Lord Jon Arryn lead his King and Lord Baratheon of Dragonstone of to the Tower of the Hand and in there upstairs to the private Solar.
King Robert panted when he arrived there but Lord Stannis didn't even seem to have acknowledged that there had been stairs, so much he had been brooding if his scowling face was to be judged correctly.
In the Hand's Solar, the King let himself fall in the nearest armchair and then gladly accepted the cup of wine from Lord Arryns hands. Lord Stannis stood rigid till Lord Jon asked him to seat himself too and did so after the Hand took seat himself.
All three men were silent for a few moments. The Lords Arryn and Baratheon stared at each other while the King emptied the wine and then belched. Lord Stannis grinded his teeth at his brothers lack of good behavior while Lord Jon just refused to even notice it.
The King set down his empty cup on a small table by his side and then was the first to speak.
"So Stannis, this little Girl of yours lived with Greyscale, suddenly burns by accident, dies and then is reborn without Greyscale on her seventh nameday the morning after she burned to death. That is what Cressen wrote at least. Then this Girl is seen by everyone as blessed by the Sevens, hells if I know if that is true but why not.
Then you and this wife of yours arrive with your little blessed Girl in my Keep and the first thing that said does is bringing unrest into my Halls by mentioning that my children do not have any of our family hair and eyecolors. Something that everyone knows. Then your little Girl is making my life more miserable than it already is by making me listen to my damned wife's screeching and if that is not enough tells in front of everyone of these spitlickers in the Hall that she dreamed of Edric and others like him, meaning more of Bastards of mine, right?
What the Seven Hells was this all about Stannis, tell me. Cersei is annoying enough on the average days and after this she will only make my life more miserable with all the poison and bile spitting from her mouth."
Stannis Baratheon looked at his brother first and then at the Hand and a few moments later at his brother again. His face looked like it was fixed in a permanent scowl right then and he likely had grinded his teeth nearly to dust by the tense look of his jaw. He sat himself even more rigidly before he then started to speak.
"Shireen burned really to death in the night before her seventh nameday, i was one of the few that tried to smother the flames, Ser Davos was with me and my Daughters fool. The fool caught fire himself and threw himself through the window and fell onto the the Stones outside and burned to ashes. Shireen burned even though we tried everything to stop it, from smothering the flames with wet blankets up to dump endless buckets of water on her. She burned till her whole body was burned black. She died screaming. The fire had not spread to anything other than the Fool and the furniture and rug was not even slightly singed. I laid my Daughter unto her bed, my wife went into the Sept and a few hours later when the day, that would have been the seventh nameday of my Daughter, begun so did the Shireens new life. The blackened skin cracked open and healthy, light pink skin was under it.
The blackened skin felt off of her and everything was healthy, all the Greyscale scars were gone too and she was alive again. My wife and everyone else seemed to think that it was a wonderous healing send by the Gods.
She was cheered for by the smallfolk in the streets, she was giving blessings herself and the people thanked her with tears for it. Shireen seems generally to believe it herself that this is a blessing by the Seven.
I do not had known that she dreamed of your bastard and more of his likes till she said it so in the Throne Hall."
Silence.
Finally Lord Arryn spoke about what should be happening now.
The King gave his answer in one short command.
"Bring all my bastards to the Red Keep, find everyone. I want to see them all and then, if really all look like me, i want answers from my wife. Find out if there ever before have been marriages between our House and the damned Lions, you both know that i for sure never cared about learning stuff like that. If there were, what colors did the Children have?
Then, i will talk with my wife and consequences be damned if there is something not right with my heirs."
Stannis Baratheon and Jon Arryn looked at each other. If there was really something dubious going on with the Queen and the children, it would be treason. Tywin Lannister would not accept that fall from power for his daughter though.
This all could mean War.
... ...
... ...
Cersei Lannister rushed into her chambers, followed by her brother Ser Jaime of the Kingsguard.
Joffrey wanted to follow but Queen Cersei commanded the Hound to accompany the Prince to his lessons. Both her son and his sworn sword looked at the Queen as if she had lost her mind but she cared not.
