We take a look in Davos's mind now.

I know there may be some people who find this chapter useless (like the one with Daenerys) because they are mainly scenes from the TV show with a few alterations after Tywin's death, but that don't change much to their storylines. These chapters are in some way some sort of preludes to introduce these characters later in the story. There will be a point where Daenerys, Davos, Jon, Arya, Bran, Melisandre, Yara, Sam... will join the story.

DAVOS I

"Your Grace, if you'd like to sit, I'm sure that…"

"We've been here since midday."

His king was perambulating in the great hall. His footsteps were echoing on the marble of the floor and the walls. Davos knew his Grace had every right to be unsatisfied. Davos convinced his king to accompany him to Braavos in order to get a loan from the Iron Bank. They needed the loan, or else Stannis Baratheon would never sit on the Iron Throne. Davos would have travelled all the way to Braavos alone, but they had a better chance to get something from these bankers if the king came himself. They needed the money to buy weapons, ships, to hire pirates and sellswords. However, they had to wait if they were to get it. The Iron Bank of Braavos didn't comply with orders of the kings of Westeros, whoever they were. Furthermore, since King Stannis's position wasn't good, they probably felt no emergency to meet him. So, they had to wait, and the king grew impatient.

He was growing more impatient than ever these last months, and he was also angry at Davos for freeing the boy, Gendry. Davos had no choice. To unite Seven Kingdoms with blood magic was evil, and King Stannis wasn't an evil man. As King of Westeros, it was the duty of Stannis Baratheon to protect his people. A king who didn't protect his people was no king, and so if Stannis had sacrificed the bastard boy, he would have been no king at all. Davos did it for Stannis. He always told the truth to his king, even if it was hard. It was better to tell hard truths than pleasant lies. The boy was innocent, and it would have been unfair to kill him. He understood that killing a man for his crimes could be necessary for justice, but there would have been no justice in killing Gendry. That would have been murder. Davos deserved the loss of his phalanxes for his years of smuggling. It had been a small price for his knighthood and a better life for his son and his wife, but the boy had done nothing wrong. Davos did what was necessary. Stannis probably didn't realize it, but Davos saved him by freeing Gendry against his will. He served his king, and he saved an innocent boy. Now, he served Stannis again and was trying to get him his army.

"You need someone to rebuild your army for you, someone to convince this lord and that lord to fight for you, to bring sellswords and pirates to your side." These were the words Davos told Stannis when he revealed him the threat against the Wall. Unexpectedly, the red woman convinced Stannis to not execute him, stating Davos had a part to play in the war to come. If there was something Davos hadn't expected, it was this. He knew Melisandre had real powers, he saw some of them with his own eyes. The woman was so mysterious, the former smuggler still didn't know what to make of her and mistrusted her, but he had to admit Stannis was right, he had been saved by this red god he mocked. Or at least, he was saved by a woman who believed she was serving this god. He wouldn't trust Melisandre all the same. She was a danger, and if he promised he wouldn't do anything against her, Stannis wouldn't stop Davos from speaking and warning against her.

"Easterners have a different sense of time, I've often found. Once I was waiting for Salladhor Saan here in Braavos. Together we were going to run three shiploads of the finest…"

Davos tried to tell one of his smuggler's stories to spend time, perhaps more for himself than for the king, but the king made it quite obvious with a single stare that he wasn't interested to hear it. Davos should have known better. Right now he wouldn't have disdained the company of someone else. The king was good for leading armies, but not for conversations. He wished Salladhor Saan was here, but Davos had the impression the pirate lord was somewhere much more interesting for him than the Iron Bank. A place that King Stannis wouldn't have approved, and that Davos didn't approve either, but Salladhor was his friend, and Davos was more amused by this fact about his friend than anything else. More funny even had been the dumbfounded reaction of his friend when Davos revealed to him there was no brothel on Dragonstone. King Stannis was probably the only king to allow no such establishments on his lands. Davos hoped he wouldn't do the same to all Westeros when he would seize the Seven Kingdoms, or else every sailor in the world would refuse to make any trip to King's Landing, Oldtown, Lannisport, White Harbor, Gulltown or the Iron Islands. That would put an end to the smugglers, but also to legal trade. No sailor wanted to go somewhere there were no whores.

