Chapter Twenty

--- Edited: September 20 ---

At last, the Greyjoys rose in rebellion, attacking important points all over Westeros: Lannisport in the west, Shield Island, an archipelago located west of Highgarden, the Planky town, a commercial port city in Dorne, and Gulltown in the Vale. Four important ports of the Seven Kingdoms were successfully attacked by the Greyjoys. 

However, they made one mistake: they failed to kidnap Elia Martell and Ashara Stark. The ten ships that pursued these women never reached the Iron Islands; all were destroyed. 

But one man managed to survive and arrived severely wounded at the island. His face showed nothing but terror. 

The king of the Iron Islands rushed to find out what had happened. How could they fail to kidnap two women? How did the North manage to thwart the abduction? 

They knew the North had created a naval force, but they did not believe it could compare to the powerful and largest naval force anyone could have in the world. A thousand ships were built for this day, and they failed to execute one of the most important pieces of the puzzle: kidnapping those two women. The North and the Martells were not supposed to lift a finger.

But they failed. Now they had to expend energy dealing with the pathetic Northerners who, because of one victory, would surely believe themselves superior at sea. Balon looked at his brother Victarion, who only nodded. 

He wanted to know what the Northerners' ships were like, as they managed to destroy ten of theirs. It was curiosity, but he was completely confident that with a naval commander like his brother, the Northerners' small victory would be erased with a crushing victory by the Iron Islanders. The man himself was about to die, but that didn't matter. 

Balon only wanted to know what he saw and nothing more. He could die peacefully afterward. The doctors were only there to give him the necessary minutes of life to tell his story. 

When Balon reached the place where the man was, he was exhausted and had very little time left to live. Two doctors were pressing hard on a wound in his stomach to prevent him from bleeding to death. It was a miracle he was still alive, something to be admired. He was going to die with his head held high like an Iron Islander should.

- "My king... their ships... are... monstrous." - The man spat blood, about to die. The wound in his stomach was very deep, and he didn't understand how he was still alive. He couldn't have made it here alive. Of course, he didn't know about magic. That was what had brought him here, with the sole purpose of saying only those words, because he couldn't say anything else.

Balon was furious because he didn't get much information, just six insignificant words that were useless to him. But it didn't matter. His fleet would defeat the Northerners, and his fleets would conquer Westeros. That was their mission. He had many more ships. He would show the Northerners that their victory was only a stroke of luck. 

Victarion left the place. He would be in charge of intercepting and destroying any Northern ship. Victarion would take 100 ships, which would surely be enough to intimidate the Northerners into staying in their caves and not venturing out to sea, as it would be their downfall. 

After this small and insignificant failure, everything was going well. Euron had properly immobilized Lannisport, so the Lannisters wouldn't be able to use their fleet. They would have to go to the Riverlands to use the Tully fleet, which was not large and would be easy to destroy.

Then Aeron attacked the Shields, an important point in the Reach as a significant portion of their fleet was concentrated there. His brother had captured it, meaning they now had even more ships. The number of ships his brother had taken would be enough to prevent the Tyrells from moving a large number of soldiers, forcing them to divide their forces.

Urrigon Greyjoy attacked Gulltown, leaving the Arryns unable to use that port, completely closing off the possibility of Arryn soldiers accompanying the King's Landing naval force. Seeing this, they would take the land route to take the port not attacked by the Greyjoys: the Riverlands. 

The Tullys would be heavily pressured by such military power, as they wouldn't be able to use their ships as they wished, since the ports in that kingdom were the worst of all. 

Even a large group attacked a small port in Dorne to delay them a bit. It wouldn't be a big deal for the Dornish to recover since they couldn't do as much damage as they wanted. Perhaps if he had been commanding that fleet, they could have damaged a main port in Dorne. 

But other than that, there were no more problems. Forcing them to take the most difficult route, making everyone gather in one port, to then finish them all off at the same time. Nothing would remain, and then all of Westeros would belong to him.

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Casterly Rock. 

Tywin Lannister was furious at what the Greyjoys had done, but this would not go unpunished. They dared to attack one of the most important points in all of Westeros, and the Greyjoys would pay. 

He promised to have Euron Greyjoy's head at the entrance of Casterly Rock. 

Tyrion watched his father. From his point of view, the Greyjoys' move by disabling Lannisport forced them to travel to the Riverlands to use the Tully port. It couldn't compare to Lannisport, but it was the only option left for his father. And it wasn't just his father; all the kingdoms were likely to gather there, as all had been attacked by the Greyjoys so far. 

