The soldiers outside the long hall cowered and gathered in the distance.
Standing in the middle, "Crow's Eye" Euron, instead, looked like their master.
He hasn't changed at all, Victarion thought. He looks exactly like the day he left after mocking me.
His hair was still as black as a midnight ocean, without a single white strand, and his face was still smooth and fair, with a neatly trimmed black beard.
A piece of black leather covered Euron's left eye.
But his right eye was as blue as a summer sky, full of smiles.
Was that mockery, or malice?
The wails of the wife he had personally hammered to death, the sharp mockery of Crow's Eye during their confrontation – the images and sounds blended together, and Victarion could no longer distinguish them.
"Wet Hair" Euron stared blankly at Euron.
He wore a suit of soap-colored scale armor that Euron had never seen before – as black as smoke, and as light as a silk shirt to wear.
The edges of the scales were reddish-gold, shimmering constantly.
Patterns adorned the metal – swirls, hieroglyphs, and mysterious symbols, all etched into the steel.
Valyrian Steel, Wet Hair knew, his armor is Valyrian Steel.
Throughout the Seven Kingdoms, no one possessed such a suit of Valyrian armor. Such items only appeared more than four hundred years ago, before Valyria was destroyed.
But even then, its value was worth a kingdom.
The sound of the door opening...
The shriek of rusted iron chains...
No...
Euron's hands trembled, and he closed his eyes in prayer.
The captains and chieftains in the long hall examined the men Euron had brought with him.
Black men with skin as dark as pitch, Qohorik, Dothraki, Westerosi, and short, hairy fellows who looked like apes from Sothoryos.
All sorts of mutes and half-breeds stood in silence.
The Ironborn captains all knew that the crew of the Silence had had their tongues pulled out.
The Silence was indeed silent.
"Uncle Euron, you are indeed late. Father returned to the Flowing Palace last night."
"You were away for so long, unable to see him one last time, perhaps I should pity you?" Asha replied, holding her head high.
Her voice broke the stalemate.
Victarion pulled himself out of his painful memories.
Balon had ordered that Euron was not to return to the Iron Islands unless he died.
It had been three years.
Crow's Eye had never shown himself near the Iron Islands, yet today he returned, exactly the day after Balon's death.
So.
Victarion immediately questioned loudly, "Did you do this?! Breaking a Blood Oath, committing this act of Kinslaying that the gods will not tolerate?!"
The long hall erupted in an uproar.
Yes, when it came down to it, the return of "Crow's Eye" Euron was the truly impossible coincidence.
"I received a prophecy."
"Crow's Eye" Euron walked calmly forward, his mute crew following closely by his side, the Pyke soldiers behind him hesitant.
"All of Westeros is about to march towards destruction. The Iron Islands will regain their glory, reclaim the ancient position of overlord, and decrees will once again pass unimpeded wherever the sound of waves can be heard."
"So, I have returned."
Euron sighed softly, "I just didn't expect the prophecy to unfold in this way."
"It turns out, it is for me to sit on the Seastone Chair."
Euron's voice was flat, openly stating his great ambition without reservation.
Asha, Victarion, and Euron stood in a line, blocking Euron's path directly in front of him, protecting the sacred Seastone Chair behind them.
"Just now, I heard you calling 'Queen Asha'?"
Euron didn't mind, turning to face the captains and chieftains in the long hall, leaving his back to the three on the high platform.
"My only surviving nephew Theon is living well. Ironborn, why not choose him?"
Euron answered his own question, "Because he is not a free Ironborn, and even less likely to become a proud Iron King, leading the Iron Islands to restore the Old Way, win victories, plunder everything, and possess all of Westeros."
"All of this, I can do."
A smile appeared on Euron's face, his lips, blue-black, spoke tempting words.
Asha looked sarcastic, and just as she opened her mouth, the Dothraki man beside Euron fiddled with the Arakh in his hand, full of menace.
Victarion gave his niece a look; he wanted to hear what Euron had to say.
Asha held herself back.
The long hall was silent, only Euron's voice continued.
"I am Balon's brother, the eldest son still living from Quellon's knee. The blood of King Vickon and the Old Kraken flows in my veins."
The crowd silently weighed the words.
Euron was indeed more qualified than Victarion. As for Asha, on the Iron Islands, a daughter's rights were not prioritized over those of an uncle.
"And I have sailed farther than any ancestor."
Euron boasted confidently.
"Among the Krakens alive, only one has never tasted defeat, only one has never bent his knee, only one has been to Asshai near the Shadow Lands, and witnessed unimaginable wonders and horrors."
Many people nodded secretly.
No Captain was unaware of the terrifying legend of the Silence, what an enviable infamy.
"And."
Euron brushed off non-existent dust from his dark night-colored scales.
"Only one has set foot on the fiery ruins of Valyria, discovered earth-shattering secrets, and gained great power."
"And only one is truly favored by the gods."
Wet Hair Euron shook his head with stubborn determination. No, the Drowned God would not favor a monster like him, no, absolutely not...
Euron smiled and scanned the room.
"Me, or my little niece Asha, make your choice, Ironborn."
"Glory, or mediocrity?"
Crow's Eye Euron extended his right hand forward, summoning the crowd, summoning victory and glory.
The scales on his body shone and flowed.
As if possessing magic power.
Donnel Saltcliffe, the Lord of Saltcliffe, was the first to react, pounding the long table repeatedly and forcefully, "Euron! Euron! Euron! Euron! Euron..."
Gorold Goodbrother, the Lord of Warhammer Point, shouted loudly, "Euron! Crow's Eye! Euron!"
"Euron! Crow's Eye! King Euron!"
Walton Wynch, the Lord of Ironwood, joined the ranks supporting Crow's Eye.
Victarion stepped forward, raising his right arm high.
"Queen Asha!"
Asha breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed her uncle's resolve had not wavered. As long as her uncle supported her, she would not fail.
At Pyke, Crow's Eye's Silence had no power.
"King Euron!"
"Queen Asha!!"
"King Euron! King Euron!!"
...
The long hall descended into chaotic noise. A little less than half the people supported Asha, another portion supported Crow's Eye, and some still remained silent.
"Stop! No entry!"
"Get lost! Are you even worthy to stop an Envoy from doing their job?! How much is your little life worth?"
Discordant voices came from the doorway again.
Asha looked over.
The Soldiers guarding the door did not dare to act on the spot.
Osha, the Messenger from the Iron Throne, then led her people directly in.
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