A Game of Thrones 4-Book Bundle

denies it, brother,” said Renly. “Old men deny it
with their death rattle, and unborn children deny it in their mothers’ wombs.
They deny it in Dorne and they deny it on the Wall. No one wants you for their
king. Sorry.”
    Stannis clenched his jaw, his face taut. “I swore I would never treat with you
while you wore your traitor’s crown. Would that I had kept to that
vow.”
    â€œThis is folly,” Catelyn said sharply. “Lord Tywin sits at Harrenhal with
twenty thousand swords. The remnants of the Kingslayer’s army have regrouped at
the Golden Tooth, another Lannister host gathers beneath the shadow of Casterly
Rock, and

Cersei and her son hold King’s Landing and your precious Iron Throne. You each
name yourself
king,
yet the kingdom bleeds, and no one lifts a sword
to defend it but my son.”
    Renly shrugged. “Your son has won a few battles. I shall win the war. The
Lannisters can wait my pleasure.”
    â€œIf you have proposals to make, make them,” Stannis said brusquely, “or I
will be gone.”
    â€œVery well,” said Renly. “I propose that you dismount, bend your knee, and
swear me your allegiance.”
    Stannis choked back rage. “That you shall never have.”
    â€œYou served Robert, why not me?”
    â€œRobert was my elder brother. You are the younger.”
    â€œYounger, bolder, and
far
more comely . . .”
    â€œ. . . and a thief and a usurper besides.”
    Renly shrugged. “The Targaryens called Robert usurper. He seemed to be able to
bear the shame. So shall I.”
    This will not do.
“Listen to yourselves! If you were sons of mine, I
would bang your heads together and lock you in a bedchamber until you
remembered that you were brothers.”
    Stannis frowned at her. “You presume too much, Lady Stark. I am the rightful
king, and your son no less a traitor than my brother here. His day will come as
well.”
    The naked threat fanned her fury. “You are very free to name others traitor
and usurper, my lord, yet how are you any different? You say you alone are the
rightful king, yet it seems to me that Robert had two sons. By all the laws of
the Seven

Kingdoms, Prince Joffrey is his rightful heir, and Tommen after
him . . . and we are
all
traitors, however good our
reasons.”
    Renly laughed. “You must forgive Lady Catelyn, Stannis. She’s come all the way
down from Riverrun, a long way ahorse. I fear she never saw your little
letter.”
    â€œJoffrey is not my brother’s seed,” Stannis said bluntly. “Nor is Tommen.
They are bastards. The girl as well. All three of them abominations born of
incest.”
    Would even Cersei be so mad?
Catelyn was speechless.
    â€œIsn’t that a sweet story, my lady?” Renly asked. “I was camped at Horn Hill
when Lord Tarly received his letter, and I must say, it took my breath away.”
He smiled at his brother. “I had never suspected you were so clever, Stannis.
Were it only true, you would indeed be Robert’s heir.”
    â€œ
Were
it true? Do you name me a liar?”
    â€œCan you prove any word of this fable?”
    Stannis ground his teeth.
    Robert could never have known,
Catelyn thought,
or Cersei would
have lost her head in an instant.
“Lord Stannis,” she asked, “if you
knew the queen to be guilty of such monstrous crimes, why did you keep
silent?”
    â€œI did not keep silent,” Stannis declared. “I brought my suspicions to Jon
Arryn.”
    â€œRather than your own brother?”
    â€œMy brother’s regard for me was never more than dutiful,” said Stannis.
“From me, such accusations would have seemed

peevish and self-serving, a means of placing myself first in the line of
succession. I believed Robert would be more disposed to listen if the charges
came from Lord Arryn, whom he loved.”
    â€œAh,” said Renly. “So we have the word of a dead man.”
    â€œDo you think he died by happenstance, you purblind fool? Cersei had him
poisoned, for fear he would reveal her. Lord Jon had been gathering certain
proofs—”
    â€œâ€”which doubtless died with him. How inconvenient.”
    Catelyn was remembering, fitting pieces together. “My sister Lysa accused the
queen of killing her husband in a letter she sent me at Winterfell,” she
admitted.