Chapter 117

"Miss Sansa!" Brienne heard the Onion Knight shout in shock, the sword she had already drawn, not knowing whether to point it at the vicious king or at the soldiers escorting Sansa, not knowing whether to go rescue the Lady Asha she had sworn to protect or the Sansa whose authenticity was uncertain.

Sansa wore a robe, with golden leaf-shaped pieces hanging from it, and small rubies, sapphires, and emeralds sewn onto the robe, which on the gold fabric spelled out the common words "Sansa Stark".

She could not imagine what kind of foul humor this was.

"Sansa!" Brienne shouted, but the girl heard nothing, walking mechanically forward, tears continuously streaming from her eyes.

Brienne had so many questions she wanted to ask, such as confirming her identity. She knew that perhaps only the Onion Knight could truly verify her identity here, but—hadn't he clearly said that Miss Sansa had already been ransomed?

Moreover, would the she-wolf be foolish enough to exchange a fake Sansa Stark for a prisoner?

She wanted to go down and ask the Onion Knight, but these could be set aside for now; the key and the core of everything lay before this vicious man.

Even if Lady Asha was his lawful wife, she would never allow the king to insult, humiliate, and provoke her in this way.

"Release Lady Asha!" Brienne bellowed!

If he showed the slightest refusal, Brienne would certainly not forget how to thrust her sword through his unprotected neck.

"Woman! You don't know this is my queen?" He gripped Asha tightly with one hand and controlled the other with his other hand. "I will make my subjects witness this here!"

The ironfolk were shaken by this scene, each standing stunned in place.

"Kill him!" Asha ordered her. She lifted a foot high and kicked, striking Jorun's forehead; Jorun winced in pain, gritting his teeth, and held her even tighter.

"Ha ha, just a little more!" he snarled, "Bastard! Come here, quickly release my beast!"

He gestured to the white-haired bastard son standing nearby.

Brienne had never felt so angry. She truly wanted to cleave this king in two. Now she no longer cared whether to kill or not; this vile beast was utterly unworthy of being human! It was not enough to make her hesitate.

Asha struggled with all her might, but Jorun's strength was clearly far greater than she had imagined.

Brienne lunged toward the platform, but a soldier moved faster, blocking her path.

She swung her sword at him; the blades clashed, and her oathkeeper sword snapped instantly. She sped up, charging at the guards, knee strike, "Ah!" she drew her Valyrian steel dagger and slit the guard's throat, blood spraying and staining her face.

She felt utterly free at this moment!

She snatched the guard's sword and in one motion cut down another soldier who stepped forward.

Good! She noticed that the earls and captains of the Iron Islands stood frozen in place, except for the crow's-eye soldiers, no one took the opportunity to attack her.

A brown-haired bastard, wielding a slender sword, leapt forward and thrust at Brienne; she couldn't dodge in time, barely blocking with her arm armor, grabbed the bastard's neck with one hand, turned his head, and slashed with the sword in her right hand.

She watched the bastard's blood gush out, watched him collapse to the ground trembling incessantly, the light in his eyes slowly fading.

The king cared nothing for her actions, still gripping Asha tightly, pulling her close. Mad and lewd.

More and more soldiers kept surging toward her, as if all of this had been anticipated by Jorun.

Killing had never been easier than just now.

Wanting to rush up to the king and slay him had become impossible.

It's no big deal, she thought, just death! Fate had brought her here, making her lose track of Sansa Stark, but an unseen force then pushed Sansa Stark toward her, letting her witness her own mission's failure firsthand. If this is fate's mockery, if this is the gods' arrangement, she accepts it all.

She would die like a warrior, answering the gods' mockery and fate's ridicule.

In an instant, she was like a trapped beast surrounded by many soldiers.

"Ah!" she shouted loudly, throwing herself fully into combat; although many soldiers surrounded her, none dared to truly step forward to blunt her edge, and she heedlessly charged toward where the king stood.

Through their armor, most of the soldiers' movements could not inflict harm. Yet she kept surging forward, a short great-step distance, as if she could never reach it.

At that moment a massive warhammer swept toward her sideways. Her heart sank, and she had no choice but to retreat.

The hammer-wielder was dark-skinned all over, his muscles knotted, his upper body bare, with blood-red and green tattoos of birds and beasts covering his chest and arms, as if rubies and emeralds were embedded in his skin.

When he swung the warhammer, these tattoos shifted between light and dark.

Brienne could not comprehend it at all.

She could not retreat endlessly; she thrust her sword at his chest, the big man nimbly sidestepped, then slammed the heavy hammer down on her; Brienne could not avoid it, so she raised her sword to block.

She felt the hammer's massive force; the huge power instantly flung her sword away, she also took a tremendous impact, being hurled to the side. Several soldiers seized the opportunity, pinning her to the ground, completely subduing her.

It's over! She gritted her teeth. She wished these ironfolk would immediately slit her throat and toss her corpse into the sea. The sea is the ironfolk's graveyard, and likewise Tarth's!

