Jeyne

Jeyne woke as a woman wed. A queen now, and not the only Lady Jeyne Westerling to become a queen either.

Robb still laid asleep, and she put a hand up to his forehead. His fever had gone down some, which was good, and his bandage still looked clean enough. He'll be strong enough to take the field soon. The thought only made her feel nervous.

She decided it would be best if he let him sleep more, until she heard a knock on the door. "Your grace," a loud voice said. "You should come at once."

Reluctantly, Jeyne got out of bed. She took one of the first gowns she could find, and quickly put it on, before she went to the door, and opened it. "What is it?"

It was the one they called the Smalljon who had been knocking on the door. "Is the king awake?" He asked.

Jeyne shook her head. "Robb is still sleeping… I can wake him though."

"Yes, my lady. He should come at once."

She closed the door and went over to Robb's bedside. "Your grace," she whispered to him. "Your men want to see you."

His eyes fluttered open. "Wh-what?"

"Your men need you," she told him. "Quickly."

"What's happening? Are… Are enemies approaching?"

Are they? Jeyne didn't know, and she felt some worry begin to creep into her mind. Robb's great-uncle had been leading outriders out and hadn't reported any foes that were close by. She had been assured no one would slip past the Blackfish's men, who she'd heard songs about as a girl, but from what she knew, Robb had not brought a large host with him, and his force had only gotten smaller with the Freys leaving him. "I don't know," was all she managed to say.

Robb started to sit up with some help from her. She wanted to ask him if he was feeling any better today, but she could tell he wasn't. It was grief that pained him, not the infection.

Jeyne went to grab some clothes for him too, a grey doublet and breeches with a light blue cloak, and brought them over to him. He seemed slow as he was putting them on, still sitting on the bed as he did, while she got shoes and then found Robb's boots

At least their clothes were still as orderly as could be. Even the clothes they had been wearing last night, since they hadn't had a bedding ceremony. Robb had hardly seemed fit for a bedding the night before, and he had already taken her maidenhead.

When Robb had finished dressing himself, she helped him with his boots, and then grabbed his crown and put it on his head, nestling it amongst his auburn curls. I'll have one just like his soon.

"Are you ready?" She asked.

Robb gave a nod. He stood with a little help from her, and together they made their way out of the bedchamber, with him leaning on her just a little. Outside, the Smalljon was still waiting. "Follow me, your grace," the man said, and they did.

He led them away from their chambers and out into the castle, where a few of Robb's men were gathered at the gates.

For a moment, Jeyne feared a battle was happening, but the men weren't fighting. No swords were ringing, no orders were being shouted or arrows being fired, and the men at the gate did not even have their swords drawn. Only distantly, she could hear Robb's wolf howling, and a babe squalling near the gate.

Robb must have heard it too, and he started to go a little faster. His uncle was one of the men gathered, and Jeyne saw her brother, Raynald, was there too, and a few other of Robb's men she didn't know. "What's going on here, Sers?" Robb asked, and the men parted.

A cloaked man was standing there, his face covered by his hood. "Your grace," the man addressed, bowing his head slightly to Robb, but not kneeling as was proper. "I brought a wedding gift for you."

For a moment, Jeyne was confused, but then she saw where the squalling was coming from. A babe, she thought to herself. There were three other children at the man's feet too, the oldest a young girl, no more than five, and the other two were boys.

Robb was confused too, until the girl started forward. "Father!" She cried out. The two younger boys followed her forward, and suddenly, Robb's face changed, as he opened his arms up and managed to pick all three of them up, and put kisses on all their foreheads. He held them there for just a moment, before he put them down, and then opened his arms to take the squalling babe from the stranger. "T-thank you," Robb said, his voice sounding broken as the babe was put there. "H-how did you…" He started to say, but when Jeyne looked, the man was already gone.

"Who are…" Jeyne started to ask, but she sensed she already knew the answer. Robb's children, she realized, trying to remember if he had ever told her their names. She would find them out quickly enough.

"A-aren't they… D-dead?" A voice asked, one of the men from Winterfell.

