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The city of Terbisia sits high in the Argent Mountains, partway between Demacia and Zaun. It’s a newly established exclave, barely ten years in the making, yet it already teems with life. Demacian courtiers and merchants alike hold audience in the vast central Great Hall from which the thriving vitality of Terbisia flows. Its markets overflow with the spoils of farmers from outer fiefs and craftspeople, the skill of whom is unmatched by the rest of the kingdom… although that is to be expected, many of them being mages.
Many Demacians who hold fast to the old ways regard Terbisia as a harbinger of doom, the seat of the Void’s own spawn, but it’s impossible to deny the wonders it accomplished with magic. Its very existence is a tribute to the tenacity and power of its inhabitants - the fact that a desolate rebel outpost could become the lifeblood of Demacia in such a short span of time.
Although, its glory and rapid growth can’t be entirely attributed to the arcane. Wherever one happens to look in Terbisia, the footprint of chemical technology can be seen. Gyro-pulled wagons whir along the cobblestone street, lamps burn too long and too bright to be fueled by simple oil, and in the river harbor ships powered by churning steam dock alongside tri-sailed barques and fishing vessels.
That river, in and of itself, was crucial in the city’s development. Running straight and swift to the Conqueror's Sea, it provides a quick, easy trip southward to the kingdom of Zaun.
Along the banks of the river stands Terbisia’s defining edifice. The castle isn’t much more than a large house, with a singular squat tower planted in the middle of the courtyard. If one didn’t already know, one would never guess that two of the world’s most notorious personages call it home.
And they’re just beginning to stir.
A pair of sharp, ocean blue eyes watch unblinking as light peeks through the curtains and falls on the person sprawled across the sheets. The morning sun will never compare to Lux’s light, in Jinx’s opinion, but it does her a fair amount of justice, framing her in an angel’s halo. She’s not worthy to touch that heavenly silhouette, but she does anyway, brushing the back of her knuckles against her jawline. Sensing her touch even in sleep, Lux’s mouth twitches, then a second later her eyelashes crack open.
“Good morning, flower,” she murmurs groggily.
“Sorry,” Jinx whispers, “didn’t mean to wake you up.”
Rolling on her side, Lux coils an arm around Jinx’s waist, draws their hips flush together, and dismisses the apology with a kiss. There’s nowhere else she’d rather be, after all.
“I have to get ready anyway,” Lux sighs. She yawns and stretches. Half of her golden hair sticks to the pillow and the other half flies every which way. The queen of Demacia, everybody. Janna, she’s so beautiful. “I’m meeting with the duchess of Meltridge later. Noxians on the march again.”
Jinx frowns. “That red-haired lady still poking around the hinterlands? The hell’s her deal, anyway?”
Lux shrugs, then smirks impishly. Walking her fingers up Jinx’s shoulder, she teases, “and if I recall correctly, you have an audience of your own, Your Majesty.”
In the Demacian Court, Jinx’s title is still officially princess consort to the queen. These days, however, she’s more commonly known as the king of Zaun.
Silco always imagined it would be an assassin or a battle that would eventually take him, but in the end it was merely an infection of his eye combined with old age. Jinx took that harder than he did - he never needed a glorious end, just the fulfillment of his goals, and he had long since achieved that. Plus, it gave him time to issue one last edict: the official rescindment of Vi, Vander, Mylo, and Claggor’s exile.
When it happened Jinx came close to abdicating her claim to the throne entirely. Grief and bitterness raged within her strongly enough that a life away from Zaun entirely, at her wife’s side, sounded like the only outcome that would offer her solace. But giving up her inheritance would mean letting the Barons fight for the throne, and Jinx would be damned to the Void before she let everything her father built fall into their greedy hands. With Lux acting as the perfect advisor and Terbisia there to make dividing her time between Demacia and Lanes Keep as easy as possible, her ascension was as smooth as could be. The only bumps in the road were a couple of minor turf wars staged by the Barons (former Barons, explosively put down) and Jinx’s own antics.
Jinx groans and nuzzles into Lux’s neck. “Vi can wait. Boat’s probably gonna be late anyway." She nips her wife’s ear. “Just a few more minutes.”
Lux runs her fingertips along Jinx’s spine. Now that she thinks about it, the duchess can wait too.
Tilting her head, she presses their mouths back together. Jinx hums into her lips and lightly squeezes the back of her thigh. The kiss draws out over a long, blissful moment, then becomes a second, equally reluctant to end. So they don't - the kisses just become quicker and cheekier, landing on lips, noses, foreheads, and cheeks. The only sounds apart from those soft smacks is the rustle of the bedclothes and their quietly whuffing breaths.
That is, until the door noisily bursts open and the room fills with the patter of tiny feet, not unlike a stampeding herd of baby elephants. The lovers just have time to untangle themselves into something resembling decency before two small weights crash mightily onto them. One proceeds to bounce on Jinx’s stomach while yanking at the covers, and from the other pours exultant cries of, “Mommy! Mama! Get up get up!”
The vow Lux swore to her mother about never having children died a swift and terrible death in the face of the princesses, Isha and Alina. To be fair, in her mind bearing the offspring of a man who would consider her his property and adopting two little girls with the love of her life were completely separate affairs; they couldn’t even begin to be compared. Isha came to them first, a street urchin who broke into the kitchens of Lanes Keep one fateful night, ran into Jinx and spent the entire time playing with her without the foggiest clue who she was, then never left. Alina, a mage orphan displaying powers frighteningly similar to Lux’s, became theirs soon after. She has been promised the Demacian throne, Isha that of Zaun… if that’s what they want.
“We’re up, we’re up,” Jinx groans, lifting Isha off her chest.
Isha’s hands form a series of rapid signs. “When is Aunt Vi coming?”
“Later, sweetheart,” Lux answers. Alina, the less excitable of their daughters, has already settled into her lap and accepted the offered cuddles. “So you can stop kicking Mama.”
“Don’t worry,” Jinx says with a grin, “I’ll get her back later.”
For now though, it’s still early enough that the princesses’ energy burns off again and they fall right back asleep. Jinx cradles Isha in her arms and leans her head on Lux’s shoulder. Lux in turn presses her nose into her wife’s hair and breathes in her scent of gunpowder and larkspur. They stay there until the sun is well above the peaks of the mountains. Their kingdoms aren’t going anywhere.