Except for the Stormlands, the North had not suffered attacks on its ports, but there had been an attempt to kidnap Elia Martell and Ashara Stark. This would draw the North into the war, as Harry Stark wouldn't tolerate an attempt to kidnap his mother. This gave everyone the chance to see the naval fleet that had defeated the Greyjoys in their attempt to abduct the mother of the Northern Lord.

This only added to the Lannisters' wounded pride. They couldn't prevent or counter the Greyjoy attack on Lannisport, but a single Northern ship managed to destroy ten Greyjoy ships. This was a blow to everyone's pride, knowing they were surpassed not just by the North, but by a Lord much younger than most heads of each house. It certainly made them ponder what the North was doing. So far, it was all speculation, but what could have led the North to be able to stand toe-to-toe with the Lannisters economically? The little they knew about the North was that its internal economy was even better than the West's. 

The Boltons did not provide concrete information on what the Starks were doing in the North, only that everyone had blind loyalty to Harry Stark. But was that useful? What good did it do the North's enemies to know that everyone was loyal to the Starks, something that had always been the case, though never to such an extent? 

What all the Southerners wanted to know was what the hell was happening in the North, the largest kingdom, which had begun to repopulate and in three years was one of the most populous kingdoms in all of Westeros, whereas before it had the smallest population.

The worst part was that the North did not seem affected by this population increase. It was an enormous kingdom, so it wasn't a big deal. All this led to the concern of each kingdom. 

The Greyjoys took advantage of this; everyone was focused on the North, and they did nothing even when they learned that the Tullys allowed the Greyjoys to attack parts of the North without success, as there were no reports of the Greyjoys attacking the Mormonts. 

This led to the current situation: the Greyjoys attacked Westeros. 

It was undoubtedly a bad start to the year for the Lannisters, but it would not remain so. Tyrion was sure his father would take revenge. His very look showed he would command the troops. His anger was quite palpable, and even his siblings said nothing, as they would act the same way if they were in his position. 

Although Tyrion had to admit, it was amusing to see how the Greyjoys had angered his father. They had poked the lion's tail, and that made him very angry. It's never good to anger a lion.

- "Tyrion, you will stay at Casterly Rock... I will command the forces to the Riverlands." - Tywin said, visibly angry. 

His son only nodded, and he left the place with his brothers, who would follow him. After all, they were Lannisters. They would not allow the houses to mock them as they did when their father was head of the lion's house. That would not happen again. The Greyjoys would realize who the Lannisters were.

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King's Landing.

Jon had no other option; his strategy was to travel to the Riverlands and, from there, head to the Iron Islands. It would be a week-long journey, a very long but necessary one to establish a well-organized army. He had already sent instructions to some kingdoms; the naval force of the Stormlands would bring the Martells to the port where the other kingdoms would gather to set off for the Iron Islands. 

There was a final goal; to ensure that the other kingdoms contributed more soldiers than the crown. He even wanted to command the entire army to weaken some kingdoms. That was his plan—to try to make the Lannisters lose the most soldiers and, of course, to greatly harm the North, which hadn't responded to the message he sent about the meeting in the Riverlands, very close to them. 

He was sure they would contribute as many soldiers as possible, or so he hoped, to weaken the North in this war. That would undoubtedly be a great benefit, even though the outcome was obvious. Although the Greyjoys had a powerful naval force, they would face a large army.

While Jon was planning, Varys, the master of whispers, smiled at this situation. Jon thought he was going to lead the army, something that would undoubtedly benefit Varys's future plans because the Hand of the King only believed that Vale's army should be superior to the crown's and the rest of the kingdoms'. This seemed feasible to him. Among all the armies, it was the one he liked the most, as any foreign enemy army would have a greater advantage compared to facing a well-organized army like the Lannisters or a Northern army that, although they might be few, were hard to defeat due to their strength and love for battles. That's why they were often labeled as savages. 

Varys's serene smile was practically an insignificant smile that no one would suspect was provoked by something greater. Perhaps he was pleased with Jon's planning, which seemed the most sensible because no one would think he was planning something much bigger, the poor insignificant Varys.

But in King's Landing, he wasn't the only one who viewed this war positively. Petyr Baelish, of course, was aware of everything and already had an estimated calculation of what the crown would need—a loan that he would supposedly give them, giving him a great amount of power that he would use with extreme wisdom as he had been doing. Because after a while, who would distrust his way of handling finances in the kingdom? He was doing everything possible to prevent the king and queen from spending all the money on unnecessary things like prostitutes and wine, but they ignored the king's council's requests. So he saw this war with great hope that everything would be favorable for his profits. 

