Dragonstone, 289 AC

« Don't go… I beseech you, don't go… »

She has been following him all day long, whether he would go on the quays, talk to his soldiers, eat a piece of fish, be with Ser Davos. And, all the time, she has been repeated those words. They are in their chamber now, and he turns to her with a nasty look, tired of her whining.

"Shall I remind you my titles, wife?" he coldly retorts.

He does not want to be mean to her, but it seems this is the only way to make her understand. Aylis looks down, ashamed:

"No, my Lord."

She looks up at him and her cheeks are still covered with tears.

"And shall I remind you I already had to say goodbye to a man who left for war, my Lord?" she defiantly retorts, her voice shaking, but still defying.

"A man who came back", Stannis says. "As I intend to come back."

He walks to her, and places his hands on her shoulders. Their life has been perfect from the day they married: she has been enjoying life in King's Landing, he has been enjoying being the master of Ships. Cersei is pregnant with Robert's second child and everyone is praying for another boy. But, as usual, Stannis's happiness has not lasted. A few days ago, Robert has told him Balon Greyjoy, the Lord of the Iron Islands, has declared war to Robert. Balon does not want the throne for himself, but wants independence for the Iron Islands. It has all started when they burnt the Lannister's fleet, in Lannisport. A surprise attack that has shocked everyone in Westeros. The Iron born are feared and despised in Westeros: to many people, they are rapists and savages, not very better than Dothrakis. They enjoy nothing more than burning and sacking mainland villages. And as islander, they are immensely proud of their islands.

"It is my duty to fight against the people who threaten my brother and my King. You do understand this, I am sure", he says more nicely.

"I do not ask you to not go. Just to….delay your departure… from a few weeks…." She hesitantly says.

"Why?" Stannis frowns.

Aylis stares at him intently and he frowns first, not understanding.

"Oh…" he does first, unsure, then stares down at her body, and the smile she gives him makes him be sure of what is going on here. "Oh!" he smiles. "Are you sure?" he asks again.

"Cressen confirmed it to me yesterday. Please, Stannis, please, wait… A moon, I ask you just a moon…"

He would like to say yes, he would love nothing more but to stay here with his wife, but he is unable to. He has never been fond of combating like Robert is, but he owes his brother obedience and respect. He cups her face and lies along kiss on her mouth. She smiles, thinking she has won, but her smile vanishes:

"I will be back soon. Now, I have to be with my men", he says, gives a stroke on her belly and walks out silently. Aylis tries to stay strong but she sits on the bed and breaks down in tears, wrapping her hands on her belly and sways slowly.

As he walks out, Stannis passes by Cressen and grabs his arm:

"When did you intend to tell me?"

"Tell you what, my Lord?" Cressen frowns confused.

"Do not play with me, Maester. You know very well what I am talking about. Lady Aylis."

"It was hers to tell you, my Lord, not mine. Are you happy?" he frowns again seeing how angry his master looks.

Stannis frees him a bit brutally and walks away. Without turning to him, he says:

"I will be happy when I will have destroyed the Greyjoys, and that I will be back to my wife."

Cressen watches him leave, and knocks on their chambers' door.

Stannis's fleet departs the day after. Aylis is standing by the ships, as all the other women who are bidding farewell to their husbands crying, just like her. She guesses Stannis disapproves her crying but what can she do about it? She has turned fourteen a few weeks before all this, married since a year or so, and having to fear for her husband with every minute until he comes back. If he comes back. But he has to, for she does not want to raise her child alone. As he watches her, on the deck, the ship sailing away, she waves at him with one hand, the other resting on her stomach. The message is clear enough for him. He nods slightly, and she knows he has understood.

