A/N: Thank you for reading the story – I hope you have enjoyed it as there are not many stories about the Greyjoys and especially not Yara. My own favorite character in the series is Yara, and I really wish that there was more about her. I also have a weak spot for Theon, so it was rather obvious to me that my newest fanfic should be about the Greyjoys.
This chapter will be an important one, deciding the fate and future for most of the characters. I hope you will enjoy – and feel free to comment :-)
Yara Greyjoy was used to having a sword in her right hand and her heart in her throat when about to face enemies. She was good at not over-thinking as she then probably would not have engaged in as many battles as she had done in her life. She always tasted a bit of blood in her mouth just before initiating the fight, but it helped her to stay aroused. The blood always pumped quickly through her entire body, making her ready for battle, so she was always fired up when her blade met the opponent's blade for the first encounter.
Today was no different as she was seconds away from bursting through the door into the castle of Winterfell's private chambers where the remains of the Stark family was held hostage. She looked at Robb who was in charge. He was extremely focused and held his breath for a couple of moments before giving the signal to kick in the door.
In a split second, the noisy quietness of the time spent waiting was replaced by voices screaming and weapons being drawn. Yara Greyjoy looked at Robb one last time, and there was no denying that he was the son of Ned Stark. Her already aroused body made her blood pump even faster as she thought of being with Ned on a day like this. The urge to be with him drove her almost mad, and it made her choose her allegiance. She needed this man to be present in her life – dead or alive.
"For Winterfell!", Robb then screamed as he led the way towards Roose Bolton, his bastard son and their soldiers. Roose was sitting by the fireplace at the other end of the room while Ramsay and Theon were sitting at the table with maps in front of them. The two Stark children were chained to the floor close to them.
"Theon!", Yara screamed when spotting her brother. She cast a quick glance at him, and he appeared to be okay. He looked as dumbstruck as always, but this was his natural look.
"Get them!", Ramsay screamed and grabbed his sword.
"Theon, grab the boy. Put your sword to his throat", he continued, and Theon got up rather clumsily, grabbed Rickon from the floor and did as Ramsay had commanded.
"Theon, no!", both Sansa, Robb and Yara screamed in unison, and for a moment, everyone stood still.
"If you move, Greyjoy will kill your baby brother", Ramsay shouted, and nobody moved. Rickon started crying and did not understand what was happening, while Theon had the same bewildered look. He was holding the boy who had been a little brother to him for years in a firm grip while placing the blade of his sword close to his little throat.
"That was better", Ramsay said and his big, vicious eyes turned from Robb to Theon.
"Theon, kill him! Please reduce the number of Starks. Now!" he commanded and shot Theon a persuasive look. Theon hesitated, while both Sansa, Robb and Yara started shouting at him.
"Theon, you are better than this!", Robb tried, while Yara commanded him not to be so stupid.
"Theon, I will forgive you everything!", Sansa's appeal sounded, and this was the one that made Theon turn his head. She fought hard to get up, but the heavy chain made it difficult for her. She was wearing a red dress that made her stand out in the crowd of soldiers. She had been crying, but now she just looked straight at the man, who had loved her for years, with a pleading look. This was the first time since her mother had been murdered that she had looked at him. He felt in his stomach how strong her eyes were and how much her gaze affected him.
"I mean it, Theon. Spare Rickon and everything will be forgiven. Please, Theon. Prove that you love me", she continued.
"Don't listen to her", Ramsay screamed, knowing and fearing the power she had over his weak-minded ally. Roose was the only one moving closer, but Yara stepped forward.
"Don't move, lord of shit", she said with one eye on him and one on Theon. Lord Bolton chuckled and gave her a condescending look.
"Your father would be ashamed of you. A Greyjoy fighting for the Stark family! You are a disgrace, my lady", he taunted her, but she remained unaffected - on the outside at least.
"Theon, now!", Ramsay grew impatient and all eyes went to Theon and Rickon. Theon's hands started shaking and he looked at the boy.
"No", he then said, trying to hold back his tears of nostalgia. "No, I will not kill him". He pulled himself together and faced Ramsay.
