𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐖𝐎 | Training
{ Malkym }
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"𝕿hat's it!" Malkym nodded, watching his sons. "Watch your swing. Don't overextend yourself."
Jace slashed down, as Luke twisted to stab the dummy.
"Good, good." He nodded again, watching the boys fight in unison. It reminded him of his brothers. "I'm impressed."
Both boys, still fighting, beamed at their father's praise. Malkym's brothers-in-law did not share the boys thoughts, glaring as they heard Malkym praise his sons for their skills. Their own father barely said two words to them, yet Malkym was always with his sons, watching as they learnt and trained.
It was infuriating.
"Swap!" Malkym clapped his hand, as the boys swapped between dummies, helping each other out. Whilst he trained his own sons, the queen had demanded that Ser Criston Cole train her spawn. Malkym despised having to see the man who had attempted to kill him, but the sight of the scar marring his face brought Malkym some joy.
"You and your brother, attack me." Ser Criston had some questionable training methods, ones that Malkym despised. Jace and Luke watched, backing off, as the two white haired princes stepped forward to fight the knight.
He had been trained quite differently, training with his brothers and father since he was young. Once he was more capable, he was taught to analyse others fighting technique and how to use it to his own advantage. It was the same things he taught his sons. Strength and power behind the swings would come with time and age, but the ability to analyse others and work out their weaknesses was one that needed time to be perfected. It was better to start it early.
It was the same idea with technique.
"Jace, Luke, come." The two smaller boys retreated to stand by their father, leaning into his side as the trio watched Ser Criston decimate the two princes. It was not a fair fight, nor was it evenly matched, as it took all of a few minutes to put both of the younger boys on their asses, no matter their taunting. "Watch them, learn from their mistakes. See how they mix up their strokes and do not pay attention to each other? It leads to poor battle choices."
Jace and Luke were not yet the strongest fighters, but their ability to read their opponents and their technique was what truly set them apart from their uncles.
"Weapons up, give the enemy no chance to attack." Ser Harwin Strong's voice sounded from behind them, as Malkym turned and nodded at his friend. The boys followed the older men's advice, raising their swords and watching more carefully as they whispered their thoughts to their father. Malkym agreed and corrected where he saw fit. "Seems the younger boys could do better with more of your attention, Ser Criston."
"You question my method of instruction, Ser?"
Malkym smiled, keeping his mouth shut as he ignored the two men, before rolling his eyes as Aegon gave Jace a shove towards the mud. Jace stumbled, correcting himself quickly as Malkym sighed.
"Aegon." The white haired princeling tensed, looking up at his brother-by-law and relenting momentarily.
"Very well." Ser Criston nodded. "Jacaerys, you spar with Aegon."
Malkym's eyes went wide as Jace was grabbed and shoved into the corner by Ser Criston. His eyes narrowed, a hand already drifting towards his sword as he became ready to step in. Ser Criston was targeting his boys, who were not ready for this yet. He did not make them spar against the others, or each other, because they did not have the strength yet.
"Eldest son against eldest son." Jace shot his father a worried look, eyes wide.
"That is hardly a fair match." Ser Harwin muttered, shaking his head.
"I know you've never seen a true battle but when steel is drawn, a fair match isn't something anyone should expect." None of them had seen battle, not least Ser Criston, so why would he speak as if he had?
"If that be true," Malkym spoke up, holding a placating hand out towards Jace, who looked a little panicked. "Then put Luke with Jace, against Aegon. That would truly make things interesting. It would still be an unfair fight, but it would challenge Aegon. Aegon will learn nothing if he fights against someone who is weaker than him."
Malkym cocked an eyebrow, but was ignored by the knight. His temper began to boil, and the man was more than tempted to exert his authority as lord and future king consort, but still said nothing. There was no need for this to become a bigger problem than it already was, especially not with the king watching.
"Blades up." Jace shot his father another panicked look, as the man motioned for him to take a deep breath and calm himself. Jace had the technique. "Engage."
