What is dead may never die (Theon SI)

The shadows cast upon the world

Theon POV

Looking back, I still wonder how I got here. So many things happened, and so many battles were fought. If I were a more sentimental person, I might have started wondering about the meaningless of it all. But I was not. And even though I did think that all of my enemies died meaninglessly, it didn't bother me one bit.

Corpse after the corpse was dragged out from Volantis, piled in countless pits dug up away from water. Once, they were proud warriors, rich merchants, and arrogant slave masters. Now, they would return to earth, and their ashes would fertilize the farms. At least in that way, they would repay for what they have done in their lives.

"Butcher of Volantis," I turned to my uncle, who approached me with the same arrogance he was known for. "What a sight have you made. It warms my heart to see something like this."

As Volantis fell, so all the forces within it fell, too. Its fleet ran away; there was nothing or anybody to fight for. I was sure I would probably see them join some sellsails or become pirates, but it was none of my business. As long as they don't cross my path, I would be happy to forget about them.

"Be careful, for the fires don't reach you too, uncle," I replied. "It would be a shame to lose you to fires. At least try and die in the sea, like an Ironborn should."

"Don't worry, any fire would go out under your cold gaze," Euron got the threat I was making. "The rest are looking for you. Some important people have come to meet the new rulers of Essos."

New rulers? Well, with the fall of Volantis, nobody could deny our authority in Essos. Almost half of the great free cities now belong to us. Whatever people thought of us after taking over the slaver's bay now doesn't matter. There is only one thought left in their little heads: fear.

As we predicted, the other powers in Essos have responded. I don't wish to participate in those political games, so I left it to Dany. She can negotiate peace terms, and I just enforce them. Of course, the sooner we are done here, the sooner we can move on. I've already gotten tired of this dry air of Essos.

Since most of the buildings within the black walls were burned and destroyed, Dany decided to rebuild it in her design, now with everyone welcomed to live here. Benerro, the High Priest, was instrumental in bringing the population of Volantis to Dany's side. And the giant of man Moqorro was even instructed to stay by my side.

At first, I didn't like it, thinking that he was here to keep an eye on me, but seeing Thoros enjoying himself by talking with him, I decided to let it go. In the end, it didn't really matter much if they kept their eyes on me. And Thoros looked up to the man, so I didn't have any reason not to let the man follow me around.

"The shadow you make become even bigger, King Theon," Moqorro said as we entered a palace in the best condition. "It feels like the world is drowning in it. As dark and cold it is, I feel secure within it."

"At least Thoros is drunk when he starts speaking nonsense," I replied. "But I haven't seen you have even a sip of wine ever since I met you."

"I do not partake in such things," Moqorro said. "The fire fills me enough. It is more intoxicating than any wine could be."

"Sure."

The only downfall of having a red priest by my side was hearing this nonsense all the time. If I weren't mad already, their gibberish would have made me insane. On the way to the courtroom, I saw many unfamiliar faces dressed in various fashions. They whispered as they saw me walk by. Pointing their fingers at me. It was insulting that they saw me as the weird one when the black giant of a man with various red and orange tattoos walked by my side.

"The reaper has finally arrived," Bronn said as I walked in. "Did you have fun seeing off those poor bastards' souls?"

"Don't mind him," Anguy joined in. "He did nothing but drink ever since we took the city."

"Like we didn't do the same," Thoros said with a red face and smelling like wine. "It took all three of us to outdrink that old Dothraki."

"You finally here? We were looking for you," Oberyn said, standing by Dany's side. "We have much to discuss."

"It isn't easy to look for surviving Triachs, and even harder to look for their dead bodies," I replied. "Some were buried under so much rubble that only now we have dug up them. They have rotten beyond recognition. But it seems most of them are accounted for. A few might have escaped, but if they did, they have not taken much gold with them, so there is nothing to worry about them."

"You the only one who wanted to finish them," Ser Barristan said. "While you were busy with corpse hunting, we had other things to worry about. Like relieving our army."

"There simply too many in our army to take care of, especially without any battles to prepare for," Jorah explained. "There were already quite a few conflicts between freedmen and Dothraki, or unsullied and Dothraki, or Dothraki and Dothraki."

"It is in our nature to seek a fight," Motho laughed it up. "You can't expect anything else from us."

