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[queeninthenorth]

If Jeyne had still been inclined to pray to the Seven, she would have thanked the Mother every day that Reynald was a healthy, happy, easygoing baby. Of course he cried and fussed at times as any baby did, but it was almost always due to being hungry or tired and he was easily soothed, unlike his cousin Rickon who seemed to drive his mother to

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[piratekingswann]

Elizabeth kept to herself that she had never applied herself to anything that was supposed to come naturally to women. But Jeyne's words did have her admit. "I'm an only child," she said. "I haven't a clue really." Which was a state of affairs she'd been perfectly happy about until now and had done little to remedy. The child reminded her of the futility of this by kicking her from the inside out, a sensation she might have found easier to grow accustomed to if it didn't remind her of when it had first happened and she'd been silly with joy about it quite against her will.

Reynald seemed to have his attention caught by the movement so Elizabeth tried to move him again in case he didn't like it. Though if he cried she could give him back to Jeyne. "I thought there were lots of children in your family," she said glancing over in the direction of Summerfell. There was the small red headed daughter of Captain Caspian who Elizabeth had been climbed on by more than once in what she assumed was a case of mistaken identity - unless she was just an a very friendly child.

[queeninthenorth]

"Oh, yes, there are," Jeyne replied. "Robb's sister Sansa has a daughter, Eddara; his brother Jon has a son, Rickon, and Jon's mother Lyanna has a daughter, Ygraine. But I think no matter how many children you tend in your life, when they are your own, it is altogether different. I would do anything for my nieces and nephew should they need it, and I love them dearly, but...for Reynald..." She hesitated for a moment, and though her voice grew quiet it became stronger. "I would kill if I had to, to protect him from harm, or give my life in trying."

[piratekingswann]

Elizabeth was surprised to hear such a thing from Jeyne and she tried to hide it - what she was saying reminded her of the island afflicted Jeyne but not the way she said it. She had heard women could be fierce for their children and though Elizabeth had never hesitated to be fierce - she would have acted as Jeyne said for her father or Will before their deaths and for James now but she knew the pregnancy had engendered no such feelings for her. "Did you feel that before he was born," she asked not caring if the question was improper, "or only after?" Perhaps she wasn't so unnatural or perhaps she was worse.

[queeninthenorth]

Jeyne did not know Elizabeth all that well, despite their similarities, but she knew her enough to know that she was not entirely in raptures about her child to be--so she chose her words carefully. "In some of the books my goodsisters leant me, books about childbearing," she began, "they say many women feel differently about the babe they carry. It seems different for each woman, but I felt..."

She hesitated, for this was a subject she did not speak much on to anyone but Robb, and since Reynald's conception not even to him. "I did not think I would ever be able to have a child," she confessed. "I had wanted a child for a long time, ever since Robb and I were wed. When we were in Westeros, I wanted to give him a child, an heir--as a king in the midst of a war it was quite important. But even here, where it would not be so urgent, I still wanted a child, not just for him but for me and our family. I wanted things to be normal, and for us to have what we couldn't have in Westeros. For all the things that are strange here, it is much safer to raise a child here then at home... so for all those reasons and more, when I finally fell pregnant with Reynald, it was a joyous thing and yes, I felt that way about him even before he was born."

[piratekingswann]

Elizabeth had read none of the books James had acquired on the same subject - it was the first time in her life that she had ever been deliberately ignorant but she reading about childbearing seemed like something she would not have done of her choice and she refused to be moved from that just because she had a reason to need to know. Jeyne's first words seemed to be designed to be a comfort and then the next thing she said was clearly a confidence that proved just how deficient Elizabeth was. The idea of having to provide a man an heir was not of course unknown to Elizabeth, but she found it distasteful.

Except it didn't - of course it would be different if someone wanted to get pregnant instead of having it happen despite a half hearted effort at avoiding conception. She looked at Reynald who looked back at her brightly and she supposed he definitely did not seem as bad as Elizabeth thought babies would be - but she was also aware that he was a much happier child than most. Maybe that was because he was so wanted. She managed not to grimace, if that was the case her child would be especially difficult. Unless James' influence was more than hers and who would have thought she ever would wish that. "You must be very happy then," she said. They were very different no matter what they looked like. "I had not realised Reynald was a prince," though he was a prince with an itch to eat sand it seemed. Elizabeth carries on as she can hardly make a worse impression. "I never wanted anything normal not back in the Caribbean or here - I wanted to go to sea and that's hardly a place for a child." She manages a small smile and a joke. "Pirate King's don't need heirs." Whatever she said it seemed dreadfully selfish, especially here where she could take the baby sailing if she was inclined to be foolish - unless James stopped her. But no amount of reminding herself that her feelings were foolish and selfish made her want to be a mother. Reynald squirmed as her baby kicked again and she worried it would upset him but he seemed more interested in the sensation prodding at the swell of her belly with his tiny fingers. "They grow quite quickly though don't they," she said trying to summon up some hope. Reynald seemed to have grown a lot just since Elizabeth had seen him last and it seemed better to think of it that way than to think it would be years and years before children could do anything interesting.

[queeninthenorth]

Jeyne thought about Elizabeth's words. She was not quite sure what to make of her; she seemed not to want the babe she carried, and yet... the fact that she seemed concerned about her lack of concern was hopeful. "Mayhap the world would be a boring place if everyone only wanted what was normal," she ventured. "They do grow quickly. Your child might have a taste for adventure as well, when he is older."

[piratekingswann]

Elizabeth smiled genuinely at that for she had found her world very boring until she had gone to sea. But here it was not so bad - if it was dull it was not the dull proscribed life of being proper in Port Royal. The idea of a child with her habits - disturbing as her father had once called them was not unpleasant. "A thought that will thrill my husband," she joked. "I think he'd like a child less difficult than I was." Though he was probably going to be pleased no matter what - unlike her.