Pike City is too old to tell when it was built, and it is now only vaguely speculated that it was originally built for defensive purposes on a cliff jutting out of the sea, in order to achieve the same effect as the Red Keep and the Wind Rest Fort: surrounded by the sea on three sides, the enemy could only attack from the bottom up from one direction.

The idea is very good, but unfortunately the cliff of the island where the site is located is not as solid and solid as the continental protrusion at the foot of the Red Keep and Storm's End, as the rocks supporting the cliff continue to be eroded by the sea, it gradually turns from an ordinary cape into the legendary "fractured arsenic", and even the original Pike City has been torn apart into isolated towers: the largest part is located on the headland still connected to the cliff, surrounded by high walls, and is the stables, The enclosure and most of the living reserve guard the stone bridge leading to the largest island where the main fort is located, and it is connected to the guest fort and the kitchen fort by closed arched passages and rope bridges, and finally the lone tower in the sea.

Although he could see his former home early on, since the fort and tower were jutting out of the sea, it was impossible for anyone to stop their ships under Pike City and go ashore and enter the city easily, but they had to dock their ships at King's Harbor not far away, and walk around a long way to the only direction that could be attacked from land, and naturally the only direction that could be accessed from land.

It took some time to ride through the trail that I don't know how many times it had been traveled, and after passing the headland blocked by high walls, leaving a mount in the stable, and stepping over the stone bridge that had been traveled a thousand times, Asha returned to the largest island in Pike City, and was led by a mute servant who had been waiting for her to enter the fortress where she had grown and played.

......

The smoky hall was unexpectedly noisy, the violins and drums were unsightly musical, and the chiefs, captains, and their henchmen, whom Asha knew but did not know or get close to, filled every bench, and with a cursory glance, she recognized at least Jon Milley "The Longface", Thorward "Brownfang", Lucas "Cowder" "Left Hand", Gilmond Potley, and others...... Slaves and minions ran back and forth, serving food and wine to the chiefs, while a group of burly sailors gathered in the space to make room for tables and stools to play a game only found in the Iron Islands: finger dancing.

As a true iron man and former captain, Asha naturally knows the rules of the game: several participants stand still and are not allowed to move, and more than the number of short-handled axes are thrown back and forth between them, and everyone must not forget to throw the axes back to the others while dealing with the axes thrown by the other contestants. Participants who want to show off their strength and reflexes will be more inclined to catch the handle of the axe, and those who are a little more aggressive will swing their upper body to dodge left and right - because the latter option will cause the axes to be present in the game and will not be able to proceed, it will inevitably be downstream of the chain of contempt, but if no one moves their feet and no one wants to dodge the axe first, it will often end when someone has dropped one or more fingers, which is why it is called the "finger dance".

In the midst of all the noise and excitement, the current king of the Iron Islands sat on a sea stone carved from a dark boulder at the forefront, and his right eye, unblindfolded, looked at the door with a penetrating smile, and greeted his niece with a penetrating smile.

Except for the people who were competing for their own fingers not to be distracted, everyone else in the room turned their heads to look at Asha, who had entered the hall at the door, "accompanied" by the sailors.

Of course, the King of the Iron Islands would not have gathered the nobles of the entire kingdom to welcome his niece's return, which meant that all the nobles of Pike Island who had been loyal to Euron as soon as he returned had been invited to watch and witness the downfall of the loser.

(In this room, I don't have any friends.) ）

With this realization, Asha not only restrained her usual proud look and leisurely gait, but also lowered her eyes and pricked up her ears to raise her vigilance, and slowly walked towards the center of the hall step by step.

