chapter 193 part 1
Chapter 193: Blood of the Same Vein 2
Pyke, the Great Keep.
In a long hall shrouded in smoke, Balon Greyjoy sat upon the Seastone Chair, carved from a block of black stone. All around him were his lords and captains. Thralls scurried back and forth, pouring wine, while the hall echoed with the music of fiddles and drums.
Three burly ironborn were performing the traditional finger dance of the Iron Islands. A short-handled axe was thrown back and forth between the three men. The rule was that participants had to either catch or dodge the axe but could not move a single step. The reason the game was called the finger dance was that it usually ended when someone lost a finger. If one's luck was poor, they might even lose two, or all of them.
King Balon, gaunt as a stick, wore a long, mildewed robe of sealskin, his unkempt, long gray-white hair falling past his shoulders. He lifted his granite-like eyes and looked at his son, whose face had turned ashen from being ignored by everyone as he walked in.
"You are late, Theon."
Theon bowed, his tone tinged with displeasure. "Your forgiveness, Father."
He glanced around his father. To his father's left sat his two uncles. To his right sat Asha Greyjoy. This position undoubtedly showed his father's affection for her.
Theon sat in the empty seat beside Asha. He leaned forward and lowered his voice in his sister's ear, saying, "Didn't you say this was my welcome feast? Also, you took my seat. That should be my place."
Asha was wearing a light green woolen tunic. Although the material and workmanship were not exquisite, it clearly displayed her slender curves.
Hearing her brother's voice, Asha looked at her wide-eyed younger brother. Her gaze, as if she were looking at an idiot, instantly set Theon's temper flaring.
She looked very innocent. "Brother, you must be mistaken. Your feast and your seat are both in Winterfell."
Theon gritted his teeth. "You're mocking me again?"
Asha looked at Theon's flushed face, greatly amused. "Do you want wine or ale, Theon?"
As she spoke, Asha also leaned closer to Theon, her voice gentle and low. "Or something else?"
Theon straightened up, moving away from Asha, and snorted coldly. "Every word you speak is a lie."
After a pause, he couldn't help but ask again, "You said you were married, and pregnant. Was that a lie too?"
"That's true."
Asha leaped to her feet. She held out a hand toward one of the burly men performing the finger dance and shouted, "Ralf, toss it here!"
Hearing Asha's call, the burly man spun around, and an axe came flying from his hand. The axe cut through flame after flame of the torches, its tumbling blade flashing with a cold light. Theon nearly suffocated.
Asha caught the flying short-handled axe in mid-air. With a thud, she slammed it into the long table, splitting Theon's plate in two and splattering grease everywhere.
The corner of her mouth quirked up. "Good brother, allow me to introduce you. This is my husband."
She reached into her tunic and pulled out a dagger, continuing, "And this is my baby."
The crowd erupted in roaring laughter. Only Theon sat there, stunned. It sounded as if everyone was mocking him. The best response he could think of was to force a few twitching smiles.
"My brother, after ten years of being a little wolf cub in Winterfell, do you think you can just come back and be a prince of the Iron Islands? You understand nothing, you know no one. Why should anyone fight for you, die for you?"
In Asha's gaze toward her brother, though it was seventy percent mockery, there was still a sliver of joy at their reunion, a sliver of disappointment, and a sliver of anger and hatred for the Starks.
Theon only saw his sister's ridicule. He said stiffly, "Because by law, I was born a Prince of the Iron Islands."
Did Asha think that after living in Winterfell for ten years, he had become one of the Starks? Though Lord Eddard had let him grow up with his own children, he had never been one of them. Everyone in Winterfell treated him as a hostage to ensure his father's compliance. Even the bastard Jon Snow received better treatment than he did.
Lord Eddard tried to play the role of a father, yet Theon always reminded himself that this was the man who had brought bloody slaughter to Pyke and forced him far from his home. As a child, he lived constantly under the shadow of Stark's grim face and that greatsword, Ice. Catelyn Stark was even more distant and suspicious of him.
Theon's anger surged, and he spoke again, infuriated. "Winterfell was the prison that confined me, but the blood of salt and iron still flows in my veins."
Asha leaned against the back of her chair, raised a horn cup, and took a swig of wine. She spoke leisurely, "In your prison in the green lands, did you only learn the laws of the green lands? Have you forgotten our own rules?"
Theon's face hardened as he stared at the shattered plate... Thousands of years ago, Urron Greyiron, the king of the Iron Islands, had said: "The Drowned God makes men, but men make crowns." Every captain is a king on his own ship, which is why the Iron Islands are also called the Land of Ten Thousand Kings. Once they have seen their king taking a shit over the ship's rail or turning green-faced in a storm, they will no longer kneel to a so-called king. Therefore, one must be strong.
Seeing Theon sitting there motionless, Asha chuckled lightly and said, "I hear you're running errands for the heir of Winterfell this time, little messenger brother?"
Hearing this, Theon flew into a rage. "I am not an errand boy! I am the one leading this. The terms they offered were my suggestion!"
After hearing his explanation, Asha laughed again. Theon found her laugh infuriating.
Asha spoke with some exaggeration, "It sounds like that little wolf is very obedient to you."
Theon ignored Asha's taunt. He raised his head high. "That's right. He listens to me. I've already won his trust. He sees me as his brother."
Asha first snickered, then burst into loud laughter.
"You!"
Asha's laughter sounded like extreme mockery to Theon. His face turned shades of green and red, like a chameleon.
Asha's laughter did not stop. She clutched her stomach with one hand and grabbed Theon's shoulder with the other. He angrily tried to shrug her off, but his sister's hand was strong and powerful, and he failed.
King Balon smiled as he looked at his daughter, who seemed about to laugh herself breathless, and then rose from the Seastone Chair.
"I will announce the plan. After you've finished drinking, gather in my solar."
With that, he turned and left, two personal guards following closely on his left and right. His two brothers also stood up and followed him immediately.
Theon wanted to get up and follow, but his sister's hand held him firmly. He said angrily, "Let go of me!"
Asha released Theon. She then patted her brother's shoulder. "Ai, Father has already waited so many years, what's a little more waiting? Besides, you've already solved his problem for him."
Although Theon didn't want to pay any attention to Asha, he was still a little curious, so he couldn't help but ask, "Solved what problem?"
Asha's smile turned wicked. "Why, having that obedient little wolf of yours hand Winterfell over to Father for safekeeping, of course, my good brother."
...
...
Crackclaw Point, The Whispers.
Today was the day Aemilia, Commander of the Thorn Legion, would be knighted. According to the ceremony, she had already spent the previous night in vigil before the statue of the Warrior of the Faith of the Seven.
Leaving the Sept, Aemilia, dressed in a white tunic, walked barefoot towards the knighting spot to show her humility.
The Sept of The Whispers was not far from the main keep. After a short walk, she saw the wooden doors of the keep, carved with the marsh marigold.
Aemilia suddenly remembered the scene of her first time coming here to meet the lord, and she couldn't help but stretch her toes.
Aemilia took a breath, lifted her chin slightly, and strode forward.
...