Trials and Tribulations of the Oathkeeper

Chapter 132: Battle of the Reach

—The Reach—

Oakenshield...

Euron was sipping a goblet of Arbor gold wine in celebration of his taking over of Oakenshield, one of the Shield Islands in the Reach. His captives, Lord Humffrey Hewett remains tied to a chair and muzzled with his wife and daughters and eight other female relatives around 16 to 25 years old to forcibly serve his men naked. Lord Hewett sat in his accustomed place upon the dias, dressed in all his heraldic finery, yet a huge white radish was shoved between his teeth so he could not speak but wasn't blindfolded – he could only see and hear what was going on before him. The King of the Iron Islands and Crow's Eye grinned wickedly at his triumphant naval battle against the Redwyne Fleet, even besting the heir to Highgarden Ser Loras Tyrell and one Kingsguard knight in battle. He claimed the place of honor at his lordship's right hand. A pretty, buxom young woman of 17 or 18 years was in his lap, barefoot and disheveled with her arms around his neck. Her white skin was covered in red marks where his mouth had been; they made a rosy necklace around her neck and shoulders.

"Tell me more about your 'prowess' in battle, my sweet King," Falia cooed into Euron's ear.

Euron put his blue lips to her throat. Smiling from ear to ear, he slammed his wine cup down for silence. "Ahh, it wasn't much of a battle. The moment I was chosen King of the Iron Islands, they think they had what it took to tangle with me. Oh, the Knight of the Flowers and the weasel boy did put up a fight, but they certainly lacked my experience – especially when you know you have nothing left to lose. Imagine: homeless. No home to return to. But the Iron Fleet? That's something else entirely. They can mock its smaller size, but I've made vast improvements to the greatest armada in the world. Let the Young Stag and the Dragon Queen kill each other; whoever wins is easily picked off. Heavy risks, but the prize..."

A roar of laughter erupted in the great hall among his men, and Lord Hewett's face turned so white the women thought he had seen a ghost. The youngest one cried a little. Afterward, they continued to serve as before.

Falia Flowers, Lord Hewett's bastard daughter, prattled happily and laughed. "You see, father? He gives me any gown I want! My sweet trueborn sisters always made me wait on them at the table, but here they are now: serving the whole hall naked! He gives me gifts, so many gifts, unlike you. Silks, furs, jewels... whatever my heart desires. Once the fighting's done, father, I am to be King Euron's salt wife, his lady. I'm going to give him sons. So many sons..."

The Lord of Oakenshield's face seethed purple as his wife and daughters' faces were flushed with embarrassment and humiliation. On the dias, Euron pushed aside his slattern and climbed upon the table. His captains banged their cups, shouting "Euron! Euron! Euron!"

"I swore to give you Westeros," the King of the Iron Islands said when commotion dimmed down, "and here is your first taste of it. An appetizer, but we'll feast before the fall of night! What the kraken grasps it does not loose. Once our lands stretched from the Iron Islands to as far inland of the Riverlands, we'll have much more land than Harren the Black did, lands and lordship to all ironborn... but we need strong men to hold off main land armies."

One of the ironborn captains from outside entered the great hall bearing a sealed scroll. The youth couldn't have been younger than 16 before Euron snatched it out of his hands, startling the ironborn. King Euron's eyes read the parchment before crumpling it up, laughing maniacally.

"Oh, but captains, it's time we depart... for now," the king was saying, a wicked smile played across his face. "We'll be expecting company soon. The mainlanders want the Shield Islands so badly, let 'em take it back. It makes no difference. I am the storm. The first storm and the last. Back to the fastest ships! Let the Young Stag and Dragon Queen's armies fight it out," Euron turned to Falia. "You, other hand, are coming with me back to the Silence... in my bedchamber."