Responsibility

Responsibility

Theon POV

It was hard to move my right arm. I could barely lift it. After the battle, I was quickly carried to the Maester of Golden Tooth. Robb had to organize his men and hunt down those who tried to escape. At the same time, he had to take care of captives.

"You're awake?" Thoros was the first to visit me. "Or you haven't slept."

"What with this serious tone?" I asked.

"I have been watching you."

"I am not into men; if I were, you would be too old for me."

"Ever since you came back from death, I have not seen you sleep," He continued with a serious tone. "I knew from the beginning that something changed with you. Now I know to what extent."

"What do you want to say?"

"It was not my decision to bring you back. Lord of Light brought you back. There is a reason he did so. As the servant of Lord of Light, I will serve you too," Thoros got to his knees. "I know you don't care for gods, but there is something Lord of Light wants you to accomplish, and I will help you with all I got."

"Do you know the legend of the Others?" I asked.

"Yes, I heard of it. In Essos, the Azor Ahai, the promised prince, defeated them with his sword, Lightbringer."

"There, in Westeros, it was the Last hero with the help of children of forest and giants," I said. "It was no legend, the White Walkers existed, and they brought the Long Night."

"It is a similar story," Thoros commented.

"But the story doesn't end there," I replied.

"How does it end?"

"It is for us to decide," I answered. "The Others have come back, bringing the long night with them again."

"Has the Lord of the Light shown it to you?"

"It doesn't matter what he let me see. The only reason he brought me back is to fight the Others."

"Then I will fight by your side."

"No, you won't," I told him. "Because I won't be fighting them."

"What? But you said it yourself."

"What can I do to them? There are hundreds of men who are more skilled than me. I am just a man. Maybe your god thinks I can do something, but I don't care. This is my life, and I won't waste it on some god's whim. I am not his puppet to be controlled. I will fight my battles, and he can fight his own."

"Yet when times come, you will fight them."

"I will not fight for any god."

"No, you won't fight for a god, but you fight for the people you care about," Thoros laughed. "I saw you die for the Stark children. Even if you don't admit it, you care for them. You will risk your life once again when they are in danger."

The bastard left after saying this piece. He wasn't wrong. But I was no hero, the Wall stands, and once Robb concludes his war, he will defend the North of what is Beyond the Wall. I am just a man. I won't be needed.

…

For the past two days, I laid in my bed, not doing much. Maester would come from time to time to check on me, but there was nothing much he could do for me. Anguy and Jalabhar visited, but I was supposed to rest, so they didn't stay long.

I got tired of lying in bed. If I could sleep, it would be fine, but now day and night, I had to stay in this stuffy room. I read some books, but most of them were history written from the winner's perspective. To say it was boring would be wrong. History is dull; this was just some lord or king bragging about their victories.

I got tired very soon of history books. I asked for something else, but there wasn't an extensive choice of books in the Golden Tooth's library. The best I could get was some legends of the Westerlands. They were interesting but not as fascinating as the North's legends.

"You are reading. That is something I never imagined I would see."

I saw Robb enter the room but didn't bother to look at him. He took a chair and sat next to my bed. He looked concerned at me. I slowly put down the book and took a bottle of wine from under the bed. Maester had forbidden me to drink, but my faithful friend brought me some anyways.

"When you are stuck in a tiny room, you find cobwebs interesting and worth your time," I told Robb. "How are things going on?"

"I tried to talk with Stannis, but in his words, until I call myself a King, I am a traitor and nothing more."

"A traitor is an easily thrown word in these times. Who did you betray?" I asked. "If you knelt to him right now, you would betray the North."

"Stannis doesn't see it this way," Robb complained, taking a cup and filling it with wine.

"If he wants to win the Iron Throne, he will have to make peace with you," I said. "I don't believe that Dorne will help him, and it isn't a secret that Stannis hates Tyrells."

"The Vale have declared for him," Robb informed me.

"Oh," I couldn't say anything.

"Lord Yohn Royce wrote me that my aunt has condemned the Lannister to death and will help Stannis."

"What about the marriage with Sansa?" I asked.

"He won't accept it now, for he fears that would offend my aunt and Stannis."

"Still, how long do you think it will take for the Vale to gather their men?"

"A month, they would manage it sooner, but I heard that the Mountain clans are bringing trouble for many lords in the Vale."

"And another month for them to go to Stannis," I added. "What the situation with Lannisters?"

"Tywin didn't follow me as I wanted," Robb grunted. "When I got information of what you did, I left only a token of men to watch High Heart and send the rest of my foot back to Harrenhal and uncle Edmure to Riverlands to gather what men he could. I thought that at least the Kingslayer would chase me. Yet, it seems that Tywin is being careful."

"Well, he doesn't know where you are going. We can expect him once he hears of what happened to the Golden Tooth."

"Maybe."

"Do you know where Stannis is?"

"The last I heard of him, he was still amassing men in the Stormlands."

"He should have done that by now. I believe he is now trying to siege King's Landing."

"It would be good for me if it were that way," Robb said. "From ser Kevan, I learned that about seven thousand men left the Westerlands to King's Landing. From what he said, most of them were sellswords and green boys."

"If Stannis isn't careful, he will be fucked."

"Even if he wins, he will lose too many men to try and face me," Robb said. "Lord Hornwood is already leading another fifteen thousand men from the North, but I sent an order for him to stand by in Moat Cailin and reinforce Torrhen's Square."

"What are you going to do next?" I asked.

"I will meet with the Tyrells, raiding the Westerlands along the way," Robb answered. "If house Tyrrel supports me, I will try again to make some deal with Stannis. If it doesn't work, I will return to the North and let the South fight themselves. I only wish I could get my father's remains and sword back."

"Your sword," I told him. "Ice belongs to you right now."

He didn't reply and filled his cup with wine once more. I watched him as he drank the wine with a bitter face. I wouldn't have believed them if someone had told me he was just fifteen. Right now, Robb didn't look like a boy but a man with a whole realm on his shoulders.

"I guess I can't escape my responsibility," Robb said. "Still, no sword deserves my men to die for. And I believe my father's remains will be returned sooner or later. No one needs them."

"When are we leaving?" I asked.

"You are not going with me," Robb answered.

"There are only so many castles I can capture."

"If Tywin chases after me, you will need to defend Golden Tooth," Robb dismissed my comment.

"And if he doesn't come?" I asked.

"Then rest. Once I return, I will send you back home."

"You are not talking about Winterfell, are you?"

"No, you already fought enough for me, for us," Robb told me. "I don't have much to offer you, but let you go back to Iron Islands. Nobody will speak against it."

"Once I return, my father will attack the North."

"If he does, he will fail," Robb replied. "If you can convince them to attack the Westerlands or even the Reach, it would benefit your father and me."

"He won't listen to me."

"You have survived fighting with the Kingslayer and with the Mountain. You have captured a castle with only one hundred men and rescued the Riverland lords from their captive. Many would have said that it was an impossible task, yet you did it. If you can't convince your father, nobody can, and he will attack the North either way. At least you won't be here to take the quilt of your father's actions."

"Give me a ship to go to Essos," I pleaded with him.

"I don't have any ships," Robb replied and left.

I could do nothing but grumble. I hated this. There wasn't anything for me in Iron Islands. Yet it wasn't like I could run away. If they saw me, the Lannister would kill me, and I didn't have friends anywhere else. Maybe I could get a ship and crew from my father. That was probably the only way I could get out of Westeros.