"I still remember the world from the eyes of a child
Slowly those feelings where clouded by what I know now..."
(Evanescence, Fields of innocence)

In the very moment he jumped, Theon realized with horror that the impact was inevitably coming.
None of it was poor Nan's fault.: she was peacefully going up the narrow winding stairs when she saw that possessed boy flying right into her. They tumbled down together to the landing, which was luckily only a few steps lower. Theon, as far as he was concerned, had the only fault of going down the stair jumping the steps three by three, as he usually did. The stairs were the true guilty: as they rolled up, they didn't allow to see who was coming from above or below – a fact which, for a more responsible child, may have been a good reason not to wildly jump around, but not for Theon Greyjoy.
When Nan screamed, Jory Cassel immediately rushed there. As he saw the lord's ward getting up on his feet, rubbing his elbow with a guilty look, he almost let out a curse that would have made the both of them turn pale. "What's going on here?" he screamed toward Theon. The boy tried to articulate an explanation that didn't involve his reckless behavior, but he only gained a sonorous slap which persuaded him to shut up. After he had helped the old lady, still in a daze, and left her with two guards, Jory grabbed Theon by one arm and dragged him right in front of lord Eddard.
"What happened?" he asked when he found them before his eyes. He was sitting in the hall with Robb and Jon on his knees.
"Little Greyjoy here crushed old Nan on the stairs, my lord" the Captain of the guards replied. Robb's face got amused, and the boy sought for Theon's eyes (who made it sure not to return the look); Jon got very interested. Eddard kept impassible. "And how's Nan?" he asked.
"Fortunately, she didn't suffer any serious injuries, my lord. I had two guards accompany her to Maester Luwin to medicate some grazes. She was very frightened, my lord".
"I see. What about you, Theon, are you hurt?"
"No, lord Eddard." Theon answered, timorously. "A little" he added.
"A little." lord Eddard repeated. Theon immediately understood things were not going to end well for him. "Theon, do you know it is dangerous to run by the stairs?"
"Yes, my lord"
"And which is the reason why you were doing that?"
"I... for fun, my lord".
In the meanwhile, both Eddard's son were following the crosstalk as if it was a fencing match.
"Nan is very old. You could have hurt her badly, or even caused her death. Do you understand?"
"I do, my lord".
"Than I'll expect you to understand the reason of your punishment too. Jory" he concluded with a nod to the Captain, without any emotion. Theon instinctively embed his head in his shoulders, well aware of what was coming.

"Did he hurt you?" Robb asked him that night, when they were getting ready for sleep. Theon's bottom was aching so terribly he could barely sit.
"Not much". It wasn't totally a lie. "My brother hurt me much more, and I never risked to kill our wet nurse."
"You don't like you brother" Robb observed.
"My brother's dead" Theon answered sharply.
"Oh".
"Both my brothers are dead" Theon went on. He couldn't tell why he was doing that. Why he was telling that kid things he almost couldn't think about. "They died fighting against your father and the king".
"Oh" Robb repeated, very impressed, short of other comments.
"Anyway, no, I didn't like them" Theon finally said after a brief silence, and he felt guilty and relieved at the same time.
Robb had just nothing to say, ad he was bailed out by Jon's arrival.
"Why won't you go back to your own room to sleep, once in a while?" he said to Theon as soon as he got in.
"Lord Eddard said I can sleep wherever I wish, and if you can do it I can too!" Theon flared up. He couldn't bear how that little punk always managed to make him uncomfortable.
"I'm his son, who are you?"
"I want to sleep with the both of you!" Robb tried to insert, but remained unheard.
"I'm the heir to the Iron Islands!"
"You're only a hostage!"
"And you are only a bastard!"
As luck would have it, just when they were coming to blows, Lady Catelyn, who had heard the noise, entered the room.
"You two stop!" she shouted. The two stopped right away.
"Theon called me a bastard!" Jon yelled.
"And he called me a... a hostage!" Theon echoed him. Robb was speechless.
Lady Catelyn took a deep breath.
"Jon, you are a bastard, since you are a son of my lord husband born out of wedlock, as you know. It is not good of Theon to use such word as an insult. " Jon bite his lip, forcing himself not to answer. "As for you, Theon. You should feel ashamed to brawl this way with younger children. I won't refer anything to lord Eddard only because you have troubled him enough for today. You are a ward and a hostage of lord Eddard, and this isn't an insult either. The meaning of it had been explained to you." Theon's face had reddened visibly.
"It is time for you to learn how to get along. You don't behave in a way that is worthy of House Stark, and you are requested to, even though none of you belongs to it. Now go to sleep."
They crawled to bed without one more word, each lost in his thoughts.

It was only after a few days spent mulling that Theon harked back to the matter with Maester Luwin. "Am I a ward and a hostage of lord Stark?" he asked the old Maester while they were studying together.
"You are his ward and also his hostage, yes... why are you asking, Theon? Is something bothering you?"
Theon didn't precisely know what was bothering him.
"Lord Eddard likes Jon more than me" he said in one go, and he felt very stupid right after.
"The lord has got different... duties towards you and Jon. Don't forget he is his father".
I'm his son, who are you?, Theon thought back. Those words buzzed uninterruptedly in his head. Who am I?
"And which duties has he got towards me?"
"Well, he will make you grow up with his children, giving you everything you need, treating you in a way that befits your rank". These words got Theon down, without a clear reason. Maester Luwin understood. He caressed the kid's head. "Theon... you're still a child, but soon you'll have to deal with these matters. Lord Eddard is a man of great value, loved by his men, and he will be the best lord you can wish to serve. But you shall not expect else from him. Don't grieve for this, Theon. It is his duty, for the sake of both, to keep the due detachment. Remember the reason why you're here".
And Theon remembered many things. He remembered the siege of his father's castle, he remembered his mother crying while she was saying goodbye to him, he remembered that his brothers were dead. He remembered someone else as well, maybe it was his uncle Victarion or maybe someone else, angrily telling his father "if we make one false step he will take Theon's head, you know he will".
The truth in the placid words of the Maester hit him like a shower of icy water. Suddenly, Theon Greyjoy felt like crying. "I'm his ward and his hostage" he said to himself, and Maester Luwin didn't seem to hear him.

The idea for this one came from an anecdote Theon remembers in ADwD. Thank for reading! Reviews are very much appreciated!