Starfall.
In the dark, cavernous crypt beneath the ground, only the sound of the septon's prayers echoed.
Members and vassals of House Dayne had gathered here to mourn their young lord and his aunt.
When the septon finished the eulogy, eight knights stepped forward and placed Edrick and Allyria's coffins into niches in the stone walls, letting them rest here forever alongside the generations of House Dayne ancestors.
With that, the funeral came to an end.
The septon was the first to leave.
Count Beric Dondarrion, who had personally brought his wife's and nephew's bodies home, was too ashamed to continue facing those present and departed the crypt as well.
Some of the guests who had come to attend the funeral also left one after another.
Only the members of House Dayne, along with some of the "Sands," remained still.
Their faces were solemn, yet they also seemed to be waiting for something.
The Count of Starfall was dead, and he had left no heirs. Worse still, the main line of House Dayne had been completely wiped out!
This raised a grave question—who was to inherit the title of Count of Starfall?
Though House Dayne's main line had died out, its cadet branches remained numerous, so there was no shortage of potential heirs.
But the problem was that the succession order among the collateral branches was an utter tangle. Even a maester well versed in heraldry would likely be unable to sort out the line of inheritance.
Moreover, there were quite a few "Sands" from House Dayne's main line watching covetously from the sidelines, especially Ulrick Sand.
He was the uncle by marriage of the late Count Edrick and had served as Starfall's acting castellan for over a decade. He possessed immense prestige; all he lacked was a surname.
At