A/N: This is just something I drabbled while I was trying to overcome my writer's block. I don't know if it will be bigger or not. It was just something I was working on in the mean time.

Theon's laughter died in his throat as the doors to his council room slammed open. His lords started, their eyes frantically searching for the culprit while their hands went for their swords. Theon didn't have to search, there were only two people in all of Westeros that would dare barge into this room unannounced. His sister and his wife.

His visitor turned out to be the former. Both his sons shared a concerned look as their mother strode in. Elaina Greyjoy's face was alight with fury, her gray eyes burning hotter than dragon fire as she caught sight of her husband. Theon waited patiently as she stepped across the room, coming to rest with both hands flat against the ironwood table. His lords exchanged looks, none knowing what to expect from their Lord's Lady.

"Theon Greyjoy." Elaina began, finishing in one furious breath. "Where in the seven kingdoms is your daughter"

"That depends on which daughter you're speaking of, my dear" Theon remained seated. He could already assume it was his oldest who had brought down her mother's fury. Annette was too well behaved and at ten years still remained the dearest to her mother. Elasia could have been a bit too sharp tongued, he supposed. Or perhaps she'd run off on the Black Wind with his sister Asha as she was known to do. But only their oldest earned this particular wrath on a daily basis.

"Caielle" It would never cease to amaze him that his wife spoke their child's name so fluently in its native dialect. Many heard the names of her sisters, Elasia and Annete, and assumed the name was common tongue. In truth Caielle was old Valyrian for "breathless wind", a beautiful turn of phrase used to describe the calm breeze that flowed over the summer isles, filled with the scents of spice and flowers that made one forget to breathe. Elaina had chosen it for their first daughter as the very sight of her took the breath from them both. "She was meant to be watching the baby this morning while I was out. Instead she left her with Nan and vanished into thin air."

Theon caught the amused expressions on the faces of his sons. Rodrik and Maron had been the ones who'd taught Caielle the secret ways out of the castle as children, and it was likely their fault she was so wildly different from her mother in the first place. Caielle couldn't bare to be kept in cold castles day by day. She often escaped her mother's grasp to explore Pyke's rugged coastline by herself. As for leaving Annette, he couldn't blame her. Annete was ten years old and hated being constrained as much as either of her sisters, though she was meeker about it than either Caielle or Elasia were. He suspected her abandonment had been more of a pact between sisters. Nan was an old women who'd gone half blind during her childhood. She'd cared for their children for the greater part of their lives, but she was forgetful and often let Annette slip away unnoticed.

"Elaina darling, Caielle is seventeen. She is likely on the coast. Or perhaps she is with my uncle. She does love the legends of the Drowned God and all his stories of the Salt Kings. I assure you she's read every book on the iron isles by now and she must be desperate for a new story." Theon assured her. "She'll return later tonight to tell us all about the sharks she's found. Or the seals. Or all the gulls she's fed today. There is always something she'd rather be doing."

"Did she finish her needlework, Mother?" Rodrik, the older of their twin sons spoke up in a good humored tone.

"Yes" Elaina scowled at her son.

"And did she do her lessons?" Maron joined in. "Refreshed herself on the Great Houses? Repeated the sigils of the warden houses? Listened to the proper mannerisms expected of a young lady?"

"Of course she did" Elaina answered. "Even she would not spite me so much to avoid them"

"Then what's the harm in letting her wander? Aunt Asha gave her that Valyrian dagger during her last visit. And she uses it just as well as Maron and I. So why not let her wander before she's married to some Highborn Lord and can't do so"

Theon felt a rush of pride for his oldest son. Rodrik and Maron were both fond of their sisters, but Maron had always been too concerned with himself to realize that in a few years both of the older girls would be married and moved into their own castles. He had promised Elasia to Asha's son Alesander years before, back when Tristopher Botley had yet to cross him. Their older sister, the child he'd gotten on Asamyn Morray before she'd betrayed him, had already been sent back to her grandparents; they did need an heir after their daughter's executions. Soon enough he'd be marrying Caielle to one of the other warden houses. She could be in the Reach, the Vale, possibly even Dorne by the end of the year.

