A Game of Thrones 4-Book Bundle

gemstone
eyes. Stannis himself looked out of place in this rich and royal company. Like
Davos, the king was plainly garbed in wool and boiled leather, though the
circlet of red gold about his temples lent him a certain grandeur. Sunlight
flashed off its

flame-shaped points whenever he moved his head.
    This was the closest Davos had come to His Grace in the eight days since
Black Betha
had joined the rest of the fleet off Storm’s End. He’d
sought an audience within an hour of his arrival, only to be told that the king
was occupied. The king was often occupied, Davos learned from his son Devan,
one of the royal squires. Now that Stannis Baratheon had come into his power,
the lordlings buzzed around him like flies round a corpse.
He looks half a
corpse too, years older than when I left Dragonstone.
Devan said the king
scarcely slept of late. “Since Lord Renly died, he has been troubled by
terrible nightmares,” the boy had confided to his father. “Maester’s potions
do not touch them. Only the Lady Melisandre can soothe him to
sleep.”
    Is that why she shares his pavilion now?
Davos wondered.
To pray
with him? Or does she have another way to soothe him to sleep?
It was an
unworthy question, and one he dared not ask, even of his own son. Devan was a
good boy, but he wore the flaming heart proudly on his doublet, and his father
had seen him at the nightfires as dusk fell, beseeching the Lord of Light to
bring the dawn.
He is the king’s squire,
he told himself,
it is
only to be expected that he would take the king’s god.
    Davos had almost forgotten how high and thick the walls of Storm’s End loomed
up close. King Stannis halted beneath them, a few feet from Ser Cortnay and his
standard-bearer. “Ser,” he said with stiff courtesy. He made no move to
dismount.
    â€œMy lord.” That was less courteous, but not unexpected.
    â€œIt is customary to grant a king the style
Your Grace,”
announced Lord Florent. A red gold fox poked its shining snout out from his
breastplate through a circle of lapis lazuli flowers. Very tall, very courtly,
and very rich, the Lord of Brightwater Keep had been the first of Renly’s
bannermen to declare for Stannis, and the first to renounce his old gods and
take up the Lord of Light. Stannis had left his queen on Dragonstone along with
her uncle Axell, but the queen’s men were more numerous and powerful than ever,
and Alester Florent was the foremost.
    Ser Cortnay Penrose ignored him, preferring to address Stannis. “This is a
notable company. The great lords Estermont, Errol, and Varner. Ser Jon of the
green-apple Fossoways and Ser Bryan of the red. Lord Caron and Ser Guyard of
King Renly’s Rainbow Guard
. . . and
the puissant
Lord Alester Florent of Brightwater, to be sure. Is that your Onion Knight I
spy to the rear? Well met, Ser Davos. I fear I do not know the
lady.”
    â€œI am named Melisandre, ser.” She alone came unarmored, but for her flowing
red robes. At her throat the great ruby drank the daylight. “I serve your
king, and the Lord of Light.”
    â€œI wish you well of them, my lady,” Ser Cortnay answered, “but I bow to
other gods, and a different king.”
    â€œThere is but one true king, and one true god,” announced Lord
Florent.
    â€œAre we here to dispute theology, my lord? Had I known, I would have brought a
septon.”
    â€œYou know full well why we are here,” said Stannis. “You

have had a fortnight to consider my offer. You sent your ravens. No help has
come. Nor will it. Storm’s End stands alone, and I am out of patience. One last
time, ser, I command you to open your gates, and deliver me that which is mine
by rights.”
    â€œAnd the terms?” asked Ser Cortnay.
    â€œRemain as before,” said Stannis. “I will pardon you for your treason, as I
have pardoned these lords you see behind me. The men of your garrison will be
free to enter my service or to return unmolested to their homes. You may keep
your weapons and as much property as a man can carry. I will require your
horses and pack animals, however.”
    â€œAnd what of Edric Storm?”
    â€œMy brother’s bastard must be surrendered to me.”
    â€œThen my answer is still no, my lord.”
    The king clenched his jaw. He said nothing.
    Melisandre spoke instead. “May the Lord of Light protect you