[Chapter Size: 1200 Words.]
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Many nobles studied the documents in their hands, growing more alarmed with every line.
The secrets of House Harlaw had been thoroughly uncovered.
"House Harlaw is plotting rebellion. Gather the troops at once. I will personally lead the army and crush these traitors!"
Since the Iron Islands still follow a feudal system, Theon needed to summon his vassals to fight for him. As for soldiers from the Riverlands, he had no need of them yet.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Four thousand men had gathered on Pyke. Of these, fifteen hundred came from the island itself, while the remaining twenty-five hundred resembled little more than bandits and pirates.
House Harlaw quickly learned that Theon was calling his bannermen. They immediately alerted the other two islands and raised a force of fifty-five hundred men.
Their leader was Rodrik Harlaw, the current head of the house.
To be frank, Rodrik was unsettled. He had spoken recklessly before, emboldened by Theon's indifference toward him.
That defiance had grown bolder, until he even dreamed of reopening the kingsmoot and driving Theon from the throne.
But Theon's sudden strike left him shaken, though reports suggested Theon had only four thousand men.
Even so, Rodrik doubted his own ability to withstand Theon's assault.
Yet, outwardly he showed confidence, assuring his bannermen that Theon had a mere four thousand soldiers, while they commanded more than five thousand. There was no need for fear, he insisted.
At the same time, he declared himself king, elevated the nobles with grander titles, and proclaimed to the realm that Theon had betrayed the Ironborn and reduced himself to a lowly merchant.
Pyke lay close to Harlaw Island, and Theon landed there in less than a day's sail.
"At first I thought they'd take the initiative to strike, but I didn't expect them to hide in their castle instead," scoffed Andre. They had all braced for a naval clash, yet upon landing, not a single enemy was in sight.
"That only shows they know us well," Theon began, but before he could finish, the sounds of death-cries suddenly rang out nearby.
A mass of soldiers poured from behind the cliffs, tightly packed and imposing in number.
"Damn, so they're not all cowards after all. They even knew to set an ambush behind the harbor cliffs!" Theon exclaimed, surprised.
He leapt onto his horse, took the double-edged axe handed to him by his servant, and in a flash his armor was strapped to his body once again.
Ares, his warhorse, seemed almost exhilarated beneath him, it was his first time on the battlefield, and steam flared through the gaps in his barding.
The foal now stood nearly two meters at the shoulder. Even encased in armor, Ares retained immense stamina and explosive strength.
With a sharp kick to his flanks, Theon sent Ares charging. The stallion neighed fiercely and thundered straight toward the enemy.
On the harsh Iron Islands, warhorses were rare, and together both sides could not muster more than four hundred riders.
Thus, this battle would be fought almost entirely by infantry. As Theon charged, the rebels broke formation slightly, attempting to encircle and cut him off.
But Ares's speed shattered their expectations. In an instant, Theon plunged into their ranks, wielding his massive double-edged Valyrian steel axe single-handedly.
Each swing carried death. Anyone struck was maimed or slain outright.
Through the chaos, Theon caught sight of Rodrik Harlaw shouting commands to his men. Without hesitation, he drove Ares straight toward him.
Rodrik spotted him as well and immediately ordered his archers to fire. At that moment, he no longer cared if his arrows struck his own men.
Yet every shaft glanced harmlessly off Theon's gleaming armor or Ares's barding.
In just over ten seconds, the armored warhorse devoured the two hundred meters separating them.
Now, at least a hundred soldiers under Theon's command pressed forward as well. For the first time, the white armor was proving its worth in battle.
As the bright armor closed in, Rodrik's heart filled with envy and unwillingness.
If only he had such a warhorse and armor, he thought bitterly, then Theon would never have bested him.
Yet the world of Game of Thrones is inherently unjust, just as Daenerys, with her three dragons, proved. Had they not been slain, the Seven Kingdoms would already have been united long ago.
A similar situation now confronted Theon. So long as he refrained from reckless spending, he was virtually invincible.
With a single swing of his axe, Theon struck Rodrik's head from his shoulders. It flew into the air, eyes wide open, unwilling to die.
At that moment, the armies of both sides clashed. The fifteen hundred men of Pyke quickly fell into disciplined formation and engaged the rebels.
Unlike the disorganized "gang fights" of the other soldiers, the men of Pyke displayed exceptional discipline and combat ability, steadily wearing down the enemy.
Meanwhile, Theon began hunting the rebel nobles. After feeding Ares the last of the extraordinary grain, the warhorse's endurance had grown unmatched.
Theon had never once seen Ares tire.
The battle raged fiercely, but swiftly.
The rebels soon began to collapse. Once defeated, Theon divided his forces into three groups to sweep across the rebel-held islands.
As for the traitorous nobles, Theon ordered them buried alive, granting their castles instead to the bravest of his soldiers.
These newly created lords, however, were granted only the right to collect taxes. The peasants of their lands now fell directly under the administration of Pyke and bore no obligation to fight for their new masters.
When Theon issued this decree, almost no one objected. All understood Theon's ruthless political philosophy, and had seen with their own eyes how he beheaded Rodrik Harlaw.
They were content enough with castles and the right to taxation. Should any prove ungrateful, they would simply end up as food for the fish.
This unprecedented purge of the Iron Islands lasted for half a month. It was said the seas around Harlaw ran red with blood.
The people came to call it the Month of Judgment. During that time, Theon executed no fewer than two hundred nobles.
From then on, opposition on the three Harlaw islands was silenced. Theon seized the moment to announce that the Iron Islands' system would now be aligned with that of the Riverlands.
Though many nobles resisted the introduction of the new city-defense system, their opposition was weak.
The reason was simple: Theon made them richer.
Every noble held private savings, and Theon granted them quotas of luxury goods, soap, glass, and refined salt, ensuring their profit.
He also imposed commercial taxes, which proved lucrative for both sides.
Furthermore, Theon purchased two-thirds of their lands at high prices, then resold them in small plots to farmers at low rates. Though he lost money personally, the policy greatly boosted social productivity.
While the city-defense system divided powers in theory, in practice executive authority still remained in the hands of the nobles.
Even if exiled to govern in distant territories, they still monopolized administrative control.
As for education, Theon had no plans to build schools, not yet. The peasants lacked spare coin, and they would never willingly send their children to study while food was scarce.
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