The Black Ironborn Chapter 1
This is the story of Harmund Pyke, an Ironborn warrior in the service of Asha Greyjoy, the daughter of Lord Balon and the brother of Theon. His story focuses on the events surrounding Asha Greyjoy in the novels and TV series. Harmund is the son of an Ironborn reaver and a salt wife from the Summer Isles; making him a bastard of mixed ancestry. For Harmund, I imagine the Star Wars actor John Boyega. I felt that it would be fun exploring Ironborn society through the perspective of the son of a thrall, albeit a privileged one.
This story opens following the recapture of Deepwood Motte during the events of A Dance of Dragons. After being taken captive by King Stannis Baratheon's army, Harmund opts to "take the black". The opening prologue sees our protagonist recounting his story to some fellow travellers. George R.R. Martin doesn't give us a lot of details about Lady Sybelle, her children, and Larence Snow's physical appearances, so I had to make it up. I also gave the nameless steward a name: Keith Glover, the uncle of Robett and Gawen Glover. AC stands for "After the Conquest" in Game of Thrones. All recognisable Game of Thrones characters rightfully belong to George R.R. Martin and HBO.
Prologue: A Campsite Story
The North, 300 AC
It was a bitterly cold, snowy night in the frozen plains of the North. The sun had set and the sky was a dark navy blue. Above, a half-full moon hung in the sky like a dying torch. A party of travellers had gathered themselves around a hot fire for heat and warmth. These travellers were mostly men of the Night's Watch and prospective recruits. For millennia, the Black Brothers had manned the walls which protected the Seven Kingdoms from Wildling invasions and the White Walkers, fabled ice demons from children's bedtime stories and crumbling history scrolls. The Night's Watch had originated as a noble order sworn to safeguard the northern frontiers of Westeros. However, in recent generations, the Order had degenerated into a dumping ground for poachers, rapers, thieves, and bastards; the dregs of Westerosi society. Many joined the Order to redeem themselves or because all other avenues of advancement had been shut to them.
There was a young maiden among the travellers. Her name, or so she said, was "Arya Stark", the daughter of the late Lord Eddard Stark, whose death had thrown the North into open rebellion against the Crown. For over a year, "Arya" had been a captive and plaything of the Lannisters and their Bolton allies. Recently, she had escaped captivity with the help of Theon Greyjoy, a disgraced Ironborn prince widely vilified for murdering Bran and Rickon Stark, the younger-born sons of Ned Stark. Theon and his elder sister Asha Greyjoy were now the prisoners of King Stannis Baratheon, one of the claimants to the Iron Throne. King Stannis had sent "Arya" to join her half-brother Jon Snow, the Lord-Commander of the Night's Watch. In reality, this traumatised young girl was not "Arya" but was Jeyne Poole, a friend of Sansa who had been forced by the Lannisters to assume "Arya's" identity.
Seated beside her was a man who wore the kraken sigil of House Greyjoy on his black tunic. He was an Ironborn warrior taken during the recapture of Deepwood Motte but he was no typical Ironborn. Unlike his compatriots, he was not fair-skinned but he had chocolate brown complexion and curly black hair. This man was a Summer Islander, a dark-skinned people who resided in the distant Summer Isles of the Summer Sea. His name was Harmund Pyke and he was the offspring of a union between an Ironborn reaver and a salt wife from the Summer Isles. His father Olaf Shepherd had seized his mother Matahari, a maid of sixteen, during a raiding expedition into the Summer Isles. Against all odds, the two fell in love during the voyage home and Olaf took Matahari as his salt-wife, a concubine. House Shepherd was a minor vassal house of House Greyjoy which had little power and influence in the Iron Islands.
While it was the Ironborn custom to offer the offspring of such unions as sacrifices to the Drowned God, Olaf had raised Harmund as one of his own sons; teaching him how to fight, swim, fish, read, and write. Olaf's loving relationship with his Summer Isles salt wife had attracted the jealousy of his legitimate rock wife Maleficent, who despised her husband's foreign concubine and their bastard offspring. After Olaf died during a fishing expedition, Maleficent had sent or rather parcelled out Harmund as a squire to Asha Greyjoy, the daughter of Balon Greyjoy, the Lord of the Iron Islands. For the past five years, Harmund had served as a crew member and body guard aboard Asha's longboat Black Wind. In patriarchal Ironborn society, Asha had defied the odds by becoming a warrior, commander, and captain of her own ship. Due to his status as a half-caste bastard, Harmund found an unlikely affinity with the tough warrior woman.
