Still Soulmate

Chapter 13: Free Woman

  Jon was down in the mines with Ygritte watching the progress of the mining of the dragonglass when Davos returned with Robert Baratheon's bastard. The kid had spirit and Jon couldn't help but like him and agree that he should come along with them to get the wight. Davos wasn't too pleased about it but Jon couldn't help but feel like he had made the right choice.

  As soon as Gendry and Davos left again Ygritte turned to him and he felt a wave of mirth wash over him from her through their connection. There was a smirk on her lips and she was leaning against the shimmering wall of the cavern, one hand stroking over her stomach.

  "What?" Jon asked, walking over to lean against the wall facing her.

  "Well don't you think that bastards have been doing well recently?" Ygritte smirked.

  "Bastards?"

  "Well there's you for one, Lord Commander of the Night's Watch and now King in the North and technically head of House Stark as well. Then there was that Bolton, Ramsey. Yeah he's dead but he also ruled the North for a time. Then there's those little incest lions. Sure dead too but one was a princess and two ruled the Seven Kingdoms. Now there is this Gendry who is the last living person with Baratheon blood," Ygritte listed.

  "Well... I guess we have been doing pretty well these last few years," Jon conceded with a smile.

  "Obviously you're the most successful," Ygritte smirked again.

  "Oh, and how do you figure that?"

  "Because you're married to me of course. You have the most stunning, cunning and talented soulmate in all of Westeros," Ygritte almost whispered, shuffling forward towards him.

  Jon huffed out a laugh but put out his hands to hold his wife at arms length. He watched the way the light from the brazer played over her pale skin and slunk through her hair making it seem like living flames itself. She was gorgeous and he loved her even down to her none existent modesty.

  "Aren't you going to kiss me Jon Snow?" Ygritte asked.

  "There are a lot of workers right around us Ygritte," Jon protested but the only response he got was more mirth and a raised eyebrow.

  "Fine," Jon gave in with a mock sigh before leaning in and kissing her.

  She cupped his cheek as they kissed and didn't let go when they broke apart. Her blue eyes met his brown directly and there was determination there; she was about to make a statement. 

  "I'm coming with you to the real North Jon," she told him.

  Immediately his mood darkened. The King in the North scowled at her and pulled away sharply. How could she be so stupid as to think that he would let her go? She was pregnant with their child and they were going to one of the most dangerous places in Westeros.

  "No. How could you think that I would allow that?" Jon replied harshly.

  "Allow me," Ygritte snorted with a raised eyebrow.

  Jon could feel both of their anger and fear boiling up and wrapping around each other with the strength of their emotion and their proximity. All he knew was they were in for a big fight and he didn't want to do it here with a massive audience. Last time they had had a big fight Jon had ended up with three arrows buried in his flesh.

  "Let's find somewhere quieter," Jon suggested.

  "Good idea," she replied coolly before turning and marching further off into the tunnels of the mine. 

  He followed close behind his soulmate in silence, the same emotions swirling around them. The king knew exactly where they were going; they were going to the cave with the carvings, a silent and empty place. Jon and Daenerys both had ordered the cave remain untouched. 

  Once there Ygritte turned again abruptly. She had her arms folded across her chest. There was cold anger and defiance in her eyes, enough that Jon had to close his eyes and breath for a second.

  "Ygritte--"

  "It's as you said yesterday," Ygritte interrupted quickly, "I am a queen and I don't need anyone's permission."

  "You're my queen Ygritte! You're my queen and you are carrying our child!"

  "So what I'm pregnant Jon? Don't you remember who I am?" She asked.

  "What? What do you mean who you are?"

  "I'm a free woman Jon. If I wasn't married to you, if I wasn't your soulmate then I would be over on the north side of the Wall carrying my baby anyway. My mother carried me there, I was born there, I learnt to fight there, I lived there, I met you there. Do you really know nothing? The real North is my world Jon Snow. You can't stop me from going there," she ranted at him.

  For a long moment Jon just stood there mulling over her words. What she said was true but... well they would manage fine without her. He told her so.

  "We're soulmates Jon. We are stronger together naturally. Just because you are a man you should get to go off and leave me, your poor, weak, pregnant wife to sit at home, do needlework and worry. Well screw you Jon Snow! I am going to come with you for my own peace of mind. I'm going to go with you to have your back. Do you know how long it's been since I've been in a proper fight? Years Jon. I am a free woman and I love to fight. It's who I am and you know that," she told him with varying degrees of volume.

  Jon looked at her and then at the walls around them. Of course she was right. Of course. Ygritte was the one that taught him that women were just as strong as men in the first place. It didn't mean that he wanted to put his wife, soulmate and unborn child in danger. Then again his wife and soulmate was Ygritte, a free woman and as fiery a person as her hair and the mark around their wrists.

  He pulled off his gloves and dropped them to the floor before reaching out and grasping her hand with both of his. He pushed back her sleeve and traced his fingers lightly over her soulmark. They both shivered at the contact as the euphoric surges of whatever magic connected them washed through and over them.

  "Okay," he said to her.