He valued Young Griff's life above everything else.
Yet madness surfaced on Jon Connington's face. "Then go ask that damned Easterner to lend you troops!
"The fee you paid the House of Black and White to hire the Faceless Men to kill him would have been enough for us to hire a hundred thousand Horsemen mercenaries from that Easterner! Wouldn't a hundred thousand screaming Dothraki Horsemen, together with the Golden Company's elite, be enough to tear both the Lannisters' golden lion banner and the Baratheons' Crowned Stag banner to shreds?!"
Illyrio recoiled half a step at his roar, his face alternating between red and white.
He knew Connington was serious this time. He had laid all his cards on the table.
If he stalled any longer, Connington really might forcibly take the Golden Company away.
Then the plan they had spent over a decade cultivating might collapse completely, and Young Griff might meet a violent death in the chaos after landing.
He had to make a choice.
Illyrio sighed deeply. "Very well, Griffin... you're right. Perhaps I've been too cautious. I'll send an envoy to that Easterner, but how many men he'll give us is another matter. That Easterner likes beautiful women and gold. He won't necessarily agree."
Jon Connington spoke with certainty. "He will. That Easterner has Great Dragons. He must possess the secrets to hatching and controlling them. He must be utterly obsessed with Dragons. All you have to do is offer that thing!"
Looking at the reckless gleam in Griffin's eyes, Illyrio finally nodded heavily. "I'll do my best. The envoy will leave today."
He was already beginning to calculate.
Perhaps only that thing could move the greedy Easterner?
Several days later, in the King's Hall at Conqueror's Holdfast.
Liu Qian sat on the Iron Throne, regarding