Although he wasn't a man of war, he could see that what Jon was doing wasn't the most sensible. He didn't even think to use the royal fleet, which meant that his only purpose was for the other kingdoms to use their fleets to transport them. He was a real idiot if he thought all the lords would let things happen this way. The Lannisters wouldn't let any soldiers from other kingdoms board the ships that weren't destroyed in the Greyjoy attack on Lannisport.

The three had different perspectives but with the same goal—to come out victorious. 

Jon wanted to show all of Westeros that he was a better Hand of the King than anyone else and, in the process, strip the Lannisters of the title of the most powerful house in all of Westeros. 

Varys was hiding something else; he wanted the entire kingdom to be weakened when an army from an unknown place arrived in Westeros and conquered it all over again, as the Targaryens did 300 years ago. It was something brilliant because no one could think that Varys was planning all this under his phrase, 'It's for the good of the realm.'

And finally, Petyr Baelish—if it were up to him, he would support the Greyjoys, but the outcome was obvious to him. Although the Greyjoys would put up a fight at sea, once the combined army of all Westeros reached the Iron Islands, it would be over. None would be able to face the vast army. What he was sure of was that many lives would be lost, and from what he saw in Jon Arryn's strategy, the only house that wouldn't be harmed would be the Arryns. The Lannisters and the Starks would be at the forefront, in the first ships that would surely be the easiest for the Greyjoys to attack.

The only one excited about the battle was Robert Baratheon. He didn't listen to anything, nor did he care about his hand's plan. Robert was a lover of fights. In the three years he had been king, he hadn't been able to participate in a single skirmish because who would want to fight against the king? It was truly stupid, and now that the Greyjoys had risen in rebellion, he would have the opportunity to unleash all his frustration. 

It was true that Robert wasn't the smartest in the kingdom, but no one wanted him as an enemy. His attractive and charismatic personality, along with an impressive ability to turn enemies into friends, made him very easy to follow. That's why all the lords of the Stormlands didn't accept Stannis as their new leader, much less Renly. The two weren't like Robert; one thought they should follow him solely because he ruled the kingdom, and the other had strange tastes that the lords didn't accept, especially those from the Stormlands. They even wanted to make one of Robert's bastards the head of House Baratheon. That said a lot about his two younger brothers.

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The North. 

An immense number of soldiers surrounded Winterfell, ready for war. Almost all the houses had arrived in the North to support their lord in attacking the Greyjoys for their failed attempt to kidnap Ashara Stark and Elia Martell. 

Although all of this had been planned, Harry was furious because they were going to deceive the Greyjoys, and they succeeded. The Greyjoys thought they attacked the ship where his mother was, which was completely false. His mother hadn't traveled to Dorne that month precisely because they knew the Ironborn were going to move, so they used the Flying Dutchman as bait; no one survived. 

Therefore, Harry had no reason to be angry—it was a trap, after all. His mother wasn't on that ship. His anger stemmed from discovering Bolton flags on those ships. 

They knew the Boltons were providing information to the Greyjoys; he saw those letters and altered some details to mislead their enemies—a brilliant move, and of course, thanks to the use of magic, everything was possible for Harry Stark. But the Boltons had helped with that attack, for an easy-to-understand purpose.

Once they kidnapped his mother, they would have held her as a political hostage. What would the price be? Winterfell. Roose Bolton desired to rule the North with all his being, so kidnapping Ashara and forcing her to marry him would give him control over a significant part of the North. He would force Harry to relinquish the North, or his mother would die. That was Roose's plan, a plan that completely failed because they couldn't find what they were looking for. 

Davy Jones showed no mercy, leaving no one alive, and was ready to attack the Iron Islands. Of course, Harry would let him. Once the information arrived, all the lords headed to Winterfell with their armies to find out what role they would play. 

All the lords, from the most important houses to the least, were in the hall of the North, where Harry was looking at the map made for him. Everyone watched as he planned his attack as if he were an expert navigator, a captain through and through. It was incredible how this boy knew how to do everything he set his mind to.

- "From what I see, Pyke will be a joint attack, which we will not allow." - Harry declared firmly. He planned to leave nothing in his wake. All of Westeros would witness the Northern military might on the seas and would destroy the Greyjoys in their supposed area of strength—the best naval force in the world would be destroyed. - "We will attack one island at a time… we will sweep away any islander army that stands in our way." - Obviously, no one had any objections to what he was saying; everyone was almost in agreement. - "Black Tide will be our first target… then we will attack Harlaw, our second point."

