What is dead may never die (Theon SI)

Preparing for death

Theon POV

The Volantis port was busy. There was no time to delay; we had to act quickly. Since we announced ourselves to the world, we couldn't keep it waiting for long. Once Alysanne and Quentyn arrive and take over the control of Volantis and, at the same time, the whole of Dragon's Bay, we will sail away immediately.

The ships were preparing for the long journey, with five thousand Unsullied, five thousand Dothraki, and three thousand men from Iron Legions with ten thousand of the best freedmen and slave soldiers that joined Dany. With Sellswords, she alone had twenty-five thousand men at her disposal. And half of them were professional soldiers worth at least five times more than a mere farmer that the Kingdoms forced to fight for them.

With that said, Oberyn promised fifteen thousand men from Dorne would join us, and about the same number would join from the Iron Islands. So, we had more than enough men, especially considering that Dany's dragons were now more than enough to burn a few ships on their own, and they were growing bigger each day.

By the time we arrive in Westeros, what castle will be safe from them? Well, after a few, I imagine that no one will try to see. But before all the killing, drowning, and burning came an important decision that was supposed to be made before we even departed. Where would we land first?

"Dorne is the safest and most reasonable option," Oberyn said. "From there, we join forces with my brother's army and can march straight to King's Landing. The faster we take the Iron Throne, the better your claim for it will be, Your Grace."

"We can't make such decisions without information," Ser Barristan replied. "We don't know who and what our enemies are made of. How far the war progressed will determine our next actions."

"That is only another reason to go for Dorne. We will be safe here to get our bearings and strategize further," Oberyn made good claims, but I could tell he had ulterior reasons for us to come to his homeland. "My brother will have all the information we would need."

"I know all the information I need," I interrupted. "Normally, going to Dorne would be the most sensible thing to do. But isn't it a bit boring?"

"There we go again," Anguy mumbled next to me.

"What now?" Jorah asked. "Are you going to suggest we go straight to the King's Landing and storm it? Or go to Lannisport? Or to Storm"s End?"

"Now you are thinking, but no," I smiled back. "All we will bring to King's Landing without information is slaughter and madness. And even I am not that stupid to sail to Storm's End. It will break our fleet if we try. And I want to leave Lannisport for the last. There is another option you are forgetting."

"Iron Island?" Ser Barristan asked. "We could have access to the whole western region. But the Lannisters and the Tyrells will not let you reign terror like you did last time."

"As much as I wish to see them try to stop me, no, it isn't what I got in my mind."

"You want to treat with the North first?" Jorah asked. "Even with your friendship with the Starks, there is no way they will accept us with welcomed arms. They will definitely meet us with their armies, and the North is the last place we want to fight."

"It will not give us any advantages in the next battles even if we won," Ser Barristan added. "And even if they joined us, the number of their men that would join ours would not be worth the time we would be wasting in here."

"It is Eyrie, isn't it?" Anguy was the only one who knew what I was thinking. "For no other reason than it is the last place anyone would think we would land."

"So what? The Vale is worthless to us, too," Jorah said.

"Vale? Yes, it is worthless, but not the rulers of the vale," I replied. "Capturing Eyrie and, more importantly, Lysa Tully and her son would give us the Riverlands. At least the passage through them and more negotiating power against the North."

"Yet, Eyrie is probably the hardest place to capture," Ser Barristan said. "Unless."

"Do you think a woman and a child will not surrender the moment they see three dragons through their windows?" I asked. "And then we will have a straight road to the Crownlands while Dorne will do what they do the best."

"We shall distract the Tyrells and the Lannisters," Oberyn got the idea. "They will scramble to gather their men while you will already be at their doorsteps. From there on, we will dictate where and when we want to fight them."

"Exactly," I smiled. "While we would surely be safe in Dorne, there aren't many roads to march our armies to the rest of Westeros. And by the time we march out from Dorne, everyone will know it and prepare for it. That is why our main forces will land in the Vale while the Dorne and my fleet shall distract them."

"And if it fails?" Ser Barristan asked. "What if Lady Lysa doesn't surrender and chooses to burn together with the castle?"

