Court, Poets, Babies, and Royal Declarations

"I can't see."

I stifled a giggle, recognizing the tiny imperious voice at Edward's feet.  He closed his eyes against the firm tug at the hem of his waistcoat and let out a slow sigh.  

"I'm sorry, Princess, I can't pick you up.  I'm on baby duty."

"You have a baby?"  Stevane's eyebrows raised.  "Let me see."

Edward glanced once towards his father's dais, then knelt, his head disappearing below the rest of the crowd.  He angled his arms so that the sleeping infant's face rolled away from his chest.  One tiny fist shot up, fingers uncurling a moment, then tucking into a tiny ball once again next to a rosy cheek.

"You have a pretty baby."  She frowned, looking firmly into Edward's eyes.  "Where did you get him?  He's not yours.  You're too old to have babies."

"No I'm not," he protested, then stopped himself and laughed.  I bit my own lip, holding back a chuckle.  Stevane tossed a glance my way, then looked again.

"Elric!  Elric, Edward stole someone's baby."

I grinned and picked her up, grunting a little with the effort.  My little shadow had gotten a bit longer in the past few years.  Edward stood as well, carefully tucking the blanket over the baby's head, shielding him from the light in the Court.  "No, sweetcake, that baby is his little brother.  That's your new cousin."

Stevane wrinkled her nose.  "Oh."  She gave me a sly look.  "So, Unkie stuck his penis--"

I clapped a hand over her mouth, my face turning bright red.  I noticed a couple pairs of shoulders in front of us twitch in silent laughter, and Edward's eyes were twinkling as he held back laughter.

"Stevane, that's not an appropriate topic for a lady, let alone in the Court."

She nodded, and I lowered my hand from her mouth.  She leaned forward and stage-whispered wetly in my ear.  "Unkie knocked up some silly whore, then?"

I choked on my own snort, and Edward couldn't quite bite back his bark of laughter.

From the throne, Jhe o'Radia's blue eyes glanced our way.  The corner of his mouth curled ever-so-slightly, presumably at the sight of his niece's mop of red curls, and looked away.  I breathed a sigh of relief.  

"Stevane, sweetheart, where did you learn those... improper words?"

She leaned back, her gold eyes staring wide into mine.  "I heard them."

I nodded encouragingly.  "Where did you hear them, dear?"

"In the practice arena, Elric."

I contained a deep sigh.  "Sweetcake, we've talked about what we hear in the practice arena, didn't we."

She looked down, her hands twining together, fingertips playing with the edge of my sash.

"Sweetcake?"

"Yes, Elric."

I jogged her in my arms, her curls bouncing about her face with the motion.  She peeked up at me through them.  I smiled, and she looked up a bit further, encouraged by my pleasant demeanor.  "And what did we discuss about those things, sweetcake?"

"We don't repeat what they say, because people who are trying to kill each other rarely do it in a mannerly fashion."  She blinked, then shook her said.  "I'm sorry... people who are trying to kill each other say things that make other people upset on purpose."  Her eyes twinkled.  "Part of being Armed is having no manners."

I giggled and kissed her forehead.  "Don't let your father hear you speaking like that, sweetcake, or you're going to get us poor downtrodden artists more trouble than we can handle."

She nodded again, then looked over at the baby.  "Edward?"

"Yes, tidbit?"

"That's Unkie's baby?"

He grinned.  "Yes, bit.  He's my baby brother."

She leaned over to get a better look, forcing me to widen my stance as to not stumble into Edward.  "He's cute.  His hair is curly, like yours."

"And yours," Edward said, reaching up and gently yanking a lock of her hair.  She giggled and clapped her hands on the top of her head.

"Ow!"  She rubbed her head.  "That hurt," she said, ruining her pout with a bubbly stream of giggles.

Edward stuck his tongue out, and she promptly did the same.

"Manners, you two," I muttered.  They shot me near-identical eyerolls.

"Can I play with him?" she asked, gently pulling the blanket away from his face.

"Not for a while," Edward said, shifting the baby to give Stevane a better view.  She stared down at him, smiling, and stroked his cheek.

"What's his name?"

"Jaxhelshon." 

Stevane glanced up and gave Edward a cross look.  "What a stupid name.  What kind of name is that?"

"I don't know, bit," he said, his eyes nearly disappearing into his cheeks from the force of his grin.  "You'll have to discuss that with your uncle."

She twisted in my arms, facing over the crowd.  "Unk--"

I clapped my hand over her mouth, my eyes darting to the throne.  "Not right now!" I hissed, apologizing as best I could with my eyes when the Jhe o'Radia glanced my way once again.

To my amazement, he held up one hand.  The dignitary who had been speaking paused, his expression a touch confused.  The Jhe o'Radia signaled to me with one finger, and I set his niece down and knelt next to her, giving her a little push.  "Your uncle wants to see you," I said, my voice exceptionally steady considering my heart had just tried to hammer its way through my chest.

Stevane marched through the crowd, people nearly tripping over each other to get out of her way.  She mounted the stairs to the dais with the arrogant confidence of five-year-olds everywhere and marched over to her uncle, charmingly oblivious to the stir she was causing behind her.  She stopped in front of him, her tiny fists on her hips, and cocked her head.  "Unkie?"

"Yes, Jhe Stevane?"

The title gave her pause, then she plowed forward.  "J'Unkie."

Someone in Court bit off a laugh.

"J'Unkie," she said a little louder, and the Jhe o'Radia raised an eyebrow as the same someone laughed again, a particular cant to his expression that seemed to be reserved for his children.  

"Jhe o'Radia," he whispered.

"Sorry," she whispered back.  "Jhe o'Radia," she said, her voice suddenly carrying through the Court, "I have a question."

He waved a hand to her, palm up.

"What kind of name is 'Jaxhelshon'?"

He stared at her, then burst out laughing, picking her up and pulling her onto his lap.  "If I let you sit here and watch with me, will you be quiet and I will tell you later?"

She nodded and grinned, kicking her feet over his knees.

He waved a hand, but before the dignitary could get more than a few words out, Jaxhelshon woke abruptly and wailed.

The Jhe o'Radia buried his face in one palm, his shoulders shaking with laughter.  "Please, 'Sy," I heard him choke out.  The Jhe 'hAkribastes shook his head and quietly apologized to the befuddled diplomat, then dismissed Court.

"It's a stupid name," I heard Stevane announce over the increasingly high-pitched screams of her cousin, as I followed Edward out the doors into the hallway that lead to the Jhe o'Radia's offices.

This time, I didn't bother to hold in my laughter.