The Baratheons and the deer

Disclaimer: I do not own anyone here, their owners do.

Shireen Baratheon cannot stand still.

Shireen Baratheon is very excited.

Shireen Baratheon is healthy at last.

…Shireen Baratheon had had greyscale, but no more! Shireen Baratheon is healthy at last!

"Yay!"

"What you've said, my lady," Ser Davos the Onion Knight agreed brightly, as he, his family, lady Melisandre the red priestess and Shireen's daddy were all out outside, having an early spring picnic. Shireen also had a mommy – naturally – but lady Selyse was the sort of a person that no one wanted to have around if they could help it, and that included Shireen. Therefore, she was ignoring mommy's absence, (lady Melisandre made a better mommy anyways), and ran around, playing with Ser Davos' children, as the grown-ups had a more restrained party amongst themselves… until the deer made its' appearance.

It was a stag Westerosi elk, (think Earth's wapiti rather than moose), powerful, tall, long-legged, currently without antlers because it was spring (and it was a doe anyhow), but still very aristocratic-looking, (for an animal), probably because of its' eyes.

"Aw!" Shireen spoke aloud; (if she had been her cousin Joffrey, cough, she would have asked to have this animal for a pet; but because no one in Westeros was like Joffrey, or even wanted to be like Joffrey, she did not). "Daddy, look!"

"I'm looking," Stannis was sounding even more strained than he normally did. "O, great Cernunnos, is it you?" (It was not, since the deer was a doe, but given all of the circumstances, Stannis could have been forgiven this mistake).

Next to him, the red priestess made a strange sound but nothing else, as she also continued to eye the beast. For its' part, the great deer didn't do anything hostile, it just walked over to the assembled Baratheons and co. and gave them all a sniff, even Melisandre, though the latter also received a pointed stare, which she reciprocated in kind; she had had bad trips down the memory lane lately and wasn't about to take any flak for anyone, even a supernatural stand-in for a mother-in-law.

Shireen, for her part, was unaware of such subtleties, especially after the deer did not just sniff her and the other children, but also licked her, very, very sloppily. Being not yet a teen Shireen loved this, of course, and broke into further giggles. The deer blinked, looking almost startled – the Baratheons tended not to giggle at all, regardless their gender – but then it almost smiled instead…and raced-off in the north-west direction, quickly vanishing from view.

"…Any idea what this meant?" Stannis asked Melisandre lately, when the children were sent to have their afternoon nap.

"You're the Baratheon," Melisandre did not respond as Stannis expected her to, (which was a relief for him, actually). "You tell me!"

Stannis just kept quiet for a long time instead.

End