Chapter 43: Dreams and Nightmares.
Bran and the two Lord Reed's children are still discussing in the Gods Wood.
"Tell me what is going to happen to me?" Bran impatiently asks when Meera told him that his brother had a dream about him.
"Do you believe in the greensight?" She asks back at him.
"He has those kinds of dreams too, Meera." Jojen says.
"I don't. Maester Luwin gives me a sleeping potion." Bran defends himself.
"But you had dreams before, didn't you?"
"How do you know?"
"I heard the women talk about it at the well and the guards too. How loud you sometimes shout at night." Jojen explains.
"They do?" Bran's eyes widen.
"Tell us what is frightening you so much, Bran."
"I don't want to. And there are only dreams anyway."
"Before we arrived here, I had a dream of a young boy that was following a crow in a cave." Jojen starts to tell. "And when I saw you at the table, I recognized you. You were the boy from my dream."
"Did the crow have three eyes?" Bran asks with a little fear in his voice.
The young boy nods. "When I was little I almost died of a fever. That was when the crow came in my dreams for the first time."
"He came to me after I fell from the tower. I lay asleep for a long time. The crow told me that I had to fly or die. But, when I woke up, I was broken and could not fly at all." Bran blurts out.
"There is nothing to be afraid of in those dreams, Bran. You have to listen to the message." Meera softly says.
"Old-Nan told me that too one day."
"Well do it then! Truth is that sometimes the messages are not very clear and you have to interpret the signs. But, once you understand how, you will see the future, Bran." Jojen suddenly stops talking when he sees Hodor coming out of the bushes.
"It's time to go back. Belinda has prepared us a cold diner with yesterday's left overs."
Meera helps Bran to climb on the giant's shoulders and they all walk back to the castle in silence.
.
It is Jon's turn to mount guard at one corner of Craster's Keep in this icy night. He suddenly hears steps in the snow. He quietly raises and follows the shadow that walks into the woods. He approaches as much as he can without being spotted and discovers that the shadow is Craster himself carrying a new born baby in his arms. Jon decided to follow him. They go deep into the woods. For a moment, Jon lost track of the man. He stands still, listening to the sounds around. He hears a sort of screeching noise, like teeth scraping up, coming from straight ahead. Suddenly, Craster, empty handed, turns around and comes back in Jon's direction. The young man has just the time to hide behind a large trunk to watch him passing by. He still can hear the baby's droning and the screeching noise approaching. He runs towards it, grabbing his dagger at the same time. Just a few steps away from it, he freezes. A dark shadow comes near the baby, lying down at the foot of a Weirwood, a giant, ten feet at least with a pale face. Jon stays crouching, staring at the scene in front of him.
All at once, a hand grabs his shoulder from behind. He slowly raises his gaze to watch Craster lowering his mace to his head to knock him down.
.
Theon is preparing himself for his encounter with his father. He carefully chooses his garment, wanting to appear in front of him as a proud and healthy grown man. He puts on some silver-grey soft lambswool breeches, a black velvet doublet with the Kraken of the Greyjoys embroidered on his chest and black leather boots. To hold his cloak, he attaches a golden chain with a golden locket in the center and fastens a white leather belt around his waist, holding his longsword.
He walks through the long walkway leading to the Great Keep, his steps resounding on the stoned floor. His father has settled their reunion in the Grand Hall of the Sea tower. Before entering, Theon takes a last deep breath.
The only light in the room comes from a huge fire that is burning in the fireplace. "Father?" He calls.
"Nine years, is it?" A low voice comes from near the hearth. "They took a frighten boy. And what are they given back?"
"A man." He says, slowly marching to the center of the place, not seeing his father yet. "Your blood and your heir."
"We shall see. Stark had you longer than I did." Lord Balon grunts.
"Lord Stark's gone, beheaded by the Lannister Queen." The young man finally spots him sitting in a high bed-head chair, warming himself up in front of the open fire.
"And how do you feel about that?" His father finally turns around, piercing Theon with his deep sea blue eyes.
