and wiping gently at the girl's tear-stained cheeks. "I think your mummy sounds a bit mad, what do you think?"
Ygraine had a great deal to say about this, and so she babbled in agreement as she grabbed up handfuls of Sheba's skirts and rather obediently turned her face into each wipe.
"Some days I do wonder," Lyanna replied, tinged with a hint of stress. "Her first tooth is on the way just along the bottom. I felt it just this morning."
Jeyne was on her way to the clothing box (keeping Robb in decent clothes was a challenge at times) when she heard a familiar baby sound and went to investigate. It was strange how babes did little but yell, babble, and cry, yet their voices were readily recognisable when they were family. She shifted Reynald from her hip and knelt, settling down beside Ygraine. Reynald looked interestedly at Ygraine's toy sword but made no attempt to take it, only following its movements with his eyes. "They'll be duelling before we know it," Jeyne said.
"Duelling and causing all manner of chaos," Lyanna boasted where Ygraine could not see her and be encouraged.
She smirked while her daughter, sensing another from her pack, went slack with a sort of wet glee and continued to wave the toy sword around now that she had a proper audience. "And you and your handful, Jeyne. You do look well," she complimented.
"Thank you," said Jeyne. "As do you." Reynald bounced a little with excitement, watching both the toy sword and Ygraine eagerly. He was just old enough now that he was able to tell the difference between the younger members of the Stark clan. Being the youngest meant that Rickon and Eddara were not very keen on him, so he was far more interested in Ygraine. "I can't believe how much they've grown already," she added. "It seems only yesterday they were just born, and now look at them."
Ygraine enjoyed her new audience immensely, but apparently she needed a volunteer. So she began to crawl with the toy sword in hand until she was close enough to draw her hand back and -
"No, Ygraine," Lyanna firmly retrieved the child seconds before she could whack her cousin somewhere tender. "No. Give Reynald a few more moons," she scolded as Ygraine began squirming and wetly crinkling her face again. Lyanna sighed and began to shush her before replying, with a low groan, "Much too fast, I say."
Ray liked babies, sure, but he'd never had too much experience with them beyond a twinge of annoyance when a parent let their youngster go on screaming in the deli without taking them outside. Here, though, it seemed like he was surrounded by them and getting more experience than he knew what to do with. That was an exaggeration, but the point was, he was dealing with more babies than before.
"She'll be a champion swordswoman in no time at that rate," he said cheerily, smiling at Lyanna as he got right down on the floor with them.
"Mm, and next we shall dump her on a horse and send her riding," Lyanna all but winked at him as Ygraine quieted long enough to direct her attention to Ray.
For a long moment she appeared slack and dumbfounded, but ultimately a second wind of glee returned as she crawled over to him with her sword and began waving it around at his knee, babbling fiercely.
"Oh no!" Ray exclaimed, raising his hands in mock surrender and making a shocked expression of comically large proportions. "I yield, I yield! I'm no match for the great Ygraine!"
Ygraine definitely liked that and so did her mother. Encouraged, Ygraine began to bat at him with much more enthusiasm until it became apparent that she really would need to learn to control that better lest she take someone's eye out.
"You yield far too easily, Ray," Lyanna teased. "A few more months and she'll be asking to spar with nuncle Ray more often than she asks for milk."
Comments 18
She'd have arthritis like her mother before too long. What a nice legacy to inherit.
"She's got some lungs on her, I'll give her that."
Reply
"Lungs and a mighty swing," Lyanna sighed and leaned over to give Sheba a kiss on the cheek, then pulled back as Ygraine crawled to Sheba's skirts. The child briefly quieted, wet-faced and mesmerized by the puddles of fabric, but Lyanna knew the reprieve wouldn't last very long.
"I dread the day her fangs come in."
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Reply
"Some days I do wonder," Lyanna replied, tinged with a hint of stress. "Her first tooth is on the way just along the bottom. I felt it just this morning."
Reply
Reply
She smirked while her daughter, sensing another from her pack, went slack with a sort of wet glee and continued to wave the toy sword around now that she had a proper audience. "And you and your handful, Jeyne. You do look well," she complimented.
Reply
Reply
"No, Ygraine," Lyanna firmly retrieved the child seconds before she could whack her cousin somewhere tender. "No. Give Reynald a few more moons," she scolded as Ygraine began squirming and wetly crinkling her face again. Lyanna sighed and began to shush her before replying, with a low groan, "Much too fast, I say."
Reply
"She'll be a champion swordswoman in no time at that rate," he said cheerily, smiling at Lyanna as he got right down on the floor with them.
Reply
For a long moment she appeared slack and dumbfounded, but ultimately a second wind of glee returned as she crawled over to him with her sword and began waving it around at his knee, babbling fiercely.
Reply
Reply
"You yield far too easily, Ray," Lyanna teased. "A few more months and she'll be asking to spar with nuncle Ray more often than she asks for milk."
Reply
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