Game of Thrones: The Road to Pirate King

Chapter 169 Royal Secrets – The Iron Guard Split

Euron gripped Asara's hand tightly, his gaze sweeping over the girls infatuated with Prince Rhaegar, and asked in a low voice, "All the girls' eyes are on him—have you?"

Asara chuckled at his words, her fingers returning his grasp, and said frankly, "I've known Prince Rhaegar since I was very young, and I often heard him play the harp in the court of King's Landing. Having seen him so many times, I'm naturally not as shocked and stunned as they were when they first saw him. To me, he's like a gentle and kind older brother."

Euron's gaze did not leave the platform. He frowned slightly, looking at the strange atmosphere between Rhaegar and Aerys II, and said in a low voice, "The relationship between them seems a little... strange."

Asara's smile vanished instantly, her eyes dimming. She pursed her lips, not answering immediately, but gently took Euron's hand and quietly left the noisy banquet hall, heading to a secluded spot.

When no one was around, she leaned close to Euron's ear, her voice hushed as if afraid of being overheard by the walls, and revealed a long-buried court secret: "It's because of Queen Rella—Aerys II's sister, his wife, and Prince Rhaegar's mother." Her voice trembled slightly, "Wildfire—that evil green fire—can intensely stimulate Aerys's desires. Only after he burns prisoners to death with wildfire will he—only then will he seek out the Queen for his bed. Queen Rella has suffered greatly at his hands because of this."

A flicker of pain crossed Asara's eyes: "Queen Lera was always beaten until she was covered in wounds, and you could faintly hear her screams coming from her room in the tower—At first, the Mad King only trusted Sir Barristan, who had rescued him from Duskwood. Sir Barristan did try his best to dissuade him, and the Mad King temporarily stopped his atrocities. But later, His Majesty transferred him away from his side and assigned him to another position."

She took a deep breath and continued, "Ser Barristan is a true knight; he swore to protect all women and children. Ser Gerald Hightower, Captain of the Kingsguard, Ser Oswell Heaney, and my brother Arthur—they, too, could not stand idly by while Queen Leila was beaten, so they went together to try to stop it, but were sternly driven away by the Mad King and strictly forbidden from approaching the Queen's chambers again."

“Because of this,” Ashara’s voice was filled with helplessness and resentment, “my brothers Arthur, Jero Hightower, and Oswell Heaney were furious. On one hand, their duty as Kingsguard members required them to protect the King; on the other hand, the code of chivalry forbade them to see the Queen treated this way. Heartbroken, they ultimately chose to leave King’s Landing and follow Prince Rhaegar. Prince Rhaegar was also furious about this, but he was torn between his mad father and his suffering mother—he didn’t know what to do. So in the end, he chose to leave and went to Dragonstone, rarely returning to King’s Landing.”

Euron sat upright in the stands, his gaze sweeping over the figures in flowing white robes below, his preconceived notions being subtly revised. He had only known that of the seven Kingsguard, three had chosen to follow Prince Rhaegar, while the other four remained with King Aerys II.

This in itself is extremely unusual.

According to ironclad rules and tradition, all Kingsguard members should be stationed at all times to protect the King's safety, making such a clear division extremely rare. He had previously naively thought that this might be due to Prince Rhaegar's personal charisma and prestige, enough to make these elite knights willingly deviate from the norm.

It wasn't until Asara whispered the dark royal secret in his ear that he suddenly realized the truth. This division didn't stem from a shared glory and aspiration for a wise ruler, but rather from an inability to condone the madness and violence; it was an irreconcilable conflict between another kind of oath—the chivalrous spirit of protecting women and children and the command to be loyal to the king.

The root of all this is not the allure of dazzling light, but the appalling suffering hidden in the shadows.

Euron sighed deeply upon hearing this, his gaze drifting to the bustling banquet hall in the distance, as if he could see through the walls into the shadows deep within the Red Keep of King's Landing.

"Leaving King's Landing might indeed be a better choice for them. That city has long become a huge quagmire; once you're trapped in it, you'll find it hard to escape and will only be swallowed by endless darkness."

He paused, his tone turning calm and even sharp as he began to analyze Rhaegar's choice: "As for Prince Rhaegar—can his actions be called benevolence? No, it wasn't benevolence, but rather choosing to turn a blind eye, indecisiveness, and inaction. He had many choices—he could have forcefully stopped his father's atrocities, he could have secretly taken his mother to Dragonstone for protection, or even—" Euron's voice lowered, carrying a hint of cold realism, "—or taken even more extreme measures, elevating Aerys II to the position of 'retired emperor' ahead of schedule, and directly seizing the throne himself. If he had even a fraction of the decisiveness of those conquerors, the situation would never have deteriorated to this point."

His summary was almost ruthlessly clear: "Look at the Kingsguard now, split into two factions due to differing ideologies, his mother still imprisoned and tortured deep within the Red Keep, and Rhaegar himself, though tormented, has taken no real action to change anything—in the end, he has changed nothing."

Asara sighed softly, her eyes still filled with pity for the royal tragedy: "As a son, His Highness Prince Rhaegar—must have been suffering greatly and in a difficult position."

Euron wisely steered the conversation away from the heavy royal secrets, patting Ashara's hand and speaking in a lighter tone: "Forget it, the royal family's internal turmoil is far beyond our control. It's time to head back to the banquet hall and enjoy tonight's feast. After tonight, until all the matches are over, there probably won't be another such relaxed gathering."

Asara looked up in surprise: "Huh? Isn't the banquet held every night?"

“Starting tomorrow,” Euron explained, “the highlight of each night will be the seven-team tournament, which is a truly exhausting and noisy event. There will be no more banquets like this, except for a closing banquet at the end of the tournament.”

Upon hearing this, Ashara instinctively tightened her grip on Euron's hand, her voice filled with obvious worry: "A group tournament? I've heard those competitions are chaotic and extremely dangerous! You—would you participate?"

"Of course I'll participate." Euron's answer was without hesitation, but he sensed her nervousness, so he lowered his head and gave her a reassuring smile, his tone firm and gentle, "But don't worry, my moon and stars. If the situation is truly unfavorable and there's no chance of winning, I won't fight to the death for empty fame."

Euron raised his hand and gently stroked her cheek, his voice lowered, carrying a hint of teasing yet sincere promise: "I still need to keep this life so I can come back and marry my lovely Ashara."