It was truly an unfair battle, with Aegon springing upon Jace, bringing his blade down over and over as the younger boy tried his best to block the older one's strength. Jace was doing well, his blocks holding up and his technique far better than his uncle, until Aegon shoved him onto the dirt. The older boy laughed, turning as if he had already won.
But in that time, Jace sprung to his feet, charging at him. Malkym grinned, watching his son swipe back and forth, forcing Aegon back further and further, until the white haired prince hit the training dummy.
Thus, Aegon resorted to foul play as soon as he noticed that Jace was winning, pushing the dummy onto Jace.
"Foul play." Malkym stood, heaving Jace upwards as he pushed the dummy off of his son.
"I'll deal with him." Ser Criston hissed, glaring at the lord, who glared back.
"You better had or I shall." Malkym checked his son over quickly before grinning. "Plant your feet, you are the smaller one, you are quicker and he's too lanky to move that fast, and too cocky."
Luke and Jace both nodded.
"Go for the parts of his body he won't expect, knees, ankles, wrists and fingers." Malkym commanded. "You've got him nervous now. He was not expecting you to fight so well."
"I have done well?" Jace's eyes went wide, as Malkym nodded.
"Incredibly. Your technique has been excellent, and I saw the way that you anticipated his hits." Malkym ruffled Jace's hair, patting his son's cheek as the boy beamed. "No matter what, just know that you fought your best."
"You!" Jace gave his father a shove out of the way, as Aegon descended onto him, yelling in annoyance.
"Use your feet!" Ser Criston shouted, as Malkym winced, watching his boy be kicked backwards into the mud. "Don't let him get up. Stay on the attack."
Malkym could only take so much, watching as Aegon tried desperately to hit Jace, who was defending as best he could in the dirt.
"Enough." Ser Harwin grabbed the prince, pulling him off before Malkym could. He reached for his son, helping him up and brushing the mud from his armour.
"Good boy. You did well." Malkym nodded, comforting his eldest son who seemed winded by the kicks, startled tears of pain in his eyes. Malkym carefully felt for the boy's ribs, making sure that it was only bruising and nothing more serious as he attempted to soothe his boy. "I was so very impressed. It is a bruise, but you have nothing broken, which is good. You did so well."
"You dare put your hands on me!" Aegon screamed, ever the petulant toddler.
"Aegon!" His father's voice stopped him.
"You forget yourself, Strong, that is the prince." Ser Criston stated.
"Is my son not also a prince?" Malkym turned, looking up at Ser Criston with narrowed eyes. "Watch yourself, Cole. I will only warn you once and you are well aware what happens after I have warned you."
"Is this what you teach, Cole?" Jace stood, shaking his arms out as Malkym's uncle Rickard grew closer to the trio. The elder Thorne shot his nephew a concerned look, knowing how deeply Malkym despised Ser Criston and that he would look for any chance to injure the Kingsguard member. "Cruelty? For the weaker opponent?"
Rickard could see that the man was on a short fuse, knowing that the tension of training would only lead to more fights. But, no matter how hard the knight tried to catch his nephew's eyes, Malkym ignored him to glare.
"Your interest in the prince's training is quite unusual, commander." Ser Criston turned. "Most men would only have that kind of emotion towards a cousin or a brother or a son."
"Watch yourself." Both men paused, turning to meet Malkym's dark glare as the youngest of the three stepped forward. Malkym advanced, glaring down at Ser Criston, hand already ready to draw his sword. He was trying his best to keep a lid on his temper, knowing that his sons were watching him. He did not wish to scare them. "These are my sons you speak of. You are making stories, ones that I do not appreciate, and I will gladly fight you once more and then have you beheaded for treason."
"I-"
"These are the crown princes you insult." Malkym leant closer, as guards began to appear, in case of a fight between the trio. "Say such things around them again, Cole, I'll bash your fucking head in."
