Asha

Every evening, from the western ramparts, Lady Allyria would look down at the army that had her castle surrounded. Everyday Asha would accompany her, for she had nothing else to do within the castle. In truth Asha would have preferred an assault of these idiots. She yearned for a fight, a taste of blood once more before she dies. All this waiting was making her go mad and she was not made for being cooped up within the castle. Though there wasn't anything left to do other than that. She had made her mind and now she was stuck here whether she liked it or not.

Today was no different. They visited the ramparts as they always did, watching the encircling army from the distance and safety of the castle. Sometimes even that wasn't as safe as she had once thought. Nigh a day passed without a few exchange of volleys between the archers on the walls and the ones opposing them. The higher position from the walls and the longer range favoured the defenders well with the archers of Starfall finding their targets more often than not. On some days some stray arrow from outside the castle would wound or kill one of their own.

Asha knew that it wasn't a start for a full frontal assault. Those arrows were just there to remind those inside the castle of their fate. There was no escape and no amounts of volleys of arrows was enough to break the siege. And Asha could see it. It did not matter of course. The Targaryens had them strangled with all the ten fingers. Everything had stopped in and around the castle, and there was nothing left to be seen the leagues beyond them. Just like she had suspected the attackers fell upon the port first, to cut off all the trade and any means of connection within the castle. The soldiers of Lady Allyria who defended the harbour were killed to the last men. Most of the smallfolk had run away and the boldest were captured by the slavers from the east. It was even hazardous for the dogs. She had thought that their ships would be burnt as well but the wise masters of the east had indeed proved to be wise for once. They had them tied up beneath their own colours in the port, all the ships that were taken from Starfall were added to their fleet as well, warships and trading galleys whose captains and crews were killed and replaced as the eastern host of Rhaegar Targaryen laid siege to the castle, as they were now returned to augment the fleets from Tolos, Yaros, and New Ghis.

Every single counsel they had for Lady Allyria proved worse than the one before that as the siege had started to take it's toll as weeks passed. Asha knew that it was the river which saved them from the inevitable so far. The Torrentine ran swift and strong throughout the year, the waters roaring as they battered everything on its path to the sea. She counted no less than ten thousand men, a force large enough to surround even a castle as big as Starfall on its defiat hill. And with such a large force even storming the castle wouldn't take long despite the courage or skill of the defenders. It was the tumbling moat that ran around Starfall that kept them safe. For now. Asha had not failed to see the army of the slavers working hard to build the siege engines and the means to get them across. They had cut down most of the timber from the forests in the surrounding lands.

Ser Garrison told Lady Dayne that much as well. "Outside our walls, the slavers have devoured our crops and slaughtered our herds. Most of the survivors from the villages say that they had all been taken over by the sellswords and free companies. The castle is encircled and we are cut off even from High Hermitage. The sellswords roam the hills of the Red Mountains now, hunting down all those they come upon."

"We can do something can't we?" asked Lady Allyria. "These are our people. We must protect them."

"We can not save all them, my lady," said Ser Walter.

The maester nodded. "Those who can't reach the safety of Starfall would surely go to High Hermitage or Blackmont or Skyreach. They shall be safer there."

Ser Garrison leaned into the table. "My lady, as per the words of our prisoners the Eastern army got four Ghiscari legions too, maybe more, and three large free companies as well as several thousand unsullied spearmen from Astapor. The way I see it we would never be able to defeat them and break the siege."

Allyria sighed. Asha could see that was not the answer that the Lady of Starfall wanted. Her indigo eyes were searching the map desperately for something Asha didn't know.

"They don't know how much long our stores can last," the young knight said, "but the essosi must have an idea of how we lack the men to put up a successful defence of the castle. By now they will have gotten the taste of fire and blood instead of a siege."

"That siege is strangling us already, and would they start thinking about assaulting," Allyria said. "Surely they would not prefer that?"

"Those siege engines are of no worth if they are not intended to get the walls down or to get their men inside, my Lady," Ser Garrison replied. "A siege can last for months, but the war might not. These gluttons and scum from the east might have the patience for the siege but Rhaegar might not. I say we prepare for an assault. It might come sooner or later nevertheless."

"Can we fight off an assault?" Allyria Dayne asked.

Asha knew the answer for it even if no one said it. There was none. The Targaryens outnumbered them five to one. Even with a good defensive position on the castle it was simply too much, especially when the food and water starts running low.

