The Iron Islands, Pyke.
The sea wind howled violently, causing the rope bridge connecting the Sea Tower to sway endlessly from side to side.
It looked as though the bridge could collapse into the sea at any mont beneath the force of the storm winds.
Asha Greyjoy, however, had long grown accustod to the savage weather of Pyke.
She strode steadily across the shaking bridge and quickly arrived at the Sea Tower.
Ignoring the dampness soaking through her quilted tunic from the salty mist, Asha pushed open the door and entered Balon Greyjoy's chamber with swift steps.
"Father, you summoned ?"
Standing at the doorway, Asha knocked lightly and smiled.
Hearing her voice, Balon Greyjoy, who had been sitting motionlessly while staring at a letter in his hand, suddenly seed to wake from a trance.
He lifted his head to look at his daughter, and an indescribable sadness surfaced within his eyes.
From this day onward, Asha was his only remaining child.
"Father?"
Noticing Balon's strange expression, Asha frowned slightly and called out again in confusion.
Balon finally returned to his senses and spoke in a hoarse voice.
"Read this letter."
He tossed the parchnt in his hand onto the long wooden table before him, signaling for Asha to co closer.
anwhile, overwheld by the grief of losing his son, Balon slowly rose and staggered toward the room's window before pushing it open.
Instantly, the cold, damp sea wind struck his face.
Moisture spread across his cheeks, and even Balon himself could no longer distinguish whether it was seawater or tears.
He silently stared toward the dark sea outside while remaining motionless for a very long ti.
Asha looked at her father's unusual behavior with growing confusion.
Still, she obediently stepped forward and picked up the letter to read it.
There were two letters resting upon the long table.
Asha instinctively glanced at the other parchnt before first picking up the one Balon had thrown toward her.
Yet after only reading several lines, her expression changed drastically.
"Theon is dead?!"
Asha quickly scanned through the contents of the letter.
Monts later, she slamd the parchnt heavily onto the table and shouted furiously.
"Stark claims Theon murdered his son, and then the Kingsguard executed him without even holding a trial?"
"Father, sothing is clearly wrong here!"
Asha did not particularly care whether Theon had truly hard Bran Stark or not.
Ever since the Greyjoy Rebellion nine years earlier, Theon had been taken to Winterfell as a hostage, and Asha's mories of her younger brother had already beco distant and vague.
Whether he lived or died was not what mattered most to her.
What truly enraged her was that a mber of House Greyjoy had been executed without trial.
The dignity of the Iron Islands had been trampled beneath the feet of the King and the North and tossed into the sea like fish scraps.
As Balon's chosen heir, how could Asha possibly endure such humiliation?
Yet Balon remained silent.
He simply continued staring at the sea outside the window, his mind occupied by thoughts unknown.
Seeing her father's reaction, Asha stepped forward angrily and raised her voice.
"The King and Stark are obviously working together. They'll naturally tell the sa story!"
"We must respond!"
Only then did Balon slowly close the window and turn around.
Without bothering to wipe the dampness from his face, he calmly asked.
"And how do you intend to respond?"
"Will you send ships to raid the North in revenge?"
"Or perhaps crown yourself Queen of the Iron Islands?"
Asha froze.
Balon's calmness was completely beyond her expectations.
"You're just going to let this go?" she demanded in disbelief. "Theon was your only son!"
Pain flickered within Balon's eyes, yet he still forced himself to remain composed.
"But he was not my heir."
"Asha, you are."
Balon looked directly at his daughter and spoke in a low, heavy voice.
"Nine years ago, the Iron Islands already failed once."
"If we act recklessly now, we will rely repeat the sa disaster."
"The alliance of stag, wolf, lion, trout, and falcon remains unshaken."
"Until cracks appear between them, we must learn patience."
"And besides…"
Balon walked back to the table and handed Asha the second letter.
A cold glint appeared within his eyes.
"Your uncle Euron is returning."
"Uncle Euron?"
Asha instinctively accepted the parchnt, but after reading its contents, her expression changed once more.
"Uncle Euron entered the ruins of Valyria and discovered a dragon horn?"
"Yes. A dragon horn."
Balon's tone beca strangely solemn.
"A horn said to command dragons."