"You lost to me, Thorne." Criston whispered, but Malkym caught onto the tremor in his voice like a bloodhound on a scent. He grinned, stepping closer.
"You only won because I wanted it so. Let us not forget who gave you that scar." Malkym growled, as Harwin tried to push them apart.
"The boys, Malkym." Harwin urged. "Do not let the boys see this."
"Name a time and a place, and I'll kill you then and there." Malkym growled. "I'll rip that cloak from your back. You do not deserve it. They should have stripped you of it the moment you failed to kill me."
"Are you saying that the queen's judgement is wrong?"
"I am saying that you should not be alive. Those are one and the same it would seem. So yes, she was wrong."
"That is treason." Ser Criston went to draw his dagger, as Malkym grabbed his own.
"Not in front of the boys." Harwin placed a hand on both of their chests, trying to push them away from one another once more. But anger was a powerful fuel, and Malkym was not backing down. He had reached his breaking point.
"Nephew!"
"You have outgrown the field of battle, gone soft in your old age." Malkym stepped back momentarily, eyebrow cocking at the audacity the man had to speak to him in such a way. Harwin seemed to sigh, stepping back, but it was a mistake for as soon as he was out of the way, Malkym struck.
No one would say that to him and not expect consequences.
It took him all of two swipes with his dagger before Ser Criston was stumbling backwards, and then Malkym punched. It was satisfying to feel the bones break beneath his hands as Ser Criston's nose cracked. All outside noise was drowned out by blood rushing through Malkym's ears, as he dodged under another hit, twisting to kick on the back of the knight's leg. He cried out, falling to his knees as Malkym used the momentum of it to fling Ser Criston over his head and onto his back.
From there, it was quite satisfying to beat his face, to watch the blood pour out and to release all of his anger onto that man.
"Malkym. Enough!" Hands wrapped around the man's chest and arms, pulling him backwards and throwing him off of Ser Criston. Malkym landed and rolled as he hit the ground, picking his dagger up as he grinned manically. He could feel Cole's blood dripping from his face, his dark hair in his eyes as he tried to lunge back and continue beating the man.
"Calm!" Harwin blocked the man from going back to beating the prone form of Ser Criston, as more guards rushed onto the training ground. As the blood calmed in his body, Malkym could hear once more. There was a commotion around him, guards rushing back and forth, calling for the maester, talking about broken bones and a shattered knee.
Malkym had not known how hard he had kicked, but he was happy that Ser Criston seemed more injured. It was most amusing.
There were shouts of his name, the king was warning him off and Malkym could see the horrified look on Alicent's spawns faces. His grin grew, hopefully this would remind them that just because he did not fight any longer did not mean he was not capable of great injury.
"Father?" Luke's voice was trembling, and a wave of guilt came crashing over Malkym as he turned to see his sons. They were watching him with wide eyes, fear clear in them and Malkym's heart shattered, his furious expression dropping in a second.
He had scared his sons, something he had promised never to do.
"Boys, I-" He did not know what to say, how to explain it or to apologise.
"Father, he did not hurt you?" Jace was the first to rush over, reaching up for his father as Malkym crouched. As soon as he did, Luke barrelled into his arms, clinging onto him, his little fingers digging into his father's neck. "I thought that he had hurt you."
"He could not get a hit on me if he had tried." Malkym thanked the gods that his sons did not seem to be scared of him. "Come on. We're finished for the day."
Luke refused to let go of him and Malkym relented, picking his six year old up and into his arms with ease as the boy trembled. Jace, who was not normally so affectionate, clung to his hand as Malkym walked away from the scene. He would deal with the aftermath later for now, he just wanted to focus on his children.
The corridors were quiet, no guards at their posts, and the trio made quick work getting back towards their apartments.
"Father." Jace's words had the man pausing, looking down at his son.
"Hmm?"
