22

Chapter 22: Part XXIINotes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I own nothing, just borrowing for a while.

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"Don't make me come over there."

Supposed letter from King Joffrey Baratheon to Queen Daenerys Targaryen... considered apocryphal.

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The Red Keep - King's Landing – 298 AL

Stannis Baratheon was not a man that liked sycophants, for him a straight-talker from the gutter was worth more than a yes-man from a noble house which was why Ser Davos Seaworth was probably the only man he considered an actual friend. That didn't mean you always wanted to hear what they had to say though. "I don't know why you put any faith in her to start with" Seaworth remarked as they walked together through the gardens hoping to avoid being overheard too much.

Stannis stopped walking and turned his head slightly to glare at the closest gardener, the man blanching at his expression and quickly scurrying away. "I should have realised something was wrong days ago when she kept avoiding me, the woman is practically a shadow normally" he muttered, grinding his teeth.

"Aye well, I can see why she wouldn't want to tell you herself, you're not one to take betrayal lightly" Seaworth observed.

Jaw still clamped shut Stannis continued speaking through gritted teeth. "She actually dispatched a raven to my wife in Dragonstone and got her to send me a letter saying I should bend the knee to that sarcastic little in-bred bastard" he told the other man bitterly.

"Ah, so that's what it said on that piece of scrunched up paper you threw at me" Seaworth realised, thinking it might be time to learn to read if things that interesting were to be found in letters.

"I overheard a bloody hedge knight laughing at me earlier, a bloody hedge-knight, the man was practically a peasant" he said before remembering who he was talking to. "No offence meant" he apologised to his low-born companion, although knowing his manner Davos Seaworth hadn't taken any. If Stannis was insulting you it was done with more bluntness and far more directly than that.

"What was he saying?" Seaworth queried, intrigued as to what had riled Stannis up so much.

"He was joking that he had heard that even my own mistress had deserted me for Joffrey and supposed that not only was I a worse speaker than a boy barely old enough to shave he must be better in bed too" Stannis growled.

The old smuggler grimaced. "You didn't punch his teeth down his throat or something did you?" he asked. "Because in your shoes I might have done" he said. "My right jab isn't what it was but I still throw a mean left hook."

"We're living under the rule of Guest Right here Ser Davos" Stannis reminded the man.

Seaworth nodded. "Fortunate for his teeth I suppose" he replied. It was a rule of conduct right across Westeros that nobody would break the law of sacred hospitality, with a man as strict to obey the rules as Stannis even less likely to break it than anyone else. Not only was it a great sin to violate that law under the beliefs of the Faith of the Seven, but also those of the Old Gods and even the Drowned God of the Iron Born, so it was vanishingly rare to occur.

Stannis had never been a man to show his emotions generally but quiet rage was a specialty. "And do you know what really makes me mad?" he asked rhetorically.

"Well you're none too keen on smuggling, I know that for a fact" Seaworth quipped, unconsciously reaching for the small leather pouch he wore around his neck that held his severed finger bones.

"What really makes me mad" Stannis continued, ignoring him, "is that I knew it wasn't the right time to press my rightful claim but that red-haired bitch convinced me otherwise" he complained. "There she was prattling on about signs and portents when I should have been paying attention to the politics."

Davos Seaworth shrugged. "She knows her way around a man's mind, I'll say that for her" he responded. "Naked at the time was she?" he asked curiously.

Stannis turned and glared at his friend. "No she wasn't" he replied coldly.

"Pity, at least it wouldn't have been all bad" Seaworth suggested, receiving another glare in response. "It's a good thing you didn't go through with that notion of hers that you should move on from burning statues of the Seven to burning people or nobody would vote for you" he said with some justification. Even the mere rumours of that particular sacrilege, leaking out from Dragonstone in the last few weeks via the men of the Royal Fleet, had stripped Stannis of some of the little support he had previously enjoyed among the nobles houses of the Stormlands.