"I am not like you, you bastard. I will not take orders from you", he said and let go of Rickon while unlocking his chain. Ramsay's eyes went almost white with disbelief and his features contorted in anger.
"Then you leave me no choice", he said and made a quick move for Sansa. This time Theon was fast on his feet and even faster than he had thought possible, he reached Sansa before Ramsay did. Ramsay had raised his sword, prepared to cut her down, but before he made his lethal swing, Theon pushed her aside, resulting in the blade piercing through his back. The pain did not hit him immediately as his full focus was on Sansa. He held her in his arms, lying on top of her to protect her while trying his best to keep her head and neck out of Ramsay's reach.
Hitting the ground after having brought Sansa to safety for a moment, Theon felt the consequences of Ramsay's sharp sword cutting open his back. He felt as if he had been split in half, and the pain was so penetrating that he could not even scream out his suffering. He just laid there with Sansa in his arms and his eyes going white. He had expected another blow, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw Robb giving Ramsay the same treatment as Ramsay had served Theon, only more effectively as blood starting pouring out of the bastard's mouth. Then everything went black for Theon.
The other Greyjoy, Yara, witnessed the horror of her brother's fate from above as she stood watching him on the ground. When Ramsay went for Theon, her instinct was to save her brother, but Roose Bolton was standing right in front of her. He laughed as he heard Theon's cry of death, and it enraged Yara who went straight for him with her sword. She knew that in order to defeat an experienced warrior like Lord Bolton, a careful plan was needed, and right now she acted on impulse rather than any kind of plan. Her anger blinded her sense which resulted in Roose Bolton easily slicing her arm open. She did not scream but felt the blood flooding out of her arm right away.
"Come on, Stark girl, let me see what you've got", he teased her again, trying to enrage her further. It worked as she came at him again with great force, but this time she ducked right in time before his sword could cut her in half. Once she was behind him, she quickly turned around and pierced her dagger through his thigh. The big man fell momentarily to the ground, but he got up again fast. He turned around with blood on his face and a significantly more furious expression.
"Silly girl! All this for poor, old, dead Ned Stark", he said, going for her and succeeding in capturing her. He held her in a tight grip from behind. He was stronger than her, and she could not wiggle herself out. He put his face close to her jaw and whispered into her ear:
"I know your dirty, little secret, Yara Greyjoy. I know what happened between you and Ned Stark. That doomed, young love of yours with that old man". His breath smelled like the guts of a dead wolf, but his words were just as stinking. Yara said nothing, but hearing that he, too, knew her secret made her anxious.
"Well, if you like one older man, you will love this too", he then said with a disgusting smile on his face, wiping his tongue all over her chin while putting his hands on her breasts. He reached out for his knife and pierced it into the side of her stomach. She squirmed like a fish on land, but she could barely move an inch.
"Leave me alone", she hissed, while feeling both blood and life leaving her.
"Just pretend that I am Ned Stark. I know you want to", he grinned and reached out for her thighs.
For a moment, it seemed like she had given up as he was just too strong, and for a minute, he seemed to believe the same thing, as he allowed himself to loosen his grip so he could rip apart her clothes. But the second he loosened his grip, she was able to move her arms, and a moment later, she pulled out her other dagger from her boot and drove it hard into his leg, just above his knee. He fell down, screaming from pain and let go of her. She had hit an artery so his blood splattered all across her face, but the taste of blood only gave her extra strength.
"You are no Ned Stark, and you will not live to tell anyone what you just told me", she then said with superiority in her voice. She stood up, grabbed her sword and pierced it right through his heart. Another scream escaped from his lips and she bent down over him like he was her trophy.
"You are no Ned Stark", she repeated in a whisper into his ear. He looked straight at her before a smile appeared on his lips. He coughed out blood but it seemed like he wanted to speak.
"I've already passed on your secret. The Starks will come to know of this", he then managed to say. Without hesitation, her anger, and maybe her fear as well, took over, and she chopped off his head with her sword like it was wood.
