Hey!
I am posting this chapter early because I have a request in the author notes section at the bottom which I would like feedback on as soon as possible. I will maybe also post again on Thursday or I might not ;D
This chapter has Kenna trying her best to survive Balon's wrath so go grab a soft toy to cuddle or a glass of something strong, this will not be pretty!
WARNING: Physical and psychological torture imminent.
Enjoy :)
Chapter 66: Balon's Reckoning
The next day in the morning …
Sea Tower, Pyke, Seat of Power of House Greyjoy in the Iron Islands
The first thing Kenna felt as she woke was the banging headache assaulting her senses. Once she had got to grips with that, her face let her know that it too had not fared well, her nose was throbbing.
Probably broken, Kenna chided in her mind as her hand felt around her tender face to her nose which was indeed not the same shape as she remembered it to be and was covered in dried blood that flaked onto her hand.
Kenna felt around her to find that she was laying on a soft surface. She opened her eyes to see she was lying stomach flat on a large bed.
Strange, Kenna thought groggily, I expected to be in a dank cell somewhere.
Kenna attempted to push herself off the bed but collapsed halfway through the movement clutching at her torso so her face landed in a small dried pool of blood.
"I don't remember getting hit there," Kenna muttered out loud.
"You wouldn't," came a rough voice from behind her, "you were unconscious when Victorian decided to alleviate some of his anger and pain on you."
Kenna managed to shuffle herself into a sitting position despite all the painful waves rippling through her body at such a quick movement.
She saw a sea swept man sitting in the corner of the room on a simple wooden stool. His grey hair nearly touched the ground and it looked like seaweed had been interwoven in his great beard.
This was the man on the deck of the Iron Victory that had saved her from Victorian's baser instinct.
This was Aeron Greyjoy.
"Victorian is alive?" Kenna croaked trying to supress the pain that was radiating all over her.
"Yes. You missed his throat and got his eye instead," Aeron informed her, watching how Kenna's face fell at the news.
"You don't sound as pleased by that as a brother should be," Kenna said picking up on the estrangement between all Greyjoy brothers.
"It does not matter to me if my brothers live or die. Only the will of the Drowned God interests me," the grey bearded man said devoutly.
"Why are you here Aeron?" Kenna asked laying down on the bed to ease the pressure on her ribs, not caring that Aeron was now outside her line of vision.
"My name is Damphair, not Aeron," the Drowned Priest replied in an emotionless voice.
"Why are you here?" Kenna repeated in a more strained tone as she felt the throbbing pain of her injuries start to gnaw into her mind.
"To offer you the chance to become a servant of the Drowned God and be spared from Balon's rage."
Kenna pursed her lips in confusion, "Why would you offer that to me?"
Damphair ignored Kenna's question and she half thought the man had left the room before his face filled her vision instead of the stony ceiling.
"My brother is fuelled by nothing more than grief, bitterness and the hope of hurting those that he perceives have hurt him. He will make your suffering last. He will make you scream and he won't kill you until you beg him to end it for you," the sea weathered man said grimly, "and you have been on his mind for the past fifteen years."
Kenna took a moment to sort through her feelings and thoughts, "I can sense that your offer is genuine but I have prayed too many times to the Seven to abandon them now and the only thing I can think that would be worse than what Balon will do to me is being thrown into the Seven Hells because I denounced the Seven. I am afraid of your brother and what he will do to me but if I must endure someone's wrath, I'd rather it be a man's than the Gods'."
Damphair looked down at Kenna with a thoughtful expression on his face as if he was muddling through her passionate words in his mind.
"The Drowned God is the only true God," he said resolutely, "but if you will not become a true believer you cannot become his servant."
"I have chosen my faith."
"You have chosen your fate as well," Damphair said as he turned his back on her and exited the room.
That was intense, Kenna noted to herself trying to think of anything else but her immediate future.
A few minutes after her gloomy visitor had departed Kenna with great effort pushed herself off the bed and allowed herself a small cry of pain as she stood on her own two feet.
She walked sluggishly and unsteadily to the only window in the room. She kept one hand clutched on the point where Victorian must have kicked her, the other went to curl around the open glassless window for support.
