Chapter 21: The Rockborn Pirate Army

"Lord Eddard, that is nothing less than a fleet!"

Eddard sat upright on the stone Direwolf Throne passed down by the Kings in the North of old. Maester Luwin, Master of Coin Klar, and Robb sat at the long table to the side. The ward of Winterfell, the Heir of Dreadfort Domeric Bolton, and another ward, Theon Greyjoy, stood at Eddard's left and right, clad in chainmail and gripping longswords.

Sansa, Bran, and Arya stood beside Catelyn, while Septa Mordane held little Rickon. Jon Snow appeared in the crowd, keeping a deliberate distance from Catelyn.

The Lord of Last Hearth, Greatjon Umber, had a scarred wound on his forehead, blood matted in his hair, and his armor was stained with blood; this tall, fierce warrior appeared exceptionally enraged.

"I've lived this long, and I've never seen so many Skagosi, those damn man-eating tribes."

"Skagosi" was the derogatory term Northerners used for the people of Skagos; they called themselves Rockborn and lived on the island of Skagos, separated from Greatjon's lands only by Seal Bay. Recently, Rockborn Pirates had been ravaging the lands of the Umbers, Karstarks, and Boltons, destroying arrow towers near Saltpans, raiding fishing villages, abducting children and women, and killing everyone else.

Maester Luwin asked, "Lord Greatjon, exactly how many are there?"

Greatjon spat on the floor. "Anyway, when I arrived at the coast with the Umber cavalry, there was an army of pirates before me, at least five hundred of them, all cannibal warriors gripping sharp battle-axes and longswords, wearing leather armor and chainmail."

Maester Luwin frowned. "That is unlikely. According to records from the Citadel, the Rockborn, like the Wildlings Beyond the Wall, lack smiths and are almost incapable of smelting steel or forging weapons."

The Lord of Dreadfort, Roose Bolton, clad in a scarlet cloak, spoke up. "May I ask, Maester Luwin, from what era is your information regarding the Rockborn?"

Maester Luwin pondered for a long moment. "About five hundred years ago."

Roose Bolton's soft-spoken tone was filled with mockery. "Five-hundred-year-old history? Five hundred years ago, Aegon the Conqueror had not yet brought dragons to Westeros. Today, dragons are extinct, and the Targaryen Dynasty has gone to the grave. You are actually using outdated information from history books to judge the Rockborn of today?"

"I tell you, when I fought these savages with the Dreadfort cavalry, their equipment was no worse than that of the castle soldiers, and far superior to the peasant army I had hastily assembled. The farmer-soldiers could only fight with hammers and sickles, while the enemy held fine steel battle-axes."

Such equipment was excessively refined for the Rockborn. That the savage island of Skagos could possess so much armor and sharp weaponry made Eddard feel it was simply inconceivable.

Could it be that the King-Beyond-the-Wall, Mance Rayder, had truly, as Eddard had said, infiltrated his influence into Skagos? The cunning King-Beyond-the-Wall might have reached some agreement with the Rockborn tribal leaders, but this still could not explain the sheer number of weapons and armor in the hands of the Rockborn. After all, the Wildlings beyond the Wall also lacked smiths; if Mance Rayder had good weapons and equipment, he would never be so generous as to give them to the Rockborn.

Or perhaps some hostile force within the Seven Kingdoms was transporting weapons and equipment to the Rockborn by sea.

This possibility was high. After all, the Seal Bay shipping route west of Skagos was quite busy; many ships from the Seven Kingdoms and the Free Cities would pass through here to trade with the brothers of the Night's Watch at Eastwatch, or even trade with the Wildlings. Some slaver ships even treated the lawless lands Beyond the Wall as a paradise for capturing slaves.

Since the North lacked naval power, if some force in the Seven Kingdoms hostile to Winterfell had infiltrated Skagos and reached a deal with the savage Rockborn in the deep mountains, providing weapons and equipment for them to attack the North, it would not be a difficult task. Eddard could not help but begin to speculate: who was the mastermind behind this?

