Dragonbinder

Hoso the leader chuckled. "Lady Asha won't obediently marry an old man. She's the Sea Monster's daughter."

Amid the clamor, Aeron paused before saying, "I am her uncle too. I will not let her marry Erik Ironmaker."

Hoso the leader stroked his beard. "Yet aside from Asha herself, no one can stop our king."

Aeron calmly emphasized, "I will stop him."

Hoso the leader leaned closer and lowered his voice. "Lord Aeron, don't forget—at the kingsmoot... you were the one who personally placed the Driftwood Crown upon Crow's Eye's head."

Aeron cast Hoso the leader a glance. "The Drowned God raised him to the Seastone Chair, yet he shows no reverence for the Drowned God."

Hoso the leader studied Aeron's expressionless face for a while, then said thoughtfully, "They say Crow's Eye commands the warlocks aboard the Silence, and that he uses blood sacrifices to appease the Storm God."

He glanced around and lowered his voice further. "Otherwise, how would Crow's Eye dare sail so far west? By custom, we sail along the coast... It truly caught the rose lords' vassals completely unprepared, and the Ironborn swept through the Shield Islands with ease."

Though Aeron's expression did not change, his hand tightened around his wine cup. "The godless Euron will bring down the Drowned God's wrath."

He emphasized once more, "I will stop him."

Hoso the leader secretly made a gesture. At the sight of it... the Harlaw captains seated nearby began loudly talking to those beside them, raising their cups high.

Only then did he say to Aeron, "Though you and Crow's Eye are both of the Sea Monster's blood, he now holds everything. If you oppose him alone, it is no different from seeking death."

Aeron shot Hoso a vicious glare. Across the Iron Islands, it was said...