The ship coming toward them had as its flag, a woman barely clothed, with her right breast exposed and dark hair flying. It was a big ship, perhaps a war galley, or something approaching that size. He removed the eye glass and looked around his ship. The Silence made him feel uneasy, but for now it would have to do.
"Prepare to defend!" He barked out. Several of the mutes appeared then, already armed.
Oswell watched them carefully. He did not think they would mutiny, but one could never be sure.
He pressed the eye glass back to his eye, the ship was closer now. "Ready port and starboard!" He barked.
Men moved to the respective positions. Their weapons showing. He waited, the ship came closer and closer, then moved to starboard, he turned that way and saw a man, black as night and with a colourful feather in his hair step out onto the ship's deck.
"Ho! Who are you?!" The black man cried.
"A Lord and his crew travelling southward." Oswell called back, removing the eye glass and stepping closer to starboard. "Who are you?"
There was a pause, then Oswell could see the figure better. He was dark as sin, with colourful eyes.
"I am Salladhor Saan, Pirate Prince. And you are not Euron Greyjoy." Saan said.
Oswell hoped the Prince wouldn't speak, a quick glance showed that the Prince had appeared. The Prince hadn't recovered from what had happened with Greyjoy, which was understandable. But still, there were times when Eddard Stark's honour system was a curse. This would be one of those times if Oswell allowed it to be.
"You recognise this ship then?" Oswell asked.
"I do." Saan said. "I have dealt with Greyjoy before."
Oswell waited, he got the sense that Saan was about to tell them all about Greyjoy.
Sure enough, the man became animated when he spoke. "A most unpleasant man, someone who took delight in torture for torture's sake." Saan pointed to the mutes who were milling around. "They are a perfect example of that."
"Indeed." Oswell replied.
"What happened to him? I can't imagine he willingly parted with the Silence." Saan asked.
"I killed him." Oswell said.
Saan's eyes widened. "You killed him?!"
"Yes, he was being unreasonable, so, I challenged him to a duel. He lost." Oswell replied. It was the truth, or rather a version of the truth.
"I see." Saan said, his accent coming through thick then.
"So, what do you want?" Oswell asked.
Saan blinked then answered. "I firstly wanted to see why the ship of Euron Greyjoy was here when usually it travels towards Slaver's Bay at this time. But now that I am here, I want to know whether the agreement I had with Greyjoy stands."
"Agreement?" Oswell asked. He'd read about some agreement that Greyjoy had had with a pirate, but he hadn't known it meant this pirate.
"Yes, in return for allowing him passage through the Stepstones, he would give me whatever items he had found during his travels." Saan said.
"Like?" Oswell asked.
"Swords, armour, that sort of thing. I do be interested in it." Saan said.
Oswell nodded. "Very well, let us see what we can offer you." Oswell said. He clapped his hands and the mutes who'd been gathered around went down below. They returned with a few things. Some were carrying armour, others an obscene horn that Greyjoy had, which in his notes, he claimed he'd found in Valyria, and then there was a dagger.
The minute Saan saw the dagger, his eyes lit up. The dagger was a plain thing, no jewels encrusted it, nothing stood out about it, but Saan stared at it as he was presented to him.
"Do you know what this is?" Saan whispered.
"No." Oswell said bluntly.
"This is…this is the dagger which was used to kill the last of the Valyrian Dragons over four hundred years ago." Saan said.
"What?!" The Prince exclaimed, drawing all eyes to him. the Prince blushed, but continued. "What do you mean?"
"The dragon was ill." Saan said. "But it…it was a strong dagger that needed to kill it. this dagger was that dagger. It was forged in Valyria by the Dragonkiller. It was lost during the Century of Blood."
Oswell glanced at the Prince and saw that he was looking at Saan. "Do you want it?" Oswell asked.
"Yes." Saan said.
"You can't have it." The Prince said.
Saan glared at the Prince. "If you want to cross, you'll give it to me."
"No." The Prince said.
Oswell sighed, he was going to have to kill Saan now, wasn't he?
