Note: Sami, Soner, and Bello are owned by Waywatcher.
Iniabi and Cynthia were childhood best friends. The two had become friends when Cynthia discovered Iniabi in the Ylisstol Palace halls as a toddler when he was running from Morgan and Amber. She pulled him into reenacting old legends with her in a room of the castle, and the two hit it off. Their friendship was encouraged by their parents, as they were all quite familiar with each other. They were almost inseparable afterwards throughout the years, to the point the two saw each other as siblings.
But after becoming teenagers, their friendship blossomed into love. Iniabi asked Cynthia to start courting him and the white haired girl quickly agreed. For the next year, their relationship increased, until Iniabi eventually proposed to Cynthia. The girl happily agreed and the two were wed to the consent of both their families. So thus, Cynthia became the new Queen of Ylisse, serving alongside Iniabi, who acted as Exalt after Morgan and Amber stepped down. The two were blessed the following year with a son, Marth, and then a daughter, Sayvra, the year after.
They had a nice quiet family life, with both trying their best to be the best parents they could be. However, when Marth was four and Sayvra was three, Iniabi met a Manakete by the name of Idoun. This was the same Idoun from the Elibian legends of old, as Idoun had long moved on from Arcadia and had adapted a nomadic life, having explored the world countless times. Iniabi barely managed to convince Idoun to stay in Ylisstol, so they could remain close together, and they continued to be friends. However, this friendship continued to increase, to the point that Cynthia herself started to feel suspicious of their relationship. She stayed quiet for a few weeks and just spied on the two secretly. Eventually, she realized there was something between the two that she shared with Iniabi as a lover, but instead of flipping out, she decided to take inspiration from other cultures and talk to Iniabi in a calm manner.
Later that same night, Cynthia confronted Iniabi on his friendship with Idoun. Iniabi confessed that he might have had some feelings for Idoun, but he still loved Cynthia dearly. He begged her to stay with him, but Cynthia calmed him down and reassured him that she wasn't going anywhere. She then went on to explain that, although she was a bit bothered that her own husband was in love with another woman, she would be open to him starting a relationship with her, just as long as he continued loving her. Iniabi was pleased with his wife, and the next day, he went and told Idoun his feelings for her, and asked her to marry him. Although she had been secretly in love with Iniabi, she revealed she didn't want to say anything because she would outlive him by many more centuries, as well as the fact that he was already married to Cynthia. Iniabi managed to convince her that they could work as long as he was alive, and after much discussion, Idoun agreed to marry Iniabi. A week later, the two and Cynthia revealed the news of the engagement to their people. Although their subjects were confused and concerned that Iniabi was taking a second wife while Cynthia was still alive, it being Idoun no less, they were happy for the couple in the end.
Idoun also happened to be pregnant when the news was revealed. The night of their engagement, Iniabi and Idoun had decided to celebrate their new relationship by making love to each other. Iniabi and Cynthia, due to Idoun joining the Exalted family, agreed to share their bed with Idoun, and Cynthia decided to join in with her husband and rival wife. During this, while Cynthia wasn't impregnated, Idoun was. The next day, when the dragon girl woke up sick, she went and talked to Lissa. Lissa's blonde hair had by now grayed over completely due to her age, but she was still happily married to Frederick and was just about as energetic as she was in her younger years. The two were now grandparents to Elise and the present Owain's daughter Ophelia. Lissa gave her future grandniece-in-law a check-up and confirmed the pregnancy. Lissa was disappointed that her grandnephew couldn't wait to get married to Idoun before breeding her, as well as the fact that he was taking a second wife alongside Cynthia, but she was nonetheless happy for the couple and looked forward to meeting her future great-grandnephew and great-grandniece. Iniabi, Cynthia, and Idoun decided to hide the pregnancy until at least the moment that Idoun couldn't hide her bulge anymore.
