Stannis I

Stannis Baratheon, the rightful King of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men and the true Lord of the Seven Kingdoms was in the King's Tower waiting for his son and heir Jacob to show his face, as he has a lot to discuss with him, and the new Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.

The king's eyebrows were arched, and he was sorting through the many rejection letters from most of the Northern houses. He wanted their armies pledged to him, and for them to swear fealty to him, as the true King of the Seven Kingdoms.

Stannis couldn't afford to look a fool in the face of such vital decisions in the coming days. With the continuation of the war, to find a Northern wife for his heir and to seize the throne he has converted, since this war began.

"I want to meet the Northern girl, who will be our son's wife. You may choose the girl, but I want to be at his wedding, no matter what you or your lords say." The king remembered the words his wife and queen Selyse said, moments before the Battle at Castle Black.

The battle was gruelling, due to the cold conditions of the North, and how the remains of his army came from the south. Jacob proved himself to be a capable warrior, a leader and an able commander worthy of his father's trust.

Stannis knew the severity of the situation, and how Selyse and Shireen will not be able to attend the eventual wedding, because they were such safer at Eastwatch by the Sea, where they won't be in fear of their lives because of Bolton or Lannister loyalists.

"Robert and Renly were better suited for organising weddings and feasts, but Jacob is my only son and I want the best for him. Coming with the gold and expenses for the war, the men and the resources for the eventual winter will be difficult to acclimate, unless I marry Jacob off to a northern house with wealth and status."

The wedding was something Stannis didn't have time for, as his mind was focused on the war and scrubbing the North clean of Ironborn and the Boltons, who hold it for his true enemies; the Lannisters.

On the other hand, this arrangement was the difference between a long term alliance with the North or will it add to the weight he has to shoulder on. He has to arrange the marriage under secrecy, to not have his enemies knowing his plans.

The door of the King's Tower opens for the king to see his heir in the gold and black furs, and had his sword Limos by his side. He was without the Reachman knight, Ser Sorrell Grimm, who was always by the side of his son.

The scar Jacob had under and over his left eye made him more intimating. Selyse didn't like how he came out of the battlefield with a permanent scar on him, and it will ruin any chances of him getting married.

"I see you are as grim as ever father." Jacob said, pulling a chair to sit face to face with his father.

"You would be if you received many rejections instead of fealties." Stannis replied.

"Father, you cannot expect the North to bend to you with no Starks around. They are only loyal to their own, and worship the Old Gods, as fiercely as I do the Seven."

"Do you have anything smart to say or is it more of your jargon?" The king gritted between his teeth.

"My jargon father, is the difference between us getting the North on our side or plunged into a war with the Faith."

"I don't want to hear any more of it, you have already voiced your displeasure for having the Lady Melisandre around."

"I don't trust her, she is an unknown factor. People have died, since she arrived on these shores."

"How is the Lord Commander?" The king asked.

"He is handling his position well, considering the weight he has on his shoulders. There are a minority of Black Brothers, who will do anything to sabotage him."

"Slynt and Throne are sure to be the leaders."

"Jon trusts me, but is wary of the Lady Melisandre, but for good reason. The woman inspires nightmares of all men, who sleep in Castle Black."

"I don't like it, how the men think of you as Robert returned from the dead. Any man who has been further from the Wall is sure to be mad."

"We can use it to our advantage, as the Lannisters believe me to be dead, and we could use the same ruse the Tyrells used to cause some of the lords to abandon us at the Blackwater."

"We must focus on the North, and how we are going to liberate it from the Boltons and the Ironborn."

"With the salt smelling craven dead; his son is a hostage of the Boltons, his brothers plotting to attack the Reach and his daughter still in the North."

"The Grimm knight…I'm not sure of is intentions. His family are sworn to the Tyrells, and I cannot have another betrayal in my ranks again."

"Sorrell risked everything to bring me back to Dragonstone, he was a man without a purpose but sailing boats from Oldtown. He saved my life, and helped me become a better fighter on the field."

"I….don't want you to get attached to him…there are no friends in the game of thrones. Only allies and enemies."

Those words spoken by Stannis hit his son hard. Jacob's expression turned from the warmth, to his head being lowered and pondered in his own thoughts.

His son's mind was a complex one, as it was made for politics and scheming. He could have made a great addition on Robert's Small Council, and could have saved him from the Lannisters.

What is done is done, and there was no going back, as going back would mean the end for Stannis and Jacob.

