"I understand that congratulations are in order!"
Cassandra opened her eyes as she heard Ramsay Snow speak. She had been sat against the wall, her hand on her stomach as fatigue took over her. Theon had been watching her, wondering what she had been thinking about as she cried softly.
He wanted to move from his restraints and hold her to him. She had looked to him with such pleading, begging for him to say something. She was carrying his child. She was carrying his baby. But he had no words for her. He had no words of comfort. He knew that he could never be with her now. There was no way that could happen. His child would be raised by a Frey.
"Let us go," Cassandra spoke. "Just let us go."
"I can't do that," Ramsay spoke. "Your husband has been notified of your current condition. However...how sad is this for young Greyjoy? His only love has been married off and is now carrying her husband's child."
"Shut up!" Cassandra snapped, her anger boiling over. "Stop it now! Just stop talking!"
"Someone is most certainly hormonal," Ramsay chuckled. "That's most unfortunate for you, isn't it? Pregnancy whilst being trapped down here must be something horrid. I imagine your husband will be most happy though. His months of riding you have finally paid off."
"You're disgusting," Cassandra drawled out, annoyance coming out as she stood up. Ramsay stepped closer to her, his chin jutted out as he looked down at her. He watched her for a few moments, wondering if she would cower away from him, but she did no such thing.
"My Lord!"
"What?" Ramsay snarled; his glare still focused on Cassandra.
"The Dreadfort...it is under attack!"
"What?" Ramsay wondered, turning to look around as the man nodded in agreement with him. "How?"
"They took us by surprise," he spoke. "It's the Greyjoy girl. We're sure of it."
"How can she have taken you by surprise?" Ramsay snapped, turning on his heel and fleeing from the dungeon. Cassandra heard his yells continue to ring through the rooms as the slamming of the dungeon door entered her ears.
"Yara," Theon whispered. "She came back for me."
"She's going to save you," Cassandra said, rushing over to him and wrestling with the ropes which bound him to the wood he was tied to. "She's going to take you home."
"No," Theon said to her. "I'm not going...I need to see Robb...I need you..."
"It is safer for you in Pyke," she promised him. "Please, Theon, don't argue with me."
"I'm not," she said. "I am telling you what is going to happen, Cassandra."
She said nothing more as she helped Theon to stand on his feet once again. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders as she held hers around his waist and he doubled over, unable to hold himself up. She looked up at him as roars echoed from outside the dungeon. She did nothing for a few seconds, her eyes set on the locked door as she realised that all they could do was wait.
"Come on," Cass said, "let's sit you down."
She helped Theon limp over to the seat which Ramsay often occupied. She sat him down and knelt in front of him, cradling his cheeks in her hands as he wrapped his fingers around her wrists.
"She'll win," Cassandra urged him to keep faith. "She will make sure that she gets you out of this."
"I know," Theon said, not entirely sharing her hope and optimism. "I...I'm sorry..."
"You don't need to keep apologising," Cassandra promised him. "You have nothing to apologise for after this. There is nothing more, Theon. I will see to it that you are kept safe now."
"And you?" Theon whispered. "Stevron...you can't go back to him..."
"I need to get to Robb," Cassandra said. "I need to save him."
"He will go against the Freys and Boltons when he hears this," Theon whispered. "He won't send you to Stevron...not when he knows...he knows you have my child..."
Cassandra kept quiet for a moment, noticing how he was becoming breathless.
"Save your strength," Cassandra urged him. "Keep quiet, Theon...you'll be safe..."
She watched as Theon moved his hand down to her stomach and rested it there. His fingers splayed over her dirty pink gown. She moved her own hand to rest over his as his forehead rested against hers. He gurgled after a moment and a tear ran down his cheek.
"I love you," Cassandra blurted out to him.
Theon's eyes widened as he heard her say it. He wondered if he would ever tire of hearing her speak those three words.
Cassandra stood up quickly as she heard the creaking of the dungeon door. She looked across, wondering who it could be as she prepared to say something to them. A moment of relief came over her as she saw a man in Greyjoy uniform and then a woman behind him.
A look of disbelief crossed her face as she reached down to pick up Theon's hand.
"Yara," Theon whispered his sister's name. "You came..."
"Of course I came," Yara snapped, moving further into the room before looking down at her brother. "You're my baby brother, Theon. You're an idiot...but you're my blood."
"And Ramsay?" Theon wondered.
"The Bolton bastard is dead," Yara commented. "I saw to that myself. What has he done to you?"
"Enough," Theon grunted. "Nothing that I can't survive."
"Come on," Yara said, offering her hand to her brother. She and Cassandra helped to pull him to his feet, allowing him to wrap his arms around their shoulders. "We need to leave before anyone knows what has happened. I assume Lord Bolton won't be best please."
"He intends to rebel against the North anyway," Cassandra spoke as they walked down the long dark corridor. "He's siding with the Lannisters."
"He's siding with the winning side," Yara clarified. "You cannot blame him for that. Besides, I wrote to your brother telling him of your disappearance. He didn't seem too eager to come and help."
"How did you know?" Theon wondered.
"I knew because I had men roaming the North to look for you. They came across Stark soldiers who were after her...anyway...the men were killed before they could get anywhere near the Dreadfort. My men came back and told me what they had seen. Hence why we are here."
