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Rodrik Greyjoy I

Pyke, Iron Islands, Year 284 AC

It had been a while since Pyke had seen such commotion and it was Rodrik's first time seeing and remembering such an affair too so he was excited for it all, especially for the feast that was being held in his family's castle in less than fifteen minutes. All the lords and captain of the Iron Islands were going to be present to hear his father's first speech as Lord Paramount of the Iron Islands.

His grandfather, the late Lord Quellon Greyjoy had died at sea while leading a fleet to attack the Reach to bring glory and plunder back home as a true Ironborn Reaver, and because of it, it was up to Rodrik's father to defeat the Reachmen. Finding no riches, his father returned home to bury Lord Quellon and claim the Seastone Chair.

Rodrik had wanted nothing more than join his grandfather's fleet, to sail his own ship as his eldest uncles did. Fight and defeat his enemies, grab the endless plunder, and pay the iron price like a true Ironborn, bringing glory to his name and family. But alas he was still three and ten namedays old, too young to find himself in battle and little more than chief oarsman in a minor ship of his uncle Victarion's fleet.

He longed for the day he'd sail Wave Smasher, his own ship of the Iron Fleet that he'd use to carve his kingdom in lands unknown to men, proving his father, uncles and future bannermen of his valor and might…but first he'd need a man's body to fight...but he'd be damned if he gave up, Ironborn were not quitters.

For this very important night, Rodrik donned himself with a black leather tunic with his family's sigil, the golden kraken, sewed onto it. He also wore black leather breeches, fancy leather not some weak fabric as the occasion demand the best and he did not wish to disappoint his Lord father. I must show that I'm a proper heir.

When he was fully dressed, Rodrik left his room and made way to the Great Hall eager to see the lords and while at it, eat some fancy food that was often rare. He descended the stairs from the Great Keep, passing by the many servants and guards and made his way to the Guest Keep, passing through swaying ropes bridges that often scared him and often amused him. Safely inside the keep, Rodrik strode between the overtasked servants into the Guest Hall where everything was close to begin.

And by the Drowned God it was such a marvelous sight that Rodrik could but awe at how crowded everything was…There were surely hundreds of lords and captains present, Harlaws, Blacktydes, Sparrs, Merlyns, Goodbrothers, Saltcliffes, Sunderlies, Botleys, Wynches, and many others that he failed to remember the names of, but he knew they came from all over the Iron Islands.

The servants, who if his memory was correct had been thralls until his grandfather released them around the time Rodrik was born, roamed around the hall, filling the cups of the lords with ale and wine. The room was hazy and loud music echoed through its walls…bad music if he was to be honest…Usually, at the feasts, lords played the finger dance but because his uncle Urrigon had died from wounds due to it, no one dared to do it now lest to provoke the ire of Lord Balon and of his brothers who still grieved for the loss more than they did for all of his other uncles.

"There he is! Rodrik the Young Kraken!" His father said with a proud smile on his face as Rodrik approach the dais, Rodrik spared his own smile when he was given the moniker of the Young Kraken, it was a symbol of recognition of his potential. "Take a seat at my right boy, it's about time you learn the deals of truly being a Greyjoy."

"Yes father." he said proudly as he took a seat at his father's right side, a seat that had belonged to his father until not so long ago, a seat of great importance and prestige. Now it had come his time to be his father's right hand.

Rodrik watched as his mother brought his younger siblings to take their seats. Maron was eleven, stupid, and knew nothing more than lies and insults, that was all he could do and Rodrik did not like him one bit and every time he saw him, he wished to punch the smirk out of him. Asha, his sister was ugly, her nose was bigger than his and looked a bird's beak, her face full of pimples, she was scrawny and only played with stupid dolls which were boring. Although he didn't like her much, he didn't hate her as much as he hated Maron. And then there was Theon, still half a babe and stupid babe too, less than Maron but stupid nevertheless.

His mother, Alannys Greyjoy born a Harlaw sat to Rodrik's right, she wasn't the most beautiful woman but she was pretty enough in Rodrik's eyes and she was the woman that brought him to the world so there was that extra respect for her. Theon sat by her side, eyeing everyone and everything in the hall with a hint of fright. Maron and Asha sat further to her right and the lying fool began tormenting his sister as usual to the point she began weeping. Gods I want to punch that fool so much…

To his father's left sat his uncles. Euron, the only person that truly frightened Rodrik especially when the eye-patch was not concealing the terrible black eye the Drowned God cursed his uncle with, was grinning as he eyed the room speaking some words to his Lord father, Victarion a monster of a man and the best warrior that Rodrik had ever seen was drinking a cup of ale as sat to Euron's left, and finally, his uncle Aeron who was just a year older than Rodrik and always laughed at everything even if there was nothing funny to laugh about.