"My Lords. You are all excused. Please feel free to sail for your homes this night. If there is need of you, you shall be summoned" Theon waved away his lords.

They stood and shuffled out,all paying their respects to both himself and his wife, as well as the twins. When they were gone Elaina shot her son a nasty expression before settling herself into the seat left by Lord Sunderly. Theon sighed, knowing what was coming next.

"Speaking of marriage. Do you know how the other houses speak of us? The younger daughters promised before the oldest. Elasia I can understand, they can understand. It's only right that we amend the tear Tristopher and Asamyn left between our houses in their wake. But Annette too? All the while Caielle parades around as if she's queen of the isles." Elaina said in a hushed voice, knowing the Lords might still linger beyond the door.

"She is queen of the isles, Mother" Maron said joyfully. "Robb Stark said so himself when he visited years ago"

"He is your king and you will address him as such" Theon reminded his son, though he was amused that the boys remembered. Robb had visited them when their youngest daughter had been born, towing along his youngest brother and sister, his own child ,and Queen Jeyne along with him. Both his boys had been ten then, Caielle seven, and Elasia six. His older daughter had been as willful as ever when she proclaimed to Crown Prince Edwin Stark, a young boy barely a year and a few odd days her senior, that he simply was not adequate enough to be a King. Elaina had been horrified, though Robb had only chuckled and teased his son for the front. His foster brother had proclaimed that she was the very breath of his sister Arya with all the temperament of a Greyjoy and the fury of a Blackmont. It had been then that Robb told her she would be Queen of the Iron Isles if she kept her wits about her.

"Who would you have me marry her to, dear wife?" Theon sighed. He knew his wife had a long list of candidates. Children of the great houses. Those who would offer their daughter standing and riches but not much else.

"You know the list, Theon" Elaina said, clearing her throat. "She is of an age with many of the children of the great houses. Lorlan Tyrell, Dagon Martell, Jamie Lannister, Lucius Baratheon, Holland Tully. They're all free of betrothal. And all are of good standing."

The names she hadn't mentioned were amusing in themselves. "What of Robert Arryan? Rickon Stark? Edwin Stark? Arnor Frey?" He knew his wife was no friend of the Arryans. It had been Jon Arryan who'd killed her father during Balon Greyjoy's rebellion. And though her ambition was admirable, he knew she dared not hope her daughter would be Edwin's queen. As for Rickon, Elaina held a deep-set belief that the youngest of Eddard Stark's children would only serve to fuel the willful fire that burned in Caielle. "Robert Arryan is honorable. The Vale is his. He's said to be a man of many passions. Keeps a large library that would make Caielle collapse in tears of joy."

"He is sickly. Just as his mother was. And his men are run by his cousin" Elaina protested. She wasn't wrong. Lord Robert Arryan, called Robin by most, had become a lord after his father's murder at just six years old. He'd been sickly and weak then, coddled by a half deranged Lysa Arryan. Years fostering in Riverurn had done him no favors. He was no war-lord, nor would he live into old age.

"And Edwin Stark? Our crown prince. Should Robb offer to marry him to Caielle she would be a queen. The first Greyjoy queen in thousands of years. Robb tells me he's a smart boy. Loves animals as Caielle does. Even refuses to hunt and begged his father to keep a small menagerie for him." Edwin was bright enough, and would make a good king if all that was said were to be true. He was courteous and polite, and he and Caielle were almost precisely the right age.

"Robb will want to marry him to a house that opposed him. Perhaps Shireen Baratheon's daughter. Selene was it? She's only a few years younger. And tying themselves to House Baratheon would be the best move politically. Rhea Targaryen still lives as well, held in her step-father's castle." Elaina had hardened herself against his questioning now. Again he could not fault her. If he were in Robb's position he would marry his child to a Baratheon as soon as possible. With the late Robert Baratheon's living son Tommen revealed to be a bastard born of Lannister incest, the child of Robert's niece Shireen was the closest Robb could get to the Baratheon line. Selene would be fifteen if he remembered correctly. At eighteen Edwin was only three years older than her. As long as she'd had her first blood there would be no question in their marriage. Baratheon was still a great house thanks to Stannis's daughter.

