BELOW ZERO: THE FORBIDDEN WOLF VOL 2 (Cregan Stark X OC) *COMPLETE*

Chapter Ten (Cregan)

CHAPTER TEN

Cregan

Winterfell

"Come in."

The door to my study opens and my half-sister stands before me in a dark colored dress with a messy apron. Her hair pulled back but pieces falling into her face as she smiles at me. I motion to the seat across from me for her to take a seat, to which she does ever so carefully.

"You requested an audience with me?" Sara is a shy girl.

She prefers to be kept in the shadows and away from the view of anyone who may assume anything of she and I. One look at us side by side and you can tell we're related. Which is why she very much prefers to stay in the kitchens with enough flour on her nose and hair sticking to her face from sweat to keep it so you cannot tell she came from my father's seed.

I give her a firm nod and lean back in my seat.

"How are you doing, sister?" I ask. "Are you well?"

She furrows her brows and tilts her head slightly to the side and gives me a slow nod in return. "Yes, brother. I am doing well... Why do you ask so suddenly? You could have asked me earlier when I made your tea."

"We haven't had a good conversation in a while, sister. Tell me is there anything going on in the castle that I should know about? Anything..." I give a smirk. "You know.. Worth telling?"

Sara laughs at me and shakes her head. "Are you asking me to gossip? You despise gossip, Cregan."

"I do." I admit. "But what else is there for us to talk about?"

"Nothing." She says firmly. "Which is the way I like to keep it, brother. If we speak too much it will raise suspicions. Either people will assume we are related or worse.. Your lords may push for you to try to wed me and that is... Ew."

"Are you calling me ugly?" I jest.

Sara nods. "Very much, yes. I am."

"So rude." I roll my eyes playfully. "Come on, there's nothing? No stable boys snogging with maids? Nothing?"

My sister leans forward and wipes her hands on her apron and I can see in her eyes she's about to spill something she knows she shouldn't. I grab the pitcher of wine, pouring a glass for her and another for myself. I slide it across the desk to her and I take a sip from mine.

"Well..." She breathes out. "Jory Redfield and Lysa Toole have been... You know... Intimate..."

"Jory? The smith's son?"

She nods. "Lysa Toole is the butcher's daughter. I'm not sure how the pairing came to be but I heard from Wyla that when Lysa came to take the order for the meats yesterday she was attempting to hide a swollen belly."

"Does Jory know?" I raise a brow. "If it's his-"

"Well that's the question we've all be asking ourselves. Is it Jory's? Because I heard she was seen behind the stables with the kennel master's son, Morris."

Now this is interesting... Now I see why Ollivar indulges in gossip as much as he does. He never was one for it before but since going to the Citadel he says that it just happens to fall into his lap and that information is power...

I normally wouldn't indulge in this but if it means spending more than one minute with my sister then I will gladly divulge into the world of gossip. Especially with common folk who work in my castle.

"Oh! And- there's a girl who's just come here from King's Landing. She worked for Prince Aegon and she had some stories about the royals. She'd worked there for almost ten years." Sara adds. "Did you know that Prince Aegon wed his own sister? Targaryens have queer cultures, do you think?"

I don't recall hiring a girl from King's Landing to come here.

"Who is she?"

"She says her name is Joanna but I think she's lying. Plus, you don't just get to quit working for the royals. I think she was sent away. She had some stories of Prince Aemond and his odd behaviors. She says he studies a lot on succession and downfalls of kings and their heirs. And he has.. Well.. A lot to unpack."

Now this is the point that I stop caring for the gossip. It always circles back to the royals somehow. Just like with Ollivar.

"Find out her real name and find out her story for me. If she is a runaway or wanted by the crown for crimes I do not wish for her to have refuge here in my castle. She will be delivered to justice in King's Landing to be dealt with accordingly. I will not have a criminal here."

Sara scoffs. "What if she came here for sanctuary, brother? Would you still send her away? Force her back to a life she clearly wants to be left behind? No one wants you to relive your traumas, Cregan. Do not force Joanna to do the same."

"Are you calling me cruel?"

"No." She crosses her arms. "But if you send her away I'll call you Cregan the Cruel to anyone who will listen. Gossip spreads like wildfire, my Lord. And I can spread it quicker than a whore's legs in a brothel."

"You wouldn't dare." I grit.

She laughs. "You would have to truly anger me, brother. Use caution, I am much like our father and I will stay true to my word. Cregan the Cruel."

I shake my head at her and take a sip of my wine again. She does the same and suddenly she looks at me as though there is a question burning within her. I brace myself for whatever it is she's itching to ask me.

"What." I say plainly.

She swirls the wine in her cup. "It's been some time since Lady Arra passed, Cregan. You just seem... Normal. Unphased by the loss of your wife."

I stand up and begin to pace the room. I can't have this conversation, not right now. I do a few laps around the room before circling back around toward my sister and breathing out a shaky breath.

"I'm fine." I drain the rest of my cup.

My sister disagrees. "You are not fine. You shouldn't be fine; she was your wife! Cregan, you lost your wife and you remain unphased... That is not normal behavior. If you loved her-"

"Barely." I admit openly. "Gods, please. Sara... Do not share with information with anyone or I will cut your tongue from your head do you understand?" I sigh and shake my head. "I loved that she was a good person.. I loved that she cared for me but..."

"Anything before the word 'but' is nothing but bullshit." Wise words that I know she got from our father. He would say that frequently. "You didn't love her."

"There's a difference between love and in love." I tell her. "I loved her but I was never in love with her. The Gods took her away because I broke an oath to my father that I'd marry for love not politics. I wed her to shut the lords of the north up about my not being wed."

"And you believe you've been punished?" She takes another sip of wine.

I nod.

"Punishment would have been keeping her alive and placing the love of your life right in front of you just out of reach, Cregan. Punishment would be you having to life your life being in love with someone you could never have. You were not punished for not being in love with her.. I believe the Gods have a plan for you and love will come your way soon enough. As I hope it does for me too."

"Let us bow our heads and pray for true love to bless us soon, sister."