In Westeros, captives enjoy noble privileges, and the children of nobles taken as hostages enjoy even greater ones.
Or rather, as hostages, they retain rights commensurate with their status.
Take Theon Greyjoy, for example.
In name, he was Eddard's foster son, but in essence he was no different from Myrcella. Both were hostages.
Eddard was Theon's guardian, and Daenerys was Myrcella's guardian.
Just look at how comfortably Theon lived at Winterfell. He was treated exactly the same as Robb, Bran, and the others.
Jon once deeply envied him for this, while Theon, in turn, envied the unguarded father-son bond between Jon and Eddard.
He longed for Eddard's paternal affection, yet he also feared Eddard's great ice-cold sword. If Balon rebelled, Eddard would take Theon's head.
There was no melodramatic mother-daughter bond between Myrcella and Daenerys. Daenerys treated Myrcella like a princess in accordance with the traditions of the Seven Kingdoms, and Myrcella dutifully played the role of a well-behaved princess.
Upon receiving the letter from the Iron Throne, Dragonstone responded at once. There was a strong likelihood that the Dragon Queen would not refuse the request, but with communications currently disrupted, it might be necessary to wait until the great battle in Meereen ended before Princess Myrcella could be sent back.
Marwyn was not lying. At present, only Daenerys could contact them through mental projection, while they themselves were unable to proactively send messages to Slaver's Bay.
"Dragonstone is lying!" Euron said with certainty. "We just hired a wyvern squad, and the very next day Slaver's Bay sent another wyvern squad to Dragonstone. Even a fool can tell they must have a fast means of communication between them, perhaps sorcery!"
Uh, that was also true.
Cersei was no fool and immediately grasped the truth of the matter. The collusion between Saint Daenerys and the High Sparrow had long ceased to be a secret. Now that the false prince Aegon had unexpectedly fallen at Winterfell, Saint Daenerys had begun to meddle in the internal affairs of the Seven Kingdoms through Robert's bastard!
The High Sparrow was merely carrying out Saint Daenerys's secret orders.
After all, this was the Iron Throne, the foremost seat of power under heaven!Saint Daenerys swore aloud that she would not provoke a civil war, but in her heart she must always have been scheming how to pull Queen Cersei, the Eternal Empress, down from the throne.
"It's Daenerys. She's the one who incited the High Sparrow to search for Robert's bastards!" the Eternal Empress exclaimed in shock and fury.
"Very possible," Euron said, his face showing both astonishment and admiration. "My dear, you are truly clever, seeing through Daenerys's plot at a glance. It's just a pity that the members of the small council have all been deceived by her."
"I'm going to kill her!"
"My queen, I will firmly support any decision you make, but she is still far too distant from us," Euron sighed softly.
Cersei immediately said, "The High Sparrow is right at hand."
"Only…" After letting out that harsh declaration, a trace of hesitation immediately crept onto her fierce expression.
"Ah, the High Sparrow still cannot be touched!" she said helplessly.
Euron gently cupped his wife's radiant cheeks, gazing into her eyes as though infusing her with immense spiritual strength. "You are the queen. You are the law. You are the destiny of the Seven Kingdoms. What is it that you cannot do?"
"But he has the Mother behind him," the Queen of Destiny hesitated.
"My dear, your only enemy is the High Sparrow. The private grudge between the two of you has nothing to do with the Faith.
Think about it. The High Sparrow colluding with Daenerys to seize your throne—would the Mother allow such a thing?"
"She wouldn't. The Mother definitely wouldn't!" Cersei straightened, clenching her small fists and exclaiming excitedly. "I've been studying The Seven-Pointed Star lately. It clearly states that faith belongs to the Seven, while secular royal authority belongs to the king.
The Seven do not support the Faith interfering in the politics of the Seven Kingdoms. Both the High Sparrow and Daenerys have violated the teachings of the Seven. They are sinners!"
"I will purge the Faith of its foremost scoundrel for the Mother!" Cersei shouted, pumping her fist.
After shouting her slogan, she was about to summon the soldiers and march to the Great Sept.
Euron stopped her and advised, "The High Sparrow is far too adept at stirring the masses. I fear there's no way to put him on trial through normal means."
"I never intended to put him on trial. I'm leading troops to wipe out the sparrows," Cersei said matter-of-factly.
"Uh, a bloodbath at the Great Sept?" Euron froze, his mouth twitching. "All of King's Landing would riot, and the soldiers wouldn't dare!"
"I'm not stupid. How could I do something that would provoke the wrath of gods and men?" Cersei shot her husband an annoyed glance and said, "When the High Sparrow appears in the square, I'll have Robert Strong lead the troops in a full assault and kill the High Sparrow by force, killing only him.
Then I'll announce his crimes of betraying the Seven and attempting to control the succession of the throne. That should be enough to placate the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms, right?"
"Heh heh. The nobles' hatred of the High Sparrow is no less than mine. As long as the nobles are appeased, even if the smallfolk riot, I'm not afraid," Cersei said smugly.
"The High Sparrow is protected by the Beggar's Army. You may not succeed," Euron said, his eyes flashing as he leaned close to Cersei's ear and whispered, "Why not kill with a borrowed blade first, then burn the bridge after crossing it."
Thus and thus, this and that, the number one good husband of the Seven Kingdoms presented the Eternal Empress with a brilliant stratagem.
"Good! My dear, you are my Septon Barth!"
After hearing Euron's plan, Cersei grew so excited that her cheeks flushed red. She no longer found his scar-covered, ugly face frightening at all and directly pressed her red lips to his. Euron responded with equal passion.
Early the next morning, Euron led ten thousand ironborn out of King's Landing, heading for Duskendale to pursue the retreating army of the Vale.
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