Chapter 72 CHAPTER 72
The Iron Islands, Sea Tower.
The waves at night were far more violent than during the day, constantly crashing against the rocks beneath the Sea Tower.
Amid the endless roar of the tide, Balon Greyjoy sat in his chair, carefully reading the reply sent from King's Landing by candlelight.
Yet no matter how many times he reread it, Robert Baratheon's attitude within the letter remained just as arrogant and hostile.
"Hmph, too much!"
Even Balon, who had been suppressing his temper, was finally angered by Robert's repeated warnings.
He slammed the letter heavily onto the table and cursed furiously, "That foolish stag who only knows how to mount boars actually thinks I'm an idiot? Theon admitted it himself? Does he truly take me for a fool?"
Asha Greyjoy, standing beside the fireplace, stepped forward, picked up the letter, and read through it herself.
She sneered coldly.
"Father, they cannot even be bothered to fabricate a proper excuse. Clearly, they do not place the Iron Islands in their eyes at all."
Asha put the letter down and continued.
"One of the longships I sent to patrol Ice Bay returned with only two survivors. The rest were all killed by Deepwood Motte's men."
"It seems the North is already preparing for war."
Balon's eyes darkened as he growled in a low voice.
"Deepwood Motte... Stark..."
Asha waited for him to finish before stepping forward again and volunteering eagerly.
"Father, give me twenty longships and I guarantee I'll seize Deepwood Motte!"
Balon, still burning with anger, truly wanted to agree.
But the moment he thought of the alliance between the stag, wolf, lion, and trout, the fire in his heart was instantly extinguished like cold seawater poured over his head.
He slowly closed his eyes, forcing himself to calm down.
When he opened them once more, his gaze had returned to its usual cold composure.
"No. Now is not the time to wage war against the North."
Seeing her proposal rejected again, Asha could not help but raise her voice.
"Then how long are we supposed to wait? Are we simply going to let others piss on our heads?"
Balon paid no attention to her crude language.
A strange glint flashed through his eyes as he recalled the letter Euron had sent previously.
At last, he made his decision.
"I will write to your uncle Euron and permit him to return with the dragon horn."
Asha's face filled with confusion. She did not understand why her father was suddenly mentioning Euron again.
But Balon's next sentence caused her entire body to stiffen.
"Then I will command the Iron Fleet to assist him in capturing the dragon!"
"What?!"
Asha exclaimed in shock.
"Father, you said help Uncle Euron capture a dragon?"
Even after Balon nodded in confirmation, Asha still found it difficult to believe.
For a brief moment, she even wondered whether old age had finally clouded her father's mind.
She hesitated before speaking.
"Father... dragons have been extinct for hundreds of years..."
But Balon had already risen from his chair and walked toward the wardrobe.
He opened it and took out a wooden box before handing it directly to Asha.
"This was sent by your uncle together with his previous letter."
"Open it and you'll understand."
Asha accepted the wooden box with confusion, lowered her head, and slowly opened it.
Immediately, the object inside came into view.
It was a black dragon scale stained with dried blood.
"This is..."
Asha suddenly looked up at her father.
Balon confirmed in a solemn voice,
"That's right. It is a dragon scale. Euron found it inside a dragon's lair."
Shocked, Asha carefully lifted the fist-sized scale from the box and examined it closely.
Only after a long moment did she raise her head again and ask with a complicated expression,
"Father, do you truly believe Uncle Euron?"
"This dragon scale could simply have been looted from somewhere."
Balon slowly shook his head.
"I know Euron well. He would never lie about something like this."
"And he understands clearly."
"If I discover he deceived me, then he will be thrown into the sea and never know rest."
Asha silently rubbed the dragon scale in her hand, unable to speak for a time.
The room instantly fell quiet, with only the sound of waves smashing against the cliffs outside.
After a long silence, Asha finally spoke again.
