The Winter Queen

Chapter 17

The next day

Rickon

He was not pleased in the slightest bit. The previous night his son had found an intruder in his chamber right as he was escorting his bride to their chambers for the night who claimed to be under the orders of the Queen and Lord Hand. They had violated guest rights in spirit by ordering crimes to be committed under his roof even after they had accepted food and drink from his household.

Once his guards had taken the man to the dungeons, they had found multiple items on the man that clearly did not belong to him. One was his wax seal which he, as Lord of Winterfell, kept stored in his solar. The second, a portrait of his young granddaughter with her mother that Rickon knew was kept near the girl’s bed. With it was also a lock of her hair. Third, a steel dagger belonging to his grandson which Rickon knew was always either on the boy’s person or under his pillow. Fourth, his son’s money purse which was usually kept within his son’s desk unless he was leaving the Keep. Fifth, a Valyrian steel necklace which Rickon could only assume belonged to his new daughter. Sixth, Winterfell’s ledgers and accounts book as well as their smaller book of laws. There were also an assortment of other smaller items such as hair pins, coins, a metal cup, several Northern steel utensils.

Truly, the finds terrified him and he immediately ordered his guards to stick with every member of his family and to guard their private chambers. The man had gone into the private chambers of his young grandchildren as they slept and could have easily killed them. It was a scary thought.

Upon interrogation, he learned from the man that the Lord Hand and Queen had ordered him to steal whatever he could in order to undermine the power of the Starks. The seal would have proven handy for forged documents ordering things that would weaken their power and strengthen the power of House Hightower. The ledgers and book of laws could then be manipulated to make it seem as though they were embezzling from the crown and were planting the seeds of treason and an uprising. As for the dagger, the man admitted to planning to slit the boy’s throat, the night after the rest of the Royal party had departed since they knew Lady Jeyne Arryn was going to stay a few days longer and wanted the Starks to blame her for the death of the boy. When it came to the lock of his granddaughter’s hair, once the Starks, and the Princess, had been taken down, he planned to ask for the girl to be his personal whore. He further admitted that the full plan had not been set to go into effect until after the Princess was pregnant, if not close to delivering so that she could be charged as well and so that hopefully, it would trigger her labors but that, tragically, she would die along with her babe.

Before Rickon told his son or even the King, he decided to inform Lady Jeyne. She was furious by the time he got through with telling her what had been uncovered and told him that plot only solidified her decision to ally with him. The Queen and Hand would get their dues sooner or later.

Then it was time to inform his son after ensuring his grandchildren were well guarded.

Approaching his son’s chambers, he noticed with a smile that there were already guards stationed outside. He knew his son must have ordered them to after discovering the intruder. Both guards bowed and stepped aside as he walked up to knock on the door.

“Son, may I come in?” he inquired.

Cregan

He had been on edge ever since discovering the man in his room the night before however, he hadn’t wanted to scare his new wife more than necessary after the long day she had had. Upon waking, he ordered a bath for himself even while his bride still slumbered. After bathing and dressing, he called for a fresh hot bath to be prepared for her and once it was ready, he roused her.