Chapter – 5
Davos
Kingslanding was bustling with Baratheon and Tyrell soldiers. He reached the capital with the red priestess in tow and a dozen dragonstone men. He had witnessed the red lady birth a shadow demon on the gold road to assassinate Tywin Lannister and prayed that his lord would ignore her fanaticism any longer in Kingslanding.
He was granted entry into the red keep and immediately went to meet lord Stannis. He was granted entry into a chamber where Stannis was speaking with a kingsguard knight. As he approached them stannis nodded and asked him to close the door.
"I hope your mission is a success ser davos" asked stannis while grinding his teeth. He knew that whovever this knight was, he has the trust of his lord.
"It was my lord. We heard red cloaks and Lannister men searching the gold road and the surrounding inns for an assassin that killed lord Tywin in his sleep" he replied. Lord Stannis exchanged a glance with the kingsguard and nodded.
"Lord Stannis, we can use ser davos to send the king's natural children to Storm's end after the trial. They would be more safe in the stormlands than here or on dragonstone" the knight replied.
Stannis looked angry and grinded his teeth before nodding and said "ser Davos when the trial for the former queen Cersei and the kingslayer is finished. You will take the king's bastard children to storm's end and leave them under the care of ser Courtney Penrose".
He nodded and the knight left after that. "How are the queen and my daughter ser Davos ?" his lord asked. Davos gave him the letter from his daughter and told him about the red witch calling for a treacherous kingsguard deceiving lord Stannis to be burned alive.
Stannis shook his head and asked him to follow, he followed his lord as they walked towards Maegor's holdfast and walked towards a chamber. There he saw the hand along with a vale knight coming out from a chamber followed by four guards.
"Lord Stark, Lord Royce" stannis greeted them. They nodded back to both of them and went to a chamber to speak where prince Renly was waiting with the kingsguard knight they saw before. The two baratheon brothers glared at each other as they entered the chamber.
"Brother, good to see you in the capital again" gloated Renly with a smile he heard grinding of teeth before his lord spat "Renly. Good to see you are not totally useless". Both brothers glared daggers at each other as another voice cleared his throat.
The Imp was sitting there with a tense look on his face with a goblet in hand and the kingsguard spoke "Congratulations, Lord Tyrion. I heard his Grace made you lord you the new lord of Casterly Rock and Warden of the West'" the knight shook the dwarf's hand .
"His grace is most saddened by the death of his goodfather and graced me with the responsibility of ruling the west. I intend to do my duty diligently" said the new little lord with a smirk on his face. Both baratheon brothers bristled and glared at the dwarf before the doors opened again and the king barged in followed by ser Barristan and ser Oakheart.
"Your Grace" Stannis croaked before everyone bowed and the king signaled them to sit. The dwarf filled a goblet for the king and the fat stag slugged the wine in a single gulp.
"Stannis good of you to return with you banners when your king needed them" the king boomed "my court is filled with traitors and whores. We found more disturbing information from the eunuch and the brothel keeper. I intend to crush their skulls if not for more information" seethed the king.
"Worry not brother, the army of the reach is coming to the capital with your Warden of the South. The Vale is warned of baelish's treason and the marshes are secured to pacify the Dornish" prince Renly gloated as Stannis shook with rage with the mention of the fat flower.
"How did I let the vermin almost overwhelm me, I've grown lax and fat while my enemies gather strength. No more I say, I will personally crush the Targaryans and the Dothraki along with the cheesemonger's feigned boy" the king raged as he drank another cup.
"what boy ?" stannis questioned and Renly looked at the king in amusement". "yes brother, who is this cheesemonger who incurred your wrath" the prince asked.
"My Prince, my lords" the kingsguard addressed the remaining men "It came to notice when my men caught one of the eunuch's little birds that the master of whispherer is a Blackfyre loyalist and planning to depose our good king Robert since he won the throne. The little mute boy we caught wrote the information down when threatened. It seems the eunuch had tasked the exiled Jon Connington to mentor a Blackfyre boy pretending as the rapist Rhaegar's dead son Aegon"
The king shook with anger as the other baratheon brothers and the dwarf were shocked along with him. The kingsguard continued "The fegned boy is the son of a Pentoshi magister Illyrio Mopatis and his dead blackfyre wife Serra, who was a former whore. The magister and the eunuch plan to throw westeros into a war and invade with the pretender and the exiled prince Viserys with a Dothraki horde".
"Where is this mute boy ser Boros?" asked stannis after a long silence. "he is in the care of my men and the eunuch is tird with chains and watched by fifty men to root out any little birds trying to rescue the spider" answered the knight.
"Treason right before my eyes, first the whore cuckholds me to fuck her brother and whelp bastards passing them as mine and the brother keeper cuckholds and kills Jon Arryn with the help of the mad fish" the king bristled while looking at the dwarf with rage.
"your Grace, I know nothing of my siblings treachery, which is why I came to you the moment I fount they have deceived you" explained the Imp with his glib tongue "You have capture Baelish, Pycelle and the eunuch and spoiled their plans. Now you only have to kill the pretenders once and for all to secure your reign" the imp smoothly directed the king's rage towards the exiled dragons.
"The scum will die, I promise you little lord but due to this treason, the crown's debt to Casterly Rock is null and void" roared the stag king. The little lord agreed and filled his goblet once more.
