Blood Upon The Snow ||| Cregan Stark

thirty

Jacaera took a much-needed nap after what Cregan had done to her. And when she was asleep, he dealt with the man who intended to use her.

He had his cock removed and he was sent to the Wall. A sufficient punishment for his intended violation. And he would never get pleasure from what he witnessed in Jacaera and Cregan's bedchamber.

Her time in Winterfell was quickly approaching its end, though. Jacaera was starting to feel the effects of the fear. Of being cut off from her family, not knowing things until days or weeks after they'd happened.

That fear was realized when the castle received a letter addressed to Jacaera. She didn't know many things.

Like the Cargyll twin's duel, the replacement of Otto Hightower as the Hand of the King.

But that letter didn't address the most jarring development.

Cregan brought it to her personally. The maesters had extremely worried faces when they gave it to him for his wife. That was already a bad sign.

He tried to be impartial when he gave the letter to Jacaera. But he couldn't help the worry on his face the moment he handed it to her.

That meant Jacaera was worried. She unfurled the letter and scanned the words on the page. Her heart dropped. And she had to read it twice for it to actually register.

"Fuck," she said quietly, one of her arms dropping and the other covering her mouth. She immediately felt grief.

"What is it?" Cregan asked, needing to know what had developed. If they were already being called to war.

Jacaera closed her eyes and shook her head. "My grandmother was killed by my uncles. Her and her dragon."

Rhaenys was dead. In a battle at Rook's Rest. Apparently, she'd seriously wounded Aegon and Sunfyre despite having to fight two dragons.

Despite the grief of losing someone in her family, Jacaera knew it meant more. They'd lost a valuable asset in Meleys. Jacaera was needed back with her family. Immediately.

Cregan took Jacaera's hand and looked at her face. She gave him that look.

"I have to return. For my brothers and grandsire. My mother. They need me and my dragon."

Both of them knew that it was likely they wouldn't meet again for quite some time. Months, possibly more than a year.

They had both found some semblance of happiness there. A safe haven. They knew it would come to an end. But it still felt too soon.

He pulled her in and cradled her head. "I know."

Her departure was somewhat rushed. She had things to pack and take back with her, people to say farewell to. Jacaera had her little honeymoon in the North. And things were bound to get worse when she was gone.

The last time they laid together before she left, both Cregan and Jacaera took their time. To etch every detail of each other into their minds. Touch, taste, sight.

Holy worship. Touch to serve for the time they would spend apart.

When it was time for her to depart, when everything was packed and her dragon was in the courtyard of the castle, Jacaera and Cregan said farewell.