Bleeding walls

Bleeding walls

Theon POV

Through the windows of the keep, I saw the sunrise. I watched as Lannister men opened the gates, and Tywin Lannister rode through them. Tall, sitting on his horse, he looked like a proud great lord. He came close to the keep as I looked at him from the second-floor window.

The first-floor windows and doors were nailed with planks and barricaded with tables, chairs, and everything movable and heavy. For how long it would keep us safe was debatable. Maybe a day, perhaps not even an hour.

"You should not be moving, Theon," Lord Blackwood told me. "The Maester said that you lost too much blood, and even if you have no fatal injuries, the ones you have can get worse. You need to rest."

"There is no rest for the dead," I replied.

He said something else to me, but I wasn't listening. The battle isn't over yet. The windows on the second floor are too narrow for a fully armed adult man to climb through. They will surround the keep to stop us from running. The courtyard wasn't vast. No more than half a thousand men could fit in it.

"How many men do we have?" I asked.

"Sixty, and even then, half are tired or have at least some minor injuries," Lord Darry answered.

Sixty was a small number, but enough. They won't burn the keep, as I still have hostages. They will try breaking the doors or going through the first-floor windows. No, Tywin is an intelligent man. He will try to smoke us, but not before he offers us to surrender. He will provide amnesty for those who would betray me.

"Theon Greyjoy," Speaking of the devil, Tywin called out to me. "You have lost. It is time we end this."

"I have lost?" I asked him through the window. "Don't make me laugh. Look around, look at the walls bleeding red. It is the blood of your men, the blood that the rain can't wash, that sun can't dry. Tywin of House Lannister, it is you who have lost. Tell me, how many men have I crushed beneath these walls? How many did I burn alive? How many did I kill at those walls that won't stop bleeding?"

"All you have, are a few injured and tired men, Theon Greyjoy."

"All you have a few afraid men, Tywin of House Lannister," I replied to him. "Look at their eyes. They are devastated. How many friends, brothers, fathers, and sons did Westerlands lose at my hands? And for what? For your pride? You couldn't accept that I defeated your golden son? Where is he, anyway? Was he crushed at the beginning of the day or burned at its end?"

"My son is alive, but if you refuse to accept your loss, I won't be able to say the same about you."

"Alive, but not well. You are right. I lost. I lost a friend. And you will pay the iron price for it. I promise you, Tywin of House Lannister, I will kill you. Maybe not today, or tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, but I will kill you."

"Is it your final decision?"

I looked behind me at Lord Blackwood and his bandaged arms. I looked at Lord Darry and his one remaining eye. Thoros stood next to Anguy, both exhausted and injured. Finally, I looked at Jalabhar's body covered beneath his colorful feathered cloak.

"My decision was made long ago," I said. "But I will make another decision now too."

"And what will it be?"

"I will kill all of you. You, you, you, and you," I told him while pointing at every man he was surrounded with. "You will never sleep tightly, for I could come at any night. I will come for all of you, not because I hate you, but because you were born under the wrong lord."

"You will die long before that," Some knight yelled in anger at me.

"What is dead may never die," I told them. "But rises again, stronger and harder. Come at me. I will bring you to your gods. So, pray that they accept you, for mine will not."

"Very well, it seems that you have gone mad. Lord Blackwood, Lord Darry, come out and talk."

"You should watch your tone, Lord Lannister," Lord Darry came next to me and spoke. "We are not one of your lords. Only death awaits you there. We failed to stop you once. We won't repeat our failure."

"Lord Raymun Darry speaks the truth," Lord Blackwood said. "Come, we see how many more men you are ready to lose."

"So be it," Tywin spoke in a cold voice.

I looked at the ever-rising sun. It was only the beginning of the day, yet every man was tired or injured. We wouldn't even last a day, but I could see the determination in their faces. The men from the Riverlands didn't want to lose to Lannisters. Men from the North didn't want to disappoint their new king.

"Well, ser Theon, do you have any plan?" Lord Darry asked me.

"There is no need for any plan," I answered.

"Very well, we will fight to the end then. Even if we lose, at least we can do is kill a few more of those damn rats."

I didn't answer him and put on my armor. It had many dents and scratches. The blood still hasn't dried. Once I put on my helmet, I took my bastard sword. The sword had become dull. After all of this, I should clean it and sharpen it.

The men went to the windows with bows and arrows. Others stayed on the first floor and prepared for an attack. I watched as Lannister men prepared to breach the keep. They held their shields to protect themselves from incoming arrows. One or two were hit with each volley of arrows.

There was no winning this battle, but maybe if I could get to Tywin, I could take his head. I would need to jump through these bastards first, and even if I reached him, I would only have a minute to kill him. He was an old man, but he probably knew his way around a sword. Maybe if gods were on my side, I could somehow manage it.

"Theon, the doors won't hold for too long," Lord Blackwood informed me.

"Hold Ser Kevan and his sons with a knife to their necks when they breach the doors," I said. "Make a distraction. I will jump and try to get to Tywin."

"Are you mad?" Lord Darry asked.

"Yes, I am."

I could barely squeeze through the window if I removed my chest plate and pauldrons from my shoulders. While the Lannister men are confused about what to do with Ser Kevan in danger in front of them, I will rush to Tywin.

As I prepared for my suicidal run, imagining how many cuts I would get before reaching Tywin and with how many blows I would be able to kill him, I saw a rider rushing to Tywin. He said something in panic, and Tywin's face turned sour in a second.

Before I could think of what could have happened, Tywin ordered a retreat. Everyone was shocked as Lannister's men quickly abandoned the keep and ran past it. We stood as they left for Westerlands, but soon we realized why he did so when we saw cavalry riding to us at full speed.

"Is ser Edmure Tully," Lord Vance said, seeing a banner with a trout on it.

"We are saved," Anguy cried out.

"We won," Everyone else cried out. "We won."

I ordered for the doors to be cleared and opened. When Ser Edmure Tully burst through the gates of Golden Tooth, I went to greet him. Before I could say anything, a couple of young men leaped off their horses and rushed to Lord Blackwood and Lord Roger.

"Ser Theon Greyjoy, I have come to help you."

"You late," I replied to Edmure Tully.

"Well, we don't have much time to waste," He replied. "I will leave a couple of hundred men and pursue the Lannisters."

"Then what are you waiting for?"

He faked a cough and rounded up his men before leaving. Lord's Blackwood son stayed with us. I ordered them to clean up. There were plenty of dead Lannister men to strip naked and burn. I didn't want a bloody pox to settle in these lands.

At first, Brynden Blackwood wanted to argue with me about ordering him, but his father shut him up and told him to go to work. I sat by the keep's wall and basked in the afternoon's sun. It was over. The war was over.

Robb will gather the Reach and take over the Westerlands. Stannis will take King's Landing. And with luck, Ser Edmure will catch Tywin; even if he doesn't, there is no place for Tywin to go. It was finally over. Now was the hardest part of the war, burying the dead. And someone should clean the bleeding walls.