What she saw when she looked out the small window shocked her to her very soul. It was a sight she knew well. She had seen it almost every day at the Eyrie when she had visited her sister.
This was the view Alyssa had painted over and over and over. The shoreline, the passing black and golden sails, the way the sun was rising above the glistening blue water.
This was the room Euron had kept Alyssa in.
Kenna looked back at the bed in shock.
This was the room Euron had rapped Alyssa in.
Kenna slid down the wall and carefully came to a stop on the floor just staring back at the bed, trying to blot out the image of her sister and Euron. She closed her eyes but the darkness just swirled into the very image she had sought to block out.
What had occurred in this very room had changed so many lives, had changed the course of Westerosi history even. It had certainly and profoundly changed her own life and she was still unsure if she had ultimately changed for the better or worse.
In that moment of realisation, she felt weak, defenceless, vulnerable and disgusted with the room she was now trapped in.
It seemed Balon's form of torture would not be limited to just the physical being of a person but the psychological aspect as well.
A few hours later …
Seastone Chair chamber, Great Hall, Great Keep, Pyke, Seat of Power of House Greyjoy in the Iron Islands
The Ironborn guards found Kenna still slumped underneath the lone window and they were not gentle in the way they picked her up.
Kenna didn't fight their bruising grip, "Where are you taking me?"
Only silence followed her as she was cajoled through the damp and musty corridors of the Sea Tower, across a windswept stone bridge and up the dark steps of the Great Keep to the Seastone Chair chamber.
Again, she was pushed down to the ground before Balon Greyjoy, King of the Iron Islands but this time she didn't raise her head but she spoke.
"Where is Victorian? I'd like to see what I did to his face," Kenna said to the floor as she tried to maintain her bravado and grounded her teeth at the stabbing sensation aching on the spot where Victorian had kicked her.
Balon held an eyrie smile on his face and it didn't look quite right on him, "He is being tended to."
Kenna took an inhale of breath and with her two unbound hands she pushed herself to her feet to meet the face of the Stranger.
Balon leaned forward from the Seastone Chair appraising Kenna's bruised face, the dried blood that was smeared around her nose and the way she had winced getting up, "If you think you are in pain now, you are in for a surprise."
In a show of defiance that took the last reserves of Kenna's courage she spat, "My death will ensure your entire Houses destruction. There will not be another Greyjoy who sits on that chair. You will be the Last Kraken."
Balon stood from the mentioned chair and strode towards Kenna, still with that eyrie smile playing on his lips. He reached Kenna who didn't back away and he wrapped one of his wiry hands around her throat to steady her head by his lips.
"I don't care as long as all those that took from me pay my price," Balon whispered into Kenna's ear, "Robert Baratheon is dead, Eddard Stark is dead, and soon you will be dead too just like my brother and my sons."
Balon repositioned his head so it was now inches away from Kenna's face and a threatening squeeze at her throat made Kenna jolt her head up to meet Balon's roving eyes, "Do you fear death?"
"Doesn't everyone?" Kenna said in a hushed tone, too drained to respond with anything other than her first thought.
Balon leaned in again, "When I am done, you will welcome it."
"How are you going to do it?" Kenna asked softly to the empty Seastone Chair in front of her as Balon held her throat firmly with his lips nearly intimately touching the side of her cheek.
"I could stab you like you killed my brother," Balon said evenly as Kenna glimpsed a knife between them before his tone went deeper, "but that would be too quick for you."
Before Kenna could unpick the Kraken's words, he threw her backward which caused a spasm of pain to shoot through her as she landed heavily on the hard floor.
"Do not be so eager for death my Lady, I have plans for you before you pass from this word," Balon said gesturing to some Ironborn men that proceeded to clamp an iron chain around each of Kenna's hands before pulling at them.
Kenna found herself being pulled upright as the chains circling her wrists lifted her up and separated her arms so that she was standing straight with her arms pulled horizontally to the sides.
The pain exploding around her ribs was excruciating as the pressure was taut over her muscles and it nearly drowned out the intense pain her shoulder sockets where in as the chain holding Ironborn men seemed to seek to pull her apart.
Kenna managed to lift her head high enough to see Balon was brandishing a whip in his long fingers.