"I know my own mind, father. No forgiveness, no penitence or weakness, as long as there are enemies to be killed and a throne to be claimed."

"This marriage….it will be the final sign of you being a man. Not a boy anymore, not the boy I finally got to hold in my arms, after misfortunes plagued your mother and I." The king said, attempting to hold back any sign of emotion.

"The Starks are gone, and Jon will never abandon his vows to the Watch. We are in this war together, and we have to start trusting one another."

"It seems Lord Commander Snow trusts you more than he does of me."

"Jon is more comfortable around someone his own age, and someone who doesn't intimidate him so much."

Stannis didn't like it. The truth of how Jacob was right in some aspect, but he would never admit it to him, as he was the father, the king and the last patriarch of House Baratheon.

Jacob was a different man, to the one who went out to fight on the Blackwater. He was only a boy of six and ten at the time of the battle, but now he has fully grown into a man, and his physical appearance made him more of a warrior than the king's late brother.

The heir to the Iron Throne had a grown beard on his face, and the eye scar was evidenced on his face. Stannis knew his son was battle hardened, and wanted more. He wanted another taste of blood on the field, and he will get his chance again.

The door opened for Lord Commander Snow to enter, with the Lady Melisandre behind him. It made his son brittle at the Red Woman's presence, as he didn't like to be around her at all.

"The defiance Jacob shows towards Melisandre came from the Baratheon side of the family, but she pays no mind to it."

The Red Priestess went outside, as soon as her eyes turned to the Prince with the seven pointed star around his neck, signifying his fealty to the Seven and his defiance against her god.

The Prince offered the Lord Commander his seat, as Prince Jacob pulled up another to sit to his father's right. He held his hands together, and looked between his father and the Lord Commander he called a friend.

"Most of the Northern houses have rejected my offer of fealty; the last letter sent was from a child of age ten of House Mormont." The king spoke, giving the letter to the Lord Commander.

"Bear Island knows no king, but the King in the North, whose name is Stark." Jon Snow read out.

Prince Jacob was amused, of his own father being refuted by a mere child, but this child was noble and came from a house of resilient women, who fought to protect their lands from Ironborn.

"She is only a child, father. Pay her no mind." Jacob interjected, in a lighter tone.

"So far, the only house to have declared for me is House Karstark. Luckily for them, their current castellan Arnolf offered me his niece for a marriage alliance with my son." The king said, in an iron tone, "However, I ask for gold from the Watch to pay off Ser Davos's sellsail friend Salladhor Saan.

"Your Grace, I would recommend you take White Harbor for gold. Lord Manderly has two unwed granddaughters, as they are eligible for His Grace, the Prince to marry if he chooses to."

"Never, Lord Manderly is fat and useless, and will contribute nothing to my cause. He responded to my letter full of excuses of age and cowardice."

"Father, we have won the support of a portion of House Umber, led by Mors Umber. We may have been rejected by many houses, but there are still some who will not bow to the Boltons and the Lannisters, after the Red Wedding." The prince said.

"The wildlings are still seeking shelter south of the Wall." The Lord Commander said, changing the subject.

"I tend to burn Mance Rayder as a deserter tonight."

"Your Grace, I have known the man for some time, he could have killed me, but he didn't. He has his own sense of honour, and has inspired tribes of wildlings to follow him instead of fighting amongst each other."

"I'm sorry, Jon. The man may have been your friend, but he is a criminal. The law states the way a deserter has to be punished is death." Prince Jacob said, in a strong tone.

"What will be the fate of his wife's sister and his child?"

"The wildling princess will come to no harm; she will stay on the Wall with the rest of her people."

"Gilly has become a wet nurse for her own child and Mance Rayder's son, and I plan to send her and her child south."

"For what reason, Lord Commander." The king asks, and the king's heir wondered too.

"She is just another mouth to feed, and I want her gone."

"Tough decision, but it's the right one to make. For the betterment for the rest of your Black brothers." Jacob interjects.

"I demand lands and castles from the Night's Watch." King Stannis grumbled, shuffling through the letters on the table.

"I already ceded land in the Gift, and the other castles belong to men of the Watch," Jon objected, wanting to preserve lands belonging to the Watch and his black brothers. "I offer to have my own officers man the abandoned forts, and to command some of your men as a garrison, Your Grace."

"You may lead the men of the Night's Watch, but you will not command men of my army to do anything, Lord Commander."