Ser Garrison instead was more hopeful than her. "Aye," he leaned over the table and studied the map over it. "We might be outnumbered by several times but I have enough men to make a good defence of the castle."

The knight pointed out to the northern and southern gates of the castle of Starfall on the map. "If they ever attempt any crossing they will be doing that here and here," he said. "There are a few rocks that might provide natural support a bridge and the water runs slow, perfect for making a crossing. The hill is basically unapproachable from the east and the west. All we have to do is keep them from building any such bridge that might connect the castle to the mainland." He tapped the spot on the map.

"Those craftsmen who make these machines will be our targets when they come by," Garrison said. "Arrows, rocks, pitch, oil, we might need everything. I have told the men to stop loosing any return volley in return for their own. I fear they are deliberately trying to goad us into doing so to deplete our stores. There are no hopes of sallying out and hindering their efforts but we might have enough wood to make a few trebuchets of our own, to launch anything to disrupt their efforts. It won't be enough to break the siege but it will be to hold the castle."

"That might be enough," Allyria said, desperately hopeful. "If there's nothing in the balance between us, well... we should prepare for an assault then. We just have to hold on enough for Andrew to come and lift the siege. I will give you weapons, workers, tools, whatever you require for the defence, Ser Garrison. The castle should not fall."

Asha found the lady too full of hope, despite the desperate situation she found herself in. She reminded her of her own younger self back in Pyke before her brothers died. She was fully confident that her nephew was going to win the war, while it was very much possible that he might lose and never arrive and all they would have done is simply prolong the inevitable. Though it made more sense than simply surrendering to the mercy of these wise masters who might make a slave out of them.

"Me and my men can defend one of those points," Asha offered then. "Ironborn are good sailors, it is common knowledge. But we are as good at fighting as we are at sailing. Spare me a contingent of archers and we will tear away any crossing or siege engines to pieces of nails and scraps of wood."

Ser Garrison looked at her with unsure eyes. She had caught the knight looking at the axes on her back and the dirk at her waist often enough with dismay. He does not like that I am fighting like a man alongside him. Would he prefer it if she was more like his lady instead, dressed in a pretty gown, all sweet and delicate and beautiful.

"We are grateful for that, Lady Asha," said Allyria. "Ser Garrison would give you all that you need for it."

She then turned to the maester. "How are our stores, maester Marwyn?"

The maester went through his books before answering. "Our stores are ample for the moment," he told her, "and we have planted beans and peas and some oats in the space we have within the castle. If those efforts succeed we will have crops to sustain us after our stores run dry."

That was the best news everyone in Starfall could ever hope to hear. The castle could only resist only as long as there were food and water and other such supplies.

"That's good at least," Lady Dayne muttered.

The maester however was not so relieved. "That's not all, my lady," he said. "The castle has too few for a battle but too crowded for a siege. It would be better if we could relieve some to-"

"Relieve them to what?" Allyria said, cutting him off. "To their death? They are coming here for help. For succor and protection. We cannot turn our backs on them. You said our stores are ample. We can feed them."

"Feed them, yes," he admitted, "but for how long?"

Asha saw the reason in the man's words even as Allyria missed it. No one wanted an extra pair of mouths to feed during a siege and Starfall had more than just a pair. "You should listen to the maester and give some people up," she said to the Lady of Starfall. "Give them some food and water and send them on their way."

"Where to?" Allyria asked her. Asha shrugged. She knew most of them would be killed the moment they set foot off the castle. But it was choice that should be made. The situation would only turn dire with them. And when the food starts running out there would be hell within the castle.

"I won't send then to their death," Allyria said firmly. Asha knew there was no changing her mind after that. The Lady of Starfall could be very stubborn when she wants to be, something the people of Starfall said she was alike with her Royal sister in that regard.

The maester frowned. "As you wish, my lady."

"How large an army can we muster for the fight?" Allyria asked. "You said we have more than enough men within the walls?"

"Not large enough, begging your pardon, my lady," said the master at arms. "The master spoke through when he said that even though Starfall is overcrowded we have too few men to fight a battle."

"We will need all the men that can fight," Allyria said. "The boys and old men who are not fit for fight can man the walls at the very least. Or they can be used to scout the enemy from the watchtowers. Where they are attacking, how many men they have, and how they are disposed and provide screening for the soldiers to defend the castle."