"What did Ser Criston mean?" Malkym's eyebrows furrowed. "When he told Ser Harwin that he seemed to have too much of an interest in us."
Jace's confused face was an exact copy of his mother's
"He is making up lies, silly lies." Malkym paused, crouching by his son. Jace stepped closer, though Luke did not move from his position wrapped around Malkym. "That I am not your father, and that Harwin is. But it is not true, I swear to you. You are my sons, Thorne's through and through. It is as plain as day."
"You are our father?" Malkym's heart broke at the sight of Jace's worried expression and wide eyes.
"Of course. I am your father, I was there when you were born and when you were conceived." He grinned as Jace made a face of abject horror and tried to push him away, but Malkym tightened his grip on his eldest. He chuckled, before kissing his head again. "You are my sons, no one else's apart from your mother's."
"Then, why do they make these lies if they know it is not true?" Jace leant into his father's side as they stood, continuing to walk to their chambers.
"Because they are horrible people with nothing better to do with their time." Malkym shook his head. "Come, let us find your mother."
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{ Rhaenyra }
"Rhae." The doors of their chambers opened, as Rhaenyra looked up. Malkym was covered in sand and mud, his hair a mess and armour dirty. Luke was wrapped in his arms, refusing to even pull his head out and look at his mother, and Jace was bruised. She immediately pulled herself upright, holding her arms out.
"Jace." The boy let go of his father, rushing over and Rhaenyra fought a wince as her son dropped his armour and clambered into her lap, clinging to her tightly. He was almost getting too big to fit in her lap, but she gritted her teeth through the pain of his little pointy elbows. Something had happened, something that had upset her boys and she would not stand for it. "What have you been up to, my darling?"
Jace burrowed his head into her shoulder, waiting until she was running her hand through his dark hair, before speaking.
"I fought Aegon." Jace mumbled, settling into her touch as Malkym managed to somehow remove his armour whilst Luke was still clinging to him. He placed it down gently with Jace's. Luke's followed shortly after as her husband sat beside her, still rocking the young boy. "Father says I did incredibly well. I almost had him, but he wasn't playing fair so then I didn't. But father says I was close, wasn't I?"
"You were."
"And then, I even managed to anticipate his next move and I got this really amazing block in..." Rhaenyra knew nothing about sword fighting, but she had tried to learn over the years, knowing her sons would most likely take after their father and enjoy it. It was the same reason that Malkym had learnt bits of High Valyrian, for her and the boys. "You're not listening."
"I am. You were telling me about that parry." Rhaenyra soothed his hair, smiling gently as Jace continued to explain it all in great detail to her.
"...and then, father got into a fight with Ser Criston." Rhaenyra paused, turning to look at her husband. She reached out, carefully tilting his head left and right as she searched for any cuts or bruises. "But father beat him easily. Five men had to pull him off."
"In my defence, I did not realise that there were five people pulling me off." Malkym muttered, catching Rhaenyra's eyes as she finished checking him over, pressing her hand to his cheek. He kissed the inside of her wrist in response. "I will force an apology when I am calm, and when Ser Criston can walk again."
"Don't bother." Rhaenyra replied, shaking her head. They would know that it was insincere anyway. "What did you do?"
"Later." Malkym promised, rocking Luke gently as Rhaenyra nodded. The nursemaid was in the corner, waiting for the two princes and whilst Jace was more than happy to go and get rid of the dirt coating his body, Luke still had not moved.
"Luke." Rhaenyra reached over, brushing her hand over his back. "Luke, my sweet boy, you have to go and clean up. Once you are clean, you can come right back. You two both need to bathe."
Luke shook his head.
"I will be right here with your mother." Malkym promised, kissing his head. "It will take less than an hour. Go on."
Luke was reluctant to let go, but after more promises, the boy relented, rushing away so that he could bathe as quickly as possible. Rhaenyra turned back, hoping to ask her husband about Ser Criston, but he was already checking her over.
