As soon as Galin finished speaking, the room fell into a dead silence.
The flames in the fireplace swayed, distorting everyone's shadows and projecting them on the wall, like a group of silent ghosts.
Tyene was the first to react.
Her speed was so fast that even her eldest sister Obaya had no time to stop her, and Galin's screams resounded throughout the room.
Bang!
"You damn bastard!"
Tyene kicked Garin in the face with such force that he fell backwards and the back of his head hit the floor hard.
"What the hell are you talking about!"
While she was cursing, she still couldn't get over her anger, and rushed forward to add another kick.
"Teene!" Obaya's voice sounded, and at the same time a hand stretched out from the side and firmly grasped Triene's shoulder.
Triene struggled twice, but failed to break free. She could only stand there and gasp for air, her chest rising and falling violently.
Her eyes were fixed on Galin who was curled up in a ball on the ground. In those big and bright eyes, extremely complex emotions were burning at the moment, including anger, shock, disbelief, and even a hint of... guilt that she was unwilling to admit.
Because the moment she saw Galin, she already had some kind of bad premonition in her heart.
She knows Guerin.
No, not just acquaintance.
Gaerin's mother was Princess Arianne's wet nurse, and Gaerin grew up with Arianne from their infancy.
Although Garin was just the son of a wet nurse, Arianne had never looked at him the same way she looked at a servant. The relationship between them was more like brother and sister than master and servant.
In other words, everyone can see that Galin has some unrealistic fantasies about Princess Arianne, but his identity is destined to never get what he wants in this life.
And the relationship between Tyene and Arianne... is even more complicated.
Because among all the Sand Snakes, she and Arianne are the closest in age, and they have almost grown up together.
In the flowing water garden of Dorne, under the sunny lemon tree, they shared countless secrets about dreams, love, and the inner thoughts that Maiden would have when they reach a certain age.
Tyene remembered that in the summer when she was thirteen, she and Arianne went to the market in Plank Town to play.
They bought honey nuts roasted by street vendors, ate their mouths full of candied sugar, and then sat barefooted on the roadside, looking openly at the handsome knights passing by, and whistling at them from time to time.
However, Tyene noticed that Arianne did not really look at the knights, she just looked past them and looked further away.
Following the path of her light, Tyene saw the mountains on the border of Dorne, as well as the lands in the distance that she had never truly set foot on, but was destined to rule.
At that moment, the sun shone through the gaps in the palm leaves and fell on Arianne's face.
Her eyes curved into crescent shapes, and her smile was as bright as lemon flowers in summer.
Tyene's heart skipped a beat.
Since then, some things have been different.
This was her deepest secret. Tyene had never told anyone about it, not even the other Sand Snakes.
But every time she saw Arianne, heard Arianne's laughter, or whenever the princess looked at her with that kind and trusting look, Tyene's heart would beat faster involuntarily.
There is some tacit understanding between them that others can never understand.
All of this makes Tyene feel that the relationship between her and Arianne is more special than other sand snakes.
It was precisely because of this that her heart was so confused at the moment.
She could not and did not want to believe that Arianne would do such a thing as sending someone to assassinate her own uncle and the father of all their Sand Snakes, Oberyn Martell!
However, Guerin's appearance here is the most powerful evidence in itself.
He is Arianne's person, and is even one of her most trusted confidants.
If it wasn't Arianne's order, how could he have appeared in King's Landing and participated in this assassination?
The more she thought about it, the more she felt something was wrong. Triene's breathing began to become more and more rapid, and her chest felt like a huge stone was pressing down. It was so heavy that she could hardly breathe.
"That's enough."
A hoarse voice sounded, breaking the deadlock in the room.
Everyone looked towards the source of the sound.
Oberyn·Martell.
His pair of pitch-black eyes were staring at Galin on the ground, but there was no extra emotion in his eyes, not even a hint of anger.
As the oldest Sand Snake, Obaya immediately understood what her father meant.
She let go of Tyene's shoulders and walked over to Garin, grabbed him by the collar, and lifted him up from the ground.
"Just be patient."
These words were spoken to Garin, but they were also spoken to Tyene.