"What's done is done!" He hesitantly answers. "I brought you a proposal from Robb Stark..." He finds some courage to say, approaching a little more of his father's seat.
"Not so fast... Who gave you these clothes?" Lord Balon cuts him. "Is it Ned Stark's pleasure to make you his daughter?" He slowly stands on his feet.
"I am no man's daughter. If my clothes offend you, I will change them." Theon's gaze drops on the floor.
"Oh, you will!" His father says in a dark voice. "And that bauble around your neck, did you pay the iron price for it or the gold one?"
Theon touches the chain and the locket hanging over his chest.
"I asked you a question!" He thunders. "Did you pull it from the neck of a corpse you made? Or did you buy it to match your fine clothes?" He has moved forward till he is just a step away from his son. "Iron or gold?" His voice becoming sepulchral, his head nearly touching Theon's.
"Gold." The young man finally admits. Lord Greyjoy violently rips it off, making his son's cloak fall heavily on the floor.
"I won't have my own blood dressed as a whore." He walks back to the fireplace. "My fears have come true. The Starks have made you theirs." He throws the jewelry in the middle of it.
"You're wrong. My blood is still salt and iron!" The young man protests.
"And the Stark boy sends you to me like a well-trained raven, clutching his little message."
"There is nothing small about the letter I bear, father. And the offer he makes is one I suggested to him." Theon slowly starting to gain some confidence.
"The wolf pup heeds your councils?" Balon scoffs.
"I've lived with him, hunted with him, fought at his side. I have earned his trust. He thinks of me as a brother."
"Oh no, not here, not in my hearing... You will not name him brother!" His father threatens, marching towards him again. "This son of the man who put your true brothers to the sword. Have you forgotten your own blood?" He flings between his teeth, a few inches away from Theon's face.
"I forget nothing! I remember my brothers very well. And I remember the time when my father was a King too." He shows him the letter Robb had written with his proposal.
After a long moment staring at his son, Lord Balon finally takes the parchment from his hand and reads it. "I see, I destroy Robb Stark's enemies for him and he will make me King of the Iron-Islands once again."
"I will lead the attack myself, if it pleases you." Theon boldly says.
"Oh really? Will you?" His father's mocks him.
"I'm your son, your only living heir. Who else would...?" The door behind him suddenly goes open. "I told you to wait outside!" He calls to the woman who brought him to the Castle. "How did you pass the Guards anyway?"
"Everything with a cock is easy to fool." She smirks, passing by him and stopping next to Lord Balon.
"My dear." The old man softly kisses his forehead.
"Yara?" Theon says, aghast.
"So good to see you, brother." She slightly curtseys, in a mocking kind of way. "For sure, It is a homecoming I'll tell my grand-children about."
"She can't lead an attack!" The young man yells, slightly feeling awkward.
"And why not?" His father's asks.
"She's a woman!" He angrily comes, starting to feel he is not that welcome home.
"And you're the one in skirts." Yara scoffs.
"Have you gone mad?" Theon continues.
"Mind your tongue, boy! You are in Winterfell no more. I am the Greyjoy, Lord Reaper of Pyke, King of Salt and Rock, Son of the Sea Wind!" He bangs a fist on his chest several times. "Your sister took over command of your elder brother's ship after your new father killed him. What is dead will never die." Lord Balon ending his phrase with the Iron-Islands' quote, Theon repeating it after him, putting a hand across his heart. "Every night she was off this island, she's spending it on the sea. She's commanded men. She's killed men. She knows who she is!" He bends towards the fireplace again and burns Robb's proposal. "No man gives me a crown. I'll pay the iron price and will take my crown! And that is who I am! That is who we always been!"
"You won't stand a chance against the Lannisters on your own!" Theon says.
"Who said anything about the Lannisters?" Lord Balon laughs. "I am lurking in a different direction. Maybe not as prestigious, but easier to take right now… Finally having my sweet revenge." He leaves the room, Yara after him.
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