The first person Eddard suspected was Tywin Lannister of Casterly Rock. Buying the enemy's enemy for one's own use was very much Tywin's style; Casterly Rock had more gold than they could ever spend, and they certainly had the financial resources to fund the Rockborn against Winterfell. But what benefit would this bring to Tywin?

The direwolves of the North and the lions of the Westerlands had always looked down upon each other. During the War of the Usurper, Robert had killed Rhaegar at the Battle of the Trident, laying the foundation for the rebel victory, but it was the Lannisters who dealt the final blow to the Targaryen family.

Tywin used Grand Maester Pycelle to trick the gates of King's Landing open, burning and looting in Robert's name, and seizing a vast fortune from King's Landing. His son, the "Kingslayer" Jaime Lannister, used a golden sword to slay the Mad King Aerys.

After Robert was crowned King, he married Tywin's daughter Cersei. The Lannisters sent their daughter to the throne of the Queen, and Robert's confidant Jon Arryn served as Hand of the King. The Lannisters and Robert's rebel army divided the fruits of victory.

If Tywin were truly the mastermind behind the Rockborn attacks on the North, the only reason would be that Tywin was attempting to overthrow Robert's rule. Eddard was Robert's close friend; once the Rockborn rebellion tied down the Northern Army, Tywin could play the game of thrones at his leisure in the south and conquer the Iron Throne.

At the thought of this, Eddard could not help but feel a chill down his spine. Was winter truly coming?

Besides Tywin, the supporters of the Targaryen royal family who had fled across the Narrow Sea could also be the mastermind. Viserys was the only living son of the Mad King Aerys and Rhaegar's brother; he also had a sister, Daenerys. Both Viserys and Daenerys were too young to pose a threat, but who knew if the conspirators behind them would use the Dragon family's banner to incite rebellion in the kingdom?

Across the Narrow Sea, there was no shortage of ambitious wealthy merchants, Archons, and the like. The Golden Company even harbored many descendants of the remnants of the old Blackfyre Rebellion, and Eddard did not doubt that there were Northerners among them. Could someone across the Narrow Sea have orchestrated this attack?

Of course, the enemy could come from within the North.

Eddard thought of the acerbic Lady Barbrey Dustin, the Lord of Ryswell in the Rills, and Roose Bolton, who was currently in the hall.

Lady Barbrey had always had a poor relationship with Eddard; she had never forgiven Eddard for burying her husband's remains in distant Dorne. Before she was married, Barbrey had been the lover of Eddard's brother, Brandon. Her father had once wanted to marry Barbrey to Brandon, but Eddard's father, Lord Rickard, had refused. After Brandon died, Barbrey had always felt that Eddard had stolen Winterfell from Brandon.

Barbrey was a daughter of the Rills, and Roose Bolton was her brother-in-law.

The alliance of the three houses—Barrowton, the Rills, and the Dreadfort—centered on Lady Barbrey, appeared too large in the North. To keep his vassals in check, Eddard had taken the Heir of the Dreadfort, Domeric Bolton, as a ward, keeping him at Winterfell to ensure the loyalty of the vassals.

Could it be that this move had instead angered Lady Barbrey and Roose Bolton? Eddard believed that Lord Roderick Ryswell of the Rills would not rebel, but Lord Ryswell was old; could he restrain the ambitions of his daughter, Lady Barbrey, and his former son-in-law, Roose Bolton?

Eddard looked at Roose Bolton's dirty-ice-colored eyes in the hall. He had come to Winterfell to petition alongside Greatjon Umber and Lord Rickard Karstark, requesting that Winterfell help them fight the Rockborn Pirates. Roose Bolton's fief was located on the east coast of the North, very close to Skagos. The Dreadfort possessed wealthy and vast fiefs in the Lonely Mountain and Weeping Water regions, with a large population; the Dreadfort was powerful and not lacking in ambition.

Could Roose Bolton have staged all of this himself, only to come to Winterfell to petition in a soft-spoken tone? The more Eddard thought about it, the more he felt as if a pack of wolves were howling in his mind, and he felt deeply depressed.

(End of chapter)