5 : The Sights You Will See
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The six months following the bombshell that Stannis had dropped went by quickly. Partially because I attempted to drown myself in my training and studying, and then partly because it had been a real reminder that I needed to accomplish my plans. The last few years in Dragonstone had made me complacent to just go about my life until the next step came up, but when I received the news I realized I had no plan once we got to King's Landing.
I had only the basis of an idea for a plan when we had been boarding the ship. I had asked if Gowen could come along with us but Stannis did not even blink before he refused my request. So I was alone, in spirit if not in body, on the deck of Fury as we disembarked. Maester Cressen had not joined us so Lady Selyse had taken over with what she considered to be the most ideal forms of education. Which consisted mainly of religious studies and what chivalry. Religious studies was not complicated, and while I had never been religious before, it was hard to argue with the idea of worshipping someone or something that had brought people back from the dead following multiple stab wounds such as Jon snow or Beric Dondarrion. Who's to say the Seven had no such feats truly happen long ago. Lady Selyse's mentioned miracles happening semi-recently, such as men defeating heathenous opponents more skilled than them, or women saving their children with strength that belied their size. I knew that one could have just been a case of luck or pride, and the other was probably a case of adrenaline and the lack of restraint by the mother's body when her child was at risk. A factor noted to happen in my old world as well.
The only truly fascinating part of the journey was the scant lessons I received from Manfred who had made the journey with us. Leave it to Westeros to believe martial skills trump all things educationally. But it was with his guidance that I learned how to maneuver around the ship when weighed down. He ensured I was never close to the edge for this. But more importantly, how to use the swaying motions to your benefit during a fight. A shove on sea often had more consequence than it did on land, and the hand holds provided for sailors during rough weather could be use places to smash heads or to shove someone into, causing a moment of pain, which I was told often made people give a moment of weakness.
I was interested in the sailors but was told by everyone of note, including the First Mate, a tall muscular stormlander figure with a weathered face and no hair on his head to speak of but a rough beard to his collarbone who said he only took command of the ship when "Lord Stannis" was not aboard, that I would never need to do the job of a sailor and I would at most be asked to hold a rope in place in the worst of situations. The first mate, a knight by the name of Ser Serwyn, did teach me the most common knots of use in case such a worst case came to pass. Fortunately, the short trip from Dragonstone passed by with little note.
The appearance of king's landing was impressive. It was hard to compare to DragonStone as one was a whole city and the other was more of a Keep surrounded by smaller villages and hamlets. Seeing the Red Keep from a few hours out on ship made me appreciate just how tall it was. Most of the height came from the shelf of rocks it was built upon but the keep itself was nothing to sneer at. The city was walled so the inner portion was hidden from my eyes, but the sheer length of it seemed impressive in comparison to what I had become used to in the past few years.
The docks came through past the walls and didn't seem like a proper series of docks as I typically knew them to be. There were a number of piers jutting out into the bay of the blackwater, but more than a few ships were stationed along the docks next to the city proper. It seemed like a jumbled mess to me but I guess all of King's Landing followed the saying of, 'If it's not broke, don't fix it'. The Fury was docked in what I assumed was the royal portion of the docks. It was closest to the Red Keep and was also the area most well guarded. It was still busy with many sailors and dockhands going about their business, but they all seemed less seedy than some of the dockhands I had seen.
There was an escort waiting for us, led by a Ser Mandon Moore in his white Kingsguard armor. He looks much like a vampire soldier from video games I had played albeit without the red eyes. His eyes and face were both expressionless. This seemed like a man Stannis could get along with fine.
The Knight had dismounted to greet Stannis, saying only a simple greeting before offering him a mount and a carriage for me and Lady Selyse.
"I'd prefer to ride if a mount is available." I said quickly, not wanting to be seen as weak as soon as I had arrived. I did not fully understand any of the games played for the throne, but I knew appearance was important. With a nod to one of the men to the side of the escort, a soldier brought forth a smaller horse that was already saddled. I couldn't help but wonder if this was an expected request.
The rest of the escort seemed to be composed of a mix of Lannister guards and gold cloaks, with a small contingent of arryn household guards in the mix. They totaled about 15 in size not including Ser Mandon Moore.
The stench of the city had already taken over the stench of seawater in the bay, but the further we went from the docks, the less the seawater had a chance to hide the smell of shit and sweat and rubbish that emanated from all parts of the city. I was not sure how disease was not a larger problem in the city, nor did I want to find out if I was similarly strong in my immune system as I assumed the city's tenants were.
