A Game of Thrones 4-Book Bundle

braids. Ralf the Shepherd too, and Ralf of Lordsport, and Qarl the Thrall.
    And the Crow’s Eye, Euron Greyjoy.
    He looks unchanged,
Victarion thought.
He looks the same as he did the day he laughed at me and left.
Euron was the most comely of Lord Quellon’s sons, and three years of exile had not changed that. His hair was still black as a midnight sea, with never a whitecap to be seen, and his face was still smooth and pale beneath his neat dark beard. A black leather patch covered Euron’s left eye, but his right was blue as a summer sky.
    His smiling eye,
thought Victarion. “Crow’s Eye,” he said.
    â€œ
King
Crow’s Eye, brother.” Euron smiled. His lips looked very dark in the lamplight, bruised and blue.
    â€œWe shall have no king but from the kingsmoot.” The Damphair stood. “No godless man—”
    â€œâ€”may sit the Seastone Chair, aye.” Euron glanced about the tent. “As it happens I have oft sat upon the Seastone Chair of late. It raises no objections.” His smiling eye was glittering. “Who knows more of gods than I? Horse gods and fire gods, gods made of gold with gemstone eyes, gods carved of cedar wood, gods chiseled into mountains, gods of empty air . . . I know them all. I have seen their peoples garland them with flowers, and shed the blood of goats and bulls and children in their names. And I have heard the prayers, in half a hundred tongues. Cure my withered leg, make the maiden love me, grant me a healthy son. Save me, succor me, make me wealthy . . .
protect
me! Protect me from mine enemies, protect me from the darkness, protect me from the crabs inside my belly, from the horselords, from the slavers, from the sellswords at my door. Protect me from the
Silence
.” He laughed. “
Godless?
Why, Aeron, I am the godliest man ever to raise sail! You serve one god, Damphair, but I have served ten thousand. From Ib to Asshai, when men see
my
sails, they pray.”
    The priest raised a bony finger. “They pray to trees and golden idols and goat-headed abominations. False gods . . .”
    â€œJust so,” said Euron, “and for that sin I kill them all. I spill their blood upon the sea and sow their screaming women with my seed. Their little gods cannot stop me, so plainly they are false gods. I am more devout than even you, Aeron. Perhaps it should be you who kneels to me for blessing.”
    The Red Oarsman laughed loudly at that, and the others took their lead from him.
    â€œFools,”
said the priest, “fools and thralls and blind men, that is what you are. Do you not see what stands before you?”
    â€œA king,” said Quellon Humble.
    The Damphair spat, and strode out into the night.
    When he was gone, the Crow’s Eye turned his smiling eye upon Victarion. “Lord Captain, have you no greeting for a brother long away? Nor you, Asha? How fares your lady mother?”
    â€œPoorly,” Asha said. “Some man made her a widow.”
    Euron shrugged. “I had heard the Storm God swept Balon to his death. Who is this man who slew him? Tell me his name, niece, so I might revenge myself on him.”
    Asha got to her feet. “You know his name as well as I. Three years you were gone from us, and yet
Silence
returns within a day of my lord father’s death.”
    â€œDo you accuse me?” Euron asked mildly.
    â€œShould I?” The sharpness in Asha’s voice made Victarion frown. It was dangerous to speak so to the Crow’s Eye, even when his smiling eye was shining with amusement.
    â€œDo I command the winds?” the Crow’s Eye asked his pets.
    â€œNo, Your Grace,” said Orkwood of Orkmont.
    â€œNo man commands the winds,” said Germund Botley.
    â€œWould that you did,” the Red Oarsman said. “You would sail wherever you liked and never be becalmed.”
    â€œThere you have it, from the mouths of three brave men,” Euron said. “The
Silence
was at sea when Balon died. If you doubt an uncle’s word, I give you leave to ask my crew.”
    â€œA crew of mutes? Aye, that would serve me well.”
    â€œA husband would serve you well.” Euron turned to his followers again. “Torwold, I misremember, do you have a wife?”
    â€œOnly the one.” Torwold Browntooth grinned, and showed how he had won his name.
    â€œI am unwed,” announced Left-Hand Lucas Codd.
    â€œAnd for good reason,” Asha