Months after Allen's arrival, word reached the Iron Islands of Lyanna Stark's kidnapping by Rhaegar Targaryen. I understood that this would spark a series of events that would send the Seven Kingdoms into all out war. Sure enough, word spread like wildfire about how King Aerys had Lord Brandon Stark and his father, Lord Rickard Stark burned alive when they demanded Lyanna be returned to them. Robert Baratheon, enraged by the kidnapping of his betrothed, called his banners and allied with House Stark and others to rebel against King Aerys. House Stark, now led by Lord Eddard Stark, became completely dedicated to the cause to claim justice for the murder of father and his elder brother, and to rescue his sister from the Targaryens.

The rebellion set the kingdoms off like a powder keg. As lines were drawn and alliances secured, Father called his children and his banners to a meeting to discuss what House Greyjoy's options would be. I understood what my brothers would recommend, but I had my own ideas.

Father sat on the Seastone Chair looking like he was prepared to bark down the bannermen gathered in the Great Hall. Balon, Aeron, and Victorion sat to his left. Euron and I sat to his right. My cousins stood behind us. He wanted the strength of House Greyjoy on full display.

Euron leaned over and whispered to me, "Well, Merida? What do you hope Father will do?"

I chuckled and shot Euron a smirk, "So long as he doesn't listen to Balon, I think we'll be fine."

"Now why wouldn't you want him to listen to your older brother?" Euron purred with amusement. "Surely you aren't suggesting that Balon would give Father bad advice."

I rolled my eyes, "Oh, please. Every time Balon opens his mouth it's about returning to reaving. He's as predictable as the tides."

Euron laughed and patted my shoulder, "I guess we'll see."

"Be silent!" Father shouted. His words weren't targeted toward us as much as it was to get the attention of those in attendance. He waited for the bannermen to grow quiet and focus their attention on him. "I am calling this meeting of banners to order. As you all know, Robert Baratheon has called his banners and allied with the House Stark and House Tully, among others, to rise in rebellion against House Targaryen and King Aerys. We must now decide how the Iron Island will respond to these events."

Balon stood quickly before anyone could say anything. The act gave him the floor. "My Lords, I don't believe we have anything to discuss. The Seven Kingdoms are at war and the Iron Islands has an opportunity to return to our roots. The armies will be fighting inland and the shorelines and ports will be left with minimal protection. The Iron Born can reave our way up and down the coast, taking what we please."

I heard Euron chuckle softly and could feel his eye on me. I had been right and that amused him.

Balon turned and faced Father, "Further. While House Baratheon and the others rise in rebellion, House Greyjoy and the Iron Island should declare our independence as well! We need no king! And no fleet can match ours if they wished to retake the island once we break away. This is our chance to become true Iron Born once again!"

His speech was impassioned and seemed to stir the hearts of the bannermen. Many of them seemed to be grinning and nodding in approval of the suggestion. I knew I had to nip this in the bud before it got out of control. I slipped out of my chair.

Balon looked at me, his expression telling me that he didn't appreciate the act one bit, but he bowed his head, "It would seem my sister disagrees. Please, Sister, feel free to speak."

I bowed my head politely, then looked at the bannermen, "Balon is right. I disagree with his suggestion. This is a time of upheaval and change, and the Iron Island stands to benefit from it greatly. But we will gain nothing by trying to attack either faction in this war in an attempt to gain some form of independence. Instead, we should concern ourselves with gaining future royalties and favor from the Crown."

"You would have us back the Targarayens?" Balon asked.

"I would have the Targaryens think we are backing them while using that trust to gain a new ally," I replied. "The Targaryens only ruled Westeros because they had dragons. They no longer have dragons, and the Mad King's actions have showcased their bloodline's instability. I say we take advantage of one of the bridges the Mad King has burned and build it anew to our advantage."

Father looked at me as he appraised the idea in my mind, "What advantage would be greater than our independence?"

"We are not, and cannot be, independent," I retorted. "We don't have the resources to maintain our independence. We rely too much on the mainland to sustain our way of life."

There were a number of protests from the bannermen but I continued anyway.

"We rely on them for food, ore, seeds and more," I pointed out. "Our ancestors were able to gain these products through reaving, but that was when each minor lord was his own fiefdom. Those days are long gone. If we went back to reaving now, whoever wins the throne will simply send multiple fleets to stop us, force concessions from us, and diminish us further. The idea of independence is simply out of our grasp. Our pride might not like it, but it's a fact nevertheless."

"Then what do you suggest we gain from this tumultuous time, Sister?" Balon asked with a tone that grated with annoyance.