She could not bear to watch Lady Asha being humiliated, nor could she bear to watch Miss Sansa still shedding tears.

She was merely a worthless wreck from Tarth, single-mindedly dreaming of honor, yet the arduous journey had brought her only shame and failure, only dereliction and neglect.

"Ha ha, woman!" Jorun laughed madly, "Lift your head, look at the queen you are supposed to protect." Brienne lifted her head, seeing his lascivious grin, "You are the queen's guard; although you serve the queen, you also must serve the king, right?"

"Pah!" Beast, she couldn't even get the words out; there was no one more shameless than him in the world.

"Why are you so worked up?" he said, clapping a hand over her throat, "Can't you see how pleased she is? Can't you hear or see it?"

"Beast!" she spat out.

A soldier hammered a punch hard at her face.

She felt her face swell, blood trickling from her mouth.

The entire great tent fell silent, no clamor, no whispering, as if all the guests at that moment had been frozen.

This is a mad king; if the ironfolk still had a shred of sense, they should know he is a lunatic, a devil.

"Aren't you supposed to protect the queen? Having her bear me a true heir is the greatest protection." He bit Asha's ear, rebuking the bastard who stepped forward, "Woman, come here, I want you to unleash my beast, ha ha, this is the only real safety; I want to plant a true heir on this land, damn it, how could I burn the land when there's no harvest?" He lightly tapped her with his still-movable elbow, indicating the spot of land.

Brienne did not feel that the king was doing all this merely to mock an ugly woman from Tarth.

"The beast is already waiting." He opened his mouth, trying to bite.

How could such a beast exist in the world? Brienne could not understand.

The surrounding ironfolk lords and captains each remained silent, no longer shouting "Long live the king" as before. How could they serve such a person as king? Could they too be beasts? They are sea‑raiding marauders, merely a little less bold, but essentially the same.

The soldiers propped up her arms and pulled her to her feet.

"Five times! Good girl, you've already tried to assassinate me five times, ha ha, why do you hold such a grudge? Isn't the honor I've given you enough? Isn't the esteem I've given you sufficient? Could you possibly obtain what I've given you through other means? Why not just be a gentle queen?" Jorun leaned close to Asha's ear and snarled, "Do you know why I haven't died? Because I am the god of mankind—how could a god be killed by your mortal methods? And you, such an ugly woman, do you really think I'd fear you?"

"Your Majesty the King!" Brienne saw Davos rise from his seat, and several soldiers, hearing the shout, drew their swords and surrounded him. In the whole tent, only his voice remained.

"Your Highness the King!" Bu lei ni saw Dai fo si walk out from his own seat, and several soldiers, hearing the sound, drew their swords and surrounded him. In the whole big tent, at this moment only his voice remained.

Although he was of no help to the situation, at least he still had courage.

I've been attending the wedding; I don't know how you managed to count five times, but if I may say, if you also count Ser Brienne's guard on the beach as an assassination attempt, that's not fair—I don't know if you want to be the annoyed Hamud the Second—if she wanted to kill you, perhaps she already did that on the shore.

Do you think I'm annoyed?" he laughed loudly, and flung the naked Asha beside him aside.

His several bastard sons stepped forward to restrain Asha, but Asha kicked one over with a foot. Yulun, seeing this, laughed loudly, as if he had seen something extremely happy.

I just wanted my subjects to witness, to witness that the heir of their queen was conceived on the night they blessed. Damn it, I also want you to see the queen—you haven't seen such a vigorous and capable woman, have you? This is naturally the best place to raise the heir of sea monsters." He walked out from beside the table and said to his vassals and captains, "I originally wanted you to witness my beast.

Scattered laughter came from under the table.

Lady Asha did not avert her gaze from the people inside the tent; after kicking over the bastard son, she grabbed the huge black-and-gold sea monster flag hanging high, wrapped it around herself, casually slipped a hook through the flag, and it became a simple outfit—the gold sea monster's head happened to be folded over her chest, and the monster's tentacles resembled her limbs.

Your Majesty, in the wedding openly… I thought that was a tradition only of the savage Dothraki of the eastern continent." Davos turned around, "Please forgive my limited insight; I never knew the Ironborn would do this as well." He hesitated a bit, "Especially, especially, when taking a principal wife and a rock wife; especially, when the king marries his queen.

Davos's words caused the Ironborn to murmur in discussion.

My queen," the king said, grinning widely, "do you agree or not with this old man's words?

What, you're afraid your beast is too small and will become a laughingstock?" Asha sneered.

The Ironborn laughed at hearing this, and the scholar Rodrik stroked his beard and nodded slightly.

Lady Asha, wearing the sea monster flag, stepped down from her seat and came to Brienne's side. At Yulun's gesture, the soldiers beside her made way and also released Brienne.

Brienne struggled to her feet.

Asha walked up to Brienne, looking at her somewhat swollen face, the corner of her mouth curling into a smile, and then turned her gaze to the girl standing aside, at a loss.

Look, this is the king's arrogance, so we still have one chance to choose. Of course, this time I have a beautiful maiden I can send you.