"I am sure to keep that in mind," Jorah replied. "Either way. My point stands. There simply is no need to keep so many men in our army. Especially the sellswords. Their behavior so far was the worse, even compared to the Dothraki. So, we had no choice but to let all of them go after paying our dues, only keeping the Stormcrows and Windblown. We also send half of the freedmen back to Meereen and let go the rest of them, only keeping ten thousand most skilled ones with us."

"Good job?" I replied, not knowing what they wanted from me. "What does all of it have to do with me?"

"Everything," Dany's voice wasn't as playful with me anymore. "Because from tomorrow onward, you shall be my King as I will be your Queen. The time for ambiguity is over. I want the world to know about us. And I want the Seven Kingdoms to feel uneasy knowing that we are coming for them. So, tomorrow, we shall wed before all the emissaries who came to see me as a witness to this historical event."

"Finally, it got interesting," I replied with a smile.

…

I was bored to death. I didn't know what I should have expected, but a wedding without death was boring. My body moved with the motions of the wedding, but my mind was somewhere else, far away, killing lions and burning golden cities. When it was all done, only then did I wake up and face my wife.

I had no idea what kind of vows I had just given. I only knew they were long and pointless. And I had to give them twice, once to the Priest of the Drowned God and the second time, a bit different to the red priest. Red and black mixed in, and I probably mixed my words up, but nobody dared to correct me, so I went with the flow.

In the end, it was a show Dany and I had put on. Everyone else was in the place we wanted them to be. Now, rumors shall be facts, and they will spread to every corner of the world. They shall feel the fear from the shadow we shall cast as the people shiver under the shadow of the dragons flying and roaring above us.

"Theon."

"Hmm?" I hummed back at Dany as we entertained our guests.

"I bored," Dany said, taking one more grape into her mouth. "I think it is about time we end it."

"As you wish, my queen," I replied as I flipped the table where we and the most extinguished guests were seated.

Dany's red dress covered my black robes as I picked her up and jumped from an elevated stance. While Dany yelped in surprise, the rest of the quests cheered on as I carried her to our bed chambers. The path was fully opened for us as Dany's and mine most trusted guards split the masses and guarded our path.

"Did you have to do that?" Dany asked once we were alone.

"Yep, besides, you liked it too," I replied, locking the doors to our chambers.

"Shut up," Dany sulked. "I can hear people outside."

"They are waiting for a show," I replied.

"Then shall we give it to them," Dany's dress fell to the ground. "Tonight, I want every woman to be jealous of me, Theon."

"As you wish, my queen."

My robes dropped soon after, and in an instant, we both were on the bed. Lust and desire ran rampant and hot. I could only compliment the carpenters who made the bed for not breaking with so much movement on it. Dany made a show of it as she screamed her lungs out, while I could only grunt in an effort to keep up with her.

…

By the time we were done, the sun was already rising. I had no trouble since I didn't sleep anyway, but Dany could barely keep her eyes open as she lay on my chest. I didn't know what she was thinking while looking at me. I could only give her the same gaze I did every day. We both knew there was no love between us. Only desire and lust, but that was enough.

"I can't have children," Dany suddenly said. "I am not being sentimental, but without heirs, our people will worry and doubt about the future of our rule. After all, we won't live forever."

"You worry too much," I replied. "We probably wouldn't live long enough to raise them even if we had them. And I don't know what kind of children would be born with the seed of a dead man."

"Well, I like it anyway," Dany purred into my ear. "It was thick and hot."

"You are bad," I laughed, squeezing her round bottom. "There still plenty of that, if you wish, my queen."

"Unlike you, I do tire," Dany replied with a roll of her eyes. "Everything will change from now on."

She fell asleep with that somber thought. And she wasn't wrong. His playtime in Essos came to an end. They can leave the little details to Alysanne and Quentyn; they proved themselves capable of managing stuff around. And they couldn't afford to wait any longer. They needed to strike while the iron was hot.

By now, Westeros has changed beyond recognition. And I couldn't wait any more to see it and to size it. With their armies and fleet prepared, dragons big enough, there was little stopping him. And it seems Dany is thinking the same. Already making plans and reconstructing the army to fit our needs.

I was kind of proud of her. She had come a long way since I met her. She had lost her uncertainty completely and gained a cruel streak that was necessary in this world. Too bad she still thought of ruling like it was her duty. In comparison, I didn't care about it in the slightest. I knew there was only one end for me.

A.N. A short chapter, to get back into it. The pace will be a bit faster, but I not rushing anywhere. New chapter every week will start coming from now on, since I am back.