He knew little of Rhea Targaryen. She was the trueborn daughter of Arianne Martell and Aegon Targaryen, the boy whose life had been snuffed out by Robb when he'd dared cross the narrow sea with a small army of broken men. Her father had been killed for his crimes, with memory of Rhaegar and Aerys in mind as his head rolled. But Robb was no monster. Arianne had been returned to Dorne, stripped of her inheritances to House Martell and married to Tyror Laskley, a loyalist to Robb Stark. When Aegon's child had been born she had been allowed to live, given the Targaryen name, and would remain under Tyror's care until he saw fit to marry her to another loyalist. Theon supposed she must be the right age by now. Though he didn't care to introduce the Targaryen bloodline back into their royalty, he knew she would calm the restless Dorne and the few houses that still remained to herald the dragons. Were she queen, her aunt Daenerys would find no support should she return. Rhea was the granddaughter of Rhaegar Targaryen and Elia Martell, and Daenerys would have no claim to her father's throne in the eyes of Targaryen royalists still living in Westeros.

"Do not even say it" Elaina said as he opened his mouth to speak for Arnor Frey. "I will not have my daughter marry a traitorous bastard Frey. You know what they did to Catelyn Stark. What they tried to do to Robb and Jeyne."

She was correct again. The late Lord Frey, great-grandfather of the current one, had turned coat after a slight was made against him. Robb marrying Jeyne Westerling was the ultimate insult to the spiteful old man, and as a result he'd demanded his daughters, granddaughters, sons, and grandsons be made wives and husbands to Edmere Tully, Arya Stark, Brandon Stark, Sansa Stark, and Rickon Stark. He'd somehow failed to notice that Sansa was betrothed to Joffery Baratheon and Arya had vanished the night Eddard Stark had been arrested for treason. Lord Frey had gotten his daughter Roslin married to Edmere Tully, but Robb had refused him both his brothers and sister. Lord Frey had decided to kill the young king in his fury, resulting in the death of Catelyn Stark and a grievous injury to Robb and many of his men. They had never fully regained the trust of the realm afterwards, and to their backs the Frey House was called House Turncoat.

"And Rickon Stark?" Theon asked, knowing Elaina would be at her wits end if he pressed the issue. "Rickon isn't much older than Caielle. He's a knight, he's well spoken and well read. Robb tells me he's the very breath of their mother, but he has the Stark eyes. That dark gray they say struck fear into the heart of Aerys the mad when he first laid eyes on Rickard and his son Brandon. He's heir to the Stark holds. He'll be warden of the North. His brother fostered him with Doran Martell up until the old man died, and then left him with Trystane Martell and the Red Viper. They matched well..."

"They matched well as children, Theon" Elaina said sharply. "Caielle was seven and Rickon nearly twelve when they met. That's hardly a sign of a good match. Besides, he's got the Stark pride. It will only fuel her into danger. Their house will rue the day Brandon named him his heir. He could just have easily named that boy of Arya's. No one would have faulted him." Arya Stark had returned from across the narrow sea with a darkened view of the world and the eyes of someone who'd seen far too much for her age. With her had come a tiny boy with big purple eyes and Arya's dark hair and the face of a Stark. Rumors whispered that the boy was a bastard of Aegon Targaryen, as the boy was older than his child Rhea. The going tale was that Arya had caught the eye of the dragon king by title and manner alone, leaving him baffled as to how a woman of Stark blood held the wrath of the Targaryens when she had none of their blood in her. He'd given her a child by him, the young boy named Prax, but had seen better value in Doran Martell's offer of his daughter Arianne. When Brandon had married Arya to the current Umber lord, she'd pleaded that Robb legitimize her son, so that he not grow up a bastard without a name under her trueborn children baring the name Umber. Robb had given her that wish, and Prax Stark had been taken under Bran's wing. He could have rightfully declared his nephew his adopted son and made Prax his heir. Instead he chose to honor their family line and gave the title to Rickon. Prax would be a banner of his uncle's.

"Caielle would love Wnterfell" Theon argued. "She despises the sea, the creaking of old ships, the smell of salt and sand. She would be much happier surrounded by treats and snow as Winterfell is. The Northern lords loved Catelyn Stark because she could run a castle as well as their lord. They would love Caielle for that and more."

