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Just a quick note: to those commenting about grammatical mistakes I just want to say that English is not my native language, I do not live in an English-speaking country, and I don't work in an English-speaking environment. I do use a spell-checking tool, but it doesn't detect every single mistake. I do try my hardest by double, and sometimes triple read everything, but sometimes things slip through. (Then/Than is my worst nightmare, I tell, these words are evil!). Hope any mistakes you find don't bother you too much. :) I do admit that my author notes ate not always checked, since I sometimes write them directly in the website.
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Chapter Eight – Age 26/27
VIII
"We should have brought all the boats with us" Young Haron Karstark grumbled to his uncle.
Beside them, Greatjon Umber snorted, as he narrowed his eyes, trying to see further across the sea.
"The Queen never does something without good reason boy."
"But the Ironborn can easily beat us at sea!" he protested.
The big man shook his head, as his uncle sighed.
"If we left the shores of our Kingdom unprotected, others could easily attack while we are away. One can never conscript all his men to war. Some must always stay to keep the order and act as a rearguard or a contingency plan." His uncle explained.
"But the Ironborn..." He trembled, imagining the sea farers invading their ship, cutting them all to their deaths.
Greatjon let out a loud chuckle, patting him in the back with such force that he had to brace himself against the ships railing so he wouldn't fall. "Fear not boy, of course the Queen sent her scouts ahead of us so we can avoid any Ironborn ships."
"Really?" He asked, hopeful.
The two men beside him grimaced.
"The scum is busy raiding other lands." His uncle said, his face grim. "The Riverlands and the crownlands probably have their hands full right now."
Heddara looked out of the window of her cabin, rubbing Storms fur as she came out of her warging trance with Haros.
"Everything is going as planned." She said, sighing in relief as she felt Rohar's hands gently rub the tension from her shoulders.
"The gamble with Seagard payed off?"
She nodded. "It was always a risk, warning them of the danger. But we managed the timing very well. They had just enough time not to be caught by surprise, but not enough to mount an offensive that would send the Ironborn running."
"Perfect for a drawn-out affair then." Her husband said, moving her hair out of the way so he could plant a kiss on her neck. "I must say this ruthless side of you is extremely attractive, wife"
She chuckled, pulling him over for a kiss.
Rohar pulled his oars from the water, before carefully dipping them in once again, to pull the small boat forward.
Making landfall at night was a danger that most sailors did take, as you could easily lose your ship and your life against rocks or the surf, as you approached land. But that was for sailors that did not have a warg amongst them.
Heddara had brought two owls she had bonded with to be her night guides and had used some of the bigger fish to keep an eye on the depth of the sea.
It had been slow going. Sound travelled far at night, so they had to be very careful. One hour before dawn they had finally abandoned their ships and turned to their rowboats to make the last mile into the coast.
They were off schedule, but even so, they would make it to land before dawn and that would be enough. The guards wouldn't notice them until it was too late.
"Report!" Heddara ordered Brandon Snow, as he reached her in a lull on the batle.
"Victarion Greyjoy is injured and has been captured. Balon's son Rodrik is dead, and his other son Maron is on his way there from his injuries." He frowned. "Don't know about Balon and Euron."
Heddara nodded. "Balon hasn't been seen at all. Probably cowering behind the doors of his 'Throne room'" She said, sneering at the mention of the self-proclaimed King. "Euron retreated after I hit him in the face. He might lose an eye if I hit him right."
She focused back on the fight at hand, giving a sign to the archers to send another volley over at the Ironborn trying to flank them.
"My Queen!" A page shouted over the noise of the batle. "Ships are coming! Baratheon and Lannister flags."
Beside her, Brandon snorted looking over at the retreating enemies. "Much good they will do now. The job is almost done." Gesturing back to the rearguard, she called for a ram to bring the doors to the next rooms down.
"Let them come but give word to Rohar. I don't want them trying anything funny." She said, moving over to Keep an eye for any possible enemy.
Beside her, Storm huffed, his fur stained with blood from the previous battle to breach the walls.
It had taken careful planning to get them were they were now.
Pike was, after all, a formidable castle. To breach its walls one needed war machines, and those things were not easy to move around.
Thankfully, Heddara had had the foresight to equip certain, strategical, Keeps with such machines, and Deepwood More had been one of them. As it was, she had needed to call many ships of her Western fleet to be able to move both soldiers and machines where they were most was just her luck that some ships had just been finished and she had been able to leave them for the North's defense.
She had expected opposition at sea, and while she had faced a few Ironborn ships, they had been in much less quantity than they could have been. It had been to her fortune that Balon had been stupid enough to wage war on two fronts, and so his men and woman had been busy burning ships in Lannisport and attempting to conquer Seaguard.