"Aye," answered someone else. "Greyjoy…"

"That was the Stranger hisself," another voice said.

A hush fell over the crowd, and all that could be heard was Grey Wind howling, and the babe crying in Robb's arms. "C-come with me," Robb said to the children after a little while, taking the youngest's hand, while the older two followed. "Jeyne, uncle."

Jeyne went after Robb, as the Blackfish did, away from the gate, until Robb found a bench near one of the smaller keeps and sat down there, pulling the other children up as well. The babe had stopped crying now, and Robb was holding it tightly to him. "Melantha, what's your sister's name?" He asked the older girl.

"Mother didn't name her," Melantha said, shaking her head.

Robb held the babe a little higher, considering her for a moment. "J-Joanna," she heard him whisper, before putting a kiss on the girl's forehead. Jeyne could see there was a tear in his eyes as he did, and he then pulled the other children closer to him, kissing both of the boys too. "We're… We're going to need a wet nurse," he said to his uncle. "C-can you send some men to find one?"

The Blackfish nodded, and then turned away, Jeyne alone now with Robb and his children."Th-these a-are-" he started to say.

"-Your children," Jeyne finished. "Melantha, Eddard and Theo," she remembered. Eddard had been named for Robb's father, and Theo for Theon Greyjoy, who had betrayed Robb. And Joanna too now. Jeyne wondered what Robb had chosen to name her for. The only Joanna that Jeyne could think of was Joanna Lannister, the Lady of Casterly Rock.

He nodded, and Jeyne studied them a little closer. Melantha looked just like Robb, with auburn hair and blue eyes and fair skin, and Eddard did as well, but his eyes were dark grey, and there was a golden streak nestled amongst his auburn curls. Jeyne was troubled more by the bandage that covered the left side of his face. Joanna was still swaddled up, and she seemed content in her father's arms. Then there was Theo, the younger of the two boys. The only part of Robb he had was his eyes that were bright blue, but everything else about him looked Lannister. Like his mother. Jeyne had only met Princess Myrcella Baratheon once, when they were both girls, the oldest of the four royal children, little more than half a year older than her. She remembered how much the royal children had all taken after their mother, the queen, with seemingly none of the king in them either. Now the Princess was dead though, leaving the children without their mother.

"Are… Are you hungry? There's food in the great hall. Or… You can go back to your chambers and I'll have it brought there," she offered. Her mother had always made Jeyne eat in the great hall or kitchens, but now that Jeyne was the queen, she supposed her mother's rules didn't matter any more. "I can speak to the steward about accommodations for them too."

Robb gave her a look of gratitude for that, and she could see plainly that he needed some time with the children away from everyone else. It had been months since he had seen them, even before he had gotten news of their deaths. She watched as he started to get up and lead the children back to their chambers, and then she started towards the great hall.

There had been more people in the Crag since Robb had arrived than any other time Jeyne could remember. With a host of thousands of men more than making up for all the household who had gone with father to war. Even now that the Freys were gone, and that Robb had sent some of his men away to fight elsewhere, the great hall was still full when she went in.

It didn't take long for Jeyne to find some serving men, and tell them to have some food brought to her and Robb's chambers, and then she went to her uncle, Ser Rolph, and told him that they were in need of another bedchamber or two for Robb's children.

When she was done, she left the hall. At first she started towards the keep where her and Robb's chambers were located, but she decided against it. She felt nervous, and instead decided to walk to the walls and stand up on the battlements, looking out on the view of the lands around the castle, seeing the forests and hills that seemed to stretch for miles. This had been the only home Jeyne had ever known, and the thought of leaving it scared her. The night before, Robb had promised her that when the war was done, he meant to bring her back to Winterfell. To be at his side as he rules. To be his queen.

Outside of the castle sprawled a large camp, filled with hundreds or even thousands of Robb's men. Most the banners she could see were not ones she was very familiar with. She had known the purple unicorn of Brax and the great boar of Crakehall and the heraldry of countless other houses in the West that she had learned from Maester Aron as a girl, but the houses of the North were much more foreign to her. She recognized perhaps one in ten now. I'll need to learn them all, and fast. Jeyne had seen the looks that Robb's lords gave her, how so many likely had ambitions of marrying their own daughters to Robb, to make them queen instead. Her own family had fought against Robb's men in several battles, her own father having been captured by him.

