Hello everyone,

Apology for this chapter being late, I got a job offer last week that I had been after for a while and had to sort all the logistical/administration things that accompany moving onto a new job and there was a fair bit of celebration as well so Dance of the Falcon took a bit of a back seat.

NOTE: Just to be clear this story's posting schedule has returned to weekly. I will post on a Friday from now on I promise!

Please enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 42: The Iron Stag

Midnight – A few hours after the walls of King's Landing had fallen and a few days before the truce in Dorne ….

Throne Room,Red Keep, King's Landing, Seat of power of House Baratheon (Lannister) in the Crownlands, Capital of the Seven Kingdoms

Kenna and Sansa arrived into the candle lit Throne room with Lord Royce and Lord Grafton either side of them. Behind them were a few dozen Arryn soldiers.

The Throne room was full of soldiers. Baratheon, Arryn and Golden Company mercenaries.

Stannis sat on the Iron Throne still in his bloodied battle amour with Ser Davos standing to his left and with Melisandre standing to his right. All three sets of eyes followed Kenna's party as they closed the distance between them.

Kenna gave Sansa a comforting nod before walking ahead of her party and stopping just before the steps that led to the Throne. Both Vale Lords fell back from Kenna and flanked Sansa instead as they stopped a few feet behind their freed Lady.

Before kneeling in front of the new King of the Seven Kingdoms Kenna turned her head to the left to see the impressive roaster of prisoners bound and shadowed by imposing Golden Company men.

Pushed to the floor and chained was the dethroned boy king Tommen who still wore his mostly clean amour. Margaery knelt beside him with a blank expression on her face as if she had finally encountered a situation she didn't know how to handle. Tyrion stood with his hands clasped together as if it was his own choice to have his hands bound together, his eyes were glistening as he observed everything that was going on around him. Cersei too had been forced to her knees but instead of looking around like her brother her eyes were firmly stuck on the floor. Kenna felt the warmth of satisfaction wash over her as she saw the cut on Cersei's face, it had stopped bleeding but it would leave a scar. Olenna Tyrell was the only prisoner who looked like she was comfortable. She sat on a wooden chair and her hands were unbound. The Queen of Thornes gave a little nod of acknowledgement to Kenna.

Well played my dear.

Kenna returned the gesture before kneeling and turning her head back to Stannis after surveying the captured nobles.

Stannis addressed the kneeling Lady, "Lady Kenna I am glad to see that you are alive and managed to survive in this pit of vipers. Robert's ghost would have haunted me if you had perished during the siege."

If any ghost is going to haunt you it is going to be your little brother's not your older brother's, Kenna thought. Brienne had informed as many people as she could of how Renly had truly died. Most didn't believe her but Kenna trusted the honorable Lady's word over Stannis's silence on the matter.

Stannis was the Baratheon brother Kenna had had the least interaction with as he had mainly cloistered himself on Dragon Stone while she had been in King's Landing growing up with Renly and Robert. The last time they had met was during the Greyjoy Rebellion, and that was a time Kenna harbored conflicted feelings over.

"Are you injured my Lady?" Stannis asked directly.

Kenna looked at him confused for a second before he pointed towards Kenna's blood coated hands. On instinct she flexed her fingers and found that the scarlet blood was still sticky and had only just begun to dry on her skin.

"It isn't my blood," Kenna replied staring at her red stained hands and willing the image of that terrified woman out of her mind.

Stannis gave a gruff grunt in response as if he had thought as much,

"Your Grace," Kenna started changing the topic, "let me congratulate you on your victory. Today is a momentous occasion in the history of the Seven Kingdoms. Today the rightful ruler sits once again on the Iron Throne."

"Lady Kenna, it is a victory that I owe very much to you. Without your help I would not be here," Stannis said in an even voice.

So he does understand how much his victory is really my victory. I may get what I want, Kenna mused as she listened to her new King.