"More," I turned from Balon and looked at Father. "The Targaryan's time has come to an end. Someone new will sit on the Iron Throne, and we want their good graces. By being a crucial part of the Targaryan's downfall, the Iron Island can enjoy favor from the new King. We stand to gain more in the way of materials and territory from the new king than we would ever hope to receive from the Targaryans who would only see our aid as something to be expected."

"What makes you say this?" Victorian asked from his seat. "Is this something you have seen?"

I nodded confidently, "Yes. The Drowned God has shown me great things to come. But they will only happen if we help end the reign of the Targaryens."

It was a complete lie, of course. The entity in this world hadn't spoken to me for years at this point. But I knew the world's history and lore, so I knew who was going to come out on top regardless of what we did.

Father looked between Balon and myself as he considered our proposals. After several moments, he addressed the bannermen, "I have decided that my daughter's plan is best. We will-"

"Father, you can't be willing to throw away a chance at our independence so quickly!" Balon protested.

Father stood in a fury that surprised me, "You sit down and be silent! I have heard your proposals and have decided to do what is best for the Iron Island. I will not put pride and past glories ahead of the future prosperity of my people! You will submit to my decision or I will have you scrubbing the deck of one of your brother's boats!"

Balon cursed under his breath and marched out of the hall. No one bothered to stop him, but there was nothing that would be gained from keeping him where he didn't want to be.

We spent a few more hours going over my suggestion. There were a number of preparations we would have to make. The Iron Fleet would begin preparing for war. While the fleet was capable of setting sail within hours of a command, we held it back until the time was right.

King Aerys would never call for the Ironborn's help in the land war. After all, we were amazing sailors, but our warriors didn't have the equipment or experience in pitched battles between armies. Fleets were rarely used for ongoing conflicts in Westeros simply because the Iron Fleet existed. Thanks to my influence, our fleet had almost tripled in size. Since the King could call on us at any time, most of the Great Houses focused primarily on raising up their land armies.

We received ravens from King's Landing six months after the rebellion began. Aerys demanded the Ironborn intercept sail west to intercept the small fleet of House Manderly and keep it away from the Redwyne fleet while they were busy blockading Storm's End. This was what we were waiting for. We had been waiting for the king to grow desperate enough to call on us. The Manderly fleet wasn't strong enough to break the blockade, but it could harry the Redwyne fleet so that some ships could slip in with supplies. At the moment I had to imagine that they were holding out on onions and minor foodstuffs that had been smuggled in by Davos Seaworth.
However, I was determined to gain the favor of House Bratheon during this war. Balon was sent east with a letter to House Lannister. Euron and Victorian joined me heading south. Victarion's fleet stopped at the Arbor, surrounding and blockading it so that they couldn't send any more ships to help with the blockade at Storm's End. The Arbor was in no danger of its people starving, but being able to put a stop to their fleet's ability to send aid to the Targaryens.

Euron held his fleet at Blackwater Bay, claiming that his fleet was there to bolster the royal fleet while his true goal was to blockade King's Landing. He would harass any ship trying to enter or leave the bay claiming to search them in the name of security. By the time the royal fleet realized that Euron wasn't there to help, the blockade was set. The sailors of the royal fleet were excellent sailors, but they weren't Ironborn. Euron's reputation alone was enough to give most of them pause. Add in the reputation the Ironborn carried with them and none of the royal fleet dared to try and break the blockade.

My fleet was smaller than my brother's fleets, but I was commanding it. I stood on the bow as the wind carried us to Storm's End. I watched as the Redwyne fleet's ships began to appear over the horizon.

Allen smirked at me, "So, what do you have planned? Fireballs?"

I chuckled and mirrored his smirk as I shook my head, "Now where's the fun in that? No. I have something else in mind."

He laughed and raised a hand, calling a small flame to his fingers, "Well, you'd better clue me in on the plan or I'm just going to wing it."

"It's nothing too crazy," I said as I watched him play with the flames. It made me happy that he still had a connection to magic. "We may have fewer ships, but the water is at my command. I'm going to pull them toward us one at a time. We'll offer the chance for each ship to surrender. If they do, we claim the ship. If they don't-"

"We kill them all and claim the ship," Allen finished for me with a grin.

"I'm glad to see we can still finish each other's ideas," I laughed. I turned and signaled to the bosun that we needed to stop. "Signal the fleet! Heave to!"

The fleet came to a slow halt and fanned out into a horseshoe pattern with my ship at the center. Aeron approached after everything was ready.

"The Captains are ready, Sister," Aeron said as he tucked his arms into the sleeves of his robes. "You're certain this will work?"

I nodded with a smile, "Even when they figure out we're pulling their ships to us one by one, they won't be able to do anything. I could have done this from further away but I wanted them to be able to see us so that they knew we were here. I wanted them to know it was the Ironborn that was responsible for tearing their fleet apart."

