Chapter 51: Nothing Is As It Seems

4th Month of 299 A.C. King's Landing

Melisandre

Her time within the Sunset Kingdoms had been an interesting one, sent here when a falcon served as hand, she had been sent with the purpose of converting the King to the Red God, to the true God, and to find the Prince that Was Promised. Azor Azahi, had long been missing and the time had come to find him and train him for greatness. But things had not gone as planned, and now she was flitting between Dragonstone and King's Landing to plan and meet with her Lord, Stannis Baratheon, he was an interesting man, someone Melisandre had never met before, and considering her life that was saying something. Still there was much to be discussed between the two of them, and so she waited by the rocks of old, as her lord had requested, and when she saw him arrive, an odd flutter was felt in her chest. He was not a handsome man her lord, his jaw was square, his hair was receding, but he made her feel a way she had not done for a long time.

Judging by the kiss that her lord gives her when he comes before her, she reckons that she has a similar effect on him. When they part, she is left breathless, but her lord goes straight to the point. "How are my wife and daughter?" he asks.

She takes a moment to crush the disappointment she feels and then responds. "They are well; your daughter asks for you constantly. She wants to know when you shall be returning home."

A look of sadness passes over her lord's face then, she knows he cares a lot for his daughter, and that is one of the things that endears him to her. Other men would never care for their daughters; she knows her father never did. "That is good. And what of the fools who are my wife's kin, what are they doing?" her lord asks.

"They are doing exactly as I tell them to my lord. You need not fear on that count, everything will be ready for when the time comes. Nothing will go missing on my end." Melisandre replies.

Lord Stannis nods and then says. "They have not been able to find the eunuch. It seems he is far too good at hiding. Have your fires shown you anything?"

Melisandre thinks for a moment and then says. "He will be going to join the dragon pretender who sits within Riverrun. It is writ clear in the flames, he will try and speak with the boy and get him to see things his way. And he will fail."

"What is his way? What do you mean by that?" her lord asks.

Melisandre hesitates for a moment, trying to decide how best to explain this situation to her lord, she knows he does not appreciate lies, but she finds herself wondering if what she will say is a lie or not, over the years it has become harder to tell exactly. She takes a breath, then says. "You are aware of where he comes from are you not my lord?"

"From Lys. That is what he says." Her lord replies.

Melisandre hides a laugh, oh he is very good, but of course he would be. "He lied. He is the master of whispers and lies, it is his duty to lie my lord. Varys is no more from Lys than I could be mistaken as being from Westeros."

"Then where is he from?" her lord asks. "I need to know so that I can find him."

"You will not find him unless he wants to be found. You know where he will go, but you do not know how he will get there, neither do I." Melisandre replies, but seeing the anger and hesitation on her lord's face she eventually says. "He comes from Volantis. A place known for its magic and its connection to dragons. From what I have gathered, he spent time earning his trade there before disappearing and reappearing within Lys and Pentos. He deliberately set up things so that King Aerys would come to know of him and request his presence."

"Why?" her lord asks. "Why was he so desperate to come to Westeros?"

Melisandre shrugs. "I do not know my lord. I have never been able to learn that. All I know is that he came to Westeros after the Defiance of Duskendale happened, and he worked his charm on the King, and managed to remain alive."

Her lord is silent for a time, considering what she has said, and then he says. "Very well. Now, I have asked to meet with you because I need to know something."

"What do you wish to know my lord?" Melisandre asks, though she thinks she knows what he will ask.

"Are you sure that this King is the one who we need?" her lord asks.

"Yes, the flames have shown me that that is so." She replies confidently.

"You told me that they showed you Joffrey as the King we needed last time. How do I know you are not merely changing what they show you to remain alive?" Stannis asks.

Melisandre looks at her lord, and she feels the old doubt that she had felt before come creeping back in, pushing it down she straightens up and replies. "I am sure because this time I bled when I looked into the flames and saw him. I did not do that when I saw Joffrey. I made a mistake last time."

Stannis cups her chin then and leans down to kiss her, it is a kiss filled with passion, a passion that she did not think her lord possessed, but as she is learning, these Westerosi are filled with surprises. Perhaps she would be more willing to find them if she was not working hard to fulfil something. She breaks the kiss this time, and her lord looks somewhat disappointed when she looks at him. His voice is even though when he speaks. "Very well. So tell me what do I need to do now?"

