The Knight of Greysheild

The man was strolling the halls of Winterfell in the dead of the night. People were still awake having their supper and the king only ate with the northern lords and ladies. He was not in the mood, to be inches away from the prince he used to serve and not speak to him. Sorrell wanted to redeem himself for Prince Jacob, but he took the duty of guarding and escorting Asha Greyjoy, it kept him away from the prince and gave him something to do. He did not enjoy the ironborn's company, but it was the only company he got because of the nature of the job. As the lights of the castle were lit, the knight's head was lowered because everyone knew of his disgrace. He was a knight and he had nothing to be ashamed of. The only thing he had to be ashamed of was being dismissed by a man, he swore loyalty to in the first place, but Stannis Baratheon was the man with the crown and the authority of a king, so the man dismissed him out of spite, not because of duty to his son and heir.

Ser Sorrell liked being exiled from the prince, as it allowed him to become his own man and do what needs to be done. He made several allies amongst of the King's Men, and even became their leader, after the disappearance of Davos Seaworth. He saw the Queen's Men whittled, as most of them perished on the battlefield and he no longer had to deal with the japes of Ser Suggs, whose body was ashes and dust because of fear of the Long Night returning to the north. The night of the dead was coming, as it was evidenced of the storm, that raged outside for days, keeping the king and his army trapped in Winterfell for the foreseeable future.

"I should have seen home. To see the family again, but they are under siege by the ironborn and the fleet in the Reach and I am all the way in the North. I can survive this war, if King Stannis doesn't put me on the chopping block like the Frey brothers and the Bolton men. I profess loyalty for Prince Jacob, even though I was his shield and it was my duty to protect him on the voyage home and shield him against the savage cold of the north. I rode with him against the wildlings, I rode with him against the Whitehills and I rode with him against the ironborn at Deepwood Motte. I never rode with him against the Boltons and Freys, as Luthor Estermont took his cousin's helm and made a guise of it."

The knight of the south was not a vengeful man, but he wanted to be against King Stannis and Prince Jacob. He learned to shove his anger down, as a knight in service of the rightful king, he cannot afford to make more enemies, being a reach man and a man of the south. He never thought of his family when he was on the battlefield, as he was only a cousin in the shadow of his main line family. He meant nothing to them, as being a sailor at Oldtown taught him much about business and cementing alliances, when it came to trading goods. The Reach was bountiful, and anything can be traded for a price, but such bounty was being ruined and raided by the ironborn, and no one was doing anything about it. Unless the storm lets up and it can allow the king and the rest of the armies go south to save the Reach, then the people would proclaim Stannis as their king, much to the disloyalty of their overlords, who allowed a great region to fall into ruin.

Sorrell never jested, unless with the northern soldiers and the King's Men. He saw how hardy the mountain clansmen were on the battlefield, able to endure icy weather as they did at home, to fight for the freedom of Winterfell and spill Bolton and Frey blood. The northerners never forgot, who betrayed their ruling family and they got revenge for it. The only Freys that remained here were female, most of them handmaidens for the widow Walda Bolton, a spirited woman who knows good taste in food and her child will be as strong as her. He only came across the Bolton widow a few times, but it was to share tarts and slices of cakes made in the kitchens, as the king wanted Lady Walda to be content and happy, with her carrying the last child of Roose Bolton in her belly and it could be a son and heir for the Dreadfort.

The women hostages were livelier, knowing their male counterparts were rotting in the dungeons or their heads graced the gates of Winterfell. The smell of the heads disguised Sorrell, but it was a statement not decoration for the walls, for the seven kingdoms to see Stannis Baratheon deal with oathbreakers and traitors. A storm in the north kept the king's armies from moving past Winterfell and its territories to go south to the Riverlands and liberate it from Lannister rule. Sorrell liked to call this the liberation campaign, as the prince would agree with him. Setting oppressed people free is the only way, Stannis will ever become a legitimate king, who can be appreciated by the people and who would respect the religious differences of the land and not use the Red God to take over the Seven Kingdoms.

