[ Theon is not exactly the most giving person when it comes to information about himself. He tends to dance around the subject to avoid looking weak or guilty, but this is a question about siege tactics and strategy. He can't not answer it. ]
Strong swimmers, grappling hooks, and poorly defended walls.
[ He pauses. It's not something he's quite so proud of anymore, having seen how the whole thing ended, but-- ]
It was there for the taking. If I hadn’t done it, someone else would have.
[ It’s clearly a sore spot. He still doesn’t believe that he is the one who should be here when there are so many others whose crimes rival his own. Half of Westeros should be in here. ]
That file can't tell you much if you have to ask that question. My father is Lord of the Iron Islands. I am his heir and the islands' lawful prince.
[ And technically he is, but it’s grown complicated. Balon Greyjoy has shown his clear favoritism for his daughter, Asha, and laws of the mainland don’t apply on the Iron Islands. A different heir could be chosen just because Lord Balon wishes it. Another sore spot. He has a lot of those. ]
Well, it says here your profession is "none", so I'm assuming that that-- and the fact that you feel the need to specify lawful --is not going well, back home?
[Now he's curious what his own would say. He'd sort of handed kingship off to Thor, after all. God?]
[ He snorts and rolls his eyes, but he’s clearly loath to reveal the more personal details. Prince of the Iron Islands is his title only by his association to his father. His duties have been few. It certainly doesn’t help that he didn’t actually live on the Iron Islands for long enough to be entrusted with any real duties. ]
My father still lives. There is little to be done beneath him.
Ah, yes. That does put a damper on things. It's a shame one so rarely gets the chance to truly show off how much better a king you'd make to the arse who preceded you.
[Not that he. Did a very good job, really. But still.]
It says you don't have any sort of profession, which is rather rude. Do we not count 'prince'? I would. [He keeps reading.] Hmm, oh yes, your other crimes. Murder, desecration of a corpse, and threatening a child. That last one's quite a bit more tame. Though it probably depends on how likely you were to carry the threat out.
[ He had been…very, very likely to carry that threat out. His intention had been one hanging per day until Ser Rodrik called off his armies. It just so happened to begin with a child, and it just so happened that his threat had been interrupted before he could carry it out.
In some ways, calling it a mere threat is underselling the crime a bit. The rest is mostly accurate, barring that it was desecration of two corpses, and that he hadn’t acted alone. Of course, the answer can never be so simple coming from Theon. ]
Is wartime strategy a crime now?
[ Westeros doesn't have war crimes. They don't even have the Geneva Conventions. ]
[ His upbringing is a product of war and rebellion. It would be wrong for him to lie and say it was a perfectly good excuse to take a child from his home and family. ]
[ Just like that, Loki's got him boxed into his own hypocrisy. Any answer he could possibly make is going to incriminate him, and he can't duck out of the conversation. He knows what he believes to be cruel, even by wartime standards, and he knows he's guilty of it himself.
He thinks for one very long moment, weighs his options, and decides that he may as well answer honestly. ]
An innocent person should not be forced to pay for the crimes of another.
[ And still, he's done it himself. He killed Farlen merely because someone needed to be punished, and those two boys--he had them killed to cover his tracks, to keep Winterfell under his thumb.
But that was different, he tells himself, reassures himself. They brought it upon themselves. If they had listened to me from the start... ]
[ Theon sighs, because he is willing to answer that question, but this is going to take some explaining. With a deep breath, he begins: ]
Westeros is divided into seven kingdoms. Nine, in truth, but Westeros is slow to change. We still call them the Seven Kingdoms. There was a time when all of them were their own independent realms with their own kings. Now, the king on the Iron Throne rules them all.
[ He smirks, because that’s not so true anymore. Kingdoms are beginning to declare their independence all over again, but that isn't important to this story, not yet. ]
When I was a child, my father attempted a rebellion against the throne. He wanted to see independence restored to the Iron Islands. He failed, bent the knee, and swore fealty to the Iron Throne once more. King Robert must have been feeling generous that day, because he let my father keep his head and his title as a Lord.
My older brothers both died in that rebellion. That left me as my father’s last living son, and his heir. They took me from home, shipped me off to the mainlands as a hostage to my father's good behavior. If he rebelled again, I would be the one to lose his head. That was my father's punishment, and he wasn't even the one to serve it.
[Loki's always been fascinated by stories, particularly ones with lots of conflict and strategy, but that's hardly what has him listening so intently. After a long, considering pause, he manages a soft:]
Hmm.
[That could have been him. Instead of being secretly stolen, secretly kept. He could have known all along who he was. What he was meant for. No clever words about being born to be king when there was no chance he'd ever want to rule Jotunheim. Because even if Odin's heart had changed along the way, his original plan hadn't been so far off from what Theon described.
