The shouts were hardly unanimous, but nevertheless clear. "Victarion! Victarion King!" Balon's second brother, Quellon's third son, was glad to hear it. Of course he wished to be king, but he honestly believed he offered the best chance at success for the ironborn.
Euron, born between Balon and Victarion, was ill-suited to the circumstances. He offered grand dreams that seemed like empty promises, an audacious offensive when the ironborn needed to make defensive preparations. He offered treasure from his past voyages; fortunately the ironborn saw through those bribes. Victarion thought his gifts were much more reasonable. He and Euron weren't the only claimants, but the only ones with any serious chance of being crowned.
Victarion intended to simply continue what Balon had accomplished, and had told his people as much. He would have followed a King Euron, mayhaps grudgingly. Would Euron serve King Victarion in such a manner? Victarion feared not.
"We have always faced some chance of invasion when circumstances fall against us," Victarion spoke. Like when Stannis trapped me off Fair Isle, the new king had the sense to not announce publically. "If every one of us make the circumstances in our favor, we shall prevail. We shall fight to the end, throughout our islands and the seas surrounding them. We shall defend our islands, whatever the costs may be."
This time, the Iron Fleet would be protecting its home waters rather than attacking the Westerlands. It was often easier to be on the defensive. They knew the terrain and cared to protect it more than attackers were motivated to conquer it. They had shorter supply lines. Did Robb truly grasp such fundamentals after mayhaps a year in the field, compared to Victarion's own decades?
Robb hadn't lost a battle yet, though only fighting on land. Wherever the combat was, often the only fight that mattered was the latest one. His wife had success in command as well. In choosing her, he seemed to be thinking with both his brain and his cock. There was another woman he'd met after one of his early battles. Greenlanders didn't have salt wives, but Victarion understood this general concept well enough.
He'd had salt wives, once, but Euron ruined that. His third was found carrying Euron's child. She insisted she was raped, Euron bragged about seducing her. It was hard to tell when there weren't other witnesses. Victarion suspected she was making excuses for her adultery. For this, he beat her to death with his bare hands. Euron's boasting included a slander against the size of Victarion's manhood. Victarion had wanted to kill Euron too, for his part in the whole affair.
Euron had brought back another woman for Victarion. Knowing Euron, he had bedded her first and this was probably a trick. Mayhaps he was mocking his brother for not being able to acquire such a woman himself. She certainly was beautiful, long dark hair and light brown skin.
Victarion explained that being expected to serve one man was an improvement over having to fuck many. She seemed to understand this, but couldn't answer. Euron had cut her tongue out, mayhaps to protect his own secrets. This would make it harder to use her as a spy, especially since whores weren't likely to be literate. Victarion did like being able to talk about certain things. He did like bedding her, possibly because he hadn't had a woman since his wife.
Asha complicated things. The Drowned God or the Storm God, either of them could take his traitor niece. He did not want to oppose her for the first time while facing Stannis again. She had aided the loss of Moat Cailin and retreated from Deepwood Motte. Well, the Cailin garrison could have made a stand there or at the Islands, and fate had dictated the latter.
Theon was another matter. His nephew was loyal but had been a fool, desperate to prove he hadn't been softened by his years in Northern captivity. He went too deep into the green lands with too small a force, and fell to the predictable Northern counterattack. Hopefully Robb would be occupied cleaning up his own realm instead of attacking Victarion's.
Robb had the honor to fight his own battles, the sense to set an example for his men by doing so. Why would his invasion of the Iron Islands be any different? Victarion decreed that, if possible, Robb was to be captured alive, and that alive or dead, his body shouldn't be tossed into the water. If they got him, it would do more than just repulse this particular attack. Theon had eliminated Robb's brothers – only children, but useful to take them out of consideration. Yet the Starks still had a clear line of succession, two sisters not in captivity. Daenerys likewise had living trueborn relatives. Whether or not they had worthy heirs, it would help if either died without a joint heir.
Most of the ironborn strength had come back for the kingsmoot, except for Asha's renegades, a few garrisons in the green lands, and some raiders very far afield. Victarion ordered them to remain close to home. They did raid some nearby holdings to acquire supplies, yet the reaving under Balon had already reached most of the nearby targets.
Robb was currently in opposition to the Isles, but Daenerys was a mortal enemy. She had a burning hatred of rapers and slavers, and likely considered the ironborn as such for taking salt wives and thralls. Ironborn did not buy or sell anything, let alone slaves, and the captives' children were born into freedom. Yet Victarion recognized he likely wouldn't have much success in arguing this point.
The Dothraki were fearsome light cavalry with both sword and bow. Some of the greenlanders made for solid infantry or heavy cavalry. The common man was prone to mock foreigners, but the better fighting man had some respect for what enemy soldiers were capable of. Robb and Daenerys absolutely must not be allowed to land, and Victarion made this clear.
Victarion was confident that victory was within reason. He looked forward to the Iron Fleet smashing the invaders and seizing the initiative.