"You are a monster," Kenna couldn't stop herself from vocalising her thoughts as she realised what Balon's intension was. She tested the chains holding her but they did not budge in the hands of the muscled Ironborn men holding them.
Balon shot Kenna a look of satisfaction at the flash of panic on her face as he fingered the whip in his hand, "And you think that you are not?" He ducked under the chain holding her left arm flat, "I heard what you did to Lysa Arryn and Littlefinger. You did exactly what I am going to do. Avenge a family member's death. We are both killers, we are both responsible for the destruction caused by our soldiers, we are both monsters. The only difference is you made their deaths quick, I won't give you that mercy."
"The difference between us King Balon is that once I die my children will rule after me," Kenna said needling at a known sensitive point, "The same cannot be said for you."
Kenna couldn't see Balon behind her but she felt his icy stare fall on her and shivered when his crackling voice came from just behind her head, "I have been imagining what this moment would feel like for so many years. What you would look like, all grown up and, what you would say and do." He leaned in closer so his warm breath was on the back of Kenna's neck, "How you would scream and plead for mercy to only understand that death is the mercy."
Kenna didn't turn her head to see him, she didn't want to see what was going on behind her. Didn't want her worst fears to be confirmed or show Balon how much she feared what was about to happen.
Stay calm, she told herself as she waited a few more agonising seconds for her situation to become clear.
"Hold her steady," Balon ordered as he let the whip touch the floor and rotated the grip in his hands a few times.
High as Honour, Hear me Roar, Kenna grabbed a hold of these words in her mind and steeled herself.
The tip of the whip smacked against her back but most of the power was absorbed by the back of her robe garment allowing her to remain quiet.
Balon used the whip again and Kenna heard the tear in the fabric that covered her back, the material was not going to bear the brunt of the whips tip for much longer and indeed after a few more strokes Kenna could feel the cold air brushing over her skin and Balon took this an encouragement as he launched another strike which drew blood and a choked scream from Kenna.
Balon grinned sadistically as another strike of the whip elicited another tortured scream from Kenna and try as she might she couldn't keep the pain out of her mind and it took over. A few tears dropped from her eyes as Balon continued his punishment indicating she was losing her battle to stay calm and in control.
Kenna lost count of the lashes she had received but Balon stopped suddenly and came face to face with Kenna. He gripped her by the hair so he could see her tear streaked face.
"A Captain normally gives a disobedient sailor five lashes but I am a King so I gave you twenty but my turn is over now," Balon said as he let go of Kenna and observed how the chains held her battered body up.
Your turn?
Kenna looked behind her to see a line of black clad Ironborn who all had the confidence and look of Captains and the first one now held the whip Balon had held in his hands.
Balon answered her unspoken question as he returned to the Seastone Chair, "When you came to Pyke and assaulted our walls you didn't just take my brother from me but you killed Euron's entire crew and the many Captains of the Iron Fleet want revenge for that act."
Kenna quickly snapped her head back to Balon who now sat in his chair with a goblet of wine in his hand.
This was entertainment for him, Kenna's screams of pain, the suffering looks on her face, the tears that would continue to spring from her eyes. It was all on display for Balon Greyjoy and he was going to enjoy every second of it.
I hope the Stranger kills you in the most painful way possible, Kenna thought futilely trying to channel what little energy she had left on feeling anger instead of pain but as the first Captain's strike hit Kenna a half-muffled groan of pain tumbled out her mouth.
Balon cruel lips turned upwards into a smile as he saw Kenna's failed efforts. She tried to hold his eyes for as long as possible to communicate the hate she felt for him in this moment but the lashes took away her control and she lost count of how much her back had endured as she eventually slipped into unconsciousness in the wake of such a continuous onslaught.
Same time …
Small Council Chamber, Red Keep, King's Landing, Seat of power of House Baratheon (Lannister/Tyrell) in the Crownlands, Capital of the Seven Kingdoms
"Uncle how are the war preparations going?" Tommen asked with genuine interest.
"More than half of the scorpions have been made and mounted on the walls of King's Landing which is being overseen by Qyburn and the artisans of the city are doing their utmost to complete the rest within the month."
"They are being encouraged by a lot of my coin so they better be doing their utmost," Olenna bit into the conversation.