He takes a breath, lets it out. Strange how sharing this with someone who understands is actually more difficult.]
I grew up on Asgard, the second son to the Allfather, king of the Nine Realms. I was born during the war between Asgard and Jotunheim, just before it ended. On Jotunheim. Though I was never told this.
[Not directly, anyway.]
The Allfather stole me. Raised me as his son, when in truth I was heir to Jotunheim and was truthfully taken as a...backup plan. Had I simply been told, my standing would have been similar to yours, I expect.
[ Theon is silent for a moment. Asgard, the Allfather, these places and names mean little to him, but it doesn’t matter. He can swap out the names, put himself in Loki’s place, and easily see how their stories mirror one another with minor differences. Lord Stark was never a father to him, and the Northmen often took glee in finding ways to remind him that he didn't belong, but Theon doesn't mention it. He can so rarely empathize with anyone, but he knows what this is like and how deeply it can wound.
He has never met anyone like him in this regard. Truth be told, he feels he shouldn’t have to meet anyone like him. It’s such a cruel thing, to rip a child from their home. ]
Why was it kept from you? If he saw you as a son, would it have made a difference to tell you the truth?
I don't know for certain. He never told me anything, really. Not outside of words said in anger and attempts to quell mine.
[You are my son.
Your birthright was to die.]
But I imagine at least part of it was that the race I was stolen from was not only Asgard's sworn enemy, but one made up of savage monsters. Aesir children were taught not to stray too far from home on their own with tales of jotun eating lost travelers. All we were ever taught of them was that they were mindless, cultureless, cruel.
He wanted me close in order to use me against them. And how could he if anyone knew what I was? How could he keep telling those lies when I failed to eat any Aesir children to prove him right?
I suppose in a sense I was also kept to punish my father. Both of them, really.
[He clears his throat, redirecting the conversation back to Theon in a less skillful manner than he would like.]
The greenlanders believe the same of the ironborn. That they’re cruel, ruthless and unlearned.
[ Theon won’t admit it, but he is thrilled to find that he isn’t alone, that someone has some grasp on what it was like. Neither of them should have had to be used in this way, but the similarities between the two of them are undeniable, and Theon couldn’t blind himself to them if he tried. ]
I went back eventually. For a short time.
[ Yeah, they’re sharing, but he reveals no other details, not keen to have the conversation turned back to him so quickly. ]
Not allowed, exactly, no. But I did see it a few times. [He hated it.] I don't know if I ever will. I doubt I would be welcome.
[He intends to make up for the damage he did to Jotunheim, but he might have to do so without them ever knowing it was him. Which isn't exactly conducive to getting to know his homeland.]
...I must say, I didn't expect to find this common ground with. Well, any inmate. I haven't encountered very many royals, and those I did were, well. Far less reasonable, to start.
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no subject
Strong swimmers, grappling hooks, and poorly defended walls.
[ He pauses. It's not something he's quite so proud of anymore, having seen how the whole thing ended, but-- ]
It was there for the taking. If I hadn’t done it, someone else would have.
no subject
He's skeptical of his justification, though.]
I see. Your file here would beg to differ, given it's listed among your crimes. Not really theft if you aren't taking it from someone.
Still. That's very impressive. Were you a general? Advisor? Royalty?
[This he's interested to hear.]
no subject
[ It’s clearly a sore spot. He still doesn’t believe that he is the one who should be here when there are so many others whose crimes rival his own. Half of Westeros should be in here. ]
That file can't tell you much if you have to ask that question. My father is Lord of the Iron Islands. I am his heir and the islands' lawful prince.
[ And technically he is, but it’s grown complicated. Balon Greyjoy has shown his clear favoritism for his daughter, Asha, and laws of the mainland don’t apply on the Iron Islands. A different heir could be chosen just because Lord Balon wishes it. Another sore spot. He has a lot of those. ]
no subject
[Now he's curious what his own would say. He'd sort of handed kingship off to Thor, after all. God?]
no subject
My father still lives. There is little to be done beneath him.
[ Again, not the whole story. ]
What more does my file say?
no subject
[Not that he. Did a very good job, really. But still.]
It says you don't have any sort of profession, which is rather rude. Do we not count 'prince'? I would. [He keeps reading.] Hmm, oh yes, your other crimes. Murder, desecration of a corpse, and threatening a child. That last one's quite a bit more tame. Though it probably depends on how likely you were to carry the threat out.
[Loki smiles cheerfully.]
