In the lord's room of Grell Castle, the candlelight flickered, distorting the three figures on the wall who were talking in low voices.
Damon. Grell stood upright, his body stretched like a fully drawn bow, his eyes fixed on the face of the House Grell knight in front of him.
His voice was dry, with an imperceptible tremor. "Have you found it?"
The two House Grell knights' faces were as pale as paper. They swallowed hard and then slowly shook their heads.
It's over, it's all over, with a bang, Damon. Grell seemed to have had all the bones in his body taken away, and he fell heavily back into the chair behind him.
What should I do...·. ·... The Blood Oath he gave to Balon. Greyjoy, which represented his secret surrender of allegiance, is missing. The oath of allegiance he wrote himself was a despicable deal he made to protect his family from Ironborn's attack.
If this matter is exposed, House Grell will be finished. This is treason. It is not a pity for him to die. However, the land owned by House Grell for generations will be ruthlessly deprived by Robert. Baratheon, and his descendants will become homeless exiles.
Damon. Grell raised his head, with the last glimmer of hope igniting in his eyes, and looked at the two knights in the room who were also dejected:
"Where are the other places? Have every body been searched?"
The two knights looked at each other, then shook their heads in despair and said, "Sir, we... we rummaged through every Ironborn's body, not even their boots, socks and linings. There is nothing."
Damon. Grell murmured to himself, inserted his hands into his hair, and scratched his scalp painfully. "What should we do... What should we do?"
.House Grell It's over."
"That oath of kneel-down loyalty to Blood Oath must have been sent to Pyke."
Mingqi stepped forward and tried to comfort him, "Bless you."
,"It is indeed possible, but...
-But there is another possibility."
"The army in the castle burned all the corpses of Ironborn, maybe... Maybe that thing was in the fire and turned to ashes with them."
Damon. Grell raised his head tremblingly, but there was no comfort in his eyes. He shook his head and his voice was hoarse:
"There can be no illusions, we must prepare for the worst."
At this moment, there was a loud knock on the door of the room. The three people tensed up instantly, like frightened hares. A knight put his hand on the hilt of his sword vigilantly, walked to the door, and carefully opened a gap.
There was a young man standing outside the door. Damon. Grell recognized him. He was Suleiman, the master of this mysterious cavalry unit and the one who saved his family from humiliation.
At first, he thought that the commander of this army was Tytos. Blackwood. Judging from his lineage, title or Riverlands's background, he should be Lord Blackwood. But what shocked him was that this was not the case.
The one who really gives orders in this team is this young man named Suleiman. His family is not well-known. It can even be said that he is from a humble background. He is not ranked high in the circle of Riverlands nobles.
In addition to the recent fame in Riverlands, defeating Wildlings and House Legg, but to say that it is superior to Blackwood, one of the oldest families of Seven Kingdoms, is not qualified in any case.
But the reality is so absurd. Not only does this young man command this cavalry army full of knights, but Tytos and Blackwood themselves seem to obey him.
At the moment when he was thinking, Suleiman had opened the door and walked in. His eyes swept over the two knights and he said nothing, but the meaning in his eyes was self-evident.
The two knights immediately bowed and saluted, then wisely withdrew and closed the door from the outside.
Damon. Grell quickly stood up from the chair and stretched out his hand. House Grell was in danger. He now had a splitting headache and forced a stiff smile:
"Welcome, Lord Suleiman, my friend."
"House Grell will always remember your kindness."
Suleiman turned a blind eye to his outstretched hand and completely ignored his politeness. He walked straight to the center of the room and sat down on the guest seat in the room unceremoniously.
He looked up at the embarrassed Lord Grell, and said calmly, "Sir, there are secrets hidden in the heart, which will make people sleep uneasy."
Damon. Grell was shocked in his heart, and the blood in his body seemed to freeze instantly. However, he was a lord after all, and he quickly suppressed the panic in his heart. He knew that the other party had noticed that his previous performance was indeed too obvious.
Why did Ironborn only imprison his family soldiers and knights, but did not kill anyone? Why was he so anxious to search Ironborn's body after the battle? It was too obvious and hasty. After all, it was a moment of life and death for the family. These flaws were too big.
He tried hard to maintain a calm expression on his face, even with a hint of confusion. "I don't understand what people mean."
Suleiman looked at him, shook his head slightly, did not argue, but stood up from the chair, as if ready to leave.
As he walked towards the door, he said in a regretful tone, "What a pity."
"Originally I planned to save House Grell times."
Save House Grell once, these words were like a heavy hammer, hitting Damon. Grell's heart hard. He looked at the young man's back in shock, and a chill went straight from the soles of his feet to Tianling Gai.
Damon. Grell can't figure it out. The other party can bring such huge pressure to himself at such a young age. Sure enough, the person who can make waves in Riverlands and even replace House Blackwood as the commander-in-chief of the army is definitely not a good person. He must have unique abilities.
He didn't dare to have any more excuses or contempt, and he didn't care about the dignity of the nobles. He rushed forward and eagerly grabbed Suleiman's arm:
"Suleiman-sama!"
"Suleiman-sama!"
"Suleiman people! Please sit down! Sit down! Sit down! Sit down!"
Damon. Grell almost pushed Suleiman back onto the chair with half a drag and half a request. His face was filled with a smile of humility and fear, and he no longer dared to look down upon the other person because of his age.