"We'll have to gather all the boys and old men as well for that and put some kind of steel in their hands," Ser Garrison informed.

"Of course. Ser Walter will see to it."

Ser Walter gave a curt nod.

Lady Dayne then looked at the master-at-arms of the castle. "How fare the new recruits, ser?"

The old knight smiled. "Very well, Your Grace. It is good of you to ask. They are not as good as the soldiers we have right now but they might become some day."

Asha agreed with that. Those farmers and fisherfolk who fled from the eastern army in want of the safety of Starfall had only swelled the ranks of the castle. However Allyria Dayne had sent them to the master at arms on the advice of her counselors, to make soldiers out of them that they sorely needed to defend the castle. She had watched those commonfolk train and she had to admit they would make good soldiers with time.

"I hope that day comes quickly. We need them as soon as possible."

Ser Walter considered those words for a moment. "I would say a few are already ready, my lady. Four or five perhaps. A week or two we will have as many as a dozen ready to fight."

"That would be the most welcome," Allyria said. "The day might come soon when we would have need of all the men in the castle."

"They shall be ready, my lady. When they are, they will be ready to defend the castle as well as any men."

Allyria looked as if she was pleased enough to actually kiss the old knight's cheek. A poor waste that would be, Asha thought. "Good. That's good." Lady Allyria looked at the faces of the men around her. And then at Asha, who gave her a smile. "We cannot defeat them in battlefield but we can keep them from conquering the castle."

Everyone agreed at that. "That would be our best course," Ser Garrison said. "Our walls are taller and thicker, and our defenders are more valiant. The Torrentine would smash away their bridges, the ones that survive our archers at least. They will not take this city easily should they decide to assault it."

Ser Walter agreed. "I think we could allow them to invest us and bleed then at that. Theirs is a patchwork host at best, good for a field battle but not for a storming. These unsullied and soldiers, as good as they are, are not meant to climb over the walls while fighting off arrows and oil. If the promise of a short siege fails there will be an assault and if we defeat the assault they will be forced back to sit waiting on a longer siege enough to allow our allies to come for our rescue from the north."

"And double the watch upon the walls as well," Allyria added. "I don't want to be surprised again by these Yunkai'i, Astapori, Ghiscari, whoever they are."

"It shall be done," said Ser Garrison.

"Has there been any word from Sunspear?" Asha asked then wondering what had happened to the raven that was sent to Prince Doran Martell days ago.

She found her indigo gaze of Lady Allyria reaching for the maester once again. "Anything from Sunspear?"

The maester bobbed his head sideways, looking at his lady sadly. "There has been none," he said. "That is not to say that your ladyship should worry. There are a dozen reasons as to why we are hearing only silence. Perhaps the raven never reached the hands of Prince Doran."

"And how many ravens have we sent to him?" asked Asha. "Three, without the last one. This is the fourth. I don't think fifth would be any different really."

"I'm afraid that might be so, Lady Allyria." Ser Garrison's eyes brimmed with a silent fury. "The Martells have abandoned as once again. No help, not even a word of good will is going to come from there."

"For good reason," Asha added. "Prince Doran has declared for Rhaegar. You have thrown in your lot with the one who's vowed to kill Rhaegar."

"Starfall hasn't made any move against Sunspear," argued Ser Garrison.

"Except for an act of rebellion."

"Not against Sunspear, but the Iron Throne," the knight said.

"It was a vain pursuit to appeal to Sunspear from the first," Allyria said then. "Sunspear did nothing when my sister and hundred others were killed here. And they will do nothing now. We are alone whether we like it or not. Our only hope is that Andrew learns of our plight and comes to save us. We have to trust in him."

Everyone nodded at that. That was the hope that held Starfall together. They were too few in numbers to break the siege and no army in Dorne was like to help them. Even if they did want to, Asha doubted they had the army to do so. The Wolf King was the last and only hope lest the halls of Starfall shall run with blood once again.

Only if they were fortunate enough to be killed first. Asha doubted it. She has seen those slavers from the east first hand, and their greed for food and gold and flesh. Most of the men would surely be killed one way or another. She would welcome that kind of death that embraces her while she is still on her feet as well but Asha knew a different fate waited for her, her and Allyria and the rest of the women and girls in the castle. All of them were fated to be bed slaves, all except Allyria herself perhaps. Lady Dayne was too pretty to be squandered on the likes of scum. No, she might become the mistress of a wealthy slaver instead. Asha tried to think of Allyria in bed with one of those horned monstrosities smothering her under him. She struggled to even think about it. She deserved better.