"Then I will applaud her and leave out of respect for her bravery," I replied. "In the first place, most of our men will land in Gulltown, taking it, while Dany flies to the Eyrie with small forces following behind her. From Gulltown, we can sail straight to Maidenpool, Dragonstone or Duskendale. And even for me, it is a bit too much to say how we should proceed from there. But securing Lysa Tully and her son will give us the advantage against three kingdoms and against Stannis while still not losing any advantage against the Lannisters and the Tyrells."

I thought my pitch was quite good, and seeing the contemplative expressions of the rest of them, I could tell they had bought in. But in the end, it was Dany's decision. And now, after staying silent for the whole meeting, it was her time to speak. Looking over the most detailed map of Westeros we could get, Dany finally made her decision.

"We shall do as Theon proposes," It didn't surprise anyone, as she did trust me the most. "The problem is that I have yet ridden my dragons. So I will need time to learn it. And Dorne alone won't be enough for distraction. The Unsullied will go with them."

"Your Grace," Grey Worm wasn't happy about it, and he was a chill guy for most of the time. "Our priority is your safety. We can't simply leave your side."

"That's why you will have to leave me and do as I say," Dany replied. "With you in Dorne, the others will think I am with my most trusted and capable forces than somewhere else. And other lords seeing a foreign army will be more concerned with them than rumors of dragons coming from the east."

"Neither the Stormlands nor the Reach will be able to ignore us then," Oberyn agreed.

"Not only that, I want the Dothraki in the West with the Ironborn," Dany continued to my satisfaction.

"Nobody will know what hit them," I said. "They will hear reports from the south and the west of your coming. By the time they hear of you coming from the North, they won't know what to believe. They will be like headless chickens running around."

"We must establish ourselves fast, and before they can react, I want the lords to consider getting on my side rather than on those of my enemies," Dany finished. "If that is all, we better prepare our best for any outcome."

It was good. Too bad I won't see the plan come to fruition. Well, victory didn't matter much anyway. Even with the dragons, I knew it would be impossible to win over those proud lords and the new kings. Most of them will find an excuse or a reason to die for their loyalty, and the others will not like foreign armies ruling over their century-old lands.

"One has to worry about what chaos and destruction we shall bring," Anguy said as we left the meeting room. "Will there be anything left to rule aside from the gravestones and ashes?"

"It might look like that at first," I replied. "But destruction is inevitable before creation. The old structure has been falling for decades, if not for centuries now. With Dany, and new era will come. Of course, only the future will be able to tell if it is better or not. But I have faith that once she is on the Iron Throne, we will have nothing to worry about."

Soon, we reached our room, where Bronn was drinking again, and Thoros was discussing something with Moqorro. They looked very serious, and when they saw me, their expressions tightened. They wanted to speak to me but didn't know how to approach it. I already could guess what they wanted to talk about, as Bronn was here for the same reason.

"Let me guess, you saw storms and fire in our journey through the Narrow Sea," I spoke first.

"Huh? How did you?" Thoros looked at me stupefied. "Did you see the same visions in the fire, too?"

"If it is King Theon, I would not be surprised if our great lord had not shown him the vision directly," Moqorro said. "The Lord of the Light has bestowed you great power, King Theon, and I will protect you from the darkness as long as I breathe."

"Sure, why not?" I carefully backed away from him. "Bronn, would you enlighten our dear friends."

Making eye contact with him, Bronn nodded, but before he said anything, he went to the door and gave it a moment before opening and checking that no one was in the hallway. He didn't need to explain himself as Anguy went to the only window of the room and checked that no one was around, while Thoros carefully checked the walls to see if there was anything wrong with them.

"We alone," After a few minutes, I said, not able to contain my amusement. "I made careful considerations in taking up this room. Not even a mouse would get in without me knowing. And nothing will be heard outside those walls."

"Tch could have said it sooner," Bronn swore. "As you wished, I went to great effort to get close to Euron's men. Of course, those mutes were creepy as hell, and I couldn't get them to say a word. But I continued to observe them."

"What did you find out?" Thoros asked.

"They not human, that I am sure of," Bronn said with rare sight of fear. "They eat once in a week. Drink water once in three days. And I think they could last far longer, but they keep to a schedule or some shit like that."

"Not human? Aside from being pale as snow, eating and drinking less than most, I don't see what else they could be," Anguy said.

