Unlikely Allies | Asha & Rickon (and Lyra?) (PRIVATE)
The two deckhands rowed the unmarked tender toward the shoreline of the inlet, a league south of Seagard. Black Wind was anchored one cove further south still, for the Mallisters had no love for Asha and the sight of the Iron Fleet's flagship would cause them to ring the bronze bell, which would run counter to the entire point of secretly plotting to seize Seagard.
She'd been surprised at the appearance of a raven from the King of the North, who had personal reason to hate House Greyjoy moreso than any other ruler in the Seven Kingdoms. But his words indicated that his hatred of the Freys ran even deeper, and if that was the case, she was more than happy to treat with him and discover what might be gained from the alliance his letter proposed.
Still, she was nothing if not shrewd, and the two deckhands she brought along to row were also two of Black Wind's most intimidating: Myio the Mute, freed from Uncle Euron's Silence, his former slave tattoos long covered by inked kraken tentacles, and Iarl Pyke, called Iarl Ironfist, who was only as tall as her shoulder when she discovered him years ago as a bastard stowaway but now towered over her. They were celebrated fighters, and loyal enough to lay down their lives for their Queen, if need be. Of course, with her trusty axe at her hip, she had no reason to think it'd come to that, even if it turned out Rickon had only requested this meeting as part of a clumsy deceit.
Myio and Iarl beached the tender as close to the shore as they could, and Asha stepped over the rail, splashing as she landed. Were she a Lady, she would have waited for the men to get out and pull it higher on the shore so she would have a drier place to debark, but she was a Queen, specifically a queen who did not mind wetting her boots.
While Myio pulled the little boat above the tideline, she and Iarl surveyed the beachhead. It appeared she had beaten King Rickon to this meeting.
