The Bite of Winter

Asha

Six weeks after the Red Wedding

The fishing villages had been easy to take. With most of the soldiers that the North had laying dead in the Riverlands, conquering had become very easy. Only four Ironborn had died after two weeks of reaping and raping the mainland. Her men toasted to her honor as they drank all the ale the Northerns had. They had swept through seven fishing villages, but now it was time to move inland. 

Her men were wary of the distance from the sea. If they died on dry land, the drowned god would never welcome them to his halls. To most, that was more terrifying than any manner of death. 

She left half of her mean to continue pillaging the coast, the other half was following her to Deepwood Motte. 

A horse moved under her. She had always hated riding. She hated the lack of control she had on a horse. If it wanted to, it could easily take off with her, or flip over and crush her. The horses snorted under her. She was never a good rider, the force of the snort made her weight shift in the saddle.

Her men sang the Maiden and the Bear behind her. The songs and the ale helped raise their spirits. 

They had lost the sound of the waves a day ago. The birds chirped around them instead. They should be upon Deepwood Motte in a matter of hours. 

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The fort was sparsely manned and easy to take. There were minimal guards and the wooden exterior of the fort was no match of the Ironborns steel. She found herself sitting on Lord Glover's seat within three hours. A pile of northern soldiers was located by the gates to the castle, warding off any outsiders. 

Lord Glover had surrendered to protect his wife and daughters. She used a quarter of her remaining troops to escort the Glover's back to the Ironfleet so that Balon could keep them as hostages on Pyke. She had also given the escort a letter to her father. It had been simple.

"Deepwood Motte has been taken. We will hold until more Ironborn arrive.

-Asha Greyjoy"

The Kraken banner was mounted in the great hall (if it could even be considered a great hall) as the men celebrated their victory. They ate the meat that the Glover's had, drank their wine, and passed around their serving girls. It was the iron way, pillage, and plunder. 'We do not sow'.

She played with the dirk clipped onto her belt as she felt the eyes of many men fall on her. Many of them wanted to bed her, but all of them knew that they had no hope of doing so unless she instigated the situation. If they tried to make her, they wouldn't walk away. 

Asha surveyed the crowd, trying to see if any faces caught her eye. One did. He had muddy brown hair and a scar running from his ear to his chin. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she got up and made her way to him. He stood still as she approach and looked almost nervous. She drew her mouth close to his ear, "Let's celebrate, just the two of us." She whispered.

He flushed a bright red, making her smile grow even more as she took his hand and led him away from the cheering men. This one would do. 

Sorry about how short this one is