"My lord, my lady, House Bolton requests an audience!"
A guard outside the hall came to report.
The group exchanged a glance.
Maester Luwin ordered the guard, "Let him in."
Sansa took a deep breath and tried to make her posture more dignified and authoritative.
A moment later.
Ramsay Snow walked in with that signature, extremely unsettling smile on her face.
He first gave Sansa an exaggerated bow, but his gaze swept over her like a sticky reptile, making no attempt to hide his scrutiny.
" Miss Sansa …"
He drew out his words, praising in a strange tone.
"It's so comforting to see you safe and sound."
" Winterfell, despite all the hardships you've endured, you remain so radiant; truly a beauty born for Riverrun."
But his compliments sounded more like blasphemy to others.
Jon stared coldly at Little Flayer, instantly feeling utterly disgusted with him.
Even Maester Luwin's polite smile diminished considerably.
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Sansa felt a chill run down her spine, but she forced herself to maintain basic courtesy despite the discomfort.
"Thank you for your concern, Mr. Ramsay."
Stark will never forget House Bolton's help!
Her tone was cold and distant.
But Little Flayer seemed oblivious to her coldness and greeted Maester Luwin with a smile.
As for the paralyzed Bran, he didn't even glance at him.
Finally, Ramsay looked at Galon, "I just heard that Lord Galon taught the Ironborn another lesson in Sevon? Glover is truly a brave warrior!"
Despite this, Galon couldn't detect much admiration in his tone.
Galon nodded indifferently, without responding.
Sansa didn't want to get entangled with him any longer, so she said directly, " Bolton, you must be tired from your journey. I'll have someone arrange accommodation for you." The implication was that Ramsay could go and rest first.
But Ramsay pretended not to understand and replied, "My soldiers are outside the city, serving Stark; it's House Bolton's duty."
His gaze swept over Sansa once more, and he added, "Perhaps for your safety, how about we send a portion of the more reliable troops into the city to garrison it?"
The implication in her words made Sansa frown and subconsciously look at Galon.
Galon's gaze instantly sharpened.
He shook his head slightly, indicating to Sansa not to listen to Little Flayer.
"Thank you for your kindness, Lord Ramsay."
Sansa's voice hardened as she straightened her posture and spoke with an air of authority.
"Lord Galon is currently in charge of Winterfell's defenses, and everything is arranged properly. We appreciate House Bolton's loyalty, but it would be more convenient for your unit to rest outside the city."
"If there's nothing else, please go back and rest," was a direct refusal, even carrying a hint of being asked to leave.
Ramsay's smile froze for a moment, a sinister rage and resentment flashing deep in his eyes.
But he quickly regained his composure, bowed slightly, and said, "In that case, I will be ready to await Miss Stark's summons at any time."
He turned and gave Galon a meaningful look before turning and leaving.
The atmosphere in the hall remained somewhat heavy even after he left.
"A poisonous snake!"
Bran said softly.
His Greensight saw even more blurry images.
Sansa let out a breath.
Ramsay's gaze made her extremely uneasy; it felt like his eyes were peeling her skin off.
"It seems we must speed things up..."
Realizing the complexity of the situation, Maester Luwin made the suggestion to Galon again.
"Lord Galon, I request that you immediately send men to secretly escort Asha Greyjoy from Deepwood Motte to Winterfell!"
"I, on the other hand, wrote a letter to Balon, explaining the cause of Theon's death, suggesting that perhaps Asha could be used in exchange for the Iron Islands withdrawing their troops."
Galon pondered for a moment.
"Perhaps this is an opportunity!"
"Uncle has probably done as I instructed, having Joel contact Asha and embellish the story of Theon's death for her."
"Next, I need to find a way to force her to cooperate with me, and then gradually take control of her!"
A sharp glint flashed in Galon's eyes, and he nodded, saying, "Very well, we shall do as the scholar says."
He turned to Jon, "Have Shanks send a troop of cavalry back to Deepwood Motte and inform Captain Roger to bring thirty loyal and reliable guards to escort Asha Greyjoy to Winterfell!"