Finally, the massive golden doors behind the massive marble table opened and allowed three men to enter. They sat at the three cushioned chairs behind the table. They wore usual clothes for Braavosi rich men. Davos only recognized one of them, Tycho Nestoris, at the center. He had met him once, a long time ago, when he was still a smuggler, to get a loan for a rich merchant of Braavos. The loan back then had been to give Davos a ship in order to bring special spices from Meereen. A dangerous trip that nearly cost Davos his life, and the life of the merchant, if Davos hadn't come back with the wares. But he did, the merchant was able to pay the Iron Bank its due, and the merchant made money. If he hadn't, the Iron Bank would have gotten its due all the same. One way or another, they always get their money back.

This time, however, the stake was much higher. Davos would have to be very careful in the negotiations to come. "Welcome to the Iron Bank. Please, sit." Nestoris invited them to take the marble seats right before them. Davos waited for his king to sit first. He feared how he may react to this. King Stannis ordered the respect that was owed to him as Lord of the Seven Kingdoms in all circumstances, but here he couldn't. Before the Iron Bank, he was only someone seeking a loan like any other. Davos had explained it to his king on the way to Braavos so he may not be insulted by the way the bankers would act with him, but Davos knew he was insulted. No wonder, since they waited for two hours in this hall after a long journey through the Narrow Sea. The king took his time to sit and shot a stern look at Davos as he did so. Davos hoped his king would make no mistake. However, he also feared that he may make mistakes himself.

"What can we do for you, Lord Stannis?"

Davos answered to Tycho Nestoris before the king could. "This is Stannis of the House Baratheon, King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm." Nestoris fixed Davos with stern eyes, without a hint of emotion, and moved his arm to invite him to sit as well. Davos complied.

"The Iron Throne is currently occupied by Joffrey of the House Baratheon, King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm." Nestoris ended his words with a little smile. King Stannis chose this moment to speak.

"He shares no blood with me. He is a bastard born of incest. As was his brother before him."

"Yes, we have heard this story."

"It's not a story. It's the truth." Davos didn't like the direction the conversation was heading. It wouldn't help them to discuss about questions of legitimacy. The Iron Bank wasn't interested by these things.

"The king's grandfather tells a different story. A story about a jealous uncle whose attempts to usurp the throne from the rightful king cost the Seven Kingdoms dearly in blood and gold."

"Gold you loaned him," Davos's king countered.

"And you feel your blood gives you a claim on our gold?"

"More than any man living."

That wasn't good. Davos warned King Stannis about it. We couldn't claim anything from the Iron Bank. It wasn't blood right that decided the Iron Bank to lend you money or not, it was your ability to pay them back. Stannis would never convince the bankers to grant him any loan by speaking this way. Davos's thoughts were confirmed by the next words of Tycho Nestoris.

"Across the Narrow Sea, your books are filled with words like usurper and madman and blood right. Here, our books are filled with numbers. We prefer the stories they tell. More plain. Less open to interpretation." Tycho Nestoris granted them another one of his little smiles. He then turned to Stannis. "How many fighting men remain loyal to you?"

"Four thousand," Stannis replied.

"And how many ships do you have? The ones still afloat, Ser Davos, not at the bottom of Blackwater Bay."

The mention of the battle brought back painful memories to Davos. The burning of hundreds of ships with their crew. Brave men who had wives, children, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, cousins, friends, even lovers who would never see them again. A hell of wildfire burning everything. A green fire that nothing could extinguish, not even water. His son, Matthos, who died in front of his own eyes. Davos gulped before he answered.

"Thirty-two."

"And how much wheat and barley and beef and pork do you produce on Dragonstone to feed your four thousand men on your thirty-two ships?"

After a moment, the king answered with the truth, as he always did. "None."

"You can see why these numbers seem unlikely to add up to a happy ending from our perspective. I'm afraid we must respectfully decline your request. But we thank you for paying us the honor of your visit."

Tycho Nestoris was always smiling as he talked. Davos couldn't blame the Iron Bank. Many of his friends from the time he was a smuggler only cared about money as well. If they didn't see a profit to something, they wouldn't contribute. Right now, however, it was the look King Stannis gave to him that made him fear the worse. Davos knew what it meant. He was running out of time as much as Stannis was running out of time if he didn't want to become a page in the history book of someone else. He had to do something, to convince these bankers with their own arguments, with the only reasons that could convince them. He had to provide them a way to get their money back, to show them Stannis was the best investment for them. Stannis raised from his seat, and Davos did the same, but as his king was heading to the window, Davos directed his attention to the three men sitting in front of him.