Hearing this, Tyene could only stand on the spot, gritting her teeth and not moving again, but her eyes never left Galin, her eyes were so complicated that it was indescribable.
Oberyn looked away from Garin and landed on Tyene's face.
The gaze didn't last long, only a few seconds, but Tyene felt that those few seconds seemed as long as centuries.
She has never been afraid of her father's gaze. Growing up, Oberyn has never had any prejudice against them Bastard Daughter. On the contrary, he loves them more than he does those orthodox children.
But at this moment, she didn't dare to look at her father.
It was as if her father was re-recognizing her, or re-evaluating her relationship with Arianne Martell.
Tyene's heart tightened suddenly.
She suddenly realized that her father knew everything.
Perhaps starting more than ten years ago, her father had already noticed something about her well-hidden emotions, but he never said anything.
Trine's throat suddenly felt tight, and she blinked hard to suppress the unnecessary emotion.
But Oberyn's scrutiny did not last long, and he quickly withdrew his gaze and looked at Garin again.
"I just woke up in the afternoon, so I have no idea what happened before."
He spoke, his voice hoarse and tired, but his tone was unmistakable. "So, you have to tell me everything exactly as it is."
"Don't talk nonsense."
Oberyn spoke the last few words slowly.
Garin shuddered and raised his head to meet Oberyn's dark eyes.
The look in his eyes was terrifyingly calm, like the sea before a storm. It was calm on the surface, but there was a turbulent undercurrent underneath.
He knows Oberyn Martell too well.
Growing up in Sunspear, he had seen the prince teach his disobedient servants countless times.
Oberyn would never yell like other nobles, nor would he use torture at every turn. He would always smile, use that careless tone, say the most frightening words, or strike directly without giving the other party any time to react.
Kneeling on the ground, Galin's body began to tremble.
"This guy...
Guerin's intuition was right.
Because no one except Corleone noticed that Oberyn's hand was placed on the waist behind his back in an extremely discreet manner.
Corleone frowned slightly, and then thought about something again.
If Garin really planned to identify Arianne, then Oberyn might just pull out a dagger and stab this guy in the throat in the next second.
Then, he would say in a regretful tone, "It's a pity that this guy was too seriously injured and couldn't survive to tell the truth."
In this way, the truth is buried forever.
Arianne Martell, Princess of Dorne, eldest daughter of Prince Doran, future heir to the throne, her name will never be associated with this assassination.
But Oberyn, the victim, chose to personally kill the only witness who could accuse him of serious crimes to protect the person who wanted his life.
It's not because he isn't angry.
But because she is also Martell and is his blood relative.
Maybe it's still... Dorne's future.
Just imagine, once the news spreads that Arianne participated in the assassination of her uncle, the entire Dorne will be in turmoil.
Those lords who are already dissatisfied with the Martell family and those careerists who have been coveting the throne will swarm forward and muddy the water more and more until the Martell family is pulled from the position of Prince of Dorne.
After all, there were too many families in Dorne who once held the title of king.
Eron Wood, Fowler, and even the Dane family may jump out, hold high the banner of revenge for the "Red Viper", and lead his army straight to Sunspear City.
Then... comes war.
Dornishmen fought against Dornishmen, brothers killed each other, fathers and sons turned against each other, and rivers of blood flowed.
Oberyn has seen too many such tragedies.
He worked as a mercenary on the other side of the Narrow Sea, and on the battlefields of the nine Free Trade Cities, he saw countless families destroyed due to internal strife.
Those once glorious names have finally turned into a pile of bones that no one cares about.
He will never allow the Martell family to follow this path!
Looking at Oberyn, who had a calm face but a hint of danger, Corleone's dark eyes flashed with an imperceptible light.
He always thought that Oberyn Martell was just a bohemian playboy who relied on poison and sword skills to run amok.
But at this moment, he realized that he was wrong.
It's not that Oberyn has no political acumen, this guy may just be disdainful of it, and everyone was deceived by his cynical appearance.
But think about it.
How could someone who has lived in such a complicated environment as Dorne for more than forty years and made countless enemies but still be carefree and carefree, really be a brainless idiot?