"You want to send my daughter a way to a man who would put her in more danger than he's worth" Elaina was furious, he could tell.

"I want to make our Kraken into a Direwolf, Elaina" Theon sighed. "Caielle is of marrying age, and how better to strengthen Westeros and ourselves than to tie ourselves to the Starks of Winterfell. Lord Brandon will be looking for a wife for Rickon soon. And he'd much rather give him a girl close to his own age and manner than a sheepish girl just past her first blood. He is twenty four now, Elaina. What could he want with a girl that young. Fourteen? Fifteen? Caielle blooded at twelve would you have rather I had her married then?"

"Theon!" Elaina's eyes had gone wide. She was disgusted by the custom of marrying girls just after they became fertile. Many houses of the Iron Isles followed the custom, especially the old ones who were far too used to burying more children than they raised to adulthood. Elaina had refused to allow her daughters to marry before the age of sixteen, though she had married Theon at fifteen herself. Of course, Elaina could not have stopped him had he decided to marry Caielle and Elasia young, but he had decided to respect her wishes with their daughters at the very least. Rodrik had married the daughter of Roose Bolton and his Frey wife, a wisp of a girl called Marisse, when she was fourteen and he sixteen himself. They had given him two grandchildren already, their son Vicktor and infant daughter Alannyse, both children with the Greyjoy look and the same cold, icy eyes of the Boltons. He had married Maron to Avinais Merlyn less than a year before. Though at twenty and nineteen they were hardly young.

Having bound his house to both House Bolton and House Merlyn, two houses that had turned to oppose Robb during his campaign, all Theon had left to do was bind his own house to Robb's tighter. He had little to fear, Robb was his foster brother, a staple of the family he'd grown up with. Theon had taught Bran to shoot a bow, trained with Robb, escorted Sansa and her sister when their brothers were not available. He'd even allowed Rickon to bat him with wooden swords and practice arrows. Sure, he had never found love from Catelyn Stark. But Eddard had been as much a father as he could be, despite knowing he might have had to behead Theon at any moment. Stark and Greyjoy were tied as closely as Targaryen and Martell. He'd often considered letting things lie, leaving his wife to decide husbands for their daughters. Sending Caielle off to Highgarden or Sunspear or Casterly Rock as she pleased. She'd chosen Alexsander for Elasia out of concern for Asha. Tying Asha and her son firmly to House Greyjoy lessened the worry that her former husband's relatives would attempt to take the Botley lands from her. Annette had been promised to Jjorland Sunderly's son Idyn at a very young age as well after word had circulated that Jjorland supported Tristopher Botley's uncle. Having been promised the daughter of House Greyjoy had quelled that support at the root and assured that Idyn would have no qualm with their house in the near future. Elasia and Annette could be cast as Elaina pleased. As the second and third daughter they were expected to marry their father's bannermen in order to secure their loyalty. Caielle, however, was their oldest. While Rodrik and Maron were expected to bring houses to them, Ciaelle would tie outsider houses to their own. His own anxieties told him that Rodrik was much like his own father, Balon. Rebellious, proud, a natural leader. With the Iron Isles and the large territory Robb had given them along the coast in his hands, Rodrik might prove to wield a streak of Balon's ambition. Combined with the fiery temper he'd inherited from both his parents he had potential to become a thorn in the side of the Stark line. But Rodrik was fond of his sister. Marrying Caielle to Rickon Stark...allowing her to become Lady of Winterfell, would crush ill-will felt toward the Starks.

"I have allowed you to place Annette, Elasia, and any future daughters of ours as you will. Avinais has promised to allow your help in finding matches for any children she and Maron have. Rodrik and Marisse will likely allow you to aid in marrying their second daughter and son and any after that as well. But Caielle is my oldest daughter. Her marriage is too strategic a decision to be made based on misconceptions and harbored feelings of dislike and distrust. I will decide who and when she will marry. This is all I will say on the matter, Elaina. Now if you'll excuse me, our master of ships wishes to speak to Rodrik and I. Maron, you may come along and ask after learning the trade from him" Theon stood, giving a respectful nod to his wife. "My Lady"