As a knight, Sorrell was sworn to the king's cause, but he did not like him. No one did, but they fought because they believed he is the one destined for the throne, even though it was because of duty and justice. His loyal subjects stuck with him through loss and through small victories in the north. The ones who abandoned Stannis's cause must be kicking themselves, especially the southorns, who conceded and bent the knee to the Lannisters and Tyrells to keep their lands and families intact. Ser Sorrell was not so forgiving of his own small house, who followed the Tyrells to court and are suffering the consequences of the follies of their liege lord and his most powerful bannermen to get into bed with the prideful lions of the south.

"The Greyjoy woman keeps me on my toes, but I will never be friends with such a person. She is not responsible for the actions of her uncles, but she is still ironborn and a Greyjoy, two of the worse things to be in the north. Her life was kept intact at the expense of her broken brother, who is now on the spikes of Winterfell. My cousin said a woman is good for raising children and being fucked, but he is wrong. Women do much more than be prizes for marriage, they can be queens, ladies and regents for young sons when needed to be. The Greyjoy is my responsibility, only because Stannis wants her away from his son, I don't blame him. The ironborn wench is not good enough for, such an exceptional man like Jacob Baratheon, who will be married in days' time. I will not look forward to seeing that hairy Florent Queen in my presence."

The man shook his head, when he thought of Queen Selyse, a Florent lady by birth and a Baratheon Queen by marriage. The Grimms and the Florents never got along and were long-time enemies, but Sorrell was able to leave that grudge to the side, because the woman was the prince's mother and she had more trust in him, than she did her own lord husband. He was there, when Lord Alester was burned for his crimes of treachery and almost giving away the king's children, but a man on Dragonstone found out, and it was how the king knew of his good-uncle's treason against him and his family. The man deserved to die for his crimes, as Sorrell spent days trying to bring Prince Jacob home only for his own selfish great uncle to nearly sell him to the Lannisters to get his own lands back, even if the deaths of the prince and the little princess with greyscale were to occur, under that man's considerable short reign as Stannis's Hand of the King.

Sorrell did not understand the game of lords, but he knew a little of it. He was a fighter and a sailor, nothing more to get out of the way of his family. He was no lord, as he said to himself every battle that was won in the north, he was a knight and sworn to uphold his vows to do what is right for the kingdoms. He was a knight on the winning side of the ongoing war, even though the enemy think they won the war, by treachery and violation of the rights of the gods. The knight had eaten with the other King's Men at meal times, even the Estermont boy, Luthor who had been kind enough to tell him the prince's secrets, knowing how much Sorrell wanted to be by Prince Jacob's side and be his right hand again, but that will never happen because of his own failure and never been given a chance to redeem himself.

"The north would look ancient and old, if not for the storm and I got to see it in it's prime, before the Greyjoys and Boltons destroyed it. I would have fit in such a place, as a southorn man with a name, but no status and I would have made a life for myself. The vision of a life had passed me by when I met a certain Baratheon rebel man with black hair and steeled blue eyes. I could have turned him over to the Hightowers, but it would be complicated, as one of the prince's relatives is married to Lord Hightower, and would have done everything not to have her husband's sons and knights' hand him over to the Lannisters. I did what I could to bring him back to Dragonstone and be on my way, back to Oldtown and resume my life, but Prince Jacob inspired me to join on the righteous side as a believer of the Faith."

The knight began to see Winterfell had more halls and passageways through it's extended levels, as exploring became a favourite pass time, when he handed the Greyjoy woman over to another knight in the king's service to be an escort for the night, as Sorrell only watched Lady Asha in the day and afternoon. He was glad to be on the winning side of the war, since the Faith was against incest and adultery, as it's what the Lannisters have done and the Tyrells married into themm, knowing such sinful acts happened in the Red Keep. Sorrell kept to the Seven Pointed Star, as instilled in him as a child and as a man, but he would see Prince Jacob changing his father's mind about religion and embracing the Seven again, as it's his duty as the rightful king to keep the predominant religion of the monarchy.

