There is a story in Greek mythology. A man is walking one day, when he passes a pair of snakes who were in the middle of mating. I can't remember exactly why, but the man slaps one of the snakes on the head and keeps walking. He wakes up the next day to realize that he had been transformed into a woman.
For seven years, he (now she) travels around, gets married, and even has children. Then, while walking by that same spot as before, she sees a pair of snakes mating again. She slaps the other one on the head, and wakes up as a man the next day.
One day, Zeus and Hera were having an argument. Zeus claimed that women experienced more pleasure than men during sex, and Hera, of course, contended that the opposite was true, since she isn't the one running around and constantly fathering demigods. So, in order to determine the truth of the matter, the pair of gods go to the man and ask him who experiences more pleasure during sex; the man, or the woman. Since he had experienced both, the two gods agreed that his decision would settle the matter
He answered, "If one splits the pleasure from sex into ten equal parts, nine of them belong to the woman."
I can now say that the story was exactly right.
Even though I had a fair bit of wine the previous night, I had not been blackout drunk. As such, despite the haze of alcohol, I could still remember the entire night. And… well, sex as a woman was a lot better than I'd expected it to be. A lot better than it ever had been as a man.
The reason why? Two words; multiple orgasms.
As I lay sprawled across Ned's chest the morning after our private dinner, I… well, I couldn't lie and say that all was right with the world. Far from it; I still felt a fair bit of shame and regret over impulsively sleeping with him last night, and more than a little embarrassment over the fact that I'd had to use some liquid courage to get to that point. Despite that, I'd enjoyed it enough that I didn't regret it too much. And, if I was being honest with myself, I'd probably do it again, and relatively soon as well.
'Though probably not for a few days,' I thought with wry amusement. 'I'm a little sore right now…'
I also had to take my cycle into account. The rhythm method wasn't reliable, given the variability in every woman's natural cycle, but if properly tracked, it was moderately effective. Ovulation happens about two weeks after menstruation stops, give or take a few days in either direction. An ovum only survives up to 24 hours after ovulation if not fertilized, but sperm can survive up to 5 days in a woman's body. So, there is a 9 or 10 day safe period right after menstruation where pregnancy is almost impossible (again, barring a shift in a woman's cycle), then an 8 day period where the chance for pregnancy is very high. Once the dangerous week was past, it was safe until menstruation started.
Given that my moon's blood had come a week prior (I think? Give or take a few days), I was almost certainly safe. I was definitely not ready to have another child yet. Maybe in a year or two. And while Tansy tea, or moon tea, could both prevent pregnancies and acted as an abortifacient, Adrya had told me that overuse could result in infertility. So that wasn't an option either.
"Good morning, Cat," Ned mumbled, his voice rumbling his chest against my ear, interrupting my thoughts.
"Good morning," I softly replied. Despite my inner turmoil, I did my best to not let any of it show. "I didn't wake you, did I?"
"No. The sun woke me some time ago," he replied, his voice soft.
"Mmm," I hummed. At the moment, I was too comfortable to get up and get started for the day. I knew I should; I had a lot to do, and I should probably spend some quality time with Robb and Jon soon; I'd been neglecting them as of late. But the furs were warm, Ned's chest was comfortable, and despite my soreness, I was quite relaxed.
I think I dozed off for a bit, because the next thing I knew, Ned was gently shaking my shoulder.
"Cat?" He asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Hmm?" I wordlessly asked.
"I need to get up," he murmured.
I groaned and rolled off of him. "Aye… I probably should as well," I mildly complained. "I have some things to take care of too…"
"Well, no time like the present," Ned replied in a deadpan voice. He tossed the furs aside and rolled out of bed. I idly watched him get dressed; it was surprising just how strongly my body reacted to his, even after last night.
'I wonder if I'll even react to women anymore?'
With a sigh, I set the thought aside and rolled out of bed. I had too much to do today to worry about who and what I was attracted to anymore.
As a small side note, I spent a portion of the morning subtly eyeing some of the prettier maids and serving girls in the castle while attending to other business. Most of them, by the standards of my old life, would have been rather plain or average.
However, of all the household servants, the prettiest was a young woman, perhaps in her early twenties, by the name of Anna. She was one of the maids in charge of the family wing of the Great Keep.
As it turns out, my (hopefully) subtle glances did, in fact, spark a reaction. Not as strong as the one this body felt for Ned, but strong enough that I could say that I was at least somewhat attracted to women. Call it 70/30 in favor of attraction to men.
Still, Anna was quite beautiful. It was a bit of a shame that she was so sweet on Vayon. But I knew better than to disrupt that budding romance; if Ned and I got around to granting Vayon lands, he'd need a good wife to help him run it, and Anna would do nicely.
"Cat?" A voice interrupted my reading.
I had been going over the ledgers from my business. My revenue was gradually increasing as more machines were made and more workers trained. I was still buying more wool than I was using, and the First Keep's basement was almost entirely full of it by now. If I didn't increase my production soon, I'd have to stop buying it. Shaking off the thought, I turned to look at whoever had called my name.
"Benjen?" I asked in surprise. Ever since Ned had come back, Benjen had spent more time out of the castle than in it. He would be turning 16, the age of majority in Westeros, shortly after the harvest feast. I was happy he had come to visit; he had been distant lately. "Come in, come in; take a seat."
"Alright," he said, sounding reluctant.
"What brings you by, Benjen?" I asked.
"I…" he hesitated. I could see that, whatever it was, he wasn't sure how to broach the subject. I gently smiled at him, patiently and silently encouraging him to speak his mind.
"I think I'm going to join the Night's Watch," he said, looking away.
"Oh?" I asked, keeping my voice mild. "What brought you to that decision?"
"I… well, after Lyanna…" he paused, swallowed, and began again. "The Night's Watch is an honorable calling. Generations of Starks have served at the Wall."
"Aye, but… not to be rude, Benjen, but I don't think your generation of Starks can afford that," I gently pointed out. "Until Robb gets older, it's just you and Ned. If anything happens to him…"
"You could rule as Lady Regent," he countered. "No one can argue that you can't handle it."
"Perhaps, but so could you," I said. "Besides, if you go to the Wall, I'd miss you. Ned would miss you, too."
"Well… it's just…" Benjen halfway pleaded. "What else is there for me? Ned rules Winterfell; what would I do?"