Get comfortable, turn the page, and let’s see what this story has been hiding 🔥
✦
Ned ate with the children in the hall.
Little Rickon was still nursing, so Catelyn had servants bring her meal to her chambers.
Robb and Bran wore wool, the direwolf of House Stark sewn across their chests.
Domeric wore the scarlet cloak of House Bolton, but the rusted crown and crossed axes of his aunt’s House Dustin were on his breast.
Before he came to Winterfell as Ned’s foster son, Domeric had served as Lady Barbrey’s page.
Theon wore black leather armor marked with the golden kraken of House Greyjoy.
Jon Snow sat at the corner of the table.
As Winterfell’s bastard, he had no sigil to wear.
Ned had heard from Ser Rodrik Cassel, Winterfell’s master-at-arms, that Theon had recently begun practicing archery and swordplay with far more effort.
In the past, Theon had trained with Robb and Jon.
Robb and Jon were eleven, and during sparring they posed little threat to him.
Theon always defeated them with that mocking smile on his face.
Now Domeric, heir to the Dreadfort, had come to Winterfell as Ned’s foster son.
His swordplay, riding, and lance work were all better than Theon’s, despite their similar age.
Robb and Bran’s admiration for an older brother had already shifted away from Theon and toward Domeric.
Sansa often sought Domeric out to ask about music and songs, pestering him to play the harp for her.
Arya had disliked Domeric at first, but once she saw how good he was with a sword, she began pestering him for lessons.
As foster sons, Theon could not match Domeric’s popularity among the children.
The maids also preferred Domeric’s gentle manners.
Recently, Theon had changed a great deal.
He took the initiative to speak with Sansa, Arya, and Bran, whereas before he had barely bothered with any child other than Robb.
He trained harder.
He stopped filling the maids’ ears with crude jokes and stopped pawing at them.
Even his trips to the brothels of Winter Town had grown less frequent.
Ned suspected Theon felt his position threatened by Domeric.
Theon was always smiling, but he was still a hostage in another man’s home.
With another foster son in Winterfell’s hall, one better than him and more beloved, it would be difficult for Theon not to change.
Still, Ned could not help noticing that Theon now seemed eager to please everyone around him, while his relationship with Domeric had worsened.
Whether in the yard or at meals, Theon rarely spoke to him.
The one thing that had not changed was his attitude toward Jon.
Theon had always been cool to Jon, and he remained so now.
A servant brought in a roasted chicken glazed with honey.
Robb tore off a drumstick.
“Father, Ser Rodrik told me the savages of Skagos attacked the Umbers’ saltworks by the sea and killed more than twenty men.”
“Yes. News travels quickly.”
Theon said, “Lord Eddard, the people of Winter Town are furious. While I was patrolling with the watch, I heard many smallfolk say you should gather the armies of the North and teach those cannibals a lesson.”
Sansa blanched.
She wore a sea-green gown, and her red hair fell loose over her shoulders.
“Cannibals? How can there be cannibals in the world? That is horrible. The songs never mention them.”
“Only fools believe songs,” Arya said.
She was skinny, her hair was a mess, and she never troubled herself over appearances.
She wore a brown tunic and black woolen breeches.
Sansa glared at Arya.
Arya ignored her and turned to Ned.
“Father, those cannibals burned and killed in Umber lands. Did they eat anyone?”
“I expect not.” Ned did not want to discuss such horrors with children at the dinner table.
Robb slammed a fist on the table.
“Father, we have to kill those Skagosi raiders and avenge the dead. May I go to war?”
Ned smiled.
“Robb, you are too young. You are not even summer grass yet, only a spring shoot. Have you seen the newborn pups in the kennels? Must we send puppies to war now?”
Robb looked angry.
“I will be a man grown in three years.”
“So will I,” Jon added.
“Lord Eddard, Robb and I can go to war. In the training yard, we often defeat grown men.”
Bran, who was younger still, ate his egg cake and asked, “Can I go too?”
Theon burst out laughing.
“If you little brats go to war against the stoneborn, are you trying to feed the cannibals? Skagos raiders sail out to strike the northern coast. Who is more qualified to lead against them than me? I am heir to the Iron Islands, the son of Lord Balon and a born ironborn.”