Currently, Aeron was groping the prettiest of the female servants, making rowdy comments that made Rodrik's mother scoff. Alannys Greyjoy always told Rodrik that a man lusting for a woman was not wrong in his mind but she also told him it was a bad image for any man to show his peers how desperate he was to lay with a woman so he vowed to not showcase the desperation his younger uncle showed.

But nowadays things were harder for Rodrik regarding females, some of them were very beautiful, making his member twitch with excitement upon seeing some of them…normally he relieved himself but he was considering taking the prettiest one and cease to be a maiden boy once and for all…Perhaps it would earn him the respect of his father and at the very least it would give him the pleasure his youngest uncle always praised…Better than scratching my member in my room…

"You are in an important position, my son." His mother said to his ear, waking him up from his lustful thoughts as if she knew he was having them. "You are now the heir to the Iron Islands and you must prove yourself worthy of it. The Ironborn don't follow anyone but a true and strong man."

"I know mother," he assured. "I will be the best reaver the Iron Islands have ever seen. Better than father, grandfather, Dalton, or Dagon Greyjoy. Better than the best reavers of old."

"That is what I wish my son. For my sons to be strong and rule justly when your time comes," she said just before kissing his forehead with a proud smile. "Make this mother proud of birthing such a boy."

"I will." he said full of resolution, he would be better than any Ironborn and show the Greenlanders how powerful they were. He would show them fear. What is dead may never die but rises again! Harder and stronger!

The sound of cups and cutlery hitting the tables began echoing through the dark halls of Pyke and silence between the lords began too, his father was speaking. "My comrades." His father shouted as he got up from his seat. "My father, as you all know, has perished in battle for that Rebellion's cause. May his soul feast with the Drowned God for all eternity as it should."

"AYE!" The attendants roared.

"Now, for all the greatness that my Lord father brought us, he also got us closer to the Greenlanders…" There was an awful silence for a little bit as his father eyed the many lords. "My brother Urrigon suffered the worst consequences of these actions and he paid his own life…killed by one of those grey rats the Greenlanders love so much…my brother had his broken fingers sewed back into his hands…"

His uncle Euron rose from his seat, malice in his expression. "The fools claim to know everything that is to be known and yet even a simpleton would know that amputation was the only logical solution to save my poor brother…Guess they are not smart, heh, mates?" Either a roar of laughter and approval followed his uncle's speech or disgust and indignation did the trick. His uncle Victarion laughed the loudest but his uncle Aeron had lost his smile and was expressionless which was quite a surprising sight, to say the least…something was not right with Aeron…

His father motioned for his uncle Euron to seat before continued with his speech. "As I was saying, these reforms that my father implemented have brought nothing but problems to us. This is not the way we were meant to be comrades. Our way is the Old Way!" his father shouted and another roar followed his words. Even if Rodrik had known nothing but his grandfather's deeds, his father's speech was raising something within him that screamed approval. "We were meant to raid! We were meant to kill our enemies! We were meant to get our thralls and salt wives! We were meant to not have grey rats amongst us! We were meant to conquer and plunder the riches of the known world!" Another roar of approval followed with the cups being used to produce more noise. Rodrik found himself agreeing with his father in everything.

"PAY THE IRON PRICE!" His uncle Victarion roared loudly. "NOT THE GOLD PRICE OF THE GREENLANDERS!"

"We were meant to be independent as we were before the dragons came! Dragons that mean for us to bow down to a babe of some Dornish whore and an inbred rapist!" His father stayed quiet for a little bit before he continued. "Are we to be like those Rebel fucks who raised themselves against the Mad Cunt's tyranny and then bowed before a babe sucking at a teat?"

"NO!" Almost all replied.

"Are we going to send advisors to instruct a baby on how to run a realm? He will not follow the Old Way or the mighty Drowned God so why should we bother? He will much sooner put his cock onto his sister's cunt or perhaps in his mother's or grandmother's like the abomination he is!"

"AYE!"

"My comrades, I will revoke every reform my father implemented after he married his Greenlander bitch for we are not Greenlanders but Ironborn!"

"AYE! WE ARE IRONBORN!"

"We will build the largest and mightiest fleet these cunts have ever seen sail and we will show the Sister fuckers and their lickspittles the power of the Drowned God!"

"AYE! FUCK THE INBRED FUCKS!" The crowd of lords roared with all the might their lungs allowed, Rodrik's heart was pumping hard and fast too, he was proud of his father, this was his opportunity raising.