"Joffrey, you will soon be King and you must attend your lessons. Right now the Hound will go with you to one of the separated smaller courtyards and will train you more, so that you will be the best fighter in the Seven Kingdoms when you are King."
The Queen then ushered her oldest son out of her rooms and also gave order that her Ladies should care for the younger Children. The best would be if all Ladies would accompany the Princess and the youngest Prince along with their Septas to the Royal Sept and pray that the evil and mad tongue of Stannis Baratheons get would cease to sprout lies about innocent people.
After all were finally gone, she locked the doors behind her and stared at her twin.
"Sweet Sister, you are giving the people only more reason to wag their tongues with what you just did. Or do you really think that all of them are so true to us that none would tell the fat stag or the dour one, that we are alone in your rooms and you locked the door.?"
"Do not speak to me like that Jaime, i am your Queen and you will be respectful to me, will you not?"
"How long do you believe to stay Queen when your husband really starts to believe the rambling of the little wonderchild.? Tell me sweet Sister, how do you think that you keep your Crown when all the people that still hate us start to search for more clues.?"
Cersei stared at her brother after he uttered these words. She felt herself being slighted by his words. Was it not her that had shown Jaime the way to flee from his hated obligations as the heir and to be with her instead. Well, she was the wife of the wrong King, Rhaegar should have been her husband and not this fat whoremonger that she was instead married too but Jaime was here with her, as he always wanted.
"You will have to find a way for Robert to die, now, as soon as possible. This ugly little whore and her teethgritting father should have an accident too, that would be for the best. As soon as Joffrey is King, the sheeps will see that he will be a better King than Robert ever was and i will be regent for as long as he needs my guiding hand."
Jaime looked astonished at her after spoke those words. Then his lips twisted slightly amused upwards and he shook his head in disbelief.
"Cersei, how do you think that everyone would react if the Stag King would die right now after the little chit talked the Court into a frenzy. How many men would i have to kill right now to make your plan to happen?"
Ser Jamie looked at his sister beseechingly while he uttered those words.
Queen Cersei though looked calculating at her brother. He would kill for her, that she knew without a doubt and as many as needed to die. She looked at her twin, her mirror. He had given her perfect children, golden and bright and pure Lions.
How dared that little misbegotten thing, this crippled twig of a girl, that crawled out from the dried-up cunt of her skinny, jug-eared and beardwearing nutcase of a mother, to even open her shameless and rude mouth in the society of her betters.
Cersei looked again at her beautiful brother and knew that he would do what she wanted.
"First this Girl and her father both have to die, Robert will be the next one though. Let me tell you of my plans dearest brother."
...
...
Lady Selyse Baratheon accompanied her daughter when the Court was dismissed and Lord Stannis left with the Hand and the King.
Shireen had asked to be shown to the Gardens and a Courtier had been so kind to do so. Now both Baratheon Ladys were slowly wandering upon the garden ways and Shireen often stopped to look more interested at some prettily blossomed flowers. Sadly enough, she was not really interested in talking with her own mother though. Selyse never knew what to made out of the behavior of her only child anymore, she just didn't understand her.
A fat looking person came nearer to them. The fat and odd looking man was wearing long silken robes and had a secretive but pleasant expression on his Face.
He greeted both Lady Selyse and Shireen pleasantly, his manners showing him to be a perfect embodiment of a man of the Court. Shireen though, answered him not in the same easy grace and good manners but only looked up at him.
The man that had called himself Varys, had at first made pleasant conversation with the Lady Selyse but soon grew more and more uncomfortable inwards for then the well mannered facade of Lord Varys behavior threatend to crumble rapidly away under young Lady Shireens stares.
Finally he bowed again to both of the Ladys and took his leave.
He shook his head as soon as that he was far enough away from the Barathons. This young Lady Shireen actually had managed to make he himself feel uncomfortable. Lord Varys then decided for himself to have his little birds shadow the little Dragonstone Lady. There was something not right about her and he would find out what that was.