"Now leave me, all of you. Even kings must rest before a battle"
"My lord" said Catelyn Stark, approaching King Renly, "there was a small sept in the last village we passed. If you will not permit me to depart for Riverrun, grant me leave to go there and pray"
"As you will" he agreed, then speaking to his men, "Ser Robar, give Lady Stark safe escort to this sept... but see that she returns to us by dawn"
"You might do well to pray yourself" added Catelyn.
"For victory?"
"For wisdom"
Renly laughed.
"Loras" he called, "stay and help me pray. It's been so long I've quite forgotten how"
Loras immediately walked towards him, and waited for the two of them to be left alone.
"As to the rest of you, I want every man in place by first light, armed, armored, and horsed. We shall give Stannis a dawn he will not soon forget"
Once that every men had left, Renly gave him a significant look and led him inside the castle. They kept quiet until they reached the Lord's bedroom.
"Get in" said Renly, opening the door for him, "quickly"
Loras hurried to obey, starting to take his armor off. When Renly had locked the door behind them, he was only wearing some leather trousers, a pair of short boots and a tabard; his helm, his gorget, his pauldron and his breastplate were lying on the ground.
"Nice" commented Renly, smirking, "I couldn't take it anymore, my brother has the capacity of always boring the hell out of me"
"However, he semeed to be firm about his decision" said Loras, sorely, "he will not give up easily, my lord"
"My lord" mimicked Renly, approaching him, "and do you give up easily, m'lord?"
He began to kiss him on the neck, running his fingers though his curly brown hair.
"I thought you wanted to pray" Loras observed, not answering the kisses.
"There's plenty of time for that" answered Renly, pressing his lips against his, "all I want to do is to loose a little and relax"
"I don't think you should relax now"
"Why not?"
"Because your.. my lord" said Loras, pushing him away, "your brother has something on his mind, that is obvious, my lord, and he.."
"What are you doing?" asked Renly, surprised and confused.
"I'm trying to protect you, my lord"
"No, I mean.. why are you calling me that? We're alone now, there's no need.."
"You still are my lord" Loras asserted, coldly. "And I am one of your protector knights"
Renly stared at him for awhile, knowing that he was missing something. Then, he realised it.
"You're jealous" he said, grinning, "of Brienne, aren't you?"
"No" Loras replied quickly, too quickly.
"Yes you are"
"No, I'm.. well.."
"Uh-uh!" exclaimed Renly, beaming. "You are jealous!"
"My place is at your side, Your Grace" said Loras, mimincking Brienne's voice, "let me arm you for battle, Your Grace, it would be such an honor.. doesn't she get that she's making a fool of herself?"
"She doesn't care, as long as 'Your Grace' is fine"
"You too are making a fool of yourself" Loras replied sourly, "and you're making a fool of my sister"
"No, not again.." huffed Renly, rolling his eyes. "No one can now for sure if a King and his Queen sleep in the same bed"
"They take it for granted!"
"They should mind their own business"
"But they don't, and have rights to do so!" Loras blurted out. "The Joyful King, the Virgin Queen and the Knight of the Flowers, they tell jokes about us!"
"Actually they call you 'Ser Daisy' behind your back" said Renly, "thought you should know"
"This is not funny! They expect Margaery to give you a son, a heir!"
"We're both young, we have all the time in the world to procreate"
"They-tell-jokes-about-us!" repeated Loras, angry. "The Joyful King, the Virgin Queen, the Knight of the Flowers, and now Brienne the Beauty.."
"Enough" hissed Renly, seriously, "enough, alright? Maybe there's someone who would like me and your sister to give life to a Prince, but we're at war, it's normal for the King to have his mind busy somewhere else"
"Not only his mind" replied Loras, crossing his arms. "You said you wanted to pray"
"Listen, you're obviously overreacting" Renly said, smiling and stroking his cheek "and I find your jealousy extremely cute, but, trust me, Brienne means nothing to me"
"But you mean something to her, and she's a woman"
"So what? Even if I found her attractive, I have a wife"
"You have a Queen" corrected Loras, "you certainly don't treat her as a wife"
"You know, I don't get it" said Renly, shaking his head, "you're jealous of Brienne of Tarth, but you want me to.. to mate with your sister?"
"I don't want you to, but it's your duty"
Renly took a step forward, his nose almost touching Loras'.
"Would you be jealous if I did my duty?" he whispered, intrigued.
"I would" admitted Loras, "and I will, because as soon as we get back to Bitterbridge you will do it"
"Oh, please" mocked Renly, "you can't make me"
"You're right, I can't. But I can get out of this room and be nothing more than one of your knights"
"You're much more than that.." replied Renly, kissing him softly.
Loras closed his eyes, feeling a sharp pain in his chest.
"No" he said, stepping backwards against his will, "we can't.. we need to stop this"
"Why?"
"Because they know"
"Who cares?" asked Renly, exasperated. "They can't do anything to us"
"Enough people know it already" said Loras, looking down at his feet, "and sooner or later everyone will know that I was the Third Wheel in my sister's wedding, and all that they're going to remember about me is that I was the King's whore.."
"But you.."
"Don't want to be remembered as the King's whore" concluded Loras, quickly leaving the room.