video; un: ironborn

[reek]

I’ll not congratulate anyone for the beginnings of this cure.

[ Oh, look, it's that guy who pisses everyone off. The corner of his mouth quirks into a cruel smirk, but his teeth are clenched too tightly and his eyes burn too fiercely for any proper smile. It’s a struggle for him to remain as guarded as he would prefer, and there are cracks in his armor: he’s clearly angry and upset. ]

My sister was among the ill. Was. I have been informed that she has since returned to the pods—still uncured.

[ He tries to keep his tone even and cold, void of emotion, but his voice breaks ever so slightly. He and Asha weren’t close, not like he’s known siblings should be, but it’s a deep cut to be abandoned again, and it hurts to know that one of the few people he felt he could trust in this place is gone. Clearing his throat, he continues.]

Which leads me to the question at hand. What reason do I, or the worried, or any of the ailing, have to trust the maesters here? Healers--whatever name you may know them by. Months, this has gone on, to the point where someone is gone and remains unhealed.

[ He knows better than to critique those who have done nothing but help, but his anger is directionless otherwise, so he chuckles cruelly, and that cheshire smirk widens. ]

They’ve been all but useless.

Comments

[reek]

The other Houses didn't seem to matter quite so much when it was a rebellion and not Lord Balon's last living heir.

[pricechecked]

[We cannot stand alone against all Westeros. King Robert proved that, to our grief. Balon would pay the iron price for freedom, he said, but our women bought Balon’s crowns with empty beds. My mother was one such. The Old Way is dead.

That had been the words Baelor Blacktyde told him when he tried to convince Victarion to abandon the war. King Robert proved rebellion a folly, but Balon believed it only a folly against Robert. The Old Way would never abide being subject to the Iron Throne, no matter how much his father may have tried to say otherwise. But Quellon would have never lost a son in such a futile bid.]

MANY IRONBORN LIVES WERE SPENT TO PRESERVE THE OLD WAY.
WOULD YOU HAVE MORE SPENT FOR YOUR PRECIOUS FREEDOM?

[reek]

[ He knows better. He knows why he wasn’t retrieved, he knows that isn't how the ironborn do things, and he knows he's being foolish, but he has every right to feel hurt over it. This is his life, not

Still--Catelyn Stark, as little love as Theon held for her, seemed prepared to do whatever it took to retrieve her daughters in King's Landing. There's just such a disconnect between the northmen and ironborn. It's a divide that's personal for Theon, and he fears he'll never be able to join it together. ]

Would you have had me spend my entire life there? The only reason I was freed was because Robb sent me as an envoy.

[ And he fucked it up. ]

[pricechecked]

YOU COULD HAVE ESCAPED. THE SON OF BALON GREYJOY COULD HAVE AWARDED A GREAT PRIZE TO ANY MAN WHO AIDED HIM. YET YOU STAYED, LONG AFTER YOU BECAME A MAN.

[A boy might be caged, but a man who stayed might well have learned to love his chains.]

[reek]

[ He doesn't know how to respond to this. His uncle Victarion, a man known for being dumb as a stump, has made an argument that cuts deeper and sharper than any knife could possibly ever hope to. Why didn't he flee? He wasn't shackled. He was free to go where he liked in Winterfell. When he was old enough, he was even a regular visitor to Winter town, on his own. Why did he stay? Was it the vain hope that his father would send for him someday? No—he’d lost that hope by the time he was thirteen. It was foolish. A boy’s hope.

Why did he stay? ]

Every man in the North knew my face. I would have been killed on sight.

[ That isn't the reason at all. He had grown to love his captors. It's a sickening truth, and he hates himself for it. ]

[pricechecked]

ONLY IF YOU WERE FOOLISH AND ALLOWED IT TO HAPPEN.

[reek]

It doesn't matter. I am no craven. To run is craven.

[ He cannot win this argument, can he? ]