"I'm most certainly dead there," Theon says, his voice flat, mostly as a result of his attempts to suppress any other emotion. "We don't have anything like this place. I am certain I bled to death in the godswood." There's a hollow laugh. "I won't know what happened, then? If it made a difference? If they're safe?"

He tries to rub his hands over his face and the needle tugs; he's silent for a while before he looks at Neil again.

"Thank you," he says. "For saving me. Would have hated to die of impaling twice, you know."