It is said that he slept with Eron Wood Earl's mistress, and then poisoned her to death in that duel, but if you think about it carefully, it seems that although Oberyn has never denied sleeping with her mistress, he has never admitted that he is stupid old Eron Wood?
These days, this guy is causing trouble everywhere in King's Landing, provoking Tywin and taunting Mace. He seems like an idiot who doesn't care about life and death. However, every time he provokes, he accurately steps on the bottom line, embarrassing the other party without actually breaking his face.
Corleone suddenly felt that he should be impressed by Oberyn Martell.
No, it's not just admiration.
Perhaps, one day in the future, this guy who seems to be the most unreliable will become his most worthy ally, or... maybe his most dangerous opponent.
"I say! I say!" Galin knelt on the ground, his voice hoarse and trembling with a cry, "This matter is indeed related to Princess Arianne...
"But... but it's not what you think!"
Hearing this, Triene's eyes suddenly widened, and she took a step forward, but was held down by Obaya again.
"Speak clearly." Oberyn glanced at his daughter, ignored her, and continued to ask, "What do you mean "related to Princess Arianne, but not what you think"?"
Galin swallowed hard and struggled to organize his words: "Yes... we did this for Princess Arianne... but Princess Arianne doesn't know about it at all!"
As soon as these words came out, everyone was stunned.
Even Corleone, who had always been expressionless, slightly raised his eyebrows.
"Go on," Oberyn ordered.
Immediately afterwards, Galin took a deep breath and began to talk.
It turns out that the origin of all this can be traced back to almost ten years ago, when the young Quentin Martell Prince had just been sent to Eron Wood City by Prince Doran and became the adopted son of Anders Eron Wood Earl.
This is a big deal in Dorne. Although Prince Doran said it was to appease the anger of the Yronwood family, everyone knows what it means for Prince Quentin to be the adopted son of the Yronwood family.
This almost means that Prince Doran's trust in the Eron Wood family has reached an unprecedented level. With the Martell surname and the support of the Eron Wood family, Quentin Prince's future status will be more stable.
But for Princess Arianne, this is a dangerous signal.
Although Quentin was her younger brother and the eldest son of Prince Doran, Dornish tradition did not select female heirs after all male heirs, as was the case elsewhere.
In Dorne's inheritance law, men and women are equal and gender differences are ignored.
Therefore, even though there has never been a Targaryen queen, Dorne has had many female rulers.
The most recent one was Doran and Oberyn's mother.
This means that Arianne, as the eldest daughter, has inherently higher inheritance rights than Quentin, the younger brother.
But what Prince Daolang did was clearly to abolish the elder and establish the younger.
After all, the Eron Wood family was once "High King of Dorne". Their family had been fighting with the Martell family for hundreds of years. Although they appeared to be surrendered, they were still ambitious.
The three previous participations in the Blackfire Rebellion all had the shadow of the Eron Wood family in them.
And now, they hold in their hands a son of the Martell family.
If one day, Anders·Eron Wood Earl decides to support Quentin in his fight for inheritance... then the consequences Arianne will face will be unimaginable.
At this point, Gaelin's voice became smaller and smaller.
Because he knew that what he said next would make everyone present feel uneasy.
But he must keep talking, after all, he has suffered too much in the House of Order dungeon these days.
"So... so we feel that we cannot let Quentin Prince stay too stable in the Eron Wood family."
Galin said with difficulty, "If we can cause some irreconcilable conflicts between the Martell family and the Eron Wood family...
"For example, assassinate me and then blame Eron Wood?" Oberyn finished the rest of the words for him.
Galin nodded desperately. "Yes... yes! That's it!"
"After all, you once killed old Eron Wood. As long as you are assassinated in King's Landing, and the assassin happens to be wearing the coat of arms of Eron Wood, then everyone will think that it was the Eron Wood family that did it!"
"When the time comes, Prince Doran will definitely be furious. Eron The Wood family can't explain it no matter what, and Quentin Prince, as his adopted son, will definitely be taken hostage as soon as possible!"
"In this way... no one can threaten Princess Arianne's position as heir!"