"My comrades, give me five years and I shall give you all, what we were meant to have, our Kingdom, our land, our thralls, and our salt wives…" His father assured as he led his hand clenched in a fist to his heart. "What is dead may never die, but rises again! Harder and stronger!"

"WHAT IS DEAD MAY NEVER DIE, BUT RISES AGAIN! HARDER AND STRONGER!" The lords echoed proudly standing up from their seats as their clenched fists went to their hearts. "WHAT IS DEAD MAY NEVER DIE, BUT RISES AGAIN! HARDER AND STRONGER!"

"WHO WILL YOU FOLLOW IRONBORN?" His father asked.

"BALON GREYJOY!" Rodrik felt so much pride then, they would return to their former glory under his father's command, that he was sure of. And the best part was that he would be part of it. "KING BALON GREYJOY!"

"I promise I will bring greatness as a reward for your loyalty men!" His father assured proudly. "Now, I will not make you wait no more, let the feast begin!"

"AYE!"

Dishes were served and old chants of the Ironborn sung as the excitement lingered around the Guest Hall for the entirety of the feast. His father talked with his brothers for a bit before he turned to Rodrik. "You see what we did here, boy?"

"Yes father, we are back to the Old Way!" Rodrik said with pride. "As we should be!"

His father smiled as clapped Rodrik's shoulder. "You are learning fast lad. Now I know for a fact that you will be a proper successor, a proper King. One that will make the Ironborn achieve more greatness than me." To hear his father say those words made Rodrik blush shyly with pride. A King to bring greatness to the Iron Islands…yes! I will prove all that and more!

"I will do my best father and I will not let you down!" Rodrik insisted.

"He is spirited I give him that." His uncle Victarion proclaimed after standing up from his seat and moving to where Rodrik was holding a conversation with his father. "He is getting better by the day too but…he is ages behind me…I still send him flying like the ant he is."

"One day I will defeat you, uncle!" Rodrik avowed with determination. "One day it will be me sending you to the ground!"

"Yes, yes." His uncle said amused as rolled his eyes. "First you will need your ship, then we can perhaps talk but now…" Victarion Greyjoy filled a cup full of ale and placed it in front of Rodrik. "Drink like a true Ironborn."

"He is too young!" His mother countered. Even if she seemed to be controlling Rodrik's younger siblings, she just proved that she paying attention at what was happening with him.

"Nonsense!" His uncle scoffed. "By his age, I was already getting drunk."

"But…"

"Let the lad have a cup." His father decided, angering Rodrik's mother. "One will not make him any ill and he has to start someday."

His mother said nothing more, she simply turned her gaze to somewhere else while his uncle Victarion gave him more incentive. "Drink Rodrik the Young Kraken!" Rodrik felt bad for his mother but he wanted to prove himself to his father and uncle and so despite his conscience being heavy, he picked the cup and drank it all, finding the flavor awful but somehow bearable by each gulp and when it was finally tasting better, it had ended. "There it is! A true Ironborn!"

Rodrik stood up from his chair and screamed with all his might. "WHAT IS DEAD MAY NEVER DIE! BUT RISES AGAIN, HARDER AND STRONGER!"

The bulk of the lords, his uncles, and his father clapped with smiles and grins in their lips. I will prove myself, I'm Rodrik Greyjoy and I will be the best reaver the world has ever seen!

Thank you for the early reviews:

Radomir's Renegades: I said before that the term Loyalist and Rebel will quickly fall into disuse given the nature of the Regency, it was shown in the Appendix just for the reader's convenience, at least that was my aim so if it isn't like so I would appreciate someone tell me about it. I do agree with those peace terms you spoke about between Starks and Lannisters. Although I must say there will not be any Clegane Kingsguards but who knows maybe the King will have a dog...

Silver566: Thank you very much for pointing that up. For some weird reason, I always had Bridgewater Keep in my mind instead of Brightwater Keep. Well it's corrected already.

miguelgiuliano: Nothing improves in the short term, at least it will not last too long without proper planning. Well...I would be lying if I said I didn't think about having a third party in Ned/Ashara's favorite hobby, I went as far as thinking about having Lyanna or Ros in there but after some proper thought, I don't think it fits the essence of the story. Unless I'm wrong and you guys actually want something like that once in a while to spice things up...This doesn't mean threesomes or something of the sort will not happen but it's very likely that a married couple will not engage in such things.

And yes, I have read IncognitoMe's story it's a pretty good story like his other one that he doesn't update often about a different Ned. In fact, I once did a little challenge with him where we wrote a chapter for our most neglected stories. Hoping to write a chapter for Summer Came Into The North very soon...

Here is a POV from the previous Part 2 destined to answer what has been going in the Iron Islands.

Thank you for sparing time reading and I hope everyone has a nice day.