It had also helped that she had managed to keep them entertained at Seaguard, so they hadn't been able to flank them.
A cry went over the hall, as Haros flew through a window and came to rest on her shoulder, where she gave him a well-deserved pet.
Her winged friend had been a crucial help in delivering messages to her allies and scouting out the movements of her enemies.
"What do you want?" The man in front of her spit out, finally getting tired of waiting for her to address him.
She had done it on purpose, of course. Nothing made a conquered man more sloppy and angry, then the indifference of his conqueror.
"Why, what do you think I should do, Balon Greyjoy?" She said, with false indifference pouring out of her voice. "Take your head, maybe? Send you to serve at the wall, perhaps?"
The man sneered at her, spiting towards her feet and prompting Storm to raise his hackles and growl.
"The Iron Islands belong to me!" Baratheon screamed from the other side of the hall, were he was surrounded by Lannister, Arryn and another man she suspected to be Jason Malister. "I will decide what to do with them!"
Heddara snorted, sending a mocking smile in his direction. "Oh? And what would you do?"
Baratheon frowned, looking uncertain.
"His two oldest sons are dead. I say we take his heir as hostage for good behavior and raise his taxes for the next few years." He finally said, before looking over at Arryn, who nodded in agreement.
Who certainly wasn't in agreement was Tywin Lannister and Jason Malister, who were about to open his mouth to retort, when Heddara interrupted.
"I believe I will have to disappoint." She said with a smirk. "I recall receiving a letter stating 'It is not my issue if the Ironborn visit your coast. I care not what they do during such visits either. Do with them as you wish.' Not only that but the treaty we both signed stated clearly that in case one of your little fiefdoms attacked the North and you didn't put them down yourself, then solving the matter would fall to the injured party with no consequence from you." She smiled innocently up at Lord Arryn. "Isn't that so?"
Lord Arryn nodded reluctantly, prompting Tywin Lannister to scowl. He was probably seething at knowing that his fleet could still be whole if the King had been proactive in the defense of his Kingdom.
One his other side, Jason Malister sent her a considering look. Good, maybe she could get an ally out of this mess.
To be fair, Heddara wouldn't lay the blame solely on Baratheon's shoulders. His advisers probably could, and should, have pressed him harder for action.
"I'm glad we have reached an agreement." She said, before turning back towards her captives and completely ignoring Baratheon and his men.
"So, what should I do with you." Heddara pondered, looking back at the self-proclaimed King of the Iron Islands. "I'm afraid you would have been better off with Baratheon, Balon Greyjoy. I have no mercy for those who attack my people."
Her eyes turned hard at the memory of the burnt villages she had seen from Haros eyes.
"I must say you made a grave mistake when you decided to raid my Kingdom." She said, her voice frigid. "Had you kept to the shores of the Seven Kingdoms I wouldn't have cared at all. Me and my men would have stayed home enjoying a good mead and preparing a harvest festival." She sneered at the man, letting her anger show for the first time that evening. "But you had to be greedy on top of everything. You didn't just want independence. Oh, no. You wanted to show everyone how they should fear you, the oh mighty King of the Iron Islands."
She rubbed the fur of Storm's head, mindless of the blood staining his jaw and paws.
"I'm not letting you keep enough power to try such a thing ever again, Balon Greyjoy." She stated firmly, prompting all the men present to jump at attention.
Behind the self-proclaimed King his still living, and non-incarcerated brothers, Victarion and Euron, looked at her with narrowed eyes. Their reputations as fearsome warriors and sailors preceded them, and Heddara had no doubts that they would have strong opinions to share about her next statements.
"The only problem is that I could do with you whatever I wished, and nothing would guarantee that whoever came after you wouldn't do any worse." She looked at the man one last time before turning to Baratheon.
"I am putting into effect the treaty we signed six years ago, Robert Baratheon, first of his name King of the Andals and the Rhionar, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm." She stated formally. "Through the letters exchanged between us during the last two moons, it is obvious that you did not care for the consequences of the actions of your subject, Balon Greyjoy, Warden of the Iron Islands, and it is therefore implicit that you silently supported them.
"As The Kingdom of the North has successfully neutralized the threat imposed to its Realm, and subdued and is now in control of the Iron Islands, I, Heddara Stark, first of my name, Queen in the North, take these lands as part of my Kingdom, to be forever freed from the ruling of the Iron Throne, and brought into the Realm of Winter."
The chaos was immediate. Baratheon cried in outrage, as Arryn tried to calm him down and the Ironborn Lords present tried to protest.
So, Heddara decided to influence the war a little, by making the fighting at Seagard more prolonged by evening up the field.
Now what will be Balon's fate? And the rest of the Greyjoys?