Stannis continued, not taking his eyes off Kenna, "I understand that your sense of justice hasn't faded since the Greyjoy Rebellion. As a reward for the provisions you provided me with in my campaign, I name you to my Small Council as Master of Laws and your Lord Grafton will be my Master of Ships. I also grant you the titles of Warden of the East and Lady of the Eyrie."

Kenna hid her indifference flawlessly already thinking she had those titles and that being named to the Small Council was a paltry gift in return for Kingship over seven kingdoms, "Thank you, your Grace."

This wasn't the reward she had been after.

Stannis switched his attention from the kneeling Lady to the kneeling prisoners as he announced to the crowded Throne room, "All the remaining forces loyal to the usurper Tommen Waters have been subdued and we are in total control of King's Landing. Our forces guard the Red Keep, patrol the streets and stand on the walls of King's Landing. But this war is not finished. Tywin Lannister and Mace Tyrell's hosts will return and we will be ready when they do."

Stannis stood from the Iron Throne and walked down the steps to Kenna as he addressed the Golden Company mercenaries standing behind the captured Lannister's and Tyrells, "Lock them up in the Black Cells."

"I am a frail old Lady," Olenna protested.

"A frail old Lady who married her granddaughter to my traitor brother, then twice to bastard usurpers. You will get the treatment you deserve Lady Olenna," Stannis stated in a gravelly voice.

Lady Olenna stayed silent as she was ushered out of the Throne room alongside her granddaughter but the heat in her stare could be felt by all those that had watched the exchange.

Stannis indicated for Kenna to rise to her feet and she did so that they stood a meter apart.

"I know there is more that must be said but for now we must rest. The first Small Council meeting of my reign will commence soon. I will see you there," Stannis commanded as he brushed past Kenna and was quickly followed by Ser Davos.

Kenna gave Sansa a reassuring smile before exchanging a serious look with Lord Royce.

We still have work to do.

Kenna felt a hand grab her wrist. Her eyes snapped to the offender. She found dark brown eyes that contained a burning fire looking into her own steely blue eyes.

"She would have died a happy old woman surrounded by her children when the Lord of Light took her," Melisandre sharp voice floated down to Kenna.

"Who?" Kenna asked while looking up at the woman accosting her.

"The Lady you just killed," Melisandre replied still intensely staring into Kenna's eyes.

"Maybe your Lord of Light changed his mind," Kenna said as she pried her wrist out of the red woman's grasp wondering how Stannis's foreign advisor knew she had killed a woman.

"Perhaps," Melisandre said slowly as she watched the Vale Lady back away from her.

Kenna returned to Lord Royce, Lord Grafton and Sansa rubbing her wrist. It felt hot and tingly like it had been burnt.

"What was that about," Lord Royce asked throwing a glance behind Kenna at Melisandre who now seemed lost in her own thoughts by the steps leading to the Throne.

"Nothing of importance. We should rest. I get the feeling tomorrow and all the days to come will be busy and important for the future of the Seven Kingdoms," Kenna said in a tired voice as she rubbed her fingers together, as if testing to see if the blood was still there. Still drying on her hands.

"Here, here. I haven't slept in a proper bed for months and conquering a city makes one dog tired," Lord Grafton laughed as he led the group out of the Throne room.

A few days later …

Small Council chamber, Red Keep, King's Landing, Seat of power of House Baratheon in the Crownlands, Capital of the Seven Kingdoms

Ser Davos eyed the gathered Small Council members, there were only five so far. Stannis sat in the middle of the table with Davos himself sitting to his King's left and Melisandre sitting to his right. Kenna sat opposite Ser Davos while Lord Grafton sat across from Melisandre. Davos couldn't help but think that placing the Vale nobles on the other side of the table was a bit of a diplomatic faux pas as it highlighted that there were two parties at the meeting instead of one.

Davos started the meeting, "Our most pressing concern should be the Lannister and Tyrell hosts that are returning from Dorne. It appears that Prince Doran has agreed a truce with Tywin Lannister sealed by the marriage of Trystane Martell and Myrcella Lannister so his full focus will be on us now."