"So, Father, you intend to use Uncle Euron's dragon horn to control the dragon he discovered and then challenge the Iron Throne?"
Balon stared at her, excitement slowly surfacing within his expression.
"That's right. This is the only path by which the Iron Islands can seize the Iron Throne."
"As long as we possess dragons, whether it is the fertile Reach or wealthy Casterly Rock, all of them will kneel before us."
"By then, just like Aegon the Conqueror, we will conquer the entire continent of Westeros!"
But Asha did not share his excitement. Instead, worry filled her eyes.
"Father, if Uncle Euron truly gains control of dragons, aren't you afraid?"
"When that happens, will the Iron Islands still obey your commands?"
"You were the one who exiled Uncle Euron. I don't believe he would kindly hand over the dragon horn."
Hearing this, Balon's eyes revealed a trace of satisfaction, and a smile slowly appeared on his face.
"Asha, the fact that you can think this far ahead proves that you are already becoming a qualified ruler."
"You are correct. If Euron controls the dragons, then the Iron Islands will inevitably fall into his hands."
"That is why the dragon horn must remain in our possession."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"Dragons are not so easily controlled. Your uncle wants to use the Iron Islands' military strength to capture and command the dragon."
"So I will force him to surrender the dragon horn first. Otherwise, he will receive no assistance from the Iron Islands."
After hearing that her father already possessed a complete plan, Asha's worries gradually eased.
She looked toward Balon curiously.
"Father, did Uncle Euron mention where the dragon is located?"
This time, Balon did not hide the answer.
"In the North. Upon Skagos."
Instantly, an image of a desolate island surfaced in Asha's mind.
Skagos lay east of the Wall, across the sea from Eastwatch-by-the-Sea at the mouth of the Shivering Sea.
Asha herself had never visited the island, but she had heard Maester Qarlon describe it before.
If one sailed from the Iron Islands to Skagos without traveling through the North, they would need to circle nearly the entire continent of Westeros.
According to the maester's descriptions, the waters surrounding Skagos were treacherous and filled with hidden reefs.
Whenever storms arrived, the icy winds could freeze ropes and sails solid.
The Skagosi who inhabited the island rarely left it and almost never interacted with outsiders.
Although they nominally swore fealty to House Stark, their relationship with Winterfell remained extremely distant.
In the eyes of many mainlanders, the Skagosi were even more savage than the wildlings beyond the Wall.
"How could a dragon possibly be there?"
Asha looked utterly puzzled. She could not understand what would attract a dragon to such a barren island.
Balon himself did not know the answer.
Euron's letter only stated the dragon's location, not the reason behind it.
"I have already sent word to Euron. He should soon return to Pyke."
"When he arrives, we will ask him directly."
Asha nodded before asking one final curious question.
"Father, what is the dragon called?"
"The Cannibal."
Balon repeated the name solemnly.
"A wild dragon that once dwelled upon Dragonstone... The Cannibal."
At the same time, while Balon and Asha were discussing how to control a dragon, far away in Deepwood Motte, Garon had already finished entertaining Lady Maege Mormont at dinner and arranged for servants to escort House Mormont to their guest chambers.
The night passed peacefully.
The following morning, after sharing breakfast with Lady Maege and her daughters, Garon personally escorted them out of Deepwood Motte.
At the gates of the North Keep, the two sides bid one another farewell.
Garon arranged for a squad of soldiers to escort House Mormont safely back toward Horseshoe Beach, while he himself remained behind to continue drilling the troops.
After supervising the soldiers' training, he immediately returned to handle Deepwood Motte's administrative matters together with Chief Steward Mormont.
Whenever he found spare time, he also continued researching armor-piercing arrows alongside Maester Beckman.
Thus, ten days passed in the blink of an eye.
Throughout those ten days, Garon's life remained filled from morning until night with endless duties and preparations.
And during this same period, Eddard Stark finally began formally investigating the death of Jon Arryn.
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