"Yes, I'll go right away," Jon replied, turning to inform Shanks.
Soon, a troop of cavalry emerged from Hunters Gate and charged toward Wolfswood.
Little Flayer, who was standing on the city wall pretending to observe the situation, noticed this scene and tried to find out information.
But they gained nothing.
"Could it be that Glover is about to send troops to support Winterfell again?"
Ramsay felt a pang of anxiety, realizing that with Glover's presence, he truly had no way to deal with Winterfell.
"I need to find a way to remove Glover from Winterfell so I can have a chance."
His eyes were sinister, and all sorts of schemes were churning in his mind.
Only when the light snow started falling again did he turn around and return to the room with Chou Lao, secretly studying how to find an opportunity.
On the other side, the dungeon of Deepwood Motte was as dark as the seabed.
Asha leaned against the cold stone wall, her fingers tracing the rust on the iron chains, silently calculating the time.
It was time to deliver the meals again.
Thanks to Asha's status, Robert naturally wouldn't neglect her easily.
Although freedom was restricted, the food was by no means meager.
Using the light of the torches nearby, several guards placed milk bread, fried small fish, and a bottle of ale in front of Asha.
Then, they roughly threw several pieces of black bread to the prisoners in the next cell, laughing as they did so.
"Hey, Joel, have a good meal and sweet dreams."
"Perhaps I can even dream of enjoying delicious food in Winterfell."
One of the guards, noticing Asha's suspicious gaze, deliberately echoed him loudly.
"Exactly! Maybe I'll even see Lion draw his sword and kill the squid in my dream!"
"Ha ha...
The group laughed and left, carrying torches.
The dungeon returned to its dark state.
Asha ignored the food on the ground, staring blankly into the darkness, her knuckles turning white.
From the day she was imprisoned in the dungeon, the guards, as if on purpose, would every now and then mock the guy next door, Joel, revealing that Joel had witnessed Theon's death in Winterfell.
But Asha initially ignored it.
At that moment, all she could think about was how to escape and how to warn her father about the dangers of Glover!
But as the days went by, Asha sadly realized that her chances of escaping were almost zero.
"Am I just waiting for my father to rescue me?"
"I am the daughter of a sea monster! How can I possibly be accepted as the successor to the Seastone Chair if I don't do this!"
She was in great pain.
They were worried about their own situation and also felt lost about the future of the Iron Islands.
Asha closed her eyes, leaned against the wall, and reminisced about the past.
In a daze, she heard the guards' laughter and Theon's name again.
Theon...
,
Just then, a cough came from the cell next door.
Asha opened her eyes, stared into the darkness, and finally couldn't help but ask, "Joel?"
A soft groan came from next door, tinged with weariness: "What's wrong?"
"Tell me— why did Theon die?"
Asha's voice was extremely low, as if she were being choked.
Joel, on the other side, perked up, thinking to himself, "My mission can finally be completed!"
But he did not answer immediately. Instead, he remained silent for a long time before answering in a low voice as Galon had instructed.
"I have no idea."
Asha was stunned: "You saw it with your own eyes, yet you say you didn't know?"
"I heard Theon scream, killed by Ser Jaime with his sword," Joel said hoarsely, "then I saw the Lord of the North and Jaime facing off, before the Queen interrupted us."
"As for why... I don't know, and I dare not ask!"
Asha bit her lip, a sharp pain shooting through her heart.
Joel paused for a moment, then slowly said, "Perhaps you should ask that Glover. He was there at the time and personally drew his sword to stop Jaime. He definitely knows more about the inside story than I do."
Asha's breath hitched, and her fingers gripped the iron bars tightly.
The cell fell silent again, but her heart could no longer find peace.
She wanted to see the man immediately, to find out exactly what had happened, and to hear him tell the secret Theon wanted to reveal before he died.
Asha slowly raised her head, her eyes piercing the darkness like a knife.
If Lannister truly killed her brother, and if the Northerners stood idly by, she would make them pay the price herself.
Asha's uncles knew nothing about what she had gone through.
On the contrary, Euron, who had already joined forces with Victarion, was trying his best to persuade him to attack Winterfell together!