"And you believe this will have the intended effect in the future?" Aeron asked.

"Trust me," I said confidently. "The rebellion will be victorious and this will secure Stannis' loyalty."

"And what about the Tyrells?" Allen asked. "We may remove the blockade, but Stannis won't be able to leave Storm's End without getting through their siege."

I chuckled, "What do you mean? We'll have at least a hundred new ships to carry their army anywhere he wants to go. And I can guarantee you he'll want to get into the fight. Now, let's get this started."

I reached out with my senses. Before picking the first ship, I raised the seafloor in spikes that would hold the other ships in place. This was done subtly so as not to alert their crews. By the time they tried to respond to whatever they thought was happening, it'd be too late. After that, I commanded the water to compact around the closest ship and pull it towards us. The crew was panicking and working the sails to try and attempt to stop the ship's movement to no avail. I pulled the ship close enough to ours so that I could talk to the crew.

I stepped to the rails with Allen and Aeron flanking me, "My name is Lady Merida Greyjoy! I would speak with your Captain. Who among you commands this vessel?"

A taciturn man with sun kissed skin and a thick beard stopped forward, "I am Lord Percy Redwyne, cousin to Lord Paxter Redwyne. I command this ship."

"Lord Percy Redwyne, I would prefer not to have to kill you and your crew," I grinned. "But you should understand that you and your ship are surrounded and alone. I'm sure your men could put up… some kind of resistance. But I think now would be a prudent time to evaluate your chances in this predicament and surrender yourself and your ship to me. If you don't, we'll have no choice but to kill you all."

"Do you think death frightens me, girl?" Percy responded, scoffing at the thought.

Allen stepped forward, "Did you forget My Lady's title, My Lord? Perhaps you'd care to repeat that?"

"You Ironborn are nothing but reavers and rapists," Percy spat. "Those are the only titles I will offer your 'Lady'!"

My eyes went wide with fury. I summoned a spout of water up from the ocean to encompass Percy and pulled him up into the air. His crew watched in horror as their Lord tried to escape the water to no avail. Allen was quick to cast a binding spell to hold the crew in place so they couldn't escape and were forced to watch. Over the next minute he thrashed and struggled, desperately trying to get out of the water till it finally happened. His body ran out of air and instinctively tried to take in more only to swallow lungs full of seawater. He floated there, his face contorted in its final desperate expression.

I looked at his crew and growled, "Now, I trust you won't forget my title or even dare to call me a reaver or rapist from here out… I am still willing to accept your surrender. Do so now and the ship is mine. You will be brought to Storm's End as prisoners. Stannis Baratheon treats his prisoners fairly. If you don't surrender, you'll suffer the same fate as Lord Redwyne here. Make your choice now. I have a long day ahead of me."

Allen smirked and chuckled, "I'd do as my Lady suggests if I were you. Otherwise, I get to show you what I can do."

The crew quickly surrendered and I convinced the first mate to point out where the Redwyne fleet's command ship was. This allowed me to expedite the process by pulling the command ship next. Unfortunately for the ship's commander, Lord Paxter Redwyne, he had to arrive at the sight of his cousin floating lifelessly in the water spout.

Lord Paxter's face drained of all color as he saw his cousin, "W-what is this witchery? What happened here?!"

I canted my head to the side, glaring at Lord Paxter, "Your cousin forgot his manners and called me a reaver and a rapist, and insisted that those were the only titles I was accorded. I trust that the head of House Redwyne will have better manners."

"And just who are you?" Paxter asked with a mixture of curiosity and fear.

I pulled myself into a more professional posture, "I am Lady Merida Greyjoy. This is my brother Lord Aeron Greyjoy. I am here to offer you the chance to surrender or suffer the same fate as your cousin. Should you choose to surrender, Lord Stannis Baratheon will hold your men in his prison until the war has ended. You'll likely be treated far better."

Paxter stared at me for some time as he tried to sort through the situation, "How is it you are able to do this, Lady Greyjoy?"

I laughed, "Let's just say that the Drowned God has blessed me and leave it at that. Let's not draw out the situation, though. Will you surrender or not?"

"Perhaps I should come aboard and we should discuss things," Paxton said with as neutral a tone as he could muster.

I brought Paxton on board and we spent the next hour negotiating his fleet's surrender. In exchange for the Redwyne fleet's ships, I guaranteed the safety and the lives of Lord Redwyne's men. Additionally, Lord Redwyne agreed to send ravens to the Arbor and commanded his people to load Victorian's ships with food and provisions to bring to Storm's End. This act would revitalize the Baratheon forces and take a considerable amount of the Tyrell's forces off the table.

With the negotiations finished, we sailed toward Storm's End. With Lord Paxton on my ship, we had him command his forces to stand down. It took several hours for us to swap crews and disarm the Redwyne fleet's sailors.