"How are you? Are you in pain?" Malkym helped her sit in a more comfortable position, his eyes wide.
"Yes. It hurts. You know how it is after a birth." Rhaenyra admitted, having learnt that Malkym would find things out one way or another, even if Rhaenyra tried to hide it from him. He seemed to have a sixth sense for when she was hurt, always managing to find her.
"Can I do anything to help?"
"Not really." Malkym sighed, before letting Rhaenyra rest her head forward and onto his shoulder. "What happened in the training yard, Malkym?"
"Ser Criston made a comment about Jace and Luke and me having grown old and soft. I wanted to kill him. I should have killed him." Malkym sighed. "But I merely broke his nose, and then possibly his knee and beat him until he was unconscious."
"I bet that felt good." Malkym chuckled quietly at her words.
"You have no idea." He shook his head, before looking back at her. "I swear I will force an apology later, I am more worried for the boys at the moment. I did not mean to scare them."
"You did not scare them." Rhaenyra promised, practically half in Malkym's lap as she leant further into his hug. "They are just worried for you. Just as I am."
"I love you too." Rhaenyra clutched his hand a little tighter, kissing his jaw as she soothed the tension from his muscles. "You could lend me Syrax and I could burn Ser Criston before he can even recover? Syrax will let me do that. She'd think it's funny, I know so."
"You are, without a doubt, the best person I could have married." Rhaenyra laughed, before fully wrapping her arms around her husband. "But I can not give you my dragon, as much as the pair of you would enjoy it."
Syrax seemed to have a soft spot for her husband, oftentimes preferring to stomp along with the man instead of spending time with Rhaenyra, which she found most amusing. It was a far cry from the fear that Malkym used to have for Syrax.
"You are a spoil sport." Malkym laughed once more, the same one that had Rhaenyra falling for him when she was ten and five. "You are ruining my plans, my darling dragon. I have never done that to you."
"If I recall correctly, you cussed me out the first time I suggested us being married."
He laughed, though it turned into a groan of pain as Rhaenyra jabbed him in the ribs. He spasmed away from her for a moment, before returning to her side.
"In my defence, I did think that you were joking." Malkym groaned.
"I would never joke about that." Rhaenyra huffed. "You know how much I hated the idea of marriage, and childbirth and all that. I just...loved you too much so got over my old views rather quickly. I didn't want to lose you nor did I want to see you married to someone else, that would have been torturous."
"How could I ever marry someone else?" Malkym shot her an adoring smile. "The moment you walked into the back of me, I was enamoured."
Her cheeks flushed red.
"I accepted the second time."
The pair chuckled.
"The sight of you in that white dress will forever be imprinted in my mind. You looked most gorgeous that day." Malkym whispered against her skin, kissing her blood red cheeks. "But, I believe you look even more beautiful now, especially that little grin."
Rhaenyra's little grin returned in response.
"We will be alright." Rhaenyra promised. "We will deal with this. Our sons will be safe and we will not lose each other."
"Of course not. We are bound until death." Malkym pulled back, before leaning down to pick her up. "You are never getting rid of me but you do need sleep. You are still recovering."
"You are more than I deserve and I love you all the more for it." Rhaenyra whispered, wrapping her arms tighter around Malkym as he lifted her with ease. Their bed was already warm, covers pulled back and waiting for her. Rhaenyra's eyes fluttered shut as soon as they hit the pillow, Malkym's arms wrapping around her waist to help to soothe the pains.
They did not open until a mere hour later, when two smaller forms clambered onto the bed. Jace and Luke were trying their best to be quiet, as they sank down between their parents, having abandoned their own nursery room.
Hiya,
So, Malkym chose violence which I respect, and Luke is just very anxious about his father. Jace and Rhae are also adorable, they have their little mini mes. Also, there's just a lot about their relationship, and what the pair are like. I am soft for Rhae and Malkym, either alone or with their kids.
Let me know what you think,
Love Li xx