For the past hour, a tearful Jeyne Poole had relayed her tragic story of losing her father, being forced by her so-called "protector" Petyr Baelish into prostitution, and being forced to marry Ramsay Bolton, the recently legitimized bastard son of Roose Bolton, the Lord of the Dreadfort and the new Warden of the North. Having lost her family and home, Jeyne was now compelled by political intrigue to assume the identity of "Arya Stark", the missing and presumably dead daughter of the late Ned Stark. Jeyne was a frail young maiden whose health had suffered during her captivity in King's Landing. Harmund Pyke could see that frostbite was starting to set in on her nose and fingers.
The other travellers were moved by Jeyne's story and some began shedding tears. Frodo Rivers, another prospective Black Brother from the Riverlands, placed another long into the fire. The smoke from the open fire stung their eyes and noses but that was their was only source of warmth and heat
"Harmund, I think it's time that you told us your story," said Tychos Nestoris "It'll be interesting to hear why an Ironborn has decided to take the Black."
Tychos was a tall, thin, and gaunt Braavosi man who was the representative of the Iron Bank of Braavos. He had a long thin beard which dropped down to his waist. He wore a brimless, tripled-tiered cap and think fur robes. Like Harmund, he was not used to this cold, inhospitable weather. Since the death of Lord Tywin Lannister, the strongman of Westeros, the Iron Bank had begun landing to King Stannis Baratheon, one of the claimants to the Iron Throne. King Stannis had sent Tychos and a knight named Justin Massey to escort "Arya Stark" to the Wall.
"I don't think I have a lot to be proud off," replied Harmund
"Come on," egged on Justin Massey, a big-built man with pale blonde hair, blue eyes, and a charming smile. "You heard my story last night. Now, we would like to hear your story."
"Allright, I guess it's my turn to tell how I came to join this miserable expedition," sighed Harmund "Well, my story begins with the Ironborn conquest of Deepwood Mott…."
Flashback: The Taking of Deepwood Motte
Deepwood Motte, 299 AC
Dawn had descended onto Deepwood Motte, a wooden motte-and-barley castle near the north-eastern coast of Westeros, or the "Green Land" as the Ironborn called it. Overnight, the castle and the surrounding village had been taken by a thousand Ironborn, who had attacked in the dead of night. The Ironborn invasion force had been led by Asha Greyjoy, Lord Balon's daughter and protégé. The capture of Deepwood Motte, the seat of House Glover, a vassal of House Stark, enabled the Ironborn to control the northern Sunset Sea and to secure a base in the North. Lord Balon, knowing that the Starks were preoccupied with fighting the Crown in the Riverlands, had decided to carve up his own dominion in the North. Three hundred years ago, the Ironborn had ruled large swathes of the Riverlands. Now, Balon intended to do the same in the North.
Harmund Pyke accompanied Asha Greyjoy as they entered the longhall of Deepwood Motte. Asha had come to accept the formal surrender of Lady Sybelle Glover, the ruler of the castle in the absence of her husband Robert Glover and his brother Gawen Glover; who were away fighting in the Riverlands. However, real power rested in the hands of the family's steward, an old bearded man named Keith Glover, the uncle of Gawen. By the time that Asha and her escorts had entered the hall, the Ironborn had already secured the castle's perimeters and the surrounding paddocks, stables, smithy, well, and sheepfold. In the dead of night, an Ironborn advance party had climbed over the outer walls and opened the castle's gates to the Ironborn army.
While traveling up the hill to the castle, Harmund had witnessed piles of bodies. Ironborn were helping themselves to the loot, women, and children. The old, infirm, and feeble were put to the sword. Young girls and maidens were seized as salt-wives while the children and youths were made into thralls, destined either for the fields or the metal mines of the Iron Islands. For those who were unfortunate enough to be condemned to the mines, that was effectively a death sentence. Thralls in the mines had to endure harsh masters, poor food, and dangerous working conditions. Most perished within a year and those who survived were often crippled and broken men. Harmund tried to ignore the cries of wailing children and ravished women in his ears but that was impossible. Instead, he reasoned that killing and enthrallment was the Ironborn way. The wailing children and weeping women brought back memories of his mother, who had been taken by his father as a trophy of a successful reaving expedition.
The longhall of Deepwood Motte was not as large and grim as the Great Keep at Pyke. It was an old but ornate wooden hall lined with red banners and silver fists of House Glover. The servants, cooks, retainers, and surviving men at arms had been corralled into the hall. Harmund saw faces consumed by grief, fear, and hopelessness. At the end of the hall lay a wooden weirwood throne. Lady Sybelle Glover was a slight-built woman with chocolate-brown hair and blue-grey eyes. She wore a scarlet dress. Harmund could tell that she had been pregnant for a few months due to a round mound around her belly. A small, frightened brown-haired boy clung to the hems of his mother's robes.
On the right of Lady Sybelle stood a white bearded man dressed in ornate purple robes. Harmund quickly deduced that he was the steward Keith Glover. To the left of Lady Sybelle stood a young lad with black hair. He wore the brown stag of House Hornwood on his yellow tunic. Harmund quickly recalled that Asha had mentioned in her pre-battle briefing that Lord Galbart was fostering Lord Halys Hornwood's bastard son. If Harmund recalled correctly, the lad's name was Larence Snow.