- "I am curious, my lord… why not attack Pyke right away?" - Jack asked a reasonable question. 

Why not attack the island where the rulers of the Iron Islands, the Greyjoys, resided? Why not hit them head-on and destroy them, making all the other islands surrender? It would be easier and less complicated. Jack wasn't one to put in much effort when it wasn't worth it, although he had been waiting for this day since learning that Jones had destroyed ten ships effortlessly. Where was the fun in that?

- "We not only have to defeat the Greyjoys, but we also have to send a message." - Harry pointed to the point where many important houses of Westeros would gather to attack the Iron Islands, where the islanders were surely eagerly awaiting them. - "The first message is that you don't play with the North. The second is that if they don't surrender, they will cease to exist… what do you think will be more painful for the Ironborn? Being defeated or being forced to kneel?" - No kingdom wanted to kneel before another. The North making the Greyjoys kneel once again before the crown would have a significant impact on all of Westeros. - "Don't get me wrong, even though we will go after the Greyjoys first, the other Ironborn will continue to fight. That's why we need to teach each of them a lesson."

- "But my lord, if we don't attack any islands, what will our role be?" - Jones was curious. It was true he wanted to kill Victarion, but Harry was in charge, even though he would surely be angry about not getting his revenge against the Greyjoy who took everything from him.

 - "No, you three have another job. The Pearl will go after Euron Greyjoy, the Flying Dutchman after Victarion Greyjoy, and the Vengeance after Aeron Greyjoy. You will not allow them to reach the Iron Islands," - Harry's orders were simple and direct. None of the three named were to set foot on Pyke alive. That was the calmest way to say he only wanted to see their heads when they reached Pyke. - "But there will be a change… Artemisia will be the captain of the Pearl."

Total surprise.

Who would have thought Harry had such an idea in a war? Barbossa was an experienced captain. Removing him from command and giving it to Artemisia was a risky move since she had no experience in war. 

Everyone looked at Harry with great doubt, even his sister. 

She wasn't prepared for this kind of responsibility, but Harry and Barbossa had a lot of faith in Artemisia—a lot. In all this time, she had shown herself to be an exemplary pupil, always paying attention to everything Barbossa did, obviously not copying his attitude, but adapting his good points in her way. 

That's why this was the moment she needed to take a step forward. She had to stop being a pupil and become a captain, and this was her final test—a test in a real war. If she passed, she would have her ship and her crew. She would command as she wished, sail the seas, and become a pillar among the three captains the North currently possessed. Because she was not just a woman, she was a Stark.

- "Barbossa will only be at the helm, but you will command. This is your final test to become a captain." - Harry looked at Artemisia, who nodded at her brother's words. She would do her best. Barbossa had a smile; Artemisia always worked better under pressure, and now she had the pressure her brother gave her—a very, very great one. - "You will go to the meeting point given by Jon Arryn. Uncle Ned, you will go with them." - Eddard nodded; he already knew his role in the war was to stay close to Robert. He wouldn't pursue Euron. - "Artemisia, only Tywin Lannister and five people he chooses from his family or soldiers can board the Pearl, no one else… we must capture Euron, and Tywin will have his revenge."

The lion should not be overshadowed. They would deliver Euron Greyjoy's head to him, the man who dared to attack Lannisport, handing him over on a golden platter. But it was just a crumb compared to what the Starks would gain. Everyone understood that—a very good strategy. 

The Lannisters would get what they currently wanted: Euron Greyjoy's head. But an important point emerged: who helped the Lannisters achieve that revenge against the man? Who lent them power and delivered the man for the lion to sink its claws into the squid that wouldn't be able to escape, surrounded by wolves who would give their prey to the lion and then corner it? They would think they still controlled this small alliance, but things were not as they wished. 

An alliance that good, falling from the sky suddenly, was not to be trusted. The Lannisters ensured that Cersei became queen and the Starks that they wouldn't bother them. They didn't, and the wolves grew stronger, too strong to remain allies with a very close competitor. Because, after all, in this game, there was no alliance.

- "And if anyone asks why only you went to that point, tell them something, especially Jon Arryn, who will be the first to complain." - Harry took the wolf figure from his table and slowly moved it to where the Iron Islands were located, placing the wolf figure on the Iron Islands. - "Winter has come for the Greyjoys."

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