Throughout the ride I saw men, women, and even a few kids my age or thereabouts at work. Most were porting something from one place to another, or were shuffling about with enough import to seem busy. Many people stopped to see what the procession we had going was about, but when they saw nothing of particular interest they continued on their way. A few orphans attempted to gain coins from the party as we passed but were largely ignored. None of them got close enough for anything unfortunately cruel to happen thankfully. It was thus that we rode to the gate of the Red Keep, an action which took us much longer than I expected as the wagon for Lady Selyse slowed us considerably. It had to have been longer than half an hour to travel what I estimated to be just over a mile, two at most.
The Red Keep lived up to its name, as the stones that it had been crafted from were a pale red color, and had 7 massive towers dotted along its exterior. The massive curtain walls had nests and crenelations for archers. Parapets protected the outer edge of the ramparts. The gates were bronze and so were the portcullises, with postern doors nearby. From the harbor I had spotted some cornerforts but I could tell there would be more as we rode closer.
We were let through the gates easily, the guards recognizing the escort that had been sent out most likely, and we were led to the seat of the King. I was becoming increasingly nervous as we got closer because I knew that politics thrived in this keep, and I was not a politician. Varys, Cersei, Littlefinger, Jon Arryn, and many others came here and used strings to accomplish goals they desired. Sure, some were much more impressive than the others, but they were all more adept than me.
I saw many areas once we were let through the gate, most of which I did not know what they were. The stables were easy to pinpoint but the rest was not as my mind wouldn't let me attempt to piece together the rest of what I saw as I was aided in dismounting my loaned horse. The throne room was quick to be accessed from the main gates and we walked up the steps into it. Me behind and to the side of Stannis and Lady Selyse. We were further accompanied by two of Stannis' more trusted household guards, but Manfred had stayed back to coordinate the soldiers still on the Fury.
As we entered the massive doors to the Great Hall, a carpet immediately adorned the ground and was draped all the way to the Iron Throne, the monstrosity of swords forged together into a king's chair. Robert was sitting atop it. The hall was massive so I still could not see him well, but I could tell he had gained some weight in the 2 and a half years since Markas had seen him. He was not nearly as large as I knew he would become though. Queen Cersei I assumed was the woman near him, and near her were 2 white cloaks and what I assumed to be the small council. A Number of guards were around the room as well. As we got closer I could tell that Robert was bored. He had a decent enough beard going and his hair seemed just too wild to be considered kempt. He also seemed to be doing his best to lounge in his chair as we kneeled before him.
"Get up Get up! Stannis, Markas, Lady Selyse, my new good sister! So good of you to come!" Robert bellowed, opening both his hands as he stood. He seemed to need to catch himself slightly as he stood and as I rose I could see a tinge of red on his face. Was he tipsy? We had arrived before dinner time, it seems my knowledge of him wasn't wrong in his indulgent lifestyle.
"Your grace, we are here to be witnesses upon your firstborn son and heir's first public showing to the nobility." Stannis said this, with his usual lack of emotion.
"Come now Stannis, let's not be so stuck up, eh? I haven't seen my brothers in two years and you greet me so formally? Markas! You've grown quite a bit since I've seen you! Soon enough you'll be taller than Stannis! Renly arrived shortly ago too with his mother's maid of a Castellan. He seems soft to me, Hope you aren't the same!"
My mouth felt beyond dry as I answered, "No your Grace, I've been training."
"YOUR GRACE HE CALLS ME! Oh, has Stannis infected you with the time he's been your ward? I knew I should have sent you off with someone more fun! Come now, call me brother or just Robert. Only these pompous nobles and our brother Stannis here call me 'your grace'." King Robert Baratheon I said this while waving his arms around and beginning his descent down the stair thats surrounded the throne, making a mocking tone when he said the last 'your grace'.
"Husband," Queen Cersei started, "I'm sure he was only showing the proper respect meant for the King of his land." She said the word husband as if it were the greatest compliment known to man. Now that she spoke I focused on her. She was truly a beautiful woman, with long golden hair tied back into an intricate pattern. Her gown consisted of a burgundy main piece with gold detailings found often. There were Lannister lions on either side, just above her breasts, and between them was a window for the skin to show through. Her face showed a softness that I knew was not present behind the gorgeous mask she wore. She was wearing makeup, face paints as they were called here, sparingly. Enough to accentuate her eyes and lips. "He's only been in Lord Stannis' care for a short while. I am sure Lord Stannis as instructed him in the manner fitting for the brother of a King."
