The third small bay east of Sawtooth Reef.
Inside the captain's cabin aboard the Silence, a sea chart lay spread across the table, its parchment edges slightly curled from repeated handling.
Aegon's finger hovered over a spot on the chart where a dense scattering of black dots marked a dangerous reef cluster. Beside it was the handwritten label Sawtooth Reef.
Several Skull Band sergeants, hastily summoned for their familiarity with the eastern waters of the Stepstones, gathered around the table.
These leaders had distinguished themselves during the recent expansion of his forces, earning temporary appointments from Aegon to command small squads.
When Aegon named the destination, the expressions of several Skull Band sergeants stiffened at once.
A clear flicker of astonishment crossed their eyes, quickly giving way to a complicated mixture of wariness and dread.
They exchanged glances, their lips twitching, but none spoke immediately.
Little escaped Aegon's keen observation.
He looked up, his violet eyes sweeping calmly over them. "What? You don't know the place? Or is there a problem?"
"Don't know it?" A scar-faced sergeant who had once captained a small pirate ship repeated instinctively. Realizing how his tone sounded, he hurriedly bowed and chose his next words with care.
"Your Highness, it's not that we don't know it... quite the opposite. Lately, word of that place has been spreading among the pirates who make their living in these waters."
He licked his chapped lips and continued, "That spot is right near Bloodstone Island. It used to be a barren island bay in the middle of nowhere, a place even ghosts wouldn't visit. Reefs thick as sharks' teeth. Anyone who went there was asking for trouble."
"But lately... things have changed."
"A gang of Bluebeards from Tyrosh took it over," another, one-eyed sergeant added, lowering his voice.
Seeing