Asha lifted the letter and asked impulsively, "Father, what does that have to do with us?"
"Is Uncle Euron bringing back a dragon horn truly more important than Theon's death?"
"Of course it is."
Balon nodded firmly and slowly sat back down.
"What does it matter?" Asha scoffed in disbelief. "Can Uncle Euron sohow find living dragons?"
Ever since the Dance of the Dragons, every Targaryen dragon had died.
Even the dragon eggs had turned to stone and could no longer hatch.
Later Targaryen kings exhausted every possible thod trying to restore dragons, eventually even causing the tragedy of Sumrhall, yet none succeeded.
Thus, Asha naturally believed that even if the dragon horn truly possessed the ability to command dragons, it was aningless without dragons themselves.
"Father, dragons no longer exist in this world. The Targaryens are finished."
"But we still live."
"If we remain silent after Theon's death, who in the Seven Kingdoms will continue respecting the Iron Islands?"
Asha waved her arms angrily as though she were already prepared to lead the Iron Fleet against the North the mont Balon gave the order.
Balon quietly observed her.
At this mont, Asha resembled the man he himself had been nine years ago.
Hot-blooded.
Proud.
Reckless.
But the current Iron Islands could not afford another failure.
"Asha," Balon suddenly asked slowly, "what if Euron claims he can find dragons?"
"What?!"
Asha instinctively cried out in shock.
Then she imdiately frowned.
"But Uncle Euron never said…"
Her voice abruptly stopped.
Only then did she notice that the final line of the letter had clearly been torn away midway.
There was obviously more content missing.
"Father, where is the rest of the letter?"
Asha looked at Balon in confusion, unable to understand why he had hidden part of it from her.
But Balon rely shook his head without answering.
Instead, he calmly instructed.
"Asha, your brother's death will not simply be ignored."
"From this day onward, send ships to patrol the western coasts of the North and the Riverlands."
He tapped the tabletop lightly.
"But do not allow anyone to land ashore."
Seeing Asha reluctantly nod, Balon continued.
"We will also send a letter to the King demanding an explanation for why Theon was executed without trial."
"The harsher the tone, the better."
"Now that the King has invited the wolf lord south to serve as Hand, Stark's nature will force him to give us an answer both emotionally and politically."
Asha frowned and objected.
"But Father, if Theon truly murdered Stark's son…"
Before she could finish, Balon interrupted with a cold sneer.
"No matter how foolish your brother may have been, he was not stupid enough to murder Ned Stark's son within Winterfell itself."
"He was frad."
"And Stark lacks the cunning to arrange such a sche."
Asha fell into thought before finally speaking.
"So you're using the letter to test them?"
Seeing Balon nod, she gritted her teeth bitterly.
"I'll have the maester prepare the letter imdiately."
With that, she turned and departed the Sea Tower, heading toward Pyke's main keep.
After Asha left, Balon slowly pulled out another hidden letter from within his sleeve.
He silently walked back toward the window, tore the parchnt into pieces, and scattered them into the storm outside.
The sea wind instantly carried the fragnts away.
One scrap of paper bearing the words "The Kinslayer" vanished into the black sea below.
At the sa ti, far across the Narrow Sea in Lys.
lisandre, dressed in crimson robes, stared fanatically into a blazing bonfire.
Within the dancing flas, one vision after another erged.
A pale wooden face with blood-red eyes appeared first.
Then countless green vines and roots intertwined together while climbing toward a royal throne.
"The Great Other…"
Hostility instantly surfaced within lisandre's eyes as she hissed sharply.
"A servant of the Great Other!"
The next mont, the vision within the fire changed again.
A blurry figure appeared while wielding a flaming greatsword.
"It is Azor Ahai…"
"The Prince That Was Promised!"
lisandre's eyes filled with religious fanaticism as she stirred the flas desperately, hoping the Lord of Light would reveal the path she should follow.
At that exact mont, a powerful gust of wind swept through the room.
The sparks from the fire drifted northward.
lisandre slowly rose to her feet and gazed toward the distant North.
"That direction…"
"Dragonstone?"
Her eyes flickered slightly.
Then, in that very instant, lisandre made her decision and prepared to begin her journey.
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