Asha stepped forward to greet Lady Sybelle, her short black hair covering glistening under the glare of the rising sun. Harmund saw that Sybelle was both surprised and relieve to discover that the commander of the Ironborn invasion force was a young woman in her twenties.
"My name is Asha Greyjoy," boomed Asha "I am the daughter of Lord Balon Greyjoy, the Ninth of His Name and the Iron King. His Grace has sent me to establish a foothold in the North. I have come to accept your surrender."
Lady Sybelle bent the knee. The orange-haired steward helped her back to her feet.
"On behalf of my people, I humbly yield Deepwood Motte to your father," replied Lady Sybelle in a submissive tone "As the Lady of Deepwood Motte and the wife of Lord Robett Glover, I would like to make a humble request."
"And pray what might that be?," asked Asha
"As a learnt woman, I am aware about your people's tradition of reaving and plundering other lands," said Sybelle "It is my humblest wish that my subjects be treated well…"
"As a captive, you have no right to demand terms," interjected Grimtongue fiercely, one of Asha's fellow reavers and a crewmember aboard the Black Wind.
"Hush, Grimtongue," snapped Asha "Let the lady speak or you will lose that tongue."
"My Lady," said Asha, extending a friendly gesture to Lady Sybelle "I apologize that I can't unravel centuries of tradition. As Ironborn, it is our divine duty to reave other lands in order to please the Drowned God. But as the new castellan of Deepwood Motte, I can ensure that my men will not mistreat their captives anymore."
Lady Sybelle winked a small smile of relief as Asha turned to address her man.
"My fellow Ironborn, we are the descendants of the Drowned God," Asha's deep, clear voice reverberated throughout the wooden hall "While we have a duty to reave and to make thralls of other peoples, we should treat them well if we want productive thralls and salt-wives. As of today, I decree that any Ironborn warrior, who has taken a woman, is primarily responsible for her well-being. You may bed her, marry her, etcetera but you will not mistreat her."
Harmund heard some gasps of relieve from the captive servant girls and retainers. There were also some murmurs and sighs emanating from the Ironborn ranks. Asha then continued her speech.
"Furthermore, make sure that our captives are well-fed, clothed, and not mistreated. While fighting and fishing are important, we also need farmers and miners in order to keep the cogs of our society running. Anyone caught striking a captive whether girl or boy, maiden or crone, man or woman without any reasonable cause, will be flogged for the first offence. For the second, they will be offered as a sacrifice to the Drowned God. Finally, bury the dead you have slain."
Asha's words evidently had an effect on her men, who began to treat their captives more gently and respectfully. She had gained their trust and respect by leading them on several overseas expeditions. Since Lord Balon had bent the knee to King Robert Baratheon in 289 AC, the Ironborn had ceased raiding the mainland and instead picked distant targets like the Summer Isles and Sothoryos. All this changed with the recent civil war on Westeros or the "Green Land."
Asha then ordered her men to escort Lady Sybelle and her children to their quarters while she had a private meeting with Steward Keith. Keith had sustained a serious leg injury during the fighting, which would later cost him his leg. Qarl the Maid, Hagen, and his daughter escorted the pregnant Sybelle and her son while Harmund Pyke was tasked with escorting Larence Snow back to his chambers.
"My name's Harmund Pyke," said Harmund in a gentle voice "And don't worry, I'm not gonna eat you. And you're…"
"Larence," replied Larence "But you can call me Larry. You're kind of dark for an Ironborn."
"Well, I'm not fully Ironborn as my surname shows," said Harmund "My father was a true blue Ironborn but my mother came from the Summer Isles. I'm the offspring of that union."
"I heard they sacrificed the children of salt wives to the Drowned God," said Larence curiously.
"You seem to be quite knowledgeable of my society," replied Harmund "But, I'm a living, breathing testament that this is not always true. My father spared me and raised me as one of his sons which is very rare for an Ironborn."
"One thing we share in common is that we're both bastards," said Larence "I'm the natural-born son of Halys Hornwood, the late Lord of the Hornwood. He died fighting for King Robb Stark's army at the Green Fork. Our fathers happened to make the mistake of sleeping on the wrong side of the bedsheet when bedding our mothers."
"In my case, my dad fell in love with my mum," replied Harmund "He was kind and gentle to her even though he had snatched her from her family. But, it's better to be the bastard of a lord than of a commoner. If that had been the case, we would have been thrown into the streets or offered to the Drowned God. At least being the bastard of a lord makes it easier to climb the ladder.
"I believe that we will make a good company even though I'm your captive and you're my captor," said Larence, extending a hand of friendship.