Five months later, Idoun was showing a lot, to the point that her stomach and breasts were swollen. She and Iniabi weren't married yet, but they and Cynthia knew they had no choice but to tell the people. To their great relief, the people were excited that another prince or princess was joining the Exalted family. Priorities from then on shifted to not only just focus on the wedding, which was soon approaching, but also the birth of Iniabi and Idoun's offspring, which the happy couple had found out was a set of twins, a boy and a girl. Unlike their half-siblings, which had been born live and had to be carried longer in Cynthia's womb, the twins had to be developed in dragon eggs. Unlike Cynthia's pregnancy, which had been nine months like human prenancies, Idoun's pregnancy was taking seven months. She was already five months in, and when she seven months into her pregnancy, she would expel the two eggs from her womb, where they'd wait in the nursery that Iniabi and Idoun hagd set up in the castle for two months, until the twins would hatch.
Currently, Iniabi sat in between Cynthia and Idoun in a council session. Morgan was also in the room with them, since even though he was no longer Exalt, he still wanted to be there for his son and daughters-in-law. Amber's health had started to deteriorate because of a bad illness, so she was in bed, being attended to by her aunt-in-law and couldn't attend court. Lucina also couldn't attend court with her nephew and nieces-in-law, due to being in Roseanne with Gerome and their sons, Benjamin and Sami. And Iniabi's younger siblings, Soner and Bello, couldn't attend court because they weren't quite old enough and weren't the Exalt. Apart from the four, the room was filled with various nobles and advisors. Iniabi sighed as the other attendants came into the room, while Cynthia straightened the paperwork in front her. The two glanced over to Idoun, who's eyes seemed glazed over as she seemed to stare off into nothingness. This was her first time really attending court, so Iniabi and Cynthia realized she must have been feeling pretty nervous. Cynthia ran her hand over the lilac haired woman's arm, causing her eyes to return to normal and for her to turn to her rival wife.
"You'll do fine." Cynthia whispered.
Idoun smiled at her. Once everyone sat down, Iniabi cleared his throat and began.
"Thank you for attending council with me. We're here to discuss plans on what the upcoming wedding. I welcome your suggestions of approach." Iniabi said.
"Of course. But I do hope you won't be letting your own personal endeavors cloud your judgement." a noble said.
"What do you mean?" Iniabi asked, his eyebrows furrowed.
The noble gestured to Idoun.
"I mean your antics. It's a shame we have to deal with more scandal." the noble replied.
"Antics?" Iniabi asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Of course. It's unbecoming for your Grandfather to take some nobody he found in a field and decided to marry on the spot. And it's unbecoming of your father to be absent for so long, and then return with a woman who claims to be carrying his child, an illegitimate one at that, and places her as his Queen. And lastly, it's unbecoming of you to practically do the same and then place her in our council." the noble replied.
Idoun's heart sped. She glanced between the nobleman, her fiancee, her rival wife, and her future father-in-law, tears in her eyes. Normally, she would be able to handle such a situation without being brought to tears, but her pregnancy had changed things. Her's felt really hard, and she deduced that was because of a mix of hormone changes and remnants from her time as a Demon Dragon. She had her hands in her hap, squeezing the fabric of her purple cloak. Her usual outfit miraculously still fit her, to which she was thankful, though not that it mattered to the nobles, who seemed like they were going to target her because she was different. Morgan clenched his hands into fists and raised his voice, despite not being Exalt anymore.
"My son and I will not tolerate your disrespect and your false claims." Morgan growled.
"Oh? Are they really false? I don't think you can prove it to me, FORMER Exalt Morgan." the noble asked.
"I don't have to." Morgan replied.
"That's naive of you to say. Your son is our leader. He has an obligation to his people. Your whole family since your father has brought shame on the Royal House of Ylisse by bringing in random women off the streets! And now your son is starting a harem!" another noble sneered.
"Idoun is my future wife and a future queen of Ylisse! She is carrying my children, the future Prince and Princess of Ylisse. You will respect them as members of the Royal family!" Iniabi said.
"So then you're confirming illegitimacy? How embarrassing, then. Our leader, himself illegitimate, fathered bastard children." the noble sneered.
Idoun sniffled. Tears hit the fabric of her cloak and dampened it. She hadn't realized that she had started crying.
"I-I'm sorry. I-Iniabi, I'm so sorry." Idoun sobbed.