"Shut up", she said, but it only came out a whisper due to the exhaustion the fight had caused her. She took a look around, and it appeared that the remaining Bolton soldiers had either surrendered or fled. She needed a moment to process what had happened before remembering her brother's unknown fate. Her vision was both blurry and cloudy, and her ears appeared to have shut down too. All she could see was the Stark soldiers moving around but their voices were only noise coming from far away.
Trying to get up, she collapsed on the bloody ground next to the beheaded Roose Bolton, and she had to remain there. The static noise grew weaker and every movement around her appeared to be in slow motion. She blinked a couple of times, but blood kept blinding her. Theon, she whispered, remembering seeing her brother being sliced open by Ramsay Snow. A tear dropped from her eye, running right back into the eye as her head fell back. She was lying on the ground, facing the ceiling. He might have been a dumb boy, but he had been her brother. She had always loved him and had tried to take care of him and to keep him out of trouble, but she felt like she had failed. Knowing that she now had to return to her father with Theon's body, she felt anger and disbelief rise inside her body. She had not wished for this. She had wished to stay here in Winterfell, close to the crypt where Ned had been laid to rest. She wanted to stay here with his son, who resembled him a great deal.
She closed her eyes again and started to drift away, but she was suddenly awoken by a man's arms that pulled her up.
"Yara, Yara! Are you okay?", Robb's voice then sounded as he sat down in the pool of blood, holding her in his embrace. He wiped away the blood and dirt on her face with a gentle touch, and finally she heard and saw straight again.
"Did we win?", she whispered as she could barely open her mouth. He smiled and laughed while nodding. Noticing the blood still coming out of her stomach and arm, he instantly ripped apart her armor and undershirt so he could assess the wounds.
"They are not lethal, don't worry", she told him, trying to pull herself together and out of his embrace. She wanted to handle her battle scars like a man.
"We need to stop the bleeding", he then said, looking very concerned.
"Did you give that bastard what he deserved?", Yara then asked, trying to stop the bleeding with her dirty shirt. The pain threatened to make her faint, but her will kept her awake.
"Yes, yes, I did, and Theon...", Robb said and stopped when Yara started nodding.
"I know he did some bad things. But please remember him for the few good things he did", she said, trying not to get tears in her eyes again. She turned her head, and not far away, Theon was lying with Sansa sitting by his body.
"Remember him? He is tougher than I thought. It must be that Greyjoy-blood", Robb then said, reaching out for her, trying to steady her.
"What?", Yara looked at Robb, feeling a sudden jolt in her body. "Is Theon alive?" Her heart started beating fast and even though Robb answered her immediately, she felt that it took forever.
"He is still breathing, yes. Sansa is with him".
"I must be with him", Yara then said and stumbled across the room with her hand on the wound on her stomach, trying to stop the blood. The news of Theon being alive made her feel painless. As she approached him, she threw herself down next to him, grabbing the hand of his that Sansa was not holding.
"Theon! You are alive", Yara said, looking from her brother to Sansa. He looked pale and worn out, but he still looked like Theon. He was weak but his colorless lips managed to smile a bit.
"He will make it", Sansa then said. Yara saw the tears in the corner of her eyes and felt happy for Theon. Then she reached out for Sansa and caressed her face.
"I am glad to see you unharmed", she then said with an exhausted smile and Sansa smiled too.
"Your brother saw to that. He risked his life to save both Rickon and me", she answered, and the words warmed Yara's heart. She knew how much Theon loved her. Finally, she allowed herself to collapse next to her brother, hoping that the great care of the wise men and women in Winterfell would help them both survive. For a second, she felt safe, closing her eyes when she heard Robb and his soldiers moving closer, Robb giving orders:
"Make sure that both Yara and Theon Greyjoy will be given the best care, and then we will decide Theon's fate. He might have saved my brother and sister, but he is the reason all this happened. When he is well, throw him into the dungeon. The punishment for treason in Winterfell is severe...".
A/N: So the final battle is over, Theon trying his best to redeem himself, but maybe that will not be enough... Yara, on the other hand, turned out to be one of the greatest heroes for Winterfell, but for how long can she keep her secret? The truth about it all will be revealed in the next chapter!