Carliene Stark

II Chapter 80

Carliene

I paced the room restlessly. It had been nearly half a day since Theon had left with the envoys and nearly two hours since I had sent word to Euron Greyjoy to take him up on his offer. Even though Theon had tried so diligently to convince me not to.

"Promise me you are not thinking about agreeing to Euron's offer" he had demanded shortly after his uncle left our chambers. 

I sighed, rubbing my brow. "Theon, I can't-"

"Carliene!" he urged.

"I don't think you understand" I tried to explain to him. "If he knows something about the Night King and how to defeat him, then I must find out!"

He shook his head again. "No, it is too dangerous. I've been trying to tell you-"

"Theon" I interrupted him, placing a hand on his shoulder. " I am not as helpless as I once was"

He stared at me, his eyes starting to become a little watery. There was genuine fear in them. "It doesn't matter. Euron does not just bring the storm, he is the storm" he insisted. I exhaled at his dramatic choice of words and stepped away. "His brothers, they are all afraid of him. The iron islanders, as tough and mean as they are, they are all afraid of him" he went on as I slightly turned away.

"What if I am not?" I shrugged.

"You should be!" he insisted, raising his voice as to keep my attention. "Have you seen his ship? It is crewed by mutes and the deck is painted red as to hide the bloodstains. He drinks that Shade of the Evening. He takes any woman he wants and if he is done using them he throws them into the sea. He ties men and woman onto the front of his ships and lets them rot in the sun and the salt, to be pecked at by the crows and seagulls in some sort of blood sacrifice"

I raised a brow at the mention of blood sacrifice. Then I turned back to give a slightly amused expression. "Well I get terribly seasick, so I can easily promise you that I won't be going anywhere near his ship" I told him more lightheartedly.

"That is not the point" he muttered frustrated.

I was a little taken aback by how insistent he was being. This was more passion than I had thought him capable of anymore. "I have to do this" I spoke more gently. "Your sister... don't you want her back?"

He gulped slightly, his voice raw when he spoke again. "My sister is lost. If Euron has her she is dead or as good as. Don't let him lure you in with something like this"

I frowned at him, wondering if this was just his fear looking for the easiest way out or if what he claimed was actually true. Even so, I had to know more about the dark night.

"Please, don't make me loose you too" he added in a soft and broken voice that caused my chest to tighten.

I took a breath, trying to remain strong and unbothered. "I'll be fine" I insisted. "It is my decision to make"

He looked away, but not before I noticed the tears glistening in his sunken eyes. "I could not save her" he admitted after rubbing away the tears with the back of his hands. "Yara.." he elaborated his voice shaking. "I mean I could have. but I was so afraid" eh shook his head in despair. "Euron had her and he challenged me to come get her and I was so afraid. I jumped overboard and hoped that the drowned god would take me down to his watery halls" more tears rolled across his cheek as his body shook slightly. "I was a coward. I am a craven. And I lost my sister for it. So I beg of you. Don't do this. Don't make me lose another sister"

I could feel my own eyes begin to burn, so I quickly stepped up to him and pulled him into a hug. The realisation that he was thinking of me as a sister touched me more than I would have thought and I had to take a moment to compose myself and not break out sobbing along with him. "You're not losing me any time soon" I told him, rubbing his bony back gently. "I promise you that. This won't be my end"