After being blasted overboard by the wildfire explosion during the battle, Davos had washed up on an island. Now he was trying to signal an approaching ship.

The ship was a hundred yards away and moving fast across Blackwater Bay. Davos stood atop his rock and waved his fleshless arms. "Ship," he screamed into the wind. "Ship, here, here!"

A crewman on her forecastle saw him and pointed. He watched as other sailors moved to the gunwale to gape at him. A short while later the galley's sail came down, her oars slid out, and she swept around toward his refuge. She was too big to approach the rock closely, but thirty yards away she launched a small boat. Davos clung to his rock and watched it creep toward him. Four men were rowing, while a fifth sat in the prow. "You," the fifth man called out when they were only a few feet from the island, "You up there on the rock. Who are you?"

"A loyal servant of the king."

"Aye, ser," the man said, "and which king is that?"

The galley might be Joffrey's, Davos realized suddenly. If he spoke the wrong name now, she would abandon him to his fate. But no, her hull was striped. She belonged to Salladhor Saan, one of Stannis's captains. "Stannis," he shouted. "Gods be good, I serve King Stannis."

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A short while later he was talking with Salladhor in his cabin. "I never thought I'd see you again," Salla said cheerfully. "What about your son Matthos?"

"He's dead," Davos said bluntly. "I saw the wildfire take him."

"Sorry about that," Salla commiserated. "Stannis has retreated back to Dragonstone. He sees no one, not even his wife, only Melisandre. Melisandre is building night fires and burning enemies of the crown, claiming they are servants of darkness."

"Will you take me there so I can stop her?" Davos asked.

"Man, didn't you hear me? She's burning anyone she considers her enemies. And since we're both pirates, we've got two strikes against us already. We should stay the fuck away from her."

"I was never a pirate," Davos said. "I was a smuggler."

Salla shrugged. "What's the difference?"

"If you're a famous smuggler, you're not doin' it right."

"Well, we're both criminals, anyway, so Melisandre will look for any excuse to kill us."

"I need to kill her, to keep her from leading Stannis further into evil," Davos said stubbornly.

"Okay," Salla finally agreed. "I'll take you to Dragonstone… and I'll take your bones back to your wife afterward."

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When Davos finally got back to Dragonstone, he found the castle gates shut. He pounded on the iron studded wood with his fist. When there was no answer, he kicked at it, again and again. Finally, a crossbowman appeared atop the barbican, peering down between two towering gargoyles. "Who goes there?"

He craned his head back and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Ser Davos Seaworth, to see his grace."

"Are you drunk? Go away and stop that poundin'. The onion knight died on the river!"

"No, my ship got burned up, but I landed on a little island and got rescued by Salladhor Saan. Ask him, he'll tell you who I am!" But when he looked back over his shoulder, he saw Salladhor's ship already sailing away. "Well, okay, looks like he won't. But Jate Blackberry knows me. Go get him."

"Who the fuck is Jate Blackberry?" the guard shouted.

"The captain of the gate."

"I never heard of him. Most like he's dead."

"Lord Chitterling, then?"

"That one I know. He burned on the Blackwater."

"Hookface Will? Hal the Hog?"

"Dead and dead," the crossbowman said, but his face betrayed a sudden doubt. "You wait there." He vanished again.

A few minutes later he was back. "Go round to the sally port and they'll admit you."

When Davos went there, he was met by thirteen guards, led by Ser Axel Florent, Queen Selyse's uncle. "Have you come to take me to the king?" Davos asked.

"I have come to take you to the dungeon," Ser Axel said.