Capítulo 748: Chapter 748: The Queen of the Summer Isles
"What happens next?"
"Actually, Lady Asha Greyjoy had already discovered the betrayal of the Red Flower Valley tribe and had preemptively made contact with the Sweet Lily Valley tribe."
"Her Ladyship led us in a midnight raid, catching the enemy off guard. We struck from both sides, swiftly eliminating the Red Flower Valley tribe before turning our attention to the pirates."
In the Throne Room of the Red Keep, a gathering of the Empire's elite, along with some wealthy merchants and representatives of the common folk, listened intently. Standing among them, a proud Ironborn bastard wearing a black eyepatch spoke.
He had every reason to be proud.
The war that erupted on Zha'le Island in the Summer Isles was perilous, to say the least. In the pitch-black night, both sides were bloodthirsty, and it was a classic case of a desperate counterattack, where the few triumphed over the many.
"Lady Asha Greyjoy even personally slew Harlo, who had self-proclaimed himself as the 'Pirate King.'"
Initially, the Bone Brotherhood, who were holed up on Fly Island, had received intelligence about the Imperial fleet's plans to move against the Lizard Islands. They led the pirates in setting up an ambush, resisting the Imperial fleet's encirclement.
The Bone Brotherhood became the de facto leaders among the pirates, and their leaders, Jack and 'One-Eyed' Romi's older brother, 'Ferocious' Harlo, became the head of all the pirates in the Lizard Islands.
He even self-proclaimed himself as the 'Pirate King' after successfully repelling the Imperial fleet.
The title of 'Pirate King' wasn't originally Harlo's invention. It dated back to the Dawn Age, a title self-proclaimed by pirates who had exterminated the indigenous inhabitants of the Lizard Islands. It referred to the pirate leader who had unified the Lizard Islands and could be honorably called the Pirate King.
This self-proclaimed 'Pirate King' Harlo later faced off against the commander of the Imperial fleet, Lady Asha Greyjoy, in a one-on-one duel during the boarding battle at Lizard Head.
Ferocious Harlo, relying on his towering and robust physique, seemed to have the upper hand. However, he underestimated Asha at the last moment simply because she was a woman. The Kraken's Daughter seized the opportunity and exploited his weakness.
Asha Greyjoy, seated on the deck, suddenly lunged forward, plunging her dagger directly into Pirate King Harlo's chest.
She then clung to his body as they both plummeted into the churning sea below. It wasn't until the dawn of the next day that she was found by other crew members, clinging to a piece of driftwood.
Nonetheless, Asha Greyjoy's one-on-one duel and subsequent killing of Pirate King Harlo played a pivotal role in this monumental conflict.
The death of their leader caused the already untrained and disorganized pirates to scatter in disarray, each commandeering a ship to flee.
The Imperial fleet, having successfully repelled the pirates in a desperate counterattack at Lizard Head, lost the ability to pursue their advantage. The Sweet Lily Valley tribe, who had come as reinforcements, seemed to have grand ambitions, as if they wanted to claim all the spoils of victory.
A clash soon erupted between the Imperial forces and the Sweet Lily Valley tribe. However, the tribal warriors, dressed only in feathers and grass skirts, stood no chance against the fully armed Imperial soldiers.
Though the Imperial soldiers were already exhausted, the battle was one-sided from the start. They relied solely on their goldenheart longbows and spears to counterattack.
A stray arrow soon claimed the chieftain of the Sweet Lily Valley tribe, effectively ending the conflict.
All the tribal warriors immediately knelt in fearful surrender. In a dramatic turn of events, Asha Greyjoy had conquered both the Sweet Lily Valley and Red Flower Valley tribes, subduing the largest island in the Summer Isles, Zha'le Island, and gaining thousands of tribal warriors.
However, Asha Greyjoy's occupation of Zha'le Island naturally raised the alarm among the tribes of the other two main islands of the Summer Isles.
They set aside their differences, united against a common foe, and demanded that Asha relinquish control of Zha'le Island and hand over the freshwater resources of Sweet Lily Valley and Red Flower Valley.
Zha'le Island, despite being the most expansive in the Summer Isles, was not the most populous or prosperous. It surpassed the prosperity of the central island of Obanlu but paled in comparison to Valano Island, the 'capital' of the Summer Isles.
The root cause of this disparity was Zha'le Island's scarcity of freshwater resources. The two most significant sources were none other than Sweet Lily Valley and Red Flower Valley.
Thus, controlling these two freshwater resources would effectively mean ruling over Zha'le Island.
The tribal alliance of the Summer Isles demanded that Asha Greyjoy relinquish the freshwater resources of these two valleys.
Of course, they didn't intend to return them to the Sweet Lily Valley and Red Flower Valley tribes, who had already sworn fealty to the Kraken's Daughter. Had they possessed such wisdom, understanding the essence of unity and governance, they would have unified long ago.
For the Summer Isles, isolated from all continents and adrift in the Summer Sea, their history had never been influenced by any great civilization. They remained in a primitive tribal state, governed by the law of the survival of the fittest.
Their greed and threats, aimed at seizing control of Zha'le Island, provided Asha, ever the keen observer, another opportunity.
As the daughter of Balon Greyjoy, a man devoted to the Old Way, Asha, though different from her father, was no soft-hearted soul. The discovery of significant gold veins on the Iron Peninsula by her soldiers only strengthened her resolve to maintain her rule here.
War broke out soon after. Several fierce battles ensued, and Asha Greyjoy, leading thousands of Zha'le Island tribal warriors and Imperial soldiers, successfully stormed into Lotus Harbor on Valano Island a year ago, effectively ending the last vestiges of local tribal rule in the Summer Isles.
Thus, she became the undisputed 'Queen of the Summer Isles,' controlling various surrounding islands including Deer Island and Bird Island. She unified the entire Summer Isles through force, disbanded all the tribes, and commanded over ten thousand tribal warriors. The capital was still set in Lotus Harbor.
"One-Eyed" Romy Pyke, a pirate turned loyalist, stood in the throne room, eloquently narrating the legendary exploits of Asha Greyjoy, the Imperial female commander.
The nobles and wealthy commoners of the Seven Kingdoms in the throne room exchanged glances, all seeing the astonishment in each other's eyes, and couldn't help but whisper among themselves.
They were amazed at the vastness of this world, where even at its farthest reaches, such splendid civilizations existed.
And they were even more astounded that the Imperial fleet of two thousand, which they vividly remembered departing from King's Landing, had not perished as rumors suggested but had conquered a nation at the edge of the world.
Yet, amid their astonishment, they couldn't help but feel their spirits soar. After all, legendary tales always stir the blood, inviting one to imagine themselves in the story.
Who wouldn't want to become the next 'Conqueror' Aegon?
Many among the Seven Kingdoms' nobility were already contemplating whether they should organize a fleet for a long voyage.
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