For his part, despite the Red Priestess now apparently going around King's Landing extolling his virtues as 'The prince that was promised', Joffrey had been doing his best to avoid the woman, not wanting to be associated with her and had issued a statement that under his rule all faiths would be tolerated as long as they tolerated the others. He did not want return to the religious wars of ages past he said, citing what occurred when the Andals brought the Faith of the Seven to Westeros and burned the Weirwood trees held sacred by followers of the Old Gods. That had been just as wrong as the recent burning of the statues of the Seven at Dragonstone and showed the dangers of fanaticism hailing from any quarter.

There were good men and bad men among those that followed the Faith of the Seven, Joffrey had written, and good men and bad men that followed the Old Gods of the North, the Drowned God and the Storm God of the Iron Islands and among the minority who still worshipped Mother Rhoyne in Dorne. Much to the man's embarrassment Joffrey had then cited Thoros of Myr as a good man of his own acquaintance that worshipped R'hllor, a good man who had fought with notable courage at the siege of Pyke and who had made many friends among followers of other faiths, despite being a Red Priest himself. All those who burned the statues on Dragonstone would be told that if they couldn't live in peace with the followers of the existing religions of the Seven Kingdoms then they should pack up and head for Essos. If they were willing to live in peace with other faiths then they could stay however, Joffrey had declared, but they had better damn well sincerely apologise for the offence caused and accept that in Westeros you don't try and force your religion down another man's throat.

Of course Joffrey had also made sure to include a few biting comments about how he would never have allowed anyone to desecrate the religious symbols of any of the peoples he wanted to rule over in the first place.

Stannis disliked the opportunistic little son-of-a-bitch more every day, but he was developing a grudging respect for the boy's ability nonetheless. You don't hate someone for being incompetent in the Great Other's work, you hate him for competence in it. Admiration for the technique was a necessary part of the process.

"So what are you going to do now?" Seaworth asked. "I can't see the decision of the council going your way" he told him honestly.

"I'll not bend the knee Ser Davos" Stannis told him. "If the council votes against me and denies me what is rightfully mine then I'll obey the law, but I'll not bend the knee to a bastard."

Seaworth sighed. "They might cut your head off if you don't" he pointed out.

"Then it'll become your task to put my daughter on the Iron Throne somehow when I'm gone" Stannis told him earnestly.

Stannis Baratheon was always a hard man to like, Seaworth though to himself, but sometimes he seemed to go out of his way to make it even harder. The man simply expected too much of people, held them to a practically unattainable standard, albeit including himself to be fair. "I'll do my best My Lord" Seaworth responded, fairly certain that his best wasn't nearly up to the job.

"It's 'Your Grace' not 'My Lord' when addressing the king, Ser Davos" Stannis corrected him.

Yes he was definitely a hard man to like, Seaworth thought to himself again sadly as one of the other gardeners present who had been surreptitiously listening in on their conversation waited for the opportunity to quietly slip away from his task and report to Lord Varys. After that he would go relay the same information to Petyr Baelish for a second payment, perhaps slightly altered depending on what the Master-of-Whispers wanted the man to know.

If he was really lucky Lord Tywin might even pay him a third time for the information as well.

Notes:

Note from the author:

Ser Davos Seaworth is probably the best friend of Stannis Baratheon, and is loyal to a fault, but he's not one to mince his words.

We see statues of the Seven being burned by Melisandre and the other worshippers of R'hllor at Dragonstone in episode 2:01 The North Remembers. Even if they haven't gotten around to burning people yet that isn't going to be good for Stannis's public relations.

When the Andals invaded Westeros they brought the Faith of the Seven with them and burned the sacred Weirwood trees that were considered holy by the First Men. By drawing a parallel between this and the burning of the statues on Dragonstone, and criticising both, Octavian draws the followers of the Old Gods in the north into the fray.

Selyse Baratheon, wife of Stannis, is a hard-line supporter of Melisandre and convinced follower of R'hllor. She's also a bit crazy.

Hardliners among the Faith of the Seven might hold that burning the Weirwoods was perfectly right but they're not going to vote for Stannis anyway!

The Guest Right is an old rule of sacred hospitality that isn't likely to be broken with impunity. If there is one man that would always obey it, that man would be Stannis Baratheon.

The Great Other is basically the counterpart to the Lord of Light to worshippers of R'hllor. Basically their satan.