[ Theon startles at the sound of Maximus’s voice, but he’s grateful for it. Of all the things he could comment on, it’s not Theon’s crimes. It’s not Ramsay’s presence which Theon desperately wants to scrub away in order to make things make sense again. It’s a word, a title: prince. ]

My father—

[ He pauses as he stumbles over his words, taking a deep breath to compose himself. ]

He declared himself King of the Iron Islands on more than one occasion. Some would say his claim was illegitimate, but there’s King’s blood in the Greyjoy line. Robb Stark did the same. He declared himself King in the North by virtue of bloodline.

[ Theon would still support him if he were awake. ]

Westerosi politics are muddy and difficult to explain.