"Why didn't your father learn to read when he was a boy? Why did he wait until now?" Cousin Edric was asking Devan, after they left Maester Pylos with Lord Davos. Shireen glanced at Devan with concern, wondering if he was offended. Cousin Edric was great fun, Shireen loved having him at Dragonstone, but he did ask such a lot of questions. "Impertinent questions," Mother had said. Mother did not like Cousin Edric, not as much as Shireen did.
Edric had been asking a lot of questions about Father, too. Shireen did not know how to reply; she never did when it came to her father.
But Devan did not look offended, and he did not hesitate before replying either. "My father grew up in Flea Bottom, and there was no one to teach him how to read and write there. Or to teach the other boys and girls how to read and write."
Cousin Edric was frowning, his brows furrowed. He was concentrating and thinking hard, Shireen knew, even though she had only known him for a short time. He was not like Devan, it's easy to know what was on Edric's mind just from looking at his face.
"But I thought Lord Davos was a landed knight before my uncle Stannis made him a lord," Edric said. "Wasn't he the son of a knight as well? Why did he grow up in Flea Bottom?"
"Lord Davos was the Onion Knight," Shireen chimed in, and then her face reddened. "The Onion Knight, stinking of onions and salt fish," she had heard Mother's uncle Ser Axell saying. It did not sound like a praise, the way Ser Axell said it. Perhaps Devan would be insulted by her calling his father the Onion Knight? She glanced at him warily, but Devan was smiling at her.
"Yes, he was," Devan said. "But Father was not the son of a knight. His Grace made him a knight after the war. The last war, not this one."
"My father's war for the Iron Throne, you mean? The one he won handily," Edric said, looking and sounding very proud. "If my father is still alive, uncle Stannis would not have lost the battle at Blackwater," Edric declared with full confidence.
"If King Robert were alive - " Devan started speaking, but then was abruptly silent.
Edric was frowning. "Do you disagree? Don't you think my father could have won at Blackwater?"
Devan was looking at the ground, his expression a blank. Shireen could not guess what was on his mind. She wish she knew. "If uncle Robert did not die, there wouldn't have been a war, or a battle at Blackwater," she said softly. Devan looked up finally, staring at her with gratitude.
Edric considered it. "That's true," he finally said, sounding sad. Cousin Edric must be missing his father, Shireen thought. "Father was very busy ruling over the realm, he did not have the time to visit. But he never forgot to send presents on my nameday, and he remembered me, always,"Edric had told Shireen.
"So what did Lord Davos do to earn his knighthood? Did he fight during the triumphant battle at the Trident, when my father's army crushed the Targaryens and my father defeated Prince Rhaegar in a single combat with his war hammer? Or did Lord Davos join Lord Eddard Stark and his men to root out the Mad King from King's Landing?" Edric was asking eagerly, his sadness seemingly forgotten for a moment.
"No," Devan shook his head. "He brought onions and salt fish to Storm's End, when it was under siege."
Edric did not look impressed. "Onions and salt fish? What good are those?"
"They are priceless to a starving man," a harsh voice replied. "More valuable than a thousand swords and war hammers," the voice continued, sounding very, very displeased.
Father. It was her father's voice. She almost could not believe it. He was standing behind them. Shireen, Edric and Devan turned around to face him.
How long had he been there? Had he been listening the whole time? What was displeasing him about their conversation? The thoughts were swirling in Shireen's mind, one after the other.
"Your Grace," Devan said hastily.
"Uncle Stannis," Edric said. "I hope you have been keeping well?" Shireen's father did not reply to Edric's question, he was not even looking at Edric.
Shireen was the last to greet her father. "Father," she finally said, her voice barely audible. "Shireen," her father barked out her name. He stared at her for a brief moment, before quickly turning his face away. He then turned to look at Devan with a stern expression on his face. "You are not telling the story properly," he admonished Devan.