Greyjoy fleet, 289 AC

Victarion watches his men laughing and showing each other what they have sacked in the villages they have attacked. He smiles slightly, and turns to the sea, calm and helpful. He has loved the sea from the day he has been born, loved her more than any woman he ever had. When his brother has declared he wanted independence, when their father, Quellon, had indeed done everything to strengthen his links with Robert and the Iron Throne, Victarion has not been surprised. None of the men have objected. Balon is their Lord, and the Ironmen love fighting and sailing as much as raping and sacking. Balon has been offering them everything they wanted. Euron has planned the attack on Lannisport: Euron has always been vicious and smart, when Victarion has probably been the best warrior of them both. Their alliance would be unstoppable, and, for now, it has been a success. Victarion has been the one who set fire to Tywin Lannister's ship and he still smiles when he thinks about it. After this, the war has been worse for them: Rickard, Balon's eldest son, has been slayed while he has been attacking Seagard, and now they have been sailing to meet Stannis. Victarion has no doubt he would win: the Greyjoys are the masters of the sea. What would a stag know of it? It would be scared of even approaching it to drink. The Kraken would grab his antlers and drowns it as easily as if it would be a piece of wood. Victarion suddenly commands his men to be silent: south, right in front of them, the Royal fleet is sailing to them. A nasty smile curls up his lips.

"Prepare for the battle!" he yells and the men cheer.

He gets impatient more and more as they get closer, those ugly ships with stags's heads carved in the wood. Such a stupid symbol for a fleet, he thinks, and unsheathes his blade. He hopes he will have the King's brother: that would be a great spoil of war. Not that he has any intentions to keep him alive. He would send him back to his king brother, piece by piece. He could almost see him, on the deck of his ship. He is about to launch the attack, when one of his men yells:

"Ships! Ships!"

"We see them, idiot!" Victarion groans.

"Behind us, my Lord!" the man points at the stern of their ships.

Victarion rushes there, and sees roughly the same number of ships north of him.

"Your orders, my Lord?" the soldier asks, totally panicked.

Victarion is about to speak when he hears a terrible sound: he rushes to the rail. He sees the Fury, Stannis's ship, digging its antlers in the Golden Storm, his younger brother's Aeron's ship. Men yell, and the noise of the wood cracking is deafening. In an instant, the ship is destroyed, and Stannis orders the attack on the other ships. Victarion gets ready and tries to board one of the ships, but the Royal fleet is more numerous, have more men, and it's him who is boarded. He fights valiantly, killing every man who dares attack him. He cannot even hear the men yelling with the sound of the ships getting crashed, one after another. A huge impact makes him fall on the deck, and he knows a ship has crashed his. The Golden Storm sinks and he cannot see his brother anywhere, probably dead with his men. But, suddenly, he notices Baratheon men heaving a body on their own ship, and he recognizes Aeron. Prisoner, but alive. He feels arms grabbing him and throwing him in a small boat, and his men row away from the battle, knowing it is lost.

After this battle, everybody knows the Iron born have lost their rebellion. Stannis sails to Great Wyk, and besieges it, when Ser Barristan Selmy does the same with Old Wyk. But the outcome of the rebellion is set in Pyke, the greatest city of the Iron Islands, the stronghold of the Iron Lords. Robert and his army besiege the castle and break its walls with siege machine. The battle is fierce, the Ironborn valiant but they are outnumbered. One of Balon's son is killed when a tower collapse during the battle. When it is clear that they have lost, he bends the knee to Robert, and the King forgives him, somehow. What Balon has expected did not happen and the cost is terrible for him. Westeros has stood beside his king, and Balon has lost two sons. Three indeed, as Theon, his youngest one, is taken away by Ned Stark, as a hostage, to be sure Balon remains loyal to the throne.

Meanwhile, in Dragonstone

Aylis has lived in King's Landing for a few weeks when Stannis has left for war. She has been here for three days, when Cersei has noticed she was pregnant. Both would probably deliver around the same period, Cersei has told her in front of everyone. Aylis has hated it: no one knew she was pregnant, and she wanted to keep it this way. Thus, she has needed to write to her father and her siblings, to tell them about the baby. As soon as it has been done, she has sailed back to Dragonstone, and has been sick as hell, as usual when she has been on a boat. There, she has been ruled the castle, taken care of her people, inquired about the harvests and the well being of the small folks. The days have been long and exhausting, but it was her duty. She has started to talk like her husband, Cressen has noticed with a smile. The news of the war was scarce, she just has known about her husband's victory, and the siege of Pyke. For days, she has looked for his sails to bring him back to her, as she did when she was a little girl and that her father was leaving Riverrun.

Tonight, she is walking through the corridors, half stumbling, leaning against the walls of the castle. In a sweat, she whimpers with pain and holds her belly, as if she is scared it could fall off her body. She tries to call but is unable to, and ends up reaching Cressen's door, knocking feverishly on it. She only waits for a few seconds before the door opens: she falls in his arms, and he calls for help.