"Thank you," Theon said, gratefulness coming into his voice. Yara blinked in shock. She didn't think that she had ever heard her baby brother use manners before.
"Don't thank me yet," she warned him. "Father will not be happy with you when you return."
"I'm not," Theon said. "He isn't my father. I refuse to go back."
"Get him a horse," Yara demanded one of her men as soon as sunlight hit their skin. Theon narrowed his gaze as he moved his arm from Yara and Cassandra took most of his weight. "This isn't up for discussion, Theon. You need to go home."
"Your sister is right. It is the safest place for you." Cassandra inputted.
"No," Theon replied. "I won't go. I will ask for Robb's forgiveness...he...he is my family...you are my family..."
"You're a traitor," Yara reminded Theon. "He will have your head on a spike for what you've done."
"He wouldn't," Cassandra said, knowing full well that Robb would be angry, but he would come to understand. He would if she had any say in the matter. "He will be annoyed, yes, but I will not let him kill you."
"And what power do you have over him?" Yara wondered from her. "Traitors have to go punished."
"Robb has bigger things to worry about. Besides, has Theon not suffered enough already?"
Yara kept her lips pursed as a horse made its way up to them. Cassandra lifted Theon's foot into the saddle, watching as he clambered onto it in an ungraceful manner. She said nothing as he sat there, his hands wrapping around the reins.
"I will go with Cassandra," Theon said. "That is final."
Yara sighed and shook her head, knowing that her brother was as stubborn as she was. If he wanted to go then she would let him.
"Fine," she said. "I came here and rescued you...and now you go off to your death..."
"I will never forget what you did," Theon promised her. "You know that, Yara. I am thankful for it."
"Then prove it and come home."
Theon shook his head at her, offering Cassandra his hand to help her onto the horse.
"Pyke is not my home," he said. "I know that now."
Yara stood back as the Lady of Winterfell climbed onto the horse and sat in front of Theon. He wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her tightly to him as she looked back to Yara.
"Thank you," she said. "I mean it."
"I don't doubt it," Yara replied, her brow arched and her arms folded. When had a Stark ever thanked a Greyjoy? It was not a common occurrence. "Ride safe, brother. Perhaps I will see you again one day."
"Perhaps."
...
Theon bathed in the river whilst Cassandra impatiently sat on the bank. She could sense that a storm was brewing, hampering their chances of making it to the Twins as quickly as they would have liked. She had felt the first spit of rain on her cheek as Theon climbed out from the river, his body weak as she helped him to climb back into his clothes.
She kept quiet for a few moments, helping him to sit on the floor and lean against the tree as the rain poured down.
"You need to see a maester as soon as possible," Cassandra informed him, checking over his foot as she pushed his boot onto it. He nodded in agreement, gulping loudly and closing his eyes, resting his head against the tree.
Cassandra sat beside him as he slowly lifted his arm up to wrap around her shoulders. She said nothing as she nestled closer to him, inhaling his scent and closing her eyes. Theon rested his cheek on top of her head, his other hand moving to pick up one of hers.
"I still can't believe it," she whispered. "Your sister...we owe her so much."
"Aye, we do," Theon agreed limply.
He had managed to drink the water from the river, eat food which Cassandra had brought from a nearby inn. He still felt terrible, but he knew that he would heal. He had to.
"You still should have gone with her," Cassandra said, unable to leave the subject alone as she shook her head back and forth. "It would have been safer. I now have to go and face Stevron...unless I can get to Robb before he reaches the Twins."
"If we set off at first light, and ride hard and fast, then we may make it," Theon said, not too sure about the distance which he had to cover. "I still can't believe all that has happened, Cass. Ramsay...I didn't think that I would ever escape him...and then when he brought you down...I honestly thought that...well..."
"Sh," Cassandra urged him, turning her upper half to face him as she pushed his hair from his face. "We're safe now. We're out of that dungeon...he's dead...he won't hurt you again..."
"I...I can't get him...every time I close my eyes I think about him. I think about what he did...what he could have done...not just to me, Cass, but to you. When he had his hands on you...Dear Gods...they're torturing me for all I have done. They are making me suffer. I know that now."
"No," Cassandra said. "The Gods are cruel, Theon. I have no faith in them. You have committed terrible acts, but so has Joffrey. He does not suffer, does he? No one deserves what you have been through."
"Really?" Theon wondered. "I murdered two innocent boys. I destroyed your home. I killed the man who helped to train me."
"You did," Cassandra agreed weakly, bowing her head and inhaling sharply. "I know that you did, Theon. But, you did not deserve this. You're sorry for all of that. You just have to make sure everyone knows how sorry you are."
Theon hesitantly looked at her, his eyes wide and full of vulnerability. Cassandra didn't know if she had seen him look so weak before. It almost pained her to look at him.
"You know, don't you?" he checked with her.
The sound of his feeble voice was enough to make her leap into his arms and hold him tightly to her, cradling the back of his head against her shoulder as he openly sobbed in relief and pain. Cassandra felt tears build in her own eyes as she nodded.
"I know," she promised him. "I know, Theon."
He said nothing in response to her then, keeping his mouth shut as his body shook in her hold. He only sat there and prayed that the Gods would not take her from him.