Iniabi noticed the tears on her cheeks and lost his temper. He bolted onto his feet and glared at the nobles, his face red with rage.
"How dare you! How dare you disrespect her! After all she's been through! Get out of my sight! All of you!" Iniabi yelled.
All the nobles quickly left the room. Iniabi was still seething even after they left. He leaned on the table and took a deep breath. A hand touched his shoulder and he flinched. He looked up and made eye-contact with Cynthia, his temper cooling just a bit.
"Iniabi..." Cynthia started to say.
The white haired woman sighed.
"Father and I will give you and Idoun some time alone." Cynthia said.
Iniabi nodded.
"Thank you, Cynth. I'm sorry about..." Iniabi started to say.
"It's alright. I understand why you lost your temper. It's not you or Idoun's fault. I'll see you at dinner." Cynthia said.
The white haired woman left the room with Morgan and closed the door behind them. Iniabi turned to Idoun and placed his hand on her shoulder as she buried her face in her palms.
"Idoun? Idoun, listen to me." Iniabi ordered.
Idoun looked up, her pink and green eyes wet with tears. She bit her quivering lip.
"I-I..." Idoun started to say.
"Nothing is your fault. I love you, you know that. We're going to get married and have a beautiful family alongside Cynthia, Marth, and Sayvra, no matter what anyone else say's." Iniabi said reassuringly.
Idoun buried herself in his chest. Iniabi wrapped his arms around her as her tears settled down. She took a deep breath, and when she did, it pained her back, so she sat down in her chair again. Iniabi sat down beside her and rubbed her back soothingly.
"I'm causing such a stir already. I don't have what it takes to be a queen." Idoun murmured.
Iniabi shook his head and brushed some of her lilac hair from her pink and green eyes.
"Of course you do. You're wise, strong, and kind. Those are all qualities of a leader." Iniabi said.
"Maybe, but why did you choose me, Iniabi? Do you know what I've done? What I am? I'm the former Demon Dragon and some foreigner. I'm not even an Ylissean at all!" Idoun asked.
"None of those things matter to me. Cynthia is half-Plegian, but I love her anyway. I don't care where you came from, what you've done, or anything like that. I still love you." Iniabi replied.
Idoun shook her head and wiped her cheeks.
"The nobles are wondering why you chose me. That's why they're so critical of me all the time. They wonder why you have to take a second wife alongside the queen, or why you won't marry some noblewoman that they've been trying to groom in my place for years. They're angry because all the effort they made has failed." Idoun said.
"So be it. They tried the same thing when I started courting Cynthia. I can't be bargained into marrying someone I have no love for. Everyone will just have to learn to accept you and our relationship, even if it's pretty unorthodox. When the people of the Halidom get to know you, they'll wonder why hated such a beautiful gentle woman." Iniabi said.
Idoun blushed.
"T-Thank you. I'll have to take your word for it, Inny." Idoun said.
"Good." Iniabi said.
Just then, Idoun froze when pain hit her abdomen. She put her palm on her forehead and furrowed her eyebrows. After a moment, the pain passed.
"What's wrong?" Iniabi asked anxiously, his hand on her shoulder.
Idoun sighed.
"It was just a practice contraction. I heard these were common and that they can happen weeks before a baby's born. Your mother warned me about them, but it still took me by surprise." Idoun replied.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Iniabi asked.
"I'm fine, Iniabi." Idoun replied.
"Perhaps we should just have the wedding after the twins are born, but before they hatch. I don't want to stress you out even more than you already are." Iniabi said.
Idoun raised an eyebrow at her fiancee.
"So you're saying we shouldn't get married before then?" Idoun asked.
"Maybe we could have Libra marry us privately. It can just be us, and maybe have Cynthia, Marth, Sayvra, and my family in attendance. And then we can have a public ceremony at a later date." Iniabi replied.
Idoun thought it over and smiled.
"I'd like that." Idoun said.
Iniabi smiled back at Idoun. He reached his hand out and placed it on the dragon girl's swollen belly.
"I would too." Iniabi said.