As my ship docked at Storm's End, we were met by Lord Stannis Baratheon and his wife Selyse. I disembarked the ship and approached Stannis with a wide grin. I recognized Stannis right away. His humorless face and stern demeanor would have given him away even if he hadn't looked like his actor from the show.

I dipped into a curtsy, "Lord Stannis Baratheon. I am Lady Merida Greyjoy, and this is my brother Lord Aeron Greyjoy. We're pleased to make your acquaintance."

Stannis stared at me suspiciously, "What brings you to Storm's End, Lady Greyjoy?"

I turned and motioned to Lord Paxton, "King Aerys demanded that we stop the Manderly fleet from harassing the Redwyne fleet's blockade. We decided that we had better options. I present to you Lord Paxton Redwyne; your prisoner. I also have the rest of the fleet with a number of other lords being brought in for your cells."

"All due respect, Lady Greyjoy, but we do not need prisoners," Stannis grumbled. "We need food."

Aeron nodded, "We understand completely. We have provisions for your people that will last the next few weeks. Long enough for Lord Redwyne to send word to his family to fill the ships of my brother Victorian's fleet with food so that he can bring it to you."

"Once you and yours are healthy, the Ironborn will be happy to carry you wherever you'd like to go," I added. "Since Lord Redwyne has forfeited his ships to me, I will keep skeleton crews on them and have them remain in the bay to keep up the facade that the blockade is still in place. The charade won't last long, but it should last long enough to let you join your brother on the field."

Stannis stared at me with what seemed to be about as joyful an expression as I could imagine him ever giving; which is to say his face went more neutral than scornful. "I am grateful for your aid Lady Greyjoy. I would like to invite you and your brother to dine with us tonight to show our appreciation and discuss the details."

"We'd be delighted," I replied with a bow of my head.

That night, Stannis treated us to a humble dinner even by Ironborn standards. I couldn't blame him, though. His priority was to give his people the food they desperately needed. I explained our plans and we discussed the logistics of where, and how, we would transport his men. Over the coming months, we brought Stannis north so that he could connect with his brother. With Stannis' forces added to the rebellion, they were able to rout the Tyrells from Storm's End and then push toward the capital.

Balon's part in our plan finally came. He had his ships disguised as Lannister ships and made a show of breaking through Euron's blockade in the Blackwater. Balon's ships reached King's Landing and the Lannister soldiers were greeted as heroes until they began to cut a swath through the city. The Lannisters weren't tired or weary from land travel, and their fresh units made short work of the Targaryen forces. The Baratheon army was allowed into the city and Robert took the throne after Jaime Lannister murdered the King, earning him the nickname 'King slayer'.

Robert was crowned king roughly a month after the sacking of King's Landing. He had insisted that the Greyjoys attend the ceremony since we had been crucial in his campaign to end King Aerys's reign. I have to admit that Robert was extremely impressive in his prime. He was tall, broad shouldered, with a deep chest and powerful build. He was nearly twice my height and towered over most everyone else as well. It was a shame that he would let the impressive physique go after he married Cersei Lannister.

I was lucky enough to meet Jon Arryn, Eddard Stark, Ser Barriston Selmy, and a number of other notable figures. While I was in King's Landing, I convinced King Robert to allow me to take daily lessons from Ser Barriston. This was my fourth lifetime and I could honestly say that Ser Barriston was easily among the most skilled warriors I'd ever trained with. It was an opportunity I wasn't going to pass up.

As a reward for our contributions in the war, Robert declared that House Greyjoy would be granted control over naval trade routes around Westeros. This empowered the Iron Fleet to enforce naval law and trade. He would have named me Master of Ships if I hadn't been a woman, since it was my plan that made the Greyjoys so instrumental in the war. However, I managed to convince him to name Aeron Master of Ships. Aeron had no desire for the position, but I chose him because Victarion was too aggressive, Balon was too much of a hot-head, and Euron was a psychopath whose actions couldn't be predicted. Aeron was dedicated to me as an avatar of the Drowned God, so he would serve the King as well as possible to make me happy.

Since Robert couldn't give me the position he wanted to give me, he allowed me to choose anything else that he could grant me. I chose a single book with a ridiculously long title and dreadfully dull information for most anyone that was called 'The Lineages and Histories of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms, With Descriptions of Many High Lords and Noble Ladies and Their Children'. It would come in handy later down the line and help me save hundreds of thousands of lives.

In the end, Robert's Rebellion saw the rise of the Kracken, and the Iron Island was now recognized as a House to be reckoned with. The day before I was to return back to the Iron Island, I received a message from Lord Varys, the Master of Whisperers. He wanted me to join him for dinner. This would be interesting.