“Let ironborn defeat stoneborn. What could be more perfect?”
Domeric Bolton, who had been silent, spoke at last.
“Theon, the people of Skagos do call themselves stoneborn, but we northerners usually call them Skaggs. It is not a kindly name. Stoneborn is their own proud name. Northerners do not usually grant them that dignity.”
“‘We northerners’?” Theon’s smile vanished.
He seized on the words at once.
“What do you mean by that, boy?”
“Forgive me. I meant no offense.” Domeric’s apology seemed sincere.
“I was only explaining how northerners see the Skagosi. You may not know. Ironborn usage and northern usage differ. It is only a matter of custom.”
Theon picked up his eating fork as if it were a weapon, his face twisting with anger.
“I do not need you teaching me. I came to Winterfell when I was ten. I grew up here. My coming of age, my first kiss from a girl, all of it happened here. Lord Eddard himself has said I am half wolf cub and half kraken. How many days have you been at Winterfell? And you dare push me aside?”
Sansa cried, “Theon, that is terribly rude. How can you speak to kind Domeric that way?”
Arya chimed in.
“Yes, Theon, you are taking it too seriously.”
Jon said, “Domeric apologized. You should not keep hounding him.”
Under everyone’s criticism, Theon grew even angrier.
He looked to Robb, silently asking for help.
Robb looked from Domeric to Theon, confused.
Theon nearly broke.
“Even you? What did I do wrong? All of you are against me.”
Domeric stood and placed a hand on Theon’s shoulder.
“Theon, I am sorry. This was all caused by my careless choice of words.”
Theon slapped his hand away.
“Flayer. Spare me your false courtesy.”
Robb shook his head and sighed.
Sansa scolded Theon softly.
Arya picked up an egg and threw it at him.
Jon cursed at him.
Bran clapped his hands.
“They are fighting. Go on, then!”
“Enough!” Ned’s voice cut through Winterfell’s hall like a blade.
“The savages of Skagos are killing on northern soil. Wildlings and ironborn may be in some dark corner even now, plotting their next attack on the North, and you children are quarreling in my hall.”
Theon swallowed his anger and sat down.
Ned said, “Theon, you are a man grown. You cannot let your emotions rule you. Being too sensitive only exposes your weaknesses to others. Domeric apologized to you. You owe him an apology.”
Theon gave a perfunctory “Sorry.” Domeric accepted it solemnly.
Sansa looked to Ned.
“Father, what exactly are the cannibals of Skagos? I have never heard of them.”
Ned’s gaze swept over Jon, Robb, Theon, and Domeric.
“Children, you study with Maester Luwin every day. Now is the time to test what you have learned. Who can explain Skagos and its tribes to Sansa?”
Robb and Jon looked uncertain.
Theon frowned as if straining to remember.
Domeric said, “Lord Eddard, I can.”
“House Stark of Winterfell was once King in the North. From the New Gift of the Night’s Watch south of the Wall to the lands above the Neck, whether nobles dwelling in castles, mountain clans in their hills, or forest folk in the wolfswood, all bent to House Stark.”
“But one region is an exception. Skagos lies between the Bay of Seals and the Shivering Sea, across the water from Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, the harbor fortress of the Night’s Watch at the eastern end of the Wall. It is the largest island in the North. The Skagosi have rebelled many times in history, challenging House Stark. Their last great rebellion occurred during the reign of Daeron II.”
Robb bristled.
“The largest island in the North refuses Winterfell’s rule?”
Domeric continued.
“The people who live there are the Skagosi. They call themselves stoneborn. The savages on Skagos are somewhat like their neighbors across the Bay of Seals, the Umbers. They are said to be huge and strong, and some claim they have giant’s blood as the Umbers do. They wear foul-smelling cloaks of hide and fur. They kill living men as sacrifices to weirwoods. Some tales even claim they practice cannibalism.”
“It is said the chiefs of Skagos ride unicorns into battle. The island produces obsidian and animal pelts. The Skagosi have no coin and trade by barter. Their warships are backward. Winterfell has burned their ships many times and forbidden them the sea, but because the North has little naval strength, that ban is mostly an empty command.”
✦
✦
✦
Ready for more?
I hope this chapter pulled you deeper into the story.
Stick around, because there’s still a lot waiting just ahead.