Aylis probably collapses, because when she opens her eyes again, she is in a bed, with handmaids, and Cressen standing by her. An awful pain rips her guts off and she grinds her teeth to not yell. She then starts to cry, but not because of the pain.

"It can't be time… I can't… I need him… He needs to be here…" she mutters deliriously.

"The baby is close to get out, my Lady. There is no way we can wait", Cressen explains, laying a cold hand on her brow, trying to comfort and reassuring her. Aylis can see the sunset outside, on the sea, one of the most beautiful moments of the day. Maybe she can force her body to wait; maybe Stannis will be here today. But there is no time for this, and she feels a sudden urge to push. She tells Cressen, and he tells him to do it. A handmaid goes by her side, and she holds her hand tightly, squeezing it as she pushes. She does not yell or shout; she takes deep breaths, and blows out slowly, as she has seen Catelyn doing so when she has delivered Robb. As if you wanted to blow on a candle but not blow it away completely. She remembers her sister's words when she has described it to her. She can hear her voice in her head, her laugh. She imagines her seeing her children play together, wondering too if they have to live without their father. Aylis pushes, again and again, until she feels an unbelievable sensation in her belly, while her baby's shoulders get down and out off her. She can feel it is the shoulders, when she has no idea of what it was a few seconds before. Cressen tells her to stop pushing and she sits up slightly, leaning on her elbows, staring at him. The old maester stares at something, his eyes shining with tears, and, suddenly, he takes out of her a small baby, who cries after a second. She holds her arms at it, but he first wraps a blanket around the baby. The handmaid behind her smiles hugely: "Congratulations, my Lady." Aylis turns to her and leans on her, exhausted but happy, and though unable to say anything. Cressen cuts the cord, and places the bundle in her arms. She moves the blanket away and stares at the baby, dark haired and with dark blue eyes. It stops crying as soon as it is against her and Cressen washes and wipes his hands away. Aylis stares at him, catching her breath slowly, and suddenly, moves the blanket a bit to watch her baby: pinky and small, but with ten fingers, ten toes and… a vulva. She dissolves into tears suddenly, and Cressen sits by her:

"Now, now, my Lady, what is it?"

"It's a girl! It… It's a girl!" she sobs.

"Yes, I know. I have seen it when I took her out of you", Cressen holds her hand gently.

"It should have been a boy! What will Stannis say? He will be so disappointed…"

The maester stares at her and hands her a tissue:

'He will not be. He will be happy you both are safe and healthy. What will be her name?"

"I… I don't know! I have never thought about girls' names. I wanted to call it Steffon", Aylis whispers miserably, looking down at her baby.

Cressen shakes his head slowly: Stannis would have not been happy with this name. Maybe it is better than the baby is a girl.

"Let's wait for our Lord to come back, and you will find a name together."

If he ever comes back, Aylis thinks silently but she remains silent, and keeps staring at her baby.

Dragonstone, 290 AC

Standing at the bow of the Fury, Stannis watches Dragonstone's castle appearing in the fog of the night. He has directly came back home, and his men and him walk to the castle. Walking in the silent Great Hall, he walks to his previous private chamber, and has a quick bath. He gets rid off his armor, and puts on clean breeches and a white shirt. Impatiently, he walks to the chamber he shares with Aylis, but stops as he hears a weird sound coming from the room she has denied, a year ago, when they have come back to Dragonstone after their wedding. He gets in defiantly, and gasps loudly as he sees a cradle. Hence, he has missed the birth of his firstborn. His hatred for Greyjoys now grows stronger. Silently, he walks there, and sees a sleeping baby, beautiful, dark hair covering its skull. He does not wish to wake it up, so he lays a very slight kiss on its hair, and walks away, staring at it. He walks in the silent corridor and opens the door of his chambers. Aylis is here, asleep on her belly, naked, the moon outlining her body through the windows. Staring at her, Stannis undresses quickly, folds his clothes and places them on the chair by their bed, and climbs on the bed. Above her, he smothers her body with kisses, from her ankles to her back. Aylis whimpers and wakes up, but keeps her eyes closed. "My Lord…" she whispers as he nibbles her