The Winter Queen

Chapter 31

Jeyne

She had been to Winterfell twice since her baby cousin had been wed. The first was when her cousin’s babies were infants, not long after the wild dragon Cannibal had brought Skadi to Winterfell and the second was more recently, for the Stark Quartet’s second nameday and their mother’s 16th.

It was amazing just how much Wintertown had grown in less than three years. She had learned that the Small Council had been raising taxes on the people of King’s Landing due to the increasing financial burden caused by the unique requirements of the King’s beastly bastards. As it was well known that the Princess had successfully birthed four healthy human babies, more and more people were flocking North so that they could be closer to the “Divine Queen”. Rhaenyra had told her about her dream where one day, Wintertown would be the Realm’s new capital city and become known as Queen’s Hearth. At the present time, Jeyne could fully see that happening.

As for her Uncle, he was still trying to get Otto and Alicent to confess to how they had cursed him and how to reverse it so that he could have another human child as he was too afraid to bed another noblewoman as he feared another beast and her family seeking retribution against him. It's not to say that word had not reached her that her Uncle had still been bedding women, namely whores, and had sired even more unacknowledged beasts on them. He just refused to accept that he had sired them despite how he was turning into a far more sex obsessed man whore than his brother ever had been. Ironically, he was still married. For years the King had gotten mad at his brother for cheating on and whoring around due to being married to Lady Rhea Royce, a woman he never wanted to marry and to which the marriage was still not consummated. Yet the King had taken seven public mistresses within two years of marrying the woman with whom he had broken his grieving period over his “beloved” wife to marry. A woman who was now raising seven beastly children, two of whom were daughters of her cousins.

Oh, Alicent, if only she knew just how badly hers and her father’s plots had failed. Not only had she birthed the King’s first beast, lost the title of Queen, and been forced to raise his legitimized beasts but the stepdaughter she tried to get rid of was thriving. Her husband was far from faithful to her even while her stepdaughter’s husband was loyal and attentive. He clearly loved all six of his children and Jeyne even figured that he truly loved his wife as well. Hells, it seemed like he and his father were both a decade  younger now than when she first met them.

Yes, it was true that the now 31 year old Lord Cregan Stark now could pass as a young man of 21 while his father, Lord Rickon appeared to be no older than 50. Somehow the ice dragon Skadi had been reverse aging them. Jeyne was not going to complain either as, if it were true, then Cregan would now only be a mere five years older physically than his wife and thus should not be so reluctant to give into her wiles.

The two Lords were not Skadi’s only victims of de-aging, as Jeyne had also been licked by the highly affectionate ice dragon. Now she appeared to be 24 and about the same age as the man, her cousin’s cousin, that she was still considering to take as a husband, should he truly share her same kind of affections and once he returned from war. Yes, Laenor Velaryon was certainly a suitable potential match for her and would help her keep control of her lands. If he preferred the company of his squires, she would not complain in the slightest.

Rickon

It had been over three years since he had received the Raven from his King stating that he planned to wed their heirs together and they had been among the best of his life. At first, the idea of having a dragon at his Keep had been very intimidating but now Syrax, Cannibal, the hatchlings, Skadi and a dozen other ice dragons now nested in and around Winterfell and somehow, it brought him a sense of peace. The magic of the Ice Dragons and their anti-aging abilities was definitely a plus  with having four very active young grandchildren to chase all over the place. His son might not know it, but Rickon knew that it was only a matter of time before Cregan lost the battle of wills against his young wife and wound up bedding her again. Once that happened, it would be within a year before she was once again carrying a Stark inside of her. Gods! He hoped that would not happen before the quartet turned three though as then they’d be closer to four when their baby sibling arrived.