When she descended from the chambers of war to the great marble hall, she found it almost empty. She found her men in the yard, sitting round the fire and going through the meat that had been provided for them with a bit of ale not enough to go around for everyone.

Her camp was loud with drunken warriors more so than the other ones. Each lord that were still with her had hung his battered banner behind the crates where he was seated with his men. Too few, thought Asha Greyjoy, looking down at her ragged band, too few by far. If only the rest of the fleet that had accompanied her were here now we would be on a better footing.

But Asha could not afford to think about that now, not in the presence of her crew as well. She did not doubt their devotion, but even ironborn will hesitate to give their lives for a cause that's plainly lost.

Asha took her seat on one of the crates nearby the fire. Cromm threw her a leg of a chicken and she bit into it, savoring the taste of pepper and the juice. "We are tasked with holding the walls of the castle," Asha told them after a while, taking a swig from the drinking horn. "In the case of an assault the castle would need the best chance to throw them off at their crossing."

"I have spoken with Lady Dayne and all her counselors," she told then passing the drinking horn to Qarl. "I have assurances that they will provide everything to my crew. They'll give you warm beds and a hot meal and fine steel from the forges, of your own choosing."

"Yeah, they have given us chickens and cold beef from the kitchens," one of her Greyjoy cousins said. "But I just fail to see how that should make us feel better about these dogeaters that have us surrounded."

That will not serve, Asha thought. "Would you prefer to go and face Euron instead?" Asha asked him. He flinched away at her anger. "We had a rough crossing. And the Daynes took us in when they could have turned us away or worse killed us all. Lady Allyria made sure to give you hot food and made sure that you should not want for wood nor warmth. All the while not expecting anything in return. It's time to repay back for that generosity, as well as for that chicken you've devoured on your own."

"Asha," Tris sounded concerned. "I will go anywhere with you but this folly, this war between the wolf and the dragon it's too much for us."

"Would you try your luck with Euron instead?" Asha asked him. Tris had no answer to that. "No man here has the courage to even call out Euron's name to his face. Why for, I wonder? And none is like to be on a haste to return home while my sweet uncle is ruling there. I am deeply honoured for the devotion you have shown me so far and no one shall say Asha Greyjoy had no such thing towards her crew. I promise you your home back, the Iron Islands, your ships once more for you to sail for and rule the seas and your islands once again. Euron is the devil that we are scared to speak of and his crew of mutilated mutes his cursed army. We might not be enough to defeat him even if we somehow slipped away from here unscathed but I have found someone who can."

Her crew looked at each other's faces in confusion. "And who might that be?"

"The one who's killed dragons," Asha told them. "I got a promise from the Dragonslayer's aunt herself. When Andrew Stark learns of how we've successfully defended his mother's home he would be bound by honour to win us back ours, should be name it as our price. And I mean to do that."

"And how do we know the wolf is going to win the war?" asked Roggon Rustbeard.

This is the time I have to be as hopeful as Lady Allyria. "He has already won," Asha told them. She knew it could very well be a lie but was more than confident enough when she said it. What other choice did she have? "The dragons are dead. Rhaegar has squandered his armies around trying to stop him. Before long King's Landing would fall and there will be a new King, a new King who would be in our debt."

Asha stood up so they could all hear her clearly. "Do you want that or do you want to go begging for your lives to these bloated whales from the east?"

She knew which one would be the pleasing choice to her men. Still, they have the right to choose. "Shall we throw down our spears and axes and plead with them to spare us?" Asha waited for their answer.

"No." Qarl the Maid drew his sword. "I don't want to."

"No," echoed Lorren Longaxe.

"No," boomed Rolfe the Dwarf, a bear of a man who stood a head taller than anyone else in her crew. "Never." Just then a boulder the size of the crate she was sitting on landed on one of the marble ramparts on the wall. The volley of arrows soon followed as the occupants of the castle all went in search of cover, mothers running away clutching their children to cover them from the arrows.

"To the walls then," Asha Greyjoy told her men. She turned her own steps for the closest watchtower, with her men right behind her all cheering and banging their axes and spears and swords and shouting for battle.