"Puppets," Bronn replied before taking a large sip of wine to calm down. "They act and move like puppets on the wire like it was a mummer show. Anyway, that is not the part I came to report. And trust, no amount of wine or woman will ever make me forget what I saw."

"I am sure we can try," I said, already knowing what Bronn saw and understanding how he felt. "Continue. They need to know to understand my next actions."

"A few days ago, I noticed that some of them gone missing," Bronn continued. "At first, I didn't put much thought into it, but then I noticed more went missing. And the ones that were gone were of a smaller statue. I remember seeing a few with nothing but bones and skin on them, so when I couldn't notice them around, I felt dread, like something in my gut twisted. So, I went to investigate what Euron was doing with them."

"What?" Thoros was on the edge of the seat, feeling impatient as Bronn took another sip of wine to stop his trembling.

"He was getting them inside Theon's ship."

"What? That it?" Anguy asked. "Surely the crew would have noticed them."

"You don't get me," Bronn said. "I mean it when I say Euron was getting them inside the ship. I followed them once when they got on the ship. Euron talked up the crew about something, charming them, and went inside with five or six of his men. Only four of them return with them. I went to ask the crew what it was about. They said it was nothing, just Euron bringing casks of wine for us to enjoy."

"Did Euron hide the men in the casks?" Thoros asked. "That bastard sure is cunning, but in the end, it wouldn't matter. With how much we drink, we would have come upon them sooner than later."

"I checked the casks. They were filled to the brim with strong wine, no sight of the men," Bronn continued. "I could have left it at that. But I knew those men were kept in the ship somewhere, and the crew was oblivious to it. I walked around, checked every corner, every box, crate, and even under a fucking bucket. Nothing. I was about to give it up and convince myself that I imagined it all. But then I tripped and fell to the ground. Luck, it was only luck that I did so because otherwise, we would not have known this. As I tried to stand up, I saw a reflection from the light coming from the lantern. Looking straight back at me with unblinking eyes. There was a man under the floor."

"No," Thoros dropped his cup.

"I almost jumped, but my legs felt weak," Bronn said. "I somehow managed to calm down, and I slowly stood up without making myself obvious. I didn't stay even one more second on that ship."

"After he reported to me, I checked them myself," I said. "Using Rocky, I was able to get a closer look. I don't know how, but Euron managed to get his men into the floors, ceiling, and walls of my ship. I counted a dozen of them. The crew doesn't know a thing. Somehow, that bastard not only sneaked onto my ship but also pried planks on the floor and everywhere else before stuffing his men inside."

It shocked me to discover such a thing, so I worked all night spying on Euron to see how he had done it. But that man showed nothing. The most logical idea would be that he did it while the ship was busy resupplying and preparing for the long voyage; maybe some repairs needed to be done. Euron used those moments—something too insignificant to report back to me or anyone else.

"That's not even the end," I said, seeing right through Anguy's questioning eyes. "It seems that Bronn is right on the fact that those men were not human beings. When I checked them, they were barely breathing, not moving an inch. Like they were hibernating, waiting to be awakened."

"How the fuck can someone prepare for something like that?" Thoros asked. "If we didn't know about them, in the middle of the sea and the storm, they would roam the ship doing whatever they wanted. And Euron doesn't strike like a man who values his men's lives. So, they can just burn down the ship and sink with us all on it."

"So, when do we strike?" Anguy asked. "We kill the bastard and show why you shouldn't mess with us. And he stayed alive for way too long, as it is. What is the plan?"

"The plan is to do nothing and let Euron do as he wishes," I replied to their utter shock. "Why do you think I kept him alive? It is to use him. And now, I will use him to the full extent I can. I will let him kill me."

"What?"

"Don't look at me like that," I said. "All that plan with Dany is good and all, but I am not the guy to be a distraction. I am the main player in this game. So, think. I am dead. Euron probably takes the Iron Islands. The world is set in chaos. And when the status quo is set, here I come. Now, who would expect that?"

Anguy and Thoros let out a long, defeated sigh while Bronn forgot his cup and went for a whole bottle. Meanwhile, Moqorro looked at me respectfully, like he understood everything I said. Seeing that, I started to doubt myself, as even I didn't understand what I said. I only want to use the situation to fake my death, go undercover, and take over the Stepstones before scaring the shit out of Euron before killing him. And then shocking the world with my revival.