Sound accurate to you?
no subject
In some ways, calling it a mere threat is underselling the crime a bit. The rest is mostly accurate, barring that it was desecration of two corpses, and that he hadn’t acted alone. Of course, the answer can never be so simple coming from Theon. ]
Is wartime strategy a crime now?
[ Westeros doesn't have war crimes. They don't even have the Geneva Conventions. ]
no subject
[Might as well start out with the hard questions, given the information he has so far. It's not as if he can't guess at Theon's answer.]
no subject
No.
[ His upbringing is a product of war and rebellion. It would be wrong for him to lie and say it was a perfectly good excuse to take a child from his home and family. ]
Not all of it.
no subject
What in particular crosses the line, for you?
[He suspects it crosses the line more easily when directed at Theon himself. He recognizes that spoiled selfishness.]
no subject
He thinks for one very long moment, weighs his options, and decides that he may as well answer honestly. ]
An innocent person should not be forced to pay for the crimes of another.
[ And still, he's done it himself. He killed Farlen merely because someone needed to be punished, and those two boys--he had them killed to cover his tracks, to keep Winterfell under his thumb.
But that was different, he tells himself, reassures himself. They brought it upon themselves. If they had listened to me from the start... ]
no subject
That's true. And yet it happens far too often, even outside war. Was it you who was punished or someone else who was punished in your place?
i am so sorry for this infodump
Westeros is divided into seven kingdoms. Nine, in truth, but Westeros is slow to change. We still call them the Seven Kingdoms. There was a time when all of them were their own independent realms with their own kings. Now, the king on the Iron Throne rules them all.
[ He smirks, because that’s not so true anymore. Kingdoms are beginning to declare their independence all over again, but that isn't important to this story, not yet. ]
When I was a child, my father attempted a rebellion against the throne. He wanted to see independence restored to the Iron Islands. He failed, bent the knee, and swore fealty to the Iron Throne once more. King Robert must have been feeling generous that day, because he let my father keep his head and his title as a Lord.
My older brothers both died in that rebellion. That left me as my father’s last living son, and his heir. They took me from home, shipped me off to the mainlands as a hostage to my father's good behavior. If he rebelled again, I would be the one to lose his head. That was my father's punishment, and he wasn't even the one to serve it.
no i love it
Hmm.
[That could have been him. Instead of being secretly stolen, secretly kept. He could have known all along who he was. What he was meant for. No clever words about being born to be king when there was no chance he'd ever want to rule Jotunheim. Because even if Odin's heart had changed along the way, his original plan hadn't been so far off from what Theon described.
He takes a breath, lets it out. Strange how sharing this with someone who understands is actually more difficult.]
I grew up on Asgard, the second son to the Allfather, king of the Nine Realms. I was born during the war between Asgard and Jotunheim, just before it ended. On Jotunheim. Though I was never told this.
[Not directly, anyway.]
The Allfather stole me. Raised me as his son, when in truth I was heir to Jotunheim and was truthfully taken as a...backup plan. Had I simply been told, my standing would have been similar to yours, I expect.
no subject
He has never met anyone like him in this regard. Truth be told, he feels he shouldn’t have to meet anyone like him. It’s such a cruel thing, to rip a child from their home. ]
Why was it kept from you? If he saw you as a son, would it have made a difference to tell you the truth?
no subject
I don't know for certain. He never told me anything, really. Not outside of words said in anger and attempts to quell mine.
[You are my son.
Your birthright was to die.]
But I imagine at least part of it was that the race I was stolen from was not only Asgard's sworn enemy, but one made up of savage monsters. Aesir children were taught not to stray too far from home on their own with tales of jotun eating lost travelers. All we were ever taught of them was that they were mindless, cultureless, cruel.
He wanted me close in order to use me against them. And how could he if anyone knew what I was? How could he keep telling those lies when I failed to eat any Aesir children to prove him right?
I suppose in a sense I was also kept to punish my father. Both of them, really.
[He clears his throat, redirecting the conversation back to Theon in a less skillful manner than he would like.]
Did you ever get to go home?
no subject
[ Theon won’t admit it, but he is thrilled to find that he isn’t alone, that someone has some grasp on what it was like. Neither of them should have had to be used in this way, but the similarities between the two of them are undeniable, and Theon couldn’t blind himself to them if he tried. ]
I went back eventually. For a short time.
[ Yeah, they’re sharing, but he reveals no other details, not keen to have the conversation turned back to him so quickly. ]
Were you ever allowed to return to Jotunheim?
no subject
[He intends to make up for the damage he did to Jotunheim, but he might have to do so without them ever knowing it was him. Which isn't exactly conducive to getting to know his homeland.]
...I must say, I didn't expect to find this common ground with. Well, any inmate. I haven't encountered very many royals, and those I did were, well. Far less reasonable, to start.