He cautiously stepped forward, lowered his voice, and asked tentatively, "Master Suleiman."
. Do you know something?"
Suleiman was too lazy to talk in circles with him anymore, and shattered his last line of defense with the simplest sentence:
"House Grell has surrendered allegiance to Iron Islands."
Just one sentence made Damon. Grell tremble violently. His face instantly turned as pale as a dead man. Fear was like countless cold hands, tightly grasping his heart. He really knew! He knew everything!
His lips were trembling and he could hardly make a sound, but he still forced himself to ask the question, "Suleiman Master..
you... You just said... can save House Grell.."
"How to save?"
Suleiman leaned on the back of the chair with an indifferent expression. "I'm not here to save you, but adults are here to save themselves, House Grell is here to save themselves."
Damon. Grell is completely unable to understand. "What do you mean?"
Suleiman looked at him calmly. "At this moment, what you are most afraid of is the leakage of the Kneeling Blood Pact news, right? That is ironclad evidence of House Grell's treason."
Damon. Grell looked pale and nodded feebly. "I...
·. I'm worried about this."
Suleiman raised an elusive smile on his lips, "In that case, I have a chance."
"One can turn this heinous crime of treason into a feat that will shock Seven Kingdoms."
Damon. Grell's eyes widened violently, and his breathing stopped.
Treason... turned into merit? How is this possible?
But he still asked eagerly as if he had grasped a life-saving straw, "How to do it?"
Suleiman didn't speak anymore. He just looked at Damon. Grell quietly, as if he was waiting for the other party's offer.
Damon. Grell understood instantly. He gritted his teeth and his heart was bleeding. "If I can save House Grell, I... I am willing to give five thousand Gold Dragon to you!"
Suleiman still shook his head gently, without even a trace of emotion on his face. These land nobles were completely like piggy banks, with unlimited gold coins. Five thousand Gold Dragon was a huge sum of money for any lord, but that was not his ambition.
Damon. Grell's lips were bitten with bloody marks. Obviously, five thousand Gold Dragon could not catch the eyes of the young man in front of him. He knew that he had to offer a bargaining chip that the other party could not refuse.
He took a deep breath, put his right hand on his chest, and swore in an extremely solemn manner:
"Seven witnesses! House Grell! I would like to swear an oath to Suleiman! For the rest of my life! A blood alliance between the two races!"
This is the highest promise a lord can make, second only to loyalty to the lord.
Suleiman's face did not change at all, because he did not believe in any oath, but this was indeed enough for House Lychester's future plans.
He finally spoke, but he said something that made Damon. Grell fall into despair again:
"My people have searched all Ironborn's bodies and found nothing."
It's over, Damon. Grell closed his eyes, shook his body, and almost fell to the ground. In other words, that Blood Oath has really been sent to Iron Islands or other Ironborn.
Once Balon. Greyjoy makes it public, or exposes it to Robert Baratheon, House Grell will be beyond redemption, and he doesn't know what else House Grell can do to save it.
Just when his heart was filled with despair, Suleiman's voice sounded again, with a kind of magical power that confuses people's hearts:
"Balon. Greyjoy's son, Maron. Greyjoy, is in my hands."
Damon. Grell opened his eyes suddenly and looked at him confused, what did he mean?
Suleiman stood up, walked slowly in front of him, and looked down at the pale Lord Grell:
"You, Damon. Grell, have decided to surrender to Iron Islands and intend to become the first Riverlands to publicly swear allegiance to Balon. Greyjoy The lord of E then invited the commander of the nearest Ironborn to Grell Castle for the banquet in the name of Maron. Greyjoy."
He looked at Damon. Grell's eyes that suddenly opened wide in shock, and said word by word:
"Kill them all at the banquet."
"In this case, your surrender will be a humiliation and a great dormancy for the sake of the kingdom."
"You waited for the opportunity, just to make the Ironborn leader relax his vigilance and kill them all. Not only is this nothing wrong, but it is a great achievement and will definitely be rewarded by the king."
"At that time, even if Ironborn, so what if we take out Blood Oath?"
Damon. Grell After hearing this plan, he stood up suddenly. Fear and shock made him feel cold all over. He took a few trembling steps back, his voice trembling:
"No..
No!!! This is...
. This is against Guest Right!!!!"
"In your own hall! Kill the guests you entertain.
. This will be the most vicious curse from Seven and Old Gods! My family! My soul! will be cast aside forever!"
"No.
. Absolutely not!!! Killing guests at a banquet!! You will be cursed by the gods!!!!"
Suleiman looked at his frightened look, and the smile on his face did not change at all. He knew that the Lord had no choice, and this matter would bring mixed success to Westeros.
The Honor Society believes that House Grell endures the humiliation and is willing to bear the charges of treason, blasphemy, being cursed by the gods, and making his family infamy, but also considers the important affairs of the kingdom. This is true righteousness and a representative of loyalty.
And destroying, of course, House Grell, trampling on Guest Right, the gods cursing, and the host murdering the guests in the hall, even Ironborn, is a heinous crime of blasphemy.
He has to think about House Lychester and his own feathers. This matter has nothing to do with me, and House Grell, who is in a deadlock, is the best and most poisonous dagger to implement this plan.