After being crowned king of the Iron Islands, Euron Greyjoy was talking to one of his nieces. "Asha… Yara… whichever one you are…"
"I'm Yara," she said.
"A king must have a wife, to give him heirs," Euron said.
"That's quite an offer," said Yara, "but I'm not into guys."
"Wasn't talking about you, sweetheart, don't flatter yourself. To make an heir that's worthy of me, I need a different woman. When the kraken weds the dragon, let all the world beware."
"What dragon?" said Yara, curious in spite of herself.
"Her name is Daenerys Targaryen."
Yara frowned. "I thought all the Targaryens were dead."
"Not this one. She's been hiding out on the other side of the Narrow Sea. Now she's in Mossflower, with three dragons and an army of animals, building up her strength to conquer Westeros. I want to marry her so we can rule the seven kingdoms together. Go to Mossflower, behold her beauty, and bring her back to me."
"Why are you asking me?" Yara wondered. "Why not Victorian?"
"Because Victorian might decide he wants the Targaryen woman for himself. After all, I did take a woman from him once."
Yara folded her arms. "But why should I help you?"
Euron smiled. "If you don't, I'll kill you."
"Well, that's a good enough reason for me," she said.
But after she left Euron, she went to find Asha. "I've been giving some more thought to what you said about working together," she told her sister.
"It's too late now," Asha said despondently. "The kingsmoot's over and done with. Euron's already won."
"Maybe not," said Yara, and she explained Euron's plan to Asha. "Euron wants to make an alliance with Daenerys Targaryen. If we get to her first, we can team up with her before he has a chance to. We can help her overthrow King Joffrey, and she can help us overthrow Euron."
"Sounds good to me," said Asha. "But which one of us gets to be queen of the Iron Islands after we get rid of Euron?"
"Well, we can decide that later."
"Okay."
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Tyrion and Daenerys were standing on the walls of Marshank, watching for Tsarmina and Clogg.
"The animals you command appear to have a great deal of respect for you," Tyrion observed. "Have you ever thought of simply remaining here and building up a new kingdom for yourself?"
"I can't stay here forever," Dany said. "Mossflower isn't my home. Westeros is."
"Who will support you when you get back to Westeros?" Tyrion asked.
"The common people," she said.
Tyrion rolled his eyes. "Let's be generous and assume that's going to happen. Here in Mossflower, you have the support of the common people, and only the common people. How's that working out for you? And House Targaryen is gone. Not a single person who shares your blood is alive to support you. The Griffins are gone as well. The remaining members of House Lannister will never back you, not ever. Stannis Baratheon won't back you either. His entire claim to the throne rests on the illegitimacy of yours. That leaves the Tyrells. Not impossible, not enough."
"Lannister, Targaryen, Baratheon, Griffin, Tyrell…." Dany murmured. "They're all just spokes on a wheel. This one's on top, then that one, and on and on it spins, crushing those on the ground."
"It's a beautiful dream, stopping the wheel," Tyrion said. "You're not the first person who's ever dreamed it."
"I'm not going to stop the wheel," she replied. "I'm going to break the wheel."
Tyrion looked up at the sky. "Strange, I thought I could hear thunder."
Dany looked up too. "How could you hear thunder when there's not a cloud in the sky?"
But the noise wasn't coming from the sky. It was coming from the shore ahead. The vermin had hauled one of their ships out of the water. Clogg's pirates and Tsarmina's soldiers were pushing it along the beach toward the fortress while the squirrels and the lizards ran behind it. They were going to use the ship as a battering ram!
"This is just like the Battle of the Blackwater all over again," Tyrion groaned. "Except this time, we don't have wildfire to help us."
"We have something better," Dany said. "We have dragon fire."
