You may be familiar with a different version of events. Many on the Isle believe that Lady Mira took Arik the Foolish into her bed. They say she made a pact with him, that the Northern king agreed to secure vengeance for her by slaying her captor and Lord Loric and that he promised to give her a ship. In exchange, it is said, Mira agreed to use her witchcraft to help him conquer the Isle. Many say that invading the Isle was her idea, that it was not something Northern raiders could have thought of on their own. They say Mira wanted vengeance for her burnt sisters and highborn men to lie with. When Arik upheld his end of the bargain, Mira betrayed him, as heathen witches are prone to doing. One king was not enough for her.

In the North, there is a much different tale involving a fair maiden who lured a Northman into her tower with a beautiful and tragic song. The man fell in love and brought the maid to the sea.

I would like to address one part of the commonly accepted story. It is said that Mira started The Twenty Years’ War. It is well known that the first participants in the war were the Nosern, led by Arik the Foolish, and a loose alliance of some of the lords from the Isle, led unofficially by Lord Loric of Clan Terrowin.

I would like to draw your attention to two points within the tale I have told you. When Loric spoke to Mira the evening before their betrothal, he said that he had mind to build ships and meet the Northmen at sea. Loric had the intention of building an armada before he met Mira, and so, his choices and actions cannot be blamed on her. Further, when Mira was travelling to Byernen, the crew summarized some of the alterations Arik had made to the previous year’s raids. These changes are mentioned in a few other places within the story as well. From this, we can surmise that before Arik had met Mira, he intended on weakening the Islish defences to create conditions that were favourable for invasion. His choices and actions, therefore, also cannot be put on Mira’s shoulders. I will accept that Lord Dayne’s participation in the alliance of Ilish lords may have been the result of Mira’s captivity. This being said, even if Mira had not been taken, it is possible that the death of their father at the hands of the Northmen might have inspired the same response.

I think many of these rumours originate from the difficulty people have in accepting that Mira, a foreign slave girl, became captain of a Norsern ship without the help of dark forces. To this day, as far as I know, Lady Mira is the only foreigner to have served as captain, even if it was only for a short time.