Stannis glanced at Ser Davos, "I have no wish to repeat my experience at Storm's End. We must be prepared to repel his siege."

"I don't think it will come to that your Grace," Kenna offered from across the table and when Stannis indicated for her to continue she added, "We have his daughter, his son, and his grandson. If he approaches the walls of King's Landing we can threaten to execute all three of them. He won't attack if it will mean their deaths."

"I will execute his children anyway, regardless of where Tywin Lannister marches his forces," Stannis stated coldly, "His daughter made a fool out of my brother and produced three bastards with her own brother, while Lord Tyrion blew up half my army in Blackwater Bay and killed my Hand's son."

"I would advise again executing them straight away," Kenna said in her most diplomatic voice knowing that Stannis was the most undiplomatic person in the room if not the Kingdom. "They are more valuable alive than dead."

"And you think that King Stannis should listen to you?" Melisandre's seductive voice vibrated down the Small Council table.

"I am on this Small Council to advise the King am I not? And my advice would be to use the hostages to break the Tyrell and Lannister alliance, not enrage them," Kenna said resisting the urge to snap at the mysterious woman whose purpose for being in Stannis's company was not entirely clear to Kenna.

"And how might we do that," Davos jumped in before Melisandre could antagonise Kenna further. "The Tyrell host is rumoured to number up to fifty thousand now that Lord Mace has joined his grandson from High Garden."

Kenna resettled into her seat before directly addressing Ser Davos, "Offer to Lord Mace to return his mother in exchange for him marching his army back to the Reach with the caveat that if his army ventures into the Crownlands again that it will mean Margaery's death."

"You think Lord Mace will accept that?" Davos queried.

"I think he would when it is made clear to him that the alternative would be an all-out siege on King's Landing where both his mother and daughter would die before he would breach the gates, if he were even to breach the gates. The Tyrells may command the largest army in the Seven Kingdoms but their true leaders are behind the walls of King's Landing not outside them."

"What of the Lannisters?" Stannis asked, clearly not wanting to offer them anything but cold steel.

"With the Tyrell host gone, Lord Jamie and Lord Tywin would have roughly thirty thousand men under their direct command. Not enough to recapture King's Landing but enough so that we would be fools to attack them outside of the walls of King's Landing. The same approach may work with Tywin Lannister. Offer him back Lord Tyrion in exchange for him marching his army back to the Westerlands and keep Tommen and Cersei as hostages, and like with Margaery use their deaths as a threat to future incursions on the Crownlands, Stormlands and the Vale."

Stannis thoughtfully rubbed his chin but the steely spark in his eyes never left, "I can see the craftmanship in your plan Lady Kenna but Cersei Lannister will die for what she did to my brother as well as the Kingslayer. That is not negotiable."

"My husband is not within our grasp so his fate is not in our hands," Kenna pointed out.

The word husband seemed to ripple around the gathered party as if they had all forgotten who Kenna had married.

"We could offer an exchange to Tywin Lannister," Ser Davos suggested after a few beats of silence, "Lord Tyrion for Lord Jamie and we could keep Tommen as a hostage like we would Margaery with the Tyrells."

Kenna noticed how Ser Davos conviently didn't mention what his plan was for Cersei and Jamie once they had been reunited in King's Landing.

He might prove a good choice for Hand, Kenna mused.

"Lord Tywin is no fool," Stannis said sharply, "He will know that I intend to execute Cersei and Jamie. He won't give up his eldest son for his youngest son nor will he stomach his grandson being held a prisoner in the very city he was supposed to rule from."

"You think fighting him will be inevitable," Kenna deduced.

"Yes, and there is no point in delaying the inevitable. We will fight the armies that oppose us, we will win, and we will move forward," Stannis said as Kenna visibly dimmed as he said his piece.

It appeared that there was no middle ground with Stannis, only victory or defeat. Right and wrong.

Stannis turned to his Hand, "When the Lannister and Tyrell hosts approach King's Landing organise a parlay to give Mace Tyrell and Tywin Lannister our offers. They will either take them and live or refuse them and die."