In truth, Jeyne still felt as though she was a captive, even now. Her uncle and brother had bent the knee to Robb, and she had wed him, yet Robb's army still held the castle, and were living off her family's lands. And when they were done at the Crag, it would be to take some other castles, or to defeat some new foe in the field of battle.

She stood there for a while, waiting, though she wasn't sure for what. Perhaps for her family to find her, or for something to happen outside the castle, but nothing did. Nobody came to speak with her, or tell her that she was needed elsewhere. I'm not a girl any more, or a captive either.

It was cold outside, and after a while, Jeyne decided it would be best if she went back to her chambers to get a warmer cloak. That made her worry as well. If I'm cold here, during the autumn, what will it be like at Winterfell? She could only hope it was warmer than the stories made it seem.

Robb was not where she expected to find him, sitting with Maester Aron and Eddard. "Hold still," she heard him mutter to the boy, and they were holding hands as Maester Aron began to remove the bandage on the boy's face. She watched silently, until she could clearly see the left side of the boy's face clearly, and then she let out a gasp. Running down his face was a long red cut, starting on his forehead, and running down to the bottom of his cheek continuously, save for his eye that had been mercifully untouched.

If the maester was troubled by the cut, he did not show it. "Your son's wound should heal in time, Your Grace. But he will need the wound cleaned regularly enough, and the bandages will need to be changed often."

Maester Aron retreated into his stores for a few moments, while Robb was still sitting beside Eddard. "Jeyne?" Robb called out when he spotted her.

She knew there was little purpose standing at the door, so she decided to walk in. "What happened?"

Little Ned didn't answer, and instead he looked at her skeptically. "W-who is…".

"This is Jeyne. S-she's…" Robb's voice trailed off.

"Your step-mother," Jeyne finished. What else would I be to him?

Eddard seemed confused. "Mother?"

Before they could say anything more, the maester had returned with some supplies, first taking an ointment out to clean the wound. "Hold still, my prince, this is going to sting."

The boy looked to his father, scared and looking for a savior, but Robb only kissed him on the forehead, and whispered something in his ear, before the maester started to apply the ointment.

When it was done, the prince had managed to make it all the way through cleaning and Maester Aron bandaging the wound again without crying once. "You did well," she heard Robb whisper to him this time, as he picked the boy up and hugged him tightly.

Jeyne went with Robb as he walked out of the room, still holding his son, and followed him back to their bedchambers, which were empty, and set the boy down on their bed. For a moment, she was going to ask why she wasn't taking him back with the other children, but then she realized the boy had already fallen asleep. "Do you know what happened to him?" She asked again.

"It… It was Theon who cut him," Robb replied. "I don't know why…" He looked more angry than confused. "I mean to have Theon executed when Winterfell is finally retaken."

She nodded and took Robb's hand. That was the punishment for treason, she supposed. "Why did you choose Joanna?" Jeyne wondered.

"I… I promised M-Myrcella… We would…"

"Name your daughter for her grandmother?" Jeyne offered.

Robb nodded. "B-before the war… B-before…"

"Oh…"

Jeyne gave him a kiss, and then placed a kiss on Eddard's cheek. "It… It's going to be alright," she whispered, not sure if she was talking to Robb, her step-son or herself.

Author Notes:

I posted this fic a little while back on AO3 (I had kinda abandoned this account), but I figured it would be good to try posting this here on this site just to get a gage for how well it does.

Just setting down some ages for the fic:

Robb- 19

Jeyne- 18

Myrcella- 18

Melantha- 5 (Note: Melantha is not Myrcella's daughter, there will more on that later)

Eddard- 3

Theo- 2

Joanna- Newborn

I'm not going to leave much more than that here, and instead let future chapters answer whatever questions I'm sure you have. I'll probably upload the second chapter tomorrow.

I do not own ASOIAF.