The Queen in the North

Chapter Seven: The Greyjoy Civil War

"The Glovers have retaken Deepwood Motte," Yara Greyjoy told her father as she entered his presence chamber, he was seated before the fire alone with no company; the room was dark and the only light to be seen was from the fire. 

Yara had gotten the news before her father, she seemed to have taken on a lot of his duties as of late and she couldn't recall the last time that he had actually left Pyke. 

"And the Ironborn who held it?" Balon asked not looking up from the soup that he was having, it was quiet apart from the storm that raged around Pyke; he stirred the soup that the kitchen had brought up for him. 

No doubt instructed to do so by his wife, Alannys had always been good at that although she avoided him these days preferring the quiet of her chambers after the death of the sons. 

"They died fighting to the last man," Yara stated staring at her father, she had disagreed with him in holding Deepwood Motte especially with the Northern army back from war now. 

It would not do for them to anger their neighbours more than necessary in her opinion, they needed allies especially now that Westeros had been reshaped and they were left outside in the cold. 

"What is dead may never die," Balon stated dismissive of the men's deaths, they had died fighting and that was what mattered; they would be rewarded in death for the work in life no doubt. 

They had done as their liege lord had asked of them, they had fought for the expansion of the Ironborn and that was what mattered to him in the end; lands could be reclaimed all the time. 

Yara echoed her father's words before placing the piece of paper that she had been reading from on the table; a look of disgust on her face at how callous he was about the deaths of those men. 

"What is dead may never die. But they did and our invasion died with them. Deepwood Motte was our last stronghold on the mainland," Yara pointed out, there had been nothing gained from her father's actions not since this war had started. 

Everyone else was enjoying peace now, yet it only seemed them that were trying to carry on the fighting from the last seven years that had started with the execution of Ned Stark. 

"Then we will take more," Balon instructed with a nod of his head, he brought the spoon back to his lips to carry on eating as if he wasn't wasting the men that they did have on a reward-less errand. 

There would be no winning in this, Yara scoffed at his words knowing that this could only end in tears and the people grew tired of her father's pointless war.

"Why? For more pinecones and rocks?" Yara spat knowing that there was little that could be gained from angering the North right now, she had already suffered the loss of all of her brothers for her father's ambitions.

Rodrik and Maron had been lost during the rebellion within a few weeks of each other, while Theon had first been taken from them as a hostage then because of their father's goading he had tried to take Winterfell which had brought his death in the end. 

A part of Yara wondered if her father was determined to sacrifice all of his children, to watch her mother fall apart when their family was destroyed by her father's ambitions. 

"Because I order it," Balon stated turning to face Yara from his seat by the fire, he glowered at his daughter, his only remaining child in the world and one day his heir. 

It was his will that they carried on with his ambitions for the North, people would fall inline and be grateful for the glory that. 

"We can defeat anyone at sea, but we'll never hold lands and castles against mainland armies," Yara tried to reason with her father, she didn't see why he was so set on the path that he was taking nor why he would risk it when there was nothing distracting the North anymore.