Sure enough, I don't know if it was an accident or if it had already been arranged to give her a dismount, and when she approached the position of the first pillar in the hall, an axe suddenly flew out of the crowd who had been playing finger dance and came straight in front of Asha with a low cry. As a former finger dancer, as evidenced by the fact that she had played dozens or hundreds of games and still had ten fingers, Asha would have turned her head in the air and grabbed the handle of the axe handsomely in the air without thinking about it, then threw it back with a scold. But this time, she forcibly suppressed the arm that was about to move, and didn't even look at the axe, only stopped and leaned back slightly, allowing the murder weapon that could kill people to wipe her face in front of her, bringing up the air current, swinging her hair, and then nailing it into the top pillar, but she still walked forward without squinting, and came to the position of the sea stone a few meters away from Euron, knelt on one knee, and bowed her head in greeting.

......

"Uncle. ”

"Welcome home, my dear niece. Euron said with a wicked smile, his lips squirming in the light, more blue and black than last time, and he didn't know how much Night Shadow Water he had drunk, "Oh no, no, this is not your home anymore." Your new family is over there...... Waiting to bring you back to your husband. ”

There was a lot of laughter in the room, but Crow-Eye wasn't talking nonsense: after winning the election and being crowned, he discovered that his niece had sailed away from the archipelago and returned to Deepwood, and in his dual capacity as uncle and king, he betrothed Asha to Airy the Anvil-Breaker in his absence as a seal stand-in, the elderly lord of the Emek family, an old man who was now ninety years old. According to the laws of the Iron Islands, he really has this power as a monarch, and if this is a legal marriage, it will naturally mean ......

Theoretically, she should be called Asha Emeek at the moment, not Asha Greyjoy!

Princess Greyjoy became Lady Emeck, and her claim to the position of the Sea Stone was naturally weakened by half. This is a beautiful move, not only to win the new ally of the Emek family, but also to eliminate her hidden danger by the way.

The laughter in the hall grew louder, and Asha looked in the direction of the loudest source, and caught a glimpse of a table of people all standing up and waving to her, laughing and waving to her, knowing that most of them were the grandsons or great-grandchildren of her "husband", or maybe both.

Swallowing back the scolding and mocking backlash that poured into her mouth, Asha ignored the cheap grandsons and great-grandchildren who were older than herself, and turned her head to stare at the cold ground, trying to calm her temper.

She was the daughter of Baron, and in some laws her inheritance took precedence over the uncle who sat above her at this moment. As long as he was alive, he was an eternal threat to Euron, and at this moment—to stop him from killing or tying himself up and sending him to the castle of the Emek family...... The only way for people to be tied to the bed and have a baby on a chain is to publicly admit the other party's status as king and show weakness, and use all means to convince Euron that he is no longer a threat.

"Your Majesty, I beg your pardon for your stupid niece. She forced herself to speak, and continued to bow downward, not looking at Eurolen, and her tone became more and more respectful: "Carried away by the lust for power, disobeying the sacred results of the Electoral Society, and risking one's life by turning one's back on one's fellow citizens because of unwillingness...... I made a string of terrible mistakes that ended in bitter consequences. Now that I am lucky to get rid of it, it is already a great gift to have the opportunity to honestly accept my uncle's arrangement to serve my legitimate husband and live the rest of my life as a free man, and I should not have asked for more. However, my niece still has something to do in her heart, and I ask my uncle to agree, otherwise, I will have trouble sleeping for the rest of my life, and I will not be able to serve my husband with peace of mind. ”

The laughter in the hall was quiet - the task of this large group of people gathered here was to witness Asha's return and watch her as a loser to humiliate, if she refused to admit defeat or even fought back as usual, then what awaited her was a little more siege and teasing, but she uncharacteristically admitted defeat and took the initiative to show weakness and even accept "Lady Emeck" This identity, on the contrary, made everyone in the hall who had already prepared a bunch of humiliating words full of bad water and nowhere to pour, but looked at Euron on the throne of the Sea Stone with some hesitation, waiting for his further statement.

Euron was still smiling, his right eye outside the blindfold glinting with interest, there must be something wrong with Asha's request, but with the situation in full control, he was curious: his niece, in this situation...... What other tricks can be played.

"Tell me about it. ”

——