-Chapter 86-

-Chapter 86-

-POV Yara Greyjoy-

-15th day of the 2nd moon of the year 301 AC-

"How was I?" Bronn asked, clearly eager to know what I thought of his… performance.

"Not too bad," I replied without much enthusiasm, as I had experienced better performances before.

'But also much worse,' I thought to myself.

Bronn smirked in satisfaction before adding, "Glad you enjoyed it because that'll be the only cock you'll see for the rest of your life."

Bell ringing… Bell ringing… Bell ringing.

Before I could respond, the bells began tolling, catching me off guard.

'You've got to be kidding me. Are they really trying this again?' I wondered, jumping out of bed as quickly as possible and getting dressed in a hurry, just like Bronn, who had also been startled by the bells.

'They only ring when an enemy fleet is approaching,' I thought, struggling with my pants before grabbing my leather armor to pull it over my clothes.

I grabbed my axe and stuck my head out the window to try to gauge the scale of the invasion.

To my surprise, it wasn't my uncle or even the Redwynes but an entirely new fleet entering the conflict.

A fleet flying white banners.

'The Velaryon fleet,' I thought, recognizing the sigil on the ships' sails.

Due to the blockade imposed by the Redwyne fleet and my uncle's fleet, we were completely cut off from the outside world.

We now held only three of the fourteen islands that made up the Stepstones.

I let out a sigh of relief, thinking the day I would have to face my uncle to the death had finally come.

I spent a few minutes watching as the lead ship separated from the rest of the fleet. It wasn't until I saw it docking alone in the cove that I sighed again in relief.

"Who is it?" Bronn asked, standing just two inches away from me.

I shot him a disdainful look and pushed him away before carefully preparing myself to meet the leader of this fleet, who appeared to be a new ally in this conflict.

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-POV Aurane Velaryon-

The gates of the small fortress of Bloodstone opened, and I was surprised to see Bronn at the head of a group of men wearing the sigils of House Connington.

'That scoundrel is still alive,' I thought incredulously. I couldn't believe Ronnet Connington was confident—or naive—enough to give this man a chance to betray him.

'Especially after the betrayal of the Lannisters and his wife,' I added to myself.

"Well, if it isn't the bastard of Driftmark turned grand admiral for the bastard sitting on the Iron Throne," Bronn said sarcastically, his hand still on his weapon, ready to slit my throat with that damn hypocritical grin on his face.

I smiled at this old drinking companion from the parties Ronnet Connington used to host back when he was still married to Cersei, then replied in a slightly haughty tone:

"Well, if it isn't the cutthroat-turned-knight… And for your information, I'm no longer a bastard serving another bastard. I'm Aurane, Lord of House Velaryon of Dragonstone."

Bronn feigned an impressed expression before puffing out his chest comically and retorting:

"That's great because I'm no longer a knight either. I've evolved: I'm now Bronn, Lord of House Greyjoy and the Iron Islands."

I raised an eyebrow, surprised by his new title, which meant he had managed to carve out a place for himself in this chaos. I asked:

"And how in the world did you become a Greyjoy, my friend?"

"Thanks to me," a woman interjected behind him, accompanied by the high-ranking officers of the Connington navy.

I raised another eyebrow before saying:

"Yara Greyjoy. Now that's a surprise."

'Last I heard, she was her uncle's prisoner. How did she end up leading the Connington navy?' I wondered.

"Who sent you?" she demanded in an authoritative and aggressive tone.

"The king," I replied, measured but firm.

"Which king?" she asked, even more aggressively.

"The only king of Westeros: Ronnet Connington," I said without flinching. She seemed to want to show that she was in charge here, but that didn't work with me.

"How did you avoid the Redwyne fleet patrols?" she asked in a haughty tone, as if we were amateur sailors.

"Should I remind you that my family has been navigating the Narrow Sea for trade for centuries?" I replied, slightly irritated at being underestimated by a house whose specialty was piracy.

Yara nodded before inspecting the men accompanying me.

"Who are they?" she asked.

"They are…"

"Bachar. I am the captain of the Blue Elephants. I brought three-quarters of my company. The rest are deployed elsewhere with the elephants," replied the older of the two captains.

"And you?" she asked the other captain on my left.

"Anadarrios. I am the captain of the Orphans Without Fear company. We brought all our men and are under the orders of King Griffon," replied the young commander, barely twenty-three years old.

"Very well. Since we're all on the same page, we need to devise a plan to destroy my uncle's fleet immediately," she declared.

"The king sent me new directives," I said, pulling a letter from my garments.

She frowned as she took the messages sent by Ronnet.

"This is nonsense. We have the advantage," she said, tacitly questioning the king's authority.

"It is the king's will," I replied, not leaving her any choice.

"The king's will," she repeated mockingly before turning away, furious.

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Sorry short chapter, I wrote it at Christmas