"My lord," he began, addressing Tycho Nestoris.

"I'm not a lord, Ser Davos Seaworth. You would not be either here. In Braavos, thieves are not rewarded with titles."

Davos sighed internally at Nestoris's comment. As usual, people saw him as a thief. There was a difference between stealing, and selling what others stole. "Well, strictly speaking, I didn't do the thieving. That would be the pirates. I just moved what they stole from one place to another." Davos took off his glove from his right hand and showed it to the bankers. The missing phalanxes seemed to surprise them. For the first time in the meeting, Tycho Nestoris didn't maintain his patronizing attitude. "This is the payment that was demanded by King Stannis for my crimes. I consider it an honest accounting. He's an honest man and he's your best chance to get back the money you've sunk into Westeros. Which is a lot, I imagine. Wars are expansive."

"The war is over," the banker observed.

"As long as Stannis lives, the war is not over. Who's the real power in King's Landing?"

"Ser Davos…" Nestoris began to rise, but Davos stopped him.

"Humor me."

The bankers remained silent for a moment. Davos knew why, so he explained what he knew the bankers already knew. "You don't know. No one is in command anymore in King's Landing. Tywin Lannister was the real power, and Tywin Lannister is dead, killed by his own son, the Imp, his Master of Coin. Who will pay you back now? Who will you back? Joffrey Baratheon, a bastard born of incest, who is as mad as the Mad King was? Cersei Lannister, a queen whose people despise and have no respect for her? Jaime Lannister, a man best known for killing the king he was sworn to protect? Tyrion Lannister, the Imp, who's rotting into a cell and most likely will be executed before the next moon? Who do you back now?"

"This problem is not of your concern," answered Nestoris, again with a smirk.

"Begging your pardon, I think this is a problem for all of us. There's only one reliable leader left in Westeros. Stannis." Davos pointed to his king who was still looking in another direction. "He's got the birthright. He's in his prime. He's a tried and tested battle commander. And he doesn't just talk about paying people back, he does it."

Davos showed again his hand, now covered again with a glove, to emphasize his words. He saw Tycho Nestoris and the other bankers look at Stannis with cold eyes. Davos hoped it was enough to convince them. Davos was honest with these bankers, he believed his words. The Lannisters would never be able to pay back the Iron Bank without Tywin Lannister. Among all of them, there was only the Imp that Davos believed eventually capable of giving the Iron Bank its due. He and Tywin Lannister had defeated Stannis at Blackwater together, and he had held a corrupted and starving city on the brink of insurgence for months. Davos didn't think Tywin Lannister would have named him Master of Coin if he didn't have certain capabilities. However, he had killed his father and would be executed very soon. If the Iron Bank wanted its gold back, they needed Stannis as much as Stannis needed them.

Finally, after a moment, one of the two other bankers, who remained silent for the whole meeting up to now, spoke. "You told us the truth, Ser Davos. You are right, Tywin Lannister would have paid us back, but we have no guarantee that his son, his daughter, or his grandson will. In fact, after his death, one of the first decisions of the Queen Regent was to stop the payments the Crown owes us." Davos couldn't believe what he heard. So soon? "If King Stannis is really able to pay us back…"

"He will. As soon as he takes the Iron Throne. But King Stannis will not be able to take the Iron Throne without gold. If you don't lend him money right now, you may never see your gold back." He cut the banker and put weight to make them understand they needed to support Stannis immediately, or else they could lose everything.

Tycho Nestoris smiled at the comment. "The Iron Bank will have its due, one way or another, but King Stannis, as you call him, may be a good way to get it back. How much do you need?"

Davos and Stannis, but mostly Davos (the king wasn't good for negotiations), spent the next two hours discussing with the representatives of the Iron Bank. When finally they reached an agreement, King Stannis disposed immediately of five hundred thousand golden dragons, and would be able to obtain the same amount later when he would have seized one of the Seven Kingdoms or King's Landing. Davos was able to lower the interest rate from 20% to 10%, convincing the Iron Bank that the capacity of Westeros to pay higher rates wasn't certain with winter coming and the many devastated lands.

When they left the Iron Bank, they had more than enough gold to make their next move. The war was about to start again. Davos went to see Salladhor Saan and without surprise, his friend was in a brothel.

With Tywin dead, the Iron Bank has high doubts about the hability of the Crown to pay its debts. And you can see now how Cersei's decisions have dire consequences and only confirm their worries.

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Next chapter: the trial begins