Stannis only nodded at this, frowning. I had not picked up on any insult but maybe there was a hidden one in the speech? I was not sure.
Rober seemed not to notice Stannis' frown and also began nodding, "None the less, we are all family, and if I believed Stannis would follow through with calling me brother all the time I would have him do so. Young Markas! I order you to do away with this court nonsense and refer to me as brother or Robert from now on! This is an order from your king!" Upon me shaking my head he raised his eyebrows.
"Yes your… Brother… Yes brother!" Why was I so nervous. Of all the people I knew about, Robert was probably the least dangerous in this keep for me. I wished I didn't always get nervous around people with power.
Laughing Robert clapped Stannis on the shoulder and announced, "Someone go gather Renly! We feast as a family! Finally reunited and this time for something better than a fucking war! Although, I do miss me a good fight." This last part he seemed to say towards the Kingsguard next to him. His helmet was on and I hadn't been paying attention to him but his blue eyes seemed a touch sad for some reason. With that we all departed through the rear door. Robert, Cersei, The two King's Guard, Stannis, Selyse, and myself all went through the king's passage from the Great Hall. We were lead through a door behind the throne to an ornate dining room, which seemed large enough to seat 50. The table was adorned to seat about 8 today today however. Lady Selyse took up the end of one side of the table, she was next to Stannis, who was next to Jon Arryn, who was to the right of the King. Robert held the head of the table of Hand's wife would not be joining them for health reasons Lord Arryn told us at the beginning of the meal. Queen Cersei was next to Robert on his left, followed by Renly and myself.
The meal went surprisingly smoothly. I was shocked by the array of food that was offered for sure. We ate well at Dragonstone but nowhere near as lavishly as Robert did here. From a varied salad of greens to stuffed quail to pigeon pie to buttered vegetables with bacon, it was all delicious. I ate many portions of the delicious food but when I had stopped to let my stomach rest Robert laughed and said, "It's good to see my younger brothers eat well! I expect you two to be strong like me when you get bigger, haha!"
I smiled and put another fork full of the stuffed quail into my mouth before once again letting myself rest from the meal. I had spoken with everyone around the table a few times but most of it was inconsequential and not noteworthy. The pieces that was interesting were when Jon Arryn asked Stannis is he had any news about the ironborn as Jon Arryn had heard recently of some rumors about them. The other only important thing was when Robert told Renly and myself that he would be expecting a good spar from us to show that we were true baratheons once we had a good night's sleep. He had added that a true baratheon also fucked just as he with his other sword as he swung with his first, but I feel like that didn't pertain to us.
Robert's jokes mainly went flat as he was the only one imbibing so much to drink and the rest of those around were not the rowdy sort. I laughed at those I felt an 8 year old would and Renly smiled at a number himself, both of us giving genuine laughs when robert sputtered out some wine when Renly had told Robert he would best him in a bout one day. To which Robert promptly told him that he could try but his hammer was not gonna dull by the time Renly was a man grown.
Following Cersei excusing herself, after nearly two hours of a meal, Stannis noted that himself, me, and Lady Selyse should be going to our rooms to freshen up from our travels, and then noted at the end that it would have been considerate of something to have happened before the meal normally. Robert simply waved him off and mentioned he'd be headed to his own bed but then quickly added he wouldn't be doing any sleeping quite yet.
Being led by a servant, we were shown through a not small number of passageways to guest quarters where I was given a room adjacent to Stannis and Selyse's. My things were also already present and a maid came in shortly after I arrived to prepare my bath in the smaller adjoining room. I blushed heavily when she suggested she assist me with the bath, not quite expecting such a proposal from a young woman who looked to be just shy of 18 and who was reasonably cute besides. She only smirked and nodded her head, and after me saying I did not need anything else she left me alone. I had been instructed to take a quick bath using a rag and a bucket on the Fury just before we docked to King's Landing by Lady Selyse but still felt dirt after the ride through the city. I sighed and entered the tub where I scrubbed heavily all that I could, hoping to scrub away the grime I already felt from being inside the city.
It did not work.
