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Ned remembered Maester Luwin once telling him that Lordsport gathered the finest smiths in the Iron Islands.
Armor and weapons forged by the smiths of Lordsport were considered among the finest in the Seven Kingdoms.
Ned had once asked Theon to write to Balon for smiths, and Balon had sent smiths’ apprentices.
The stoneborn of Skagos were like the northern mountain clans, the mountain clans of the Vale, and the wildlings beyond the Wall.
They were divided into many tribes, and those tribes fought one another year after year over land, food, and women.
On that cannibal-cursed island, they played a poor man’s game of thrones.
For that very reason, the stoneborn had long struggled to threaten the North.
Now the stoneborn tribes had somehow been unified.
With their internal troubles gone, outward expansion followed naturally.
No wonder the stoneborn pirates had grown so fierce.
Even so, Ned’s greatest worry remained the ironborn.
The Iron Fleet of the Iron Islands could be matched only by the royal fleet of King’s Landing and the Redwyne fleet of the Arbor.
The ironborn were also the people in all Westeros most skilled at sea battles and fighting on water.
If ironborn and stoneborn truly had colluded across such a vast distance, it would be a nightmare for the North, which lacked naval strength.
Balon Greyjoy had always been ambitious.
How could he not be?
He had raised the Iron Islands in rebellion and challenged Robert’s Seven Kingdoms.
The rebellion had been crushed, but only six years had passed.
The ironborn could not have forgotten the shame of that defeat, and the North had spent itself helping Robert put down the Greyjoy Rebellion.
Ned began to regret investing so much into Winter Town’s expansion outside Winterfell.
If he had not rushed the expansion, he could now hire ships from White Harbor or the Free Cities and carry northern warriors across the Bay of Seals to fight the stoneborn.
Recently, Ned had handed the stables, forgeworks, barracks, great market, and other projects to Donnel Arryn. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
Their foundations had all been laid, and the buildings were rising bit by bit.
Winterfell’s coin was nearly gone, barely supported by income from the saltworks and beehives.
The Greatjon glanced at Theon, then said to Ned, “Lord Eddard, I rather like the boy Theon, but as for the ironborn, I hate them to the bone. It seems the Iron Islands not only raid the west coast, they also collude with the stoneborn to attack the east.”
Ned considered for a long moment.
“The ironborn are certainly under heavy suspicion. But ironborn armor, weapons, and longships can also spread through trade. Is it possible the stoneborn obtained these things through sea trade?”
Maester Luwin said, “Lord Eddard, I think that is unlikely. The stoneborn do not even have coin of their own. According to our records, they only barter.”
Ned said, “Maester Luwin, was that also drawn from those ancient records? I think we should view matters with a mind for change. The records never mention stoneborn equipped this well, yet here they are.”
Luwin nodded.
“True. The Citadel’s records on the stoneborn and Skagos are centuries old. They are rather outdated. There is little help for it. Skagos is nominally part of the North, but in truth it is practically an independent kingdom.”
Kral, the financial advisor, shrugged.
“In any case, I have traveled through the great ports of the Seven Kingdoms and the Free Cities and never once met a stoneborn, much less a stoneborn merchant ship. Unless the ironborn deliberately sailed that far around to Skagos, the stoneborn could not have obtained armor and weapons from the Iron Islands.”
To sail from the Iron Islands to Skagos by sea, one had to go south along the Sunset Sea, pass Lannisport in the west and Oldtown in the Reach, cross the Redwyne Straits, round the long and barren Dornish coast, enter the narrow sea, pass through the pirate-infested Stepstones, sail into storm-wracked Shipbreaker Bay in the stormlands, pass the crownlands and the Vale, and then follow the North’s long eastern coast until reaching Skagos.
If the ironborn truly sent weapons, armor, and longships along that long route to a poor island, the only explanation was an alliance between the Iron Islands and the stoneborn.
Theon grew anxious.
“The Iron Islands and Skagos are separated by mountains and seas. They are too far apart…”
Roose Bolton smiled faintly.
“And yet there are ironborn in the North. Is not the famous Theon Greyjoy standing beside the Lord of Winterfell at this very moment?”
Theon trembled with anger.
The Greatjon said in a rough voice, “Aye, and do not forget Cotter Pyke, commander at Eastwatch. That one is an ironborn bastard.”
Pyke was the surname given to bastards of the Iron Islands, just as Snow belonged to the North, Rivers to the riverlands, and Flowers to the Reach.
The Greatjon continued, “Every year, I send grain and coin to the Night’s Watch to help them defend the Wall. When the stoneborn invaded my lands, I went to Eastwatch myself and asked Cotter Pyke to send out ships to help us fight them. Do you know what that ironborn bastard said?” This story is hosted at g.com.
“‘The Night’s Watch exists to defend the Wall against threats from beyond it. The Watch does not take part in conflicts within the Seven Kingdoms. Skagos is nominally part of the North, so the Watch will not interfere.’ What sort of dung is that? I suspect the stoneborn got their weapons and armor through ships from Eastwatch.”
The Umber men, the Karstark men brought by Lord Rickard, and the Dreadfort men brought by Roose Bolton all voiced agreement.
The hall dissolved into noise.
Lord Rickard Karstark tightened his grip on his longsword and said angrily, “Lord Eddard, who still cares for the Night’s Watch except us northerners? Without our grain and coin, the Watch would have starved long ago. They claim to guard the Seven Kingdoms, but wildling raiders appear every year in the northern mountains, the New Gift, the Bay of Seals, and even the wolfswood.”
“Wildling raiders often row small boats around Eastwatch and land in Umber lands and mine. Who knows whether Mance Rayder, the King-beyond-the-Wall, has infiltrated Skagos with wildling influence? Wildlings and stoneborn are both damned savages, stealing our wealth and carrying off our children and women.”
Roose Bolton said softly, “Lord Eddard, your brother Benjen Stark is First Ranger of the Night’s Watch. Why not have Benjen ask Lord Commander Mormont to investigate Cotter Pyke? My judgment is that Balon has colluded with Cotter Pyke. Together, they have made common cause with the stoneborn and attacked the northern coast.”
Ned rested both hands on the direwolf throne and said calmly, “You have no evidence against Cotter Pyke. From the moment he took the black, he swore not to involve himself in the wars of the Seven Kingdoms. The Night’s Watch is neutral. Did we expect Cotter Pyke to take the Eastwatch fleet and attack stoneborn pirates directly?”
“Cotter Pyke was right. Skagos is part of the North. The stoneborn are northern traitors. Unless we can prove that the stoneborn of Skagos have colluded with Mance Rayder’s wildlings, Lord Commander Mormont will not send the Night’s Watch against them.”
Besides, if the stoneborn had truly armed themselves with ironborn longships, armor, and weapons on a large scale, Ned saw little chance that Eastwatch’s ragged little fleet could beat the stoneborn pirates at sea.
Ned rose and looked around the hall.
“We do not need the Night’s Watch’s aid. The North can destroy the stoneborn ourselves. It seems the stoneborn have forgotten that House Stark of Winterfell is their liege. For their betrayal and slaughter, I have decided to answer without hesitation. It is time to make them bend the knee again, with steel and blood.”
The ancient hall of the Kings of Winter boiled.
The Greatjon Umber pounded his broad fist against his chest.
Roose Bolton voiced soft agreement.
Lord Rickard Karstark drew his sword.
Northerners roared for battle.
“Steel and blood!”
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