13. Aurane Waters
Having fought on the side of Stannis Baratheon in the Battle Of The Blackwater, sellsail Aurane Waters was pardoned for his actions by the Crown in the battles aftermath, seemingly switching his loyalty. From there, he ascended to the Small Council, acquiring the position of Master of Ships and commissioning the building of a new fleet of warships, which he absconded with after Cerseis imprisonment by the faith. According to preview chapters from The Winds Of Winter, there is a new Pirate King in the Stepstones in command of a fleet of ships described in suspiciously similar terms to the ones that Aurane disappeared with, making it safe to assume that said Pirate King is him. Assuming he still holds some form of loyalty towards Stannis, this fleet could become his new navy now that Salladhor Sahn has abandoned his cause, though with Salladhor on his way to the Stepstones, some form of naval conflict could ensue. On the topic of Stannis,
a post at the Forum of Ice and Fire makes an interesting point - connecting him, Aurane and the forces of the Vale through a seemingly nonsensical quotation from Patchface, the strangely prophetic fool of Stannis daughter Shireen. We will march into the sea and out again. Under the waves we will ride seahorses, and mermaids will blow seashells to announce our coming, oh, oh, oh Aurane is a bastard member of House Velaryon, whose sigil is a seahorse, whilst the ship that took Littlefinger and Sansa Stark to the vale had a merman blowing a great seashell on its sails. This could foreshadow a new Stark/Baratheon/Arryn alliance (something that worked well in the past), which would be a formidable threat to the Iron Throne, as well as the man calling himself Aegon Targaryen.