Balon was dead, without any warning. He had just ordered the fleet to gather, preparing for a decisive battle at sea with his daughter, Asha. When Victarion went to find him after he returned to his room, he saw that he was already dead in the room, with a dagger plunged into his heart.
Victarion recognized the dagger as the one Balon had given Asha when Lynd took her away, and immediately shouted that Asha had killed Balon, committing the unforgivable crime of kinslaying.
Everyone present looked at Victarion with a strange expression. No one present was a fool; everyone could see that this was a frame-up.
Not to mention how Asha could cross such a long distance over the sea, how she could infiltrate Pyke silently, and why she would leave such a highly identifiable dagger after killing Balon, the most important point was that Asha was now in an absolutely dominant position. She did not need to commit kinslaying at all to defeat King Balon honorably at sea and seize the position of Lord of the Iron Islands.
Elin Oakhart looked at Victarion and said, "Compared to Asha, isn't your suspicion, Victarion, even greater? You were the last person to see Balon and the first person to discover the body. Moreover, entering Balon's bedchamber requires crossing a drawbridge, and there are guards at one end of the drawbridge. It's impossible for anyone to enter Balon's bedchamber without alerting the guards. From every angle, only you had the ability to kill Balon."
"Old Sea Fish, do you know what you're saying?" Victarion glared at Elin Oakhart with a furious expression and said.
Elin Oakhart met his gaze fearlessly and said, "Of course I know what I'm saying, but do you know what you've done?"
Extremely enraged, Victarion reached for his axe, ready to attack Elin Oakhart, but his arms were immediately grabbed by the two sons of Dunstan Drumm, the chieftain of Old Wyk. Furthermore, the other lords in the room also placed their hands on their respective weapons, looking at Victarion warily.
Elin Oakhart shouted, "Look! This is your Greyjoy family tradition—if you can't win with words, you resort to violence. Last time it was Sha Wen Boteli, this time it's me, who will it be next time?"
The expressions on the faces of the surrounding lords changed. They were already displeased about the Sha Wen Boteli incident, and now Victarion's actions made them feel as if they, the lords, were mere livestock to be slaughtered at will in the eyes of the Greyjoy family.
Among the lords, the oldest in age and seniority, Dunstan Drumm, the Lord of Old Wyk, stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "Victarion is the most suspicious regarding Balon's death. Let's imprison Victarion first and await the new Lord of the Iron Islands to deal with him."
Upon hearing Dunstan Drumm's proposal, all the lords expressed their agreement.
"You have no right to deal with a Greyjoy within Pyke! You…" Victarion glared at everyone, attempting to resist, but he was quickly restrained by several people working together, his mouth covered, and ropes were found to tie him up.
The surrounding guards of Pyke looked at each other, unsure of what to do.
Logically speaking, they should have stopped the lords, but the problem was that they could also see that Victarion was indeed the most suspicious person, and imprisoning him was a normal course of action. However, without Victarion, and with Euron now mad, Pyke currently didn't even have a Greyjoy in charge. All the guards looked at the Steward of Pyke, as if he was the only one who could make a decision now.
The Steward of Pyke thought for a moment and said, "First, imprison Victarion. We will decide how to deal with him after the next Lord of Pyke arrives."
As the Steward of Pyke made his decision, the guards immediately stepped forward and led Victarion away.
After Victarion was taken away, the lords also left Balon's bedchamber at the request of the Steward of Pyke. The Steward had Balon's body prepared, found some wooden planks to make a simple coffin, and stored the body for now, awaiting the arrival of the next master of Pyke to proceed with further arrangements.
Returning to the great hall of Pyke, the lords did not leave but gathered to discuss their next steps.
"We should follow the ancient tradition and immediately convene a Kingsmoot to elect a new Lord of the Iron Islands, uniting everyone to resist Asha Greyjoy's fleet!" Dunstan Drumm had always coveted the position of Lord of the Iron Islands. Balon's sudden death made him feel this was an excellent opportunity, so he loudly suggested.
Aside from Dunstan Drumm's two sons who echoed his suggestion, everyone else looked at Dunstan Drumm with a strange expression, as if looking at a senile old man.
"A Kingsmoot must involve all the lords of the Iron Islands, and anyone is eligible to participate in the election. Currently, the people from Great Wyk, Blacktyde, and Harlaw are not here at all; we would have to notify them temporarily," Elin Oakhart looked at Old Dunstan with disdain and said, "Not to mention whether they would agree to convene a Kingsmoot, even if they did, the preparations for a Kingsmoot would take more than ten days, and Asha's fleet will arrive tomorrow. There's no time to elect a new Lord of the Iron Islands. Lord Dunstan, you wouldn't seriously suggest that only we here hold a Kingsmoot, would you?"
Dunstan Drumm's face flushed, and his eyes flickered, indicating that his thoughts had indeed been exposed; he truly intended to have the people in the hall hold a Kingsmoot on the spot.
At this moment, someone suddenly spoke, "Is there still any meaning in holding a Kingsmoot now? Even if a new Lord of the Iron Islands is elected, can he lead us to defeat Asha's fleet? Won't Asha still ultimately become the Lord of the Iron Islands?"
Many people nodded slightly after hearing this, thinking it made sense.
But some also expressed dissent, saying, "A woman becoming the Lord of the Iron Islands? I can already imagine how those people on the mainland will mock the Ironborn."
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