Chapter Text
“Are you sure it is a good idea to take the twins to the council meeting?” Shuri questioned, meeting his eyes through the mirror reflection with doubtful eyes.
“Yes Itzia . It’s time they started attending these and observe.” He assured her holding their hands which were trying to grab onto the pauldrons Shuri was trying to fasten.
Shuri gave him a dubious look, “Um…they are still two love…”
“The younger the better.”
She gave him a half resigned, half amused look, “Alright, but you will be in charge of taking care of them. I have things to take care of in the lab, I'll join the meeting later."
K'uk'ulkan gave her a confident smile, "Of course Shuri."
He could see why Shuri was reluctant to take them to council meetings.
Itzel and Aphiwe were curious at first and happy to observe the proceedings. Everyone was at ease and paying attention to the meeting. K'uk'ulkan suspected that it was due to the presence of the twins and he even caught Namora smiling at them unabashedly. Everything went quite smoothly as problems were put forth and solutions to them were discussed. All in all it was quite a productive council meeting in the beginning.
Things began to rapidly go downhill as the twins began to get restless. Itzel, the little troublemaker, started squirming within the confines of the wrap which set off Aphiwe who was eager to follow his sister. He knew the tell-tale signs of a tantrum and quickly stood up from the throne and began treading the water from one side of the throne to the other, much to the amusement of the onlookers. Still the session went on without a hitch as the twins were by the occasional colourful fish that swam above them. That lasted only for a few minutes before they decided they wanted their yuum 's complete attention to themselves. Whenever K'uk'ulkan tried to speak, it made the twins giggle and squeal out in delight. He gave out a small sigh and looked at their adorable faces. Aphiwe then began blowing bubbles which Itzel began doing with gusto. K'uk'ulkan noticed everyone was quite delightfully observing the twins' antics. He nodded at Attuma and Namora who at once swam forward to his side, eager to take the kids. Apparently, Itzel and Aphiwe had other ideas as they wanted to be with their baba at the moment even though they absolutely adored Attuma and Namora. The twins refused to even budge and began crying out when they tried to take them from their baba . Apologising for the disruption, he continued doing his best, the best he could with twins garnering for his complete attention.
Shuri arrived much later and stood at the back not wanting to cause any disruptions to the session. Her husband looked a bit frazzled, she noticed to her amusement and the twins looked content enough, chewing on their father's fingers. He looked every bit of the King he is, decked out in his regalia and a doting father with the twins in their individual rebozos on either side (Shuri luckily managed to get a sneaky picture of him with the twins before he left for the meeting).
Itzel being the sneaky child she is somehow latched onto a feather from K'uk'ulkan's headdress and had torn off a feather without no one noticing until she began brandishing it like a trophy, a toothy grin on her face. Shuri gasped seeing this. Her husband had not noticed it as he was deeply focused on Attuma who was giving his report on the patrols and the upcoming whale migration. Aphiwe noticed the feather in his sister's hands and decided he wanted it too. He lunged forward with a cry, towards his sister, the rebozo limiting his movement. In response, Itzel scrunched up her face in defiance and held the emerald feather away from Aphiwe's grasp. This got K'uk'ulkan's attention and Shuri saw the horror and surprise in his eyes when he saw what his daughter was holding. Shuri knew she had to intervene but decided to stay a bit longer, trying not to laugh at her husband's attempts to pry the feather out of the strong and unrelenting grip of Itzel who refused to surrender the feather. It was no surprise considering who her parents were. Itzel stubbornly held on to the feather refusing to give it to her father or brother. Aphiwe's frown quickly turned into angry cries
K'uk'ulkan's frantic eyes clearly signalled that her help was desperately needed, met hers. Shuri joined her husband at the front and without losing a moment she quickly took the crying boy into her arms and tried to soothe him. Aphiwe continued to point at the feather in Itzel's hand and cry. Shuri kissed her little boy on the cheeks and promised him all the feathers once they return, which gradually subsided the cries. He then snuggled up in his mother's arms and opted to glare at Itzel who was curiously observing the feather.
“We will continue this in the next meeting.” K'uk'ulkan informed everyone present. He looked at his daughter who was trying to munch on the feather. He sighed and began tugging on the feather, trying his best to prevent her from putting it in her mouth. “No Itzel! You can’t eat that in waal . ” K'uk'ulkan lectured the smiling child. “This headdress and these feathers are an important symbol not chew toys.”
Yucatec Maya- Used Microsoft Bing & Translate.com
Itzia- Princess
Yuum- Father
In waal- My child
Xhosa- Used Google Translate & Translate.com
Baba- Father