"Your Grace?" Devan did not look scared, only curious. Shireen stared at him, amazed. She would have been terrified if her father had spoken to her in that way, with that look on his face.
But maybe Devan is used to it, being Father's squire. Father scolding him, telling him when he is doing something wrong, Shireen thought. She envied Devan.
"You have to start with the siege. Who was laying siege to Storm's End, why were they doing it, how long had the siege lasted, what was the condition inside the castle, and finally, why were the onions and salt fish important," her father was saying.
"Will you tell us the story yourself, uncle Stannis?" Edric asked solemnly. Shireen's father finally looked at Cousin Edric for the first time. No, he was not merely looking, he was fixing his gaze on Edric in a way that made Shireen feel very uncomfortable.
And sad.
Father does not like Cousin Edric too. Just like Mother. She could not understand why; Shireen liked her cousin very, very much. She had asked her mother why, but Mother had only laughed, kissed her cheek and said that Shireen was imagining things. She did not dare ask her father.
"It is Devan's story to tell, not mine," her father replied to Edric.
"But you were the one who made Lord Davos a knight. It is your story too, uncle Stannis," Edric insisted.
Father's face turned red in anger. But before he could say anything, Devan spoke first, quickly. "The Mad King sent Lord Tyrell, Lord Redwyne and their combined forces to lay siege on Storm's End, both from sea and from land. His Grace -" Devan turned to look at Shireen's father, who nodded at him. "His Grace defended Storm's End for a year, while they almost starved inside the castle." Devan paused, hesitated slightly, before finally continuing. "My father said holding Storm's End was just as important as King Robert winning the battles elsewhere. If … if His Grace had surrendered Storm's End, King Robert's claim to the throne would not have been taken seriously. How can he make a claim for the throne if he cannot hold on to his own castle, people would have said. His Grace -"
Shireen's father was frowning. "Now you are deviating from the point of the story," he chastised Devan. "Get on with it, to your father arriving at Storm's End." He turned around and started walking away from them without another word. Devan started following him. "Bryen will squire for me today. I don't need you," Shireen's father said dismissively, without turning around. Devan stopped walking, looking crestfallen.
Shireen walked up to Devan and whispered softly to him, "I think Father wants you to continue telling us the story." Devan looked uncertain at first, but he finally smiled. "Yes, my princess," he said. Shireen was smiling too; she liked it a lot better when Devan was calling her my princess,rather than Princess Shireen.
That was when Father suddenly turned around, at the moment when Shireen and Devan both had a wide grin on their faces. He looked startled, almost confused, staring at his daughter and his squire. Devan wiped out the grin off his face immediately, looking guilty. Shireen was too shocked to be capable of the same.
Father cleared his throat. "Shireen," he said abruptly, as if announcing her name to an audience.
"Yes, Father?" She wished she did not sound so scared.
But Father looked like he was scared too, it occurred to her suddenly. But why?
"Maester Pylos tells me you are doing well in your lessons."
She blushed. "I am trying my best, Father. Maester Pylos is a good teacher."
"As good as Maester Cressen?"
"Maester Cressen was older, he knew a lot more, of course. And … and … well, I ..." Shireen was shuffling her feet.
"Go on," her father prompted her, his voice gruff, but not impatient.
"I miss him. Maester Cressen. He was always very kind to me," Shireen said wistfully.
Her father looked away too quickly for Shireen to catch his expression. "Yes, well," he said after a long pause. "We all must die one day, and Maester Cressen was a very old man." Shireen was about to ask her father a question, but he walked away before she could open her mouth.
Edric and Devan were standing next to Shireen, and the three of them stood quietly watching her father's retreating back. They glanced at each other hesitantly, almost nervously, after Shireen's father rounded a corner and could no longer be seen. Edric was the first to break the silence, asking excitedly, "So, tell us how your father managed to get the onions and salt fish to Storm's End, Devan. Did he do battle with the Tyrells and the Redwynes at sea?"