"your Grace, not only that we found some secret letters half burned by the eunuch to prince Doran reminding him to honour the deal made by the dornish to rise for viserys and marry the princess Arianne to the mad prince. The eunuch was even hinting at a possible alliance with Balon Greyjoy who plans a second rebellion to spread more chaos" ser Boros said with a serious tone.
"the fucking snakes and squids will die, I should have killed that squid scum in the rebellion" roared the king with a red face. The kingsguard nodded and continued "your Grace, if I may, the dornish only wanted justice for Elia Martell and her children. If you give them Gregor Clegane and Lorch, they might back down. Of course once the dragons are defeated .no one else to support and bend the knee again".
The Imp looked to be in deep thought at this suggestion while Stannis fumed and spoke "you overstep your station ser to advise the crown in it's affairs. We will ask your advice when needed". The knight nodded and apologized "forgive me your grace. I was only suggesting that to prevent war which will come to Westeros if the Targaryan support is not crushed immediately".
The king is in deep though and spoke with respect "Ser Boros, I have always though you as Cersei's creature and a sycophant but you proved me wrong and ousted a conspiracy to destroy the royal family and house baratheon. I owe you a debt ser which I will pay."
"I am honoured to do my duty and serve you my king. I will gladly lay my life for you and your family. I have gathered all of your natural children and had ser Bonnifer men guard them before the trail your Grace" ser Boros spoke with almost tear filled eyes.
"Your Grace, ser Boros proved himself honourable unlike ser Preston and ser Meryn who tried to help the queen and the kingslayer escape. We need to fill the kingsguard ranks quickly again before we go to war" ser Barristan finally spoke after staying silent for a while.
"Yes brother, ser Loras Tyrell and ser Balon Swann showed interest in the kingsguard and both are skilled warriors who will bring prestige to the sacred order" prince Renly spoke with glee to the grinding of teeth from Stannis.
"Your Grace, any one of ser Brynden Tully, ser Lyle Crakehall, ser Richard Horpe and lady Brienne of Tarth are good replacements for the Kingslayer" ser Boros replied to while selmy and oakheard were outraged.
"A woman as a Kingsguard ser Boros, have you lost your mind ?" ser Barristan asked. Ser Boros answered "She is an excellent fighter ser Barristan and an honourable lady. If chosen the king can set a new precedent for a queensguard to protect the new queen if his Grace marries again".
The king was in deep thought and answered "you are not wrong ser Boros, northern women fight in wars as do the wildling spearwives and the lady Brienne is a formidable warrior and if I marry again, I need honest women to guard my queen. I will think on it".
Ser Barristan and ser Oakheart looked aghast at the suggestion but kept quiet. "Your Grace, I will have clegane and lorch bound and shipped to Dorne if you order it. They are responsible for crimes the Dornish accuse my house for and I will happily get rid of them both to pacify Dorne" tyrion lannister spoke calmly.
"Let me deal with the Targaryan's first and then we will bait the Dornish" replied the king angrily. The doors opened once again to admit Lord Stark who greeted everyone and took a seat.
"Ned, don't even think of escaping to the north for the next five years. Ser Boros tell the hand what you have found" the king ordered to which the knight repeated the treasons of the eunuch, Dorne and the Ironborn threat. The hand looked tired and sighed before nodding his head.
"Lord Stark, there is more troubling news, Balon Greyjoy had declared his daughter his heir and dreams of destroying the North once their strength moves North according to the eunuch's burned messages" ser Boros spoke looking at the hand, who seemed to be in serious thought.
"Then let us not waste any time your Grace, we should fill the small council positions quickly and prepare for war" the hand responded and the king nodded.
"make lord Tyrell the master of coin, we need the Reacher army and food supply if we want to fight a war on two fronts. For now I appoint ser Boros Blount as my Master of Whispherers to use the eunuch's little birds and bring me the traitor's whereabouts. Send a raven to the citadel for a new Grandmaester" the king boomed.
Everyone was shocked and lord stannis ground his teeth hard at the appointment of lord Tyrell as master of coin but it was ser Boros who spoke "your Grace I am beyond honoured by the offer but I must refuse as protecting you is my main responsibility. I suggest you ask lord Howland reed or lord Manderly to be your master of whispheres".
Ned Stark nodded at the knight and spoke "I will ask if lord Manderly would be interested or we can appoint a crownslander to the post". King Robert looked annoyed but nodded to his friend's suggestion.
Just then a messanger opened the door and kneeled before the king and said "your Grace, apologies for interrupting but a large lannister army was seen coming towards the city gates".
Tyrion lannister spoke "I suppose my uncle did not get my raven. Your grace let me talk to my uncle and bring the lannister army to bow before you" the imp promised before following the servant out.
"Renly, I want you to increase men around all the gates, take a thousand men and accompany the dwarf to the gates and make sure the lannisters are planning any attack. Only allow main lords of westerlands along with ser Kevan inside to swear fealty to me" the king ordered to which the prince nodded and strode out.
"Brother I don't think we should trust the Tyrells" lord stannis began. "Seven Hells Stannis don't start" said the king leaving the chambers with Ned Stark and his kingsguard in tow. Lord Stannis scowled and left the chambers as I hurried to keep up. These are some strange times to be in the red keep, 'well not so strange as a shadow demon assassinating lords in the woods' I grimaced and followed Stannis.
Note : Apologies for the delay. Working on some new Self-Inserts including Jamie and Tyrion Lannister. As always thank you for all the support and keep reviewing. Half-way there with this story.