She thinks for a moment, going over the ritual in her head and the steps needed for it to be successful, that done she answers his question. "You need to separate the boy from Lord Renly, you need to ensure that the boy trusts you more than he trusts Lord Renly. And from what you have told me, it seems as if the boy is getting nervous about trusting Lord Renly."

"He is, the boy might not realise it yet, but there is much of my father in him, and there is too much of the Tyrell influence in Renly for him not to feel uneasy. I have the feeling that the more Renly pushes the more scared he becomes." Her lord replies. "It was not right to take a boy from his surroundings and to put him on a throne he was never meant for."

Melisandre puts a hand on her lord's cheek and says. "He was meant to take the throne; he was denied his right by his father's selfishness. You must make him see that he must embrace his Baratheon heritage. He must also realise who he is, and what he is."

Her lord pulls away then. "How I am supposed to do that without making myself seem like a mad man? I barely believe any of this, and yet I am supposed to convince my nephew, a boy I barely know that he is supposed to just trust me because I am his elder and his uncle? He seems too much like Robert to really believe that."

"Then you must make him see my lord. You must make him see, otherwise this world is damned. The Great Other is coming and we need to find the pieces, in order to make the puzzle fit." Melisandre replies coming to stand before him, her hands on his chest.

As she looks up into her lord's eyes, she sees great fires and great death, beasts of black and white dancing in the sky, as fire and ice clash once more, and there standing in the midst of it is a figure encased in white armour that glows blue in the pale light, she blinks and the vision is gone. Her lord is looking at her intently, what he is thinking she does not know, but then he speaks. "Are you certain that this is the course of action that must be taken?"

Melisandre removes her hands from his chest and allows them to fall to her side. "I am my lord. I have seen it and I have dreamt of it. It must happen this way, for the world must be righted, the birth of dragons has destabilised the world, and now we must ensure that the balance is righted."

"I do not know where you have been looking then. For in all my time on Dragonstone I never found any eggs, of any sort let alone dragon eggs. The Targaryens must have destroyed them when they were fighting the rebellion." Her lord says.

Melisandre shakes her head then. "We both know that is not true my lord. I just know where to look." She hesitates for a moment and then whispers. "When you return to your chambers, there will be a box waiting for you, look inside and then keep it hidden."

She can see that her lord wishes to say something, but wisely he keeps silent and merely nods. After a moment he says. "I must return to the castle, my absence shall be noted soon." He leans down and kisses her once before breaking the kiss, turning and leaving.

Melisandre watches him leave with a heavy heart, she knows what role her lord must play and she grieves for him already, truly she does, to have to do that to one's own family will be a painful role for him to play. "You can come out now." She says aloud. And as she turns, she is not surprised to find a figure with black robes and a mask standing before her. "What do you want?" she asks the figure.

The figure stares at her a moment, its eyes unblinking, eventually words come forth, sounding strange, but clear at the same time. "I have come to see that you are fulfilling your duty. Remember what you promised Melony."

The use of her childhood name causes shivers to run down her arms. "I remember very well what I promised and I am doing everything I can to ensure that I remain true to that promise."

The figure before her looks sceptical. "By talking a Baratheon into making the ritual? I fail to see how that is keeping to the promise."

The old anger she felt from time to time comes raring up once more. "Well I do not expect you to understand. Not all of us are obsessed with restoring an old order that should have died long ago."

"Ah, but you are Melony. Otherwise you would not be so ardent that he follows the ritual to the letter, now would you?" the figure replies.

"My name is not Melony." She finds herself snapping.

The figure laughs. "Oh I know, but it is the name you were given once long ago. Besides it is a much sweeter name than Melisandre."

Feeling completely childish, she replies. "Well I do not care what you think of the name. It is my own, just as what I am planning is my own."

The figure sighs. "I am merely trying to help."

"You had your chance and you failed. You did not come for me until it was too late." Melisandre replies coldly.

"And I have regretted that, every day since then." The figure replies. "What can I do to make it up to you?"

Melisandre stares at the figure and then growls. "Nothing, you failed, mother."