Prince Jacob hand his hand out, to cut off his father. As he was brave to interrupt the king, and turned to face the Lord Commander.

"What my father is meaning to say is that we need our men. We don't have much men, since many died, during the two battles of the Blackwater and Castle Black. The only way we can have more men, is if I marry someone from a wealthy and powerful house."

"The decision on the wildlings will be complicated, as your brothers will not like it, no more than your father's lords, but I mean to allow the wildlings through the Wall….those who will swear me their fealty, pledge to keep the king's peace and the king's laws, and take the Lord of Light as their god. Even the giants, if their great knees can bend, they will be settled on the Gift. When the cold wind rise, we shall live or die together. It is time we made an alliance against a common foe."

"I appreciate the offer, Your Grace. I shall discuss it with the wildlings, and see what they will think of it."

"You are excused to take your leave, Lord Commander." The prince said, folding his arms.

Stannis was unsure of how Jacob could be diplomatic, in the middle of a complicated situation with the wildlings and how to shelter them from what laid beyond the Wall.

Lord Commander Snow left the King's Tower, and the door was closed after he had left. Leaving the rightful king facing his heir, who looked to be thinking, due to his lack of focus and concentration on matters on the Wall.

Stannis looked through the many rejection replies from the Northern houses, but there was support from House Umber, half of the noble house led by Mors Umber, and the other half of the house supporting House Bolton, led by Hother Umber.

The king thought about the suggestion from Jon Snow about Lord Manderly, or as Stannis liked to call him fat and useless, about his unwed granddaughters. The alliance with the Manderlys would benefit Stannis more than the match offered by the Karstarks.

"Two marriage offers at the same time; the North must be desperate to oust the Boltons." Jacob said, in a grim tone.

"House Karstark has declared their support for our cause, it would be wise to consider marrying Lord Arnolf's niece."

"House Manderly are the wealthier house, and I don't trust this Arnolf Karstark. He seems too eager to marry his niece off, even though she is the rightful heir of Karhold, if her brother is killed by the Lannisters."

"What do you think we should do with the wildings?"

"Letting them through the Wall is going to cause problems, especially with the Northern lords, who for generations have had their lands pillaged by the wildlings. House Umber especially won't take too kindly to having wildlings settling in the North."

"I should have asked the Lord Commander if the Umbers had any unwed daughters also."

Prince Jacob was amused, of the idea of his own father and Lord Wyman Manderly being linked as good family, it was something Stannis did not want to envision to happen, because it could be a reality and it would be worse than being injured on the battlefield.

The awkwardness of marriage aside. The Umbers, the Karstarks and the Manderlys were powerful houses in the North, and all held true loyalty to the Starks, but the North was fractured and were fighting each other, instead of banding together against the true enemy.

Roose Bolton and his mad dog of a bastard.

"Father, do you truly believe yourself to be this ancient hero reborn." Jacob asked, as it was a hard question.

"I don't know anymore, I am only a man of flesh and blood. A man bound to honour, duty and justice. I am not a man made to be a mythical hero, you are meant to be such a man." Stannis replied.

"Why, my strengths are not on the battlefield, but in court and politics?"

"I regret allowing Robert to send you to Highgarden, who knows what the Tyrells have taught you."

"A king's word is law, and there was nothing you could do. I learned more from the Tyrells, than I have learned inside King's Landing."

"When we leave the Wall, and rest at Eastwatch. Your mother and sister will be informed of who you will be marrying."

"It will be hard for Shireen, she is still a child and doesn't know she will be gaining a new good sister."

"Your sister will adjust and will learn to accept things, but your mother will have a harder time. She planned for you to marry a southerner, and has voiced her displeasure of the idea of you marrying a northerner."

"Why?"

"Your mother was born and raised in the Reach, where they value their own and are ambitious. They don't think much of the North, and do not care for them at all."

"You may not like what I tell you, but you need me more than ever. My political cunning could mean the difference between making new allies or making more enemies than we already have."

Stannis knew Jacob was a man grown, and had seen his former Uncle Alester Florent burned for his crimes of treason, why would the wildling king be any different, as he will be punished for deserting the Watch.

The glares between father and son were tiring, it was what was expected when having a son more politically minded than wanting to be like his father.

The execution of the King Beyond the Wall will be the next step for Jacob, to see if his heir was prepared to make the hard choices and the difficult decisions needed to become a good king.