"What of Loras and father?" Margaery asked shifting in her seat to accommodate her growing girth.
Tommen placed his hand over his Queens in support and he too awaited the answer.
Tyrion clasped his hands together on the table before unclasping them quickly realising he had just replicated how his father usually started an answer, "Ser Loras and Lord Mace are holding the Prince's Pass and the Boneway respectively with two separate Tyrell hosts against the Dornish forces that have amassed in both passageways. Their orders are not to engage but defend so that the Dornish cannot march on King's Landing through the Dornish Marches."
"And what of the war on Balon Greyjoy? I saw the Arryn Fleet pass by King's Landing a few weeks ago?" Tommen asked before adding kindly, "I hope Grandfather is able to save Uncle Jaime and Aunt Kenna."
"I am sure he will try his best," Tyrion said with a warm smile to his nephew, knowing the boy would never lose his kindness.
"The Redwyne Fleet will ensure Balon's defeat but whether than frees Jaime Lannister and his wife is less certain," Olenna said as if calculating the odds in her mind.
Before Tommen could dwell on Olenna's pondering words Tyrion decided to update the young King on his most potent threat, "Your Grace, we have had no news that Daenerys Targaryen has made any move to vacate Meereen which-"
"We didn't have any indication that Stannis was going to siege King's Landing either," Olenna said sharply interrupting the little Lord, not remember her time in captivity fondly.
"We were betrayed by Lord Varys then," Craftly bugger, Tyrion thought, "My information no longer comes by way of his little birds."
"That is reassuring," Olenna said sarcastically with her prickly nature on full show.
"Grandmother," Margaery adorned, knowing that the old lady's thorny nature was casting a shadow and she didn't want Tommen to get stuck under it.
"Oh, my dear you should be resting you know," Olenna said eyeing her granddaughter's tummy with a mixture of pride and caution before giving her a look which Margaery instantly knew was a signal to get Tommen out the room.
"Yes, an heir is of the utmost importance. Your Grace, Lady Olenna and Tyrion can continue the preparations for now and you can attend to your pregnant wife," Margaery said sweetly giving Tommen's hand a gentle squeeze as she pushed herself from her chair.
Tommen couldn't resist Margaery's charming smile and instantly was out his chair to guide Margaery from the room.
Tyrion waited for the door to close indicating the royal couple's retreat, 'What do you want to say that you can't in front of Tommen?"
"Your sister-"
"Oh, do we have to talk about her?" Tyrion said sighing loudly.
"I have heard that your sister is in Meereen with Oberyn Martell treating with Daenerys Targaryen."
"And?"
"And one would think that can only be bad news."
"Of course it is," Tyrion blustered, "she is probably ensuring that the Targaryen girl flies her dragons straight to King's Landing and just sets everything on fire."
"That sounds like your sister but I bring her up because my spies tell me she is heavily pregnant."
Tyrion processed this for a few seconds, "Is your concern that the smallfolk will find out she is a whore because I think everyone that matters already knows that."
"My concern is that it will add more weight to the rumours concerning Tommen's parentage," Olenna drilled into Tyrion, still not naming Jaime as the father and Tyrion wondered if she would have even brought up the subject if it were his father and not him that sat across from her.
"Those concerns have been put firmly to bed and when Margaery births an heir to Tommen you won't hear anymore mutterings from smallfolk or nobles alike," Tyrion tried in his most reassuring voice.
"Yes, there is something very calming about a settled line of succession isn't there?" Olenna said sassily knowing Tyrion's place as Tywin's heir was uncertain.
"Yes, there is," Tyrion said behind a fake smile, "I think we have no more to discuss."
"It appears not," Olenna agreed before slipping from her chair and gliding more elegantly than her age should have allowed out the Small Council chamber's massive open doors.
Tyrion sank back in his chair not knowing what was the greater challenge; defeating Daenerys Targaryen or keeping up with Olenna's famed wit.
Next day …
Sea Tower, Pyke, Seat of Power of House Greyjoy in the Iron Islands
The next time Kenna opened her eyes she wished she had remained at peace in the oblivion of sleep as all four corners of her body screamed at her.
