"King Euron?!"
Asha's expression froze. It took a long time for her to hoarsely spit out those few words.
She glared viciously at Galon. "What are you trying to tell me?"
Galon did not answer. He reached out and pushed the letter across the table toward her.
Asha's gaze followed his finger downward, landing on the parchment.
Her body trembled, and the unease within her reached a breaking point, her face a mask of internal struggle.
After a moment, she finally picked up the letter.
With a single glance, she recognized the handwriting as that of her uncle, Rodrik Harlaw.
More importantly, she saw several twisted symbols drawn seemingly at random in the corner of the paper—the secret code she and Rodrik had agreed upon when she was a child.
"Father... killed... by Euron..."
The meaning of the code surfaced in Asha's mind, instantly stripping her of her reason.
"Euron... kinslayer! I will kill you! I'll kill you!"
Asha's eyes nearly split with rage, her roars echoing through the dungeon.
Immediately following her outburst, she turned her gaze toward Galon, who was blocking the exit.
Disregarding the gap in strength between them, she swung a fist at him, desperate to break out of the cell.
Galon raised his hand and firmly caught her fist.
"If you think you can escape by knocking me down, I suggest you give up that hope. You should be well aware of my prowess by now, Lady Asha."
Galon applied a slight amount of force, and Asha's body was pushed back until she hit the stone wall of the dungeon.
The cold stone and the flash of pain helped her regaining her composure.
She clenched her fist, released it, then clenched it again, repeating the motion several times.
Galon watched her actions, thinking to himself that it was fortunate she had retained some sanity, otherwise this would have required much more effort.
Seeing that she had abandoned the idea of using force, his eyes shifted as he spoke again.
"Lady Asha, if I am not mistaken..."
Galon met her gaze and delivered a line that shook her to the core.
"The target of the Iron Islands was never the North. It was Skagos. Specifically, the dragon on Skagos."
The grieving Asha's breath hitched, a flash of disbelief crossing her eyes. She had never expected Galon to know the ultimate objective of the Ironborn.
Galon's lips curled upward.
"Taking advantage of King Robb's march south to launch a three-pronged invasion of the North, thereby securing Winterfell."
"Then, you could safely mobilize an army to march across the North to reach Skagos and achieve your goal of controlling a dragon.
The entire plan is interconnected, quite grand in scope. It's a pity your luck wasn't better."
He looked at the silent, stunned Asha. "I want to ask: was this plan Euron's idea?"
Asha didn't intend to answer, but seeing Galon's expression, her heart stirred.
Her voice was raspy as she asked, "How did you know it was him?"
"If the Iron Islands had known the dragon's location for years, could you really have held back for so long?"
Galon followed her words, speaking intentionally.
"I heard that when your father, King Balon, exiled Euron, he said that as long as he lived, Euron could never return.
Yet here he is, returned and participating in the invasion of the North, bringing a massacre to Torrhen's Square and Castle Cerwyn.
Now it seems your uncle's true goal was never to conquer the North, but to carve a path."
Galon's voice suddenly rose, carrying undisguised mockery and coldness.
"A path paved with the bones of Northern warriors and Ironborn alike.
From the Stony Shore all the way to the Bay of Seals, then by ship to that frozen island to realize his mad dream—controlling a dragon!"
Galon noticed Asha trembling as if a deep scar in her heart had been ripped open.
He continued to increase the pressure.
"Look at this letter. Ha—King Euron? I truly feel pity for you and your father.
You... and even your uncle Victarion who fell in battle... you were all just pawns he sacrificed at will."
"You lie!" Asha looked up sharply, her voice shrill, but the tremor at the end betrayed her wavering heart.
"Lie?" Galon whispered like a demon.
"You know better than anyone whether I am lying. Look at this letter, Lady Asha. Your uncle doesn't care about your life.
No—he doesn't even care about the life of the Iron Islands!"
Galon's eyes flashed. He stepped forward, pinning the cornered Asha against the wall.
He could almost feel her rapid breathing, born of anger and fear. He sneered.
"All Euron cares about is realizing his dragon dream, just like Aegon V. He wants to control a dragon and then conquer Westeros!"
Galon paused, savoring the subtle terror on Asha's face and her wandering gaze, before slowly finishing his thought.
"To achieve his mad ambition, Euron would not hesitate to sacrifice the entire Iron Islands.
What do you say, Asha?"
Asha felt as if she had been struck by lightning, her face turning as white as paper.
Her father was dead, murdered by Euron.
And now Euron was going to use the entire Iron Islands as a stake in a mad gamble.
At this thought, the pillars that had supported her—family honor and her value as a high-born captive—collapsed entirely.
In an instant, a massive sense of betrayal and despair drowned her.
A smile touched Galon's lips. Seeing that her spirit was on the verge of breaking, he knew the time had come.
He used his finger to tilt Asha's chin up, slowly lifting her drooping head until her eyes met his.
His voice softened, but it carried a deeper, irresistible power.
"Lady Asha, right now, there are only two paths before you.
Either you continue to be a sacrifice for Euron's ambition and sink into the abyss with him and the Iron Islands... or you cooperate with me.
Tell me everything about the Iron Islands—the sea routes, the defenses, which families can be swayed, and so on."
His red eyes held a strange charisma, locking onto Asha's gaze.
"And I will help you stop that madman.
Then... you shall sit upon the Seastone Chair and truly find a way for the Iron Islands to survive!"
Galon threw out the bait, which was also Asha's only life-saving straw.
Asha looked at Galon, her heart trembling like a sea struck by lightning.
She could smell the scent of the man standing so close to her, and a strange shiver surged through her.
Beneath the shock was the instinct to survive in a desperate situation.
This instinct made her realize she was no longer a proud heir of the Iron Islands, but a woman pushed to the edge of a cliff who needed to make a choice.
Galon's calmness, his intellect, and the cruel truth he had revealed were like a heavy hammer smashing her old world to pieces.
It forced her to re-evaluate this terrifying man who might also be her only hope.
Asha's psychological defenses were quietly crumbling.
She struggled for a moment before finally whispering, "What do you want to know?"
Galon smiled, knowing his cooperation with Asha was secured.
Just as he was about to strike while the iron was hot to gather intelligence, another hurried set of footsteps came from outside the dungeon.
"...Galon!"
Sansa's voice called out to him with a hint of anxiety.
But when she saw her fiancé pressed intimately against Asha against the wall, her voice stopped abruptly.
In an instant, Galon felt a chill run down his spine. The scene turned suddenly and profoundly awkward.
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