"Yes, your Grace," Ser Davos nodded before clearing his throat. "There is still the matter of filling the other Small Council positions that needs to be discussed and we have received news from the North on the civil war as well as reports on how Daenerys Targaryen fares in Meereen."

A few hours later …

Corridor outside Small Council chamber, Red Keep, King's Landing, Seat of power of House Baratheon in the Crownlands, Capital of the Seven Kingdoms

Lord Royce waited patiently for the Small Council meeting to be adorned, alongside Stannis's personal bodyguards who stood unflinching by the closed door.

The Small Council had been in session for hours now and Royce knew that by now Kenna would be getting frustrated. His Lady had many virtues but patience wasn't one of them.

Suddenly the doors burst open and the Baratheon guards moved aside to let the Small Council members filter past them. Lord Royce watched as the red priestess strode past him with Ser Davos whispering angrily at her as they both moved through the corridor. Lord Grafton stomped toward him as if trying to get feeling back into his legs after being sat down for so long.

"How was it?" Lord Royce asked.

"I would rather be tied to the mast of my ship during a bloody storm than sit through a meeting like that again," Lord Grafton puffed out. "But don't worry next time you will be with me."

Lord Royce was about to question Lord Grafton's words when he heard a cold voice call for him.

"Lord Royce," came Stannis's voice from the doorway of the Small Council chamber. He stood with Kenna, who he could tell was troubled despite the pleasant smile gracing her face. "I congratulate you on your new position as Master of War and expect to see you at the next Small Council meeting."

"It is an honour your Grace," Royce responded.

Stannis slightly nodded and marched down the corridor with his personal guard following him.

Kenna slipped in-between the two old Vale Lords as they started to make their way down the corridor in the opposite direction to their King.

"Master of Laws, Master of Ships and now Master of War, all titles that are held by the Vale now. I feel King Stannis is trying to appease you my Lady," Lord Grafton quipped.

"As he should considering it was mainly my ships he has been sailing around on, my men that fought alongside his during the siege and my money that paid for the Golden Company and is still paying for them," Kenna said in a hushed tone.

"When will you force the issue?" Lord Royce asked cryptically aware that Stannis would not take Kenna's future request well.

"When the situation in King's Landing has stabilized and the Lannister and Tyrell hosts have been dealt with. There is no point me pushing for an independent Vale if the Lannisters and Tyrells are still a threat. I won't see the Eyrie be taken again," Kenna said with conviction.

"And what did our new King decide to do about the two hosts marching towards us?" Lord Royce inquired.

"He would gladly fight everyone and anything that opposes him despite there being better options," Kenna said not concealing her annoyance at Stannis's single mindedness. "Luckily Ser Davos seems a sensible fellow and will parlay with the Lannisters and Tyrells when they approach and we will see if they accept Stannis's offers or not."

"If not, then there are a lot of Lannister and Tyrell soldiers to kill and we can't rely on support from the North or the Vale," Lord Grafton dejectedly noted.

If not, we won't be staying in King's Landing for long, Kenna thought to herself already making alterative plans if Stannis proved to be a worse King than his brother.

Author' Notes:

How long are the Tyrell and Lannister prisoners going to last with Stannis in control of King's Landing I wonder ….

Just to clarify why the Vale isn't a help right now - Since Littlefinger and Lysa were executed the Vale has been a bit rudderless as Kenna is still in King's Landing with her most loyal supporters and lets just say there are still some treacherous Vale Lords swanning about the Eyrie ;P

I know Kenna is being a bit cautious and wary of Stannis but they don't actually know each other very well - only their reputations and past actions.

