Alannys Greyjoy

While Balon rose against the Iron Throne, Alannys was briefly queen of the Iron Islands. The war cost her dearly: her two eldest sons, Rodrik and Maron, died in it, and Eddard Stark took the youngest, Theon, as a hostage.

After the rebellion, Alannys brought five children to Pyke to raise as wards, among them Tristifer Botley.

As the years passed, Alannys began to walk the halls of Pyke at night searching for the sons she had lost, even crossing the plank bridge to the Sea Tower barefoot, driving splinters into the soles of her feet.

She eventually moved to Ten Towers, on Harlaw, to live with her sister Gwynesse: the island's climate was milder than Pyke's.

When Theon returns to Pyke a grown man, his mother is not there: she has long been at Harlaw, and her poor health keeps her from coming back.

Shortly after, when Balon proclaims himself King of the Iron Islands once more, Alannys again becomes, as she did during the rebellion, queen consort.

Alannys outlives Balon, convinced her husband was murdered, and her mind keeps fading: she often forgets that Rodrik and Maron have been dead for years, and she still searches for the sons who are gone.

Before leaving for Deepwood Motte, Asha visits her and finds barely a shadow of the woman she once was: fierce-faced and bright-eyed in her youth, she is now white-haired, clouded of gaze, and racked by coughing fits. Even so, Alannys gives her blessing for Tristifer Botley to marry Asha, who turns down the proposal.

"Is that my mother, or her ghost?" Asha wonders.