The waves of pain dulled her sense but after a few seconds she realised she had been chucked face first onto the bed again and her top half had been stripped of any clothing, then she felt someone above her pressing into her back.
She instantly tried to move but a firm hand came down on her neck and a gruff voice stopped her struggling, "Relax."
"Damphair?"
"I am tending to your wounds," the Drowned Priest explained as his free hand danced on Kenna's back, massaging a cream into her cracked skin and sealing any open cuts with a thin thread.
Kenna forced herself to sink back into the bed's mattress at his words and motions but the tension never left her, even when the hand on the back of her neck was removed.
Sensing Kenna's confusion Damphair enlightened the captured Queen, "You only got through half of the Captains before you passed out and Balon doesn't want you to die of an infection before his punishment is complete."
"Lucky me," Kenna murmured into the mattress before remembering another time this room had contained both an Arryn and a Greyjoy.
"I will recommend you are given a few days to recover before finishing your sentence to ensure you can survive it," Damphair said as if he wasn't discussing her next torture session.
Kenna groaned as Damphair tightened a particular large stitch on her back, "Surely if Balon wanted me to survive he would have sent a Maester not his priest brother."
"I have taken an interest in healing ever since I lost my brother Urrigon to an infection," the older man replied cutting some loose stitches and giving his work a final once over.
"Maybe you could not be so good at your job?" Kenna suggested.
She felt Damphair rise from the bed, "You must endure Balon's punishment and only then will you be allowed to die my Lady."
It was worth a try, Kenna thought before the exhaustion of her injuries dragged her once again back into the peaceful oblivion of sleep.
Damphair looked down at the woman who had, along with Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark, so twisted his eldest brother with her actions fifteen years ago and all he really saw was just another creature twisted in grief by another's actions. By a monster's actions.
Aeron's eyes darkened as his mind centered on Euron and what his brother had done to him all those years ago. He pulled the cover off the bed so it went over Kenna's back without brushing past the new stiches. He wished her silent luck in the coming days, as unlike Balon and Victorian, Aeron Greyjoy had not mourned the passing of Euron, he had rejoiced in it and it was thanks to the Lady below him that Euron had departed this world sooner rather than later.
The man blinked once and shook his head slightly and the dower Damphair, Priest of the Drowned God had regained control and he let go of the quilt, placed a long plain grey tunic at the end of the bed then exited the room without another thought on the slumbering Lady.
A few days later …
Seastone Chair chamber, Great Hall, Great Keep, Pyke, Seat of Power of House Greyjoy in the Iron Islands
"She is unconscious," Yara stated as her eyes lingered on the thrashed Queen who had collapsed to the floor when the men holding up the metal chains had dropped them, "and that was the last Captain of the Iron Fleet to call on Queen Kenna," Yara added watching the haggard looking Captain leave the whip beside Kenna's limp body and leave the chamber after bowing to his King.
"I am not finished with her," Balon looked to his daughter, "but we have a more pressing concern."
"Yes," Yara replied but her attention was on the bloody scratches that covered the Queen over the Mountain's back, the grey tunic fabric had been torn open by the lashing of the whip and crimson liquid had soaked into the remaining cloth as well as covered the Queen's back.
"There is a Fleet approaching Pyke from the South."
"No fleet can compare to the Iron Fleet. Send Uncle Victorian and he will destroy it," Yara said clearly excited by the notion of a fight.
"This Fleet is at least twice the size of the Iron Fleet."
"How?" Yara exclaimed stepping toward her seated father.
"It seems the Redwyne Fleet combined with the Arryn Fleet near Old Town."
"That means Tywin Lannister has ignored your ransom demand for the Kingslayer," Yara said with surprise evident in her voice.
"Yes. It appears he no longer cares much for his eldest and is against us."
"We cannot win this Father," Yara said in an aggravated tone, counting all the forces against them in her head.
"I cannot with this fight I started. I know this but that doesn't mean that the Greyjoy name has to end with my defeat," Balon said with some tenderness towards his preferred heir, "Go with your Uncle. I have commanded him to not engage the Southern Fleet and ordered him to sail to Essos to offer his services to the Dragon Queen. Go with him."
Yara gave her father a look of sadness, "That will leave Pyke and you defenseless."