Kenna's next goal is revealed! She wants to rule as Queen over the Mountains and the Vale again over an independent Vale. I don't think Stannis will be supportive of that goal even if he owes his throne to her …

I know I said Arya would appear in this chapter but re-reading it all I made the decision to have this chapter focus purely on what was happening in King's Landing. She will appear next chapter instead :)

Reviews:

SarahELupin – I don't think Kenna cares very much if she damaged her potential child's sibling or not. She hates Cersei as a person :)

ArchPsion – It was really satisfying writing it too! I had to google what a Xanatos Gambit was but I agree, Kenna took a few defeats here and there but she always had an endgame plan with Stannis although she couldn't guarantee what he would ultimately do she had a good idea. Kenna really grew into that plan as the Kenna of the first ten chapters would never have been able to form the plan she did in Chapter 15 without the experiences she went through (parlay with Tywin at Harrenhal, taking Casterly Rock, tactical discussions with North and River Lords and of course surviving the Red Weddings).

Guest (commented 15/01/2020) – Thanks for the input, I don't think I could write a story with such an age difference anyway as the power imbalance (assuming older means more power) would annoy me too much.

NightlyRowenTree – Hey Tree! Thank you for reading :)

M'j doom – Good! I suppose it is a big moment in the story and you could say a pivotal one as the board has really been reset and shaken up :D Apologies for the late update /

NCVII (all three reviews on 16/01/2020 and one on 26/01/2020) – Dude you are totally that person in the friendship group that writes book long messages to people on whatsapp aren't you? I love it :D I will answer your reviews in chronological order.

This story hasn't really touched on Jon being the Prince that was Promised yet but with Melisandre's appearance in the story there will be more on this soon. I can buy Stannis feeling remorse for Renly but, as I am basing most of what I am writing on the show, he totally fathered a shadow assassin baby that killed Renly. I am trying to keep Stannis true to character which is interesting as I do think his personality clashes somewhat with Kenna's as I tried to portray a bit in this chapter. I'll keep in mind the Horn of Winter point ;) I am changing Sansa's role massively and her story will be completely different from the shows :) Tywin kinda steamrolled Doran but both got what they ultimately wanted as it was the same thing – time to prepare for war, not actual war … yet. 'Big dick energy' LOL. His parenting strategy leaves much to be desired and he didn't see Kenna's plan/Stannis arrival in King's Landing as he had been counting on Varys to keep him updated on Stannis's movements but Varys had been keeping him in the dark since he roots for another team now. You'll have to wait for Jon/Ygrittee, sorry. I don't have burn out (yet) I just didn't have anytime last week (see beginning note).

Oh wow, always write your reviews somewhere savable I do not want to be derived of your thoughts because technology glitched :) Chickenman man :P

I loved that scene as no one thought Sansa was a threat and then BOOM – knife to the throat and cheek cut. Royce and Kenna are just the sweetest father – daughter duo since Eddard – Arya …. Oh no …. Will it end the same way? ;P Was the chicken worth it? It seemed chicken was on your mind XD

Sorry, I feel bad :( I got busy but I will keep to my schedule in the future! Pod died with Brienne, I edit Chapter 32 in response to Supremus85's review. OMG I had the same thought process when I killed him off LOL.

Ms . Ladyarieis 08 – I get you, not sure how much of it is due to how DD handled season 7/8 though.

Guest (commented 17/01/2020) – Thanks for letting me know! I am thinking on it and any future stories/projects I do next I will let everyone know and my profile will be updated soon to reflect the future stories I will work on.

Jason Kreugeer Myers – Hey there and welcome, I do believe you might be a horror fan :P Yes Stannis does but not everything between the Stannis - Kenna alliance is smooth and the Tyrells and Lannisters do have the bigger army although everyone important to theme is a hostage right now. Oh, Cersei is fuming and a bit like a bomb waiting to go off right now. I thought it was cute too! I am sure Sansa would prefer an alive dad to help her instead of her dead dad's reputation but beggars can't be choosers. You are absolutely right, Kenna isn't safe, especially from Tywin and when he finds out about Cersei's face …. Good guesses we 'll see if they come true in the next few chapters :) Thanks for reviewing!

Next up: Kenna settles a few scores, Arya sees Ramsey's madness up close and personal, and Commander Strickland takes a stroll in the gardens.

If you are enjoying this story please *toss a coin to your writer* and review :D

See you guys next Friday! (I promise)