He had nothing to fear, whenever the prince and the ironborn came across each other, he saw little detail which others would miss, as men and knights are not qualified to know such things as affection and love. The man knew at the back of his mind, Asha Greyjoy had feelings towards the son of Stannis Baratheon, knowing the two killed a man together and kept secrets between each other. The woman gave the prince comfort; when he separated from his mother and sister and to be alone in the north with his father for company. Sorrell knew enough of the Baratheon man to see little things about him, but he was fortunate to be invited to his wedding to the Manderly girl, as courtesy from the king he disliked, as the man took it as he did the dismissal from Prince Jacob's service as he did, as cold as the castle he stayed in.

The man looked forward to the future, but itched to get back onto the battlefield again. It will not happen, as the heavy snow has done it's damage and has blocked off the available roads for the king and the armies to cross through the north and go south, to free the Riverlands and the rest of the Seven Kingdoms from chaos. He was living well, as a guest in Winterfell and being a part of the King's Men, as it earned him respect from the northerners, not the scorn the Queen's Men are treated with by the northern lords and ladies at every supper, and Sorrell enjoyed every bit of it. Those men did him no favours and were no friends of his. He was glad the worshippers of the red demon were being treated, as they were by the northern nobility, even though Sorrell was not as pious as he was supposed to be as a man and a southerner.

As his eyes roamed, the knight saw the joy on the faces of the nobles and the knights inside the great hall of Winterfell, even though they were finishing their supper. They enjoyed the company of each other, after a long war and many executions after, things were going well and alliances were beginning to be forged, right in this hall. Ser Sorrell was no stranger to the game of thrones, but it was the game of high lords and the game King Stannis must play to secure his throne after many years of war. He will promise to be there, when that man sits the iron throne and the knight himself could get a position in the Kingsguard, as he would suit the profession, which means he can be close to the royal family, even though he has grown fond of Princess Shireen, a child with greyscale and had spirit in her.

The knight was content; he would have liked to be by Prince Jacob's side and be his right hand, but that position belonged to Ser Luthor and he never blamed him. He was the prince's cousin and highborn, as it was his right as blood to stand by the prince and he did not. Sorrell made peace with his failures, but he wanted to change things to redeem himself for his own honour to be restored, and never be a failure again in the eyes of the Seven. He looked at the window, to see the snowflakes melting from the windows, even though the storm raged outside and there was nothing anyone could do to leave the castle, even though a wedding will take place in moons time and he will swear his loyalty to his Manderly future queen, even though she may not know him, but he will do his duty to help the future of House Baratheon flourish into a new age.

P/S: I am thankful for the readers, reviewers and the followers of this two story series that has been written six years ago. The first story may not be my best writing quality wise, but I had an idea of what I wanted to write, which was about a character I never saw in my fan readings and I decided to write one myself. This may be the last chapter of Jacob's story, but I will be glad to say goodbye to a character I had for seven years and close his story out this way. I never thought Sorrell and Luthor would last, and I found their places within the story and the roles they play in the inner circle of the war. It may be the closing chapter of this long story, but I will write other fanfiction in the future and venture into other fandoms, since I have other ideas waiting in the shadows to be written.

I'm glad of the fans Jacob got in this story, since he is hard to love and is rough around the edges. I am grateful for the positve reviews on how I have written the characters of Stannis, Asha and other canon characters in the story, as I got used to them when this story got rolling. The story started out as a boy growing up into a man in the middle of a war and fighting for the future of his house and his father's rulership, but it turned into a story about growing from a soldier into a leader, a kind of a leader Stannis would be proud of to have in a son and heir. I'm grateful for the GOT/ASOIAF fans appreciating my own twist on elements that haven't been written in the books, as it's the way my story always was, following the book canon, as it made the story flow easier and I could end it at Winterfell, as it was meant to be.