"I know but I am still your King and I command that you go with your Uncle and treat with the foreign Queen."
"Yes Father," Yara said with a heavy heart as she bowed to her King.
Author's Notes
Looks like Balon is happy trading his entire Kingdom for his revenge on Kenna but in his mind, he has a backup plan with his brother and daughter joining up with Daenerys. I wouldn't say this is a great plan ….
Reminder that Kenna's clothes in the first scene are basically Evie Fries Lady Melyne's gown from Assassin's Creed Syndicate but with the colours of light blue and white … or they were *sigh* now she is in a boring grey tunic.
For those that don't know, Aeron Greyjoy was sexually abused by Euron when they were younger (cannon) and this is why Aeron stopped Victorian doing the same to Kenna in Chapter 62 and why he has been kind of helpful to her because he feels he owes her a debt for killing Euron.
REQUEST:
I have a dozen chapters I am going to edit/polish up in the coming weeks and I was thinking to get your guys feedback on my writing stylistically so I can filter that feedback into my editing process and maybe improve certain bits. SO! I was wondering if you could let me know if there were any things you read and were like that would have been better written this way or that way (E.g Do you like different plot scenes in the one chapter or do you prefer one chapter to focus on one plot? Or structurally do you prefer paragraph of descriptions to be more split up throughout a chapter or all at the beginning?; or do you prefer more POVs or just want main characters?; or do you think there isn't enough description of the environments etc). Also same deal with things that you liked and worked well in your opinion (E.g short sentences when there is action or the tone of the descriptive words for certain characters, do you like when dialogue is followed by descriptive words or prefer just dialogue on its own) let me know both negative and positive thoughts! I just want to improve and to do that I need people to tell me what is working and what isn't so I would appreciate any comments :)
Shout Out – A longtime reader of mine Supremus85 is writing his own version of what would have happened if Theon had never betrayed Robb. If that is your cup of tea please give it a look. It is called 'The Right Choice' and if you can't find his profile check out my reviews and he will be in there somewhere :)
Reviews:
Supremus85 – I guess I have LOL I think I might push that record a lot further in this ARC than I have the previous two … casualties are incoming ;)
NightlyRowenTree – Your welcome!
Ksyushangel – Haha thanks :D Yes that family dynamic is most definitely weird! Yes a lot of people are liking the switch on the Tyrion & Cersei plots which is most gratifying :) Kenna's scenes this chapter might have left you in distress judging on your comments … opps. Some Tywin & Jaime scenes are coming up soon but not sure they classify as "sugary sweet." The first chapter of this story was always going to be central to the entire story as a whole and you can see one big consequence of it now on Pyke with Kenna suffering for her actions in that chapter. Will history repeat itself with the other sister?
Guest (Commented on Chapter 12 on 8/10/2020) – Wow yourself :P
Laismartinelli (Commented on Chapter 9 & 37) – Haha she is but she has highs and lows like anyone else.
Really!? I was so worried when I made it Tywin/Kenna (Enemies/Lovers) as any Tywin pairing is a rare pair but that relationship from the planning stage to me writing this story just took over as it felt so right in the context of the story and indeed it still plays a central role in the story going forward. Although as I have said before this story focuses on plot more than pairings, might do some extra scenes of Tywin/Kenna at the end of the story like a missing scenes section but we will see.
NCVII (Commented on Chapter 44 on 9/10/2020) – Old buddy! Yeah, I have a future projects section that anyone is welcome to look at and vote on in the poll I have. I aim to make every week a little bit better with this story then :D
DannyBlack70 – Hey Danny! Well isn't madness just genius by another name? :P That is something an asshole would write but I am not deleting it because it made me laugh when I wrote it. I may be an asshole …. XD
When this story is done let me know if you think I was mad or was a genius in the end LOL Hope you are good :)
Indianboy (Guest/commented 12/10/2020) – Thanks for commenting and I am super happy you are enjoying the story and you think it is good quality :) I will continue, don't worry!
Next Up: Victorian sails for glory, Artys picks up a family heirloom, Lord Grafton and Lord Paxter Redwyne get into a scrap.
If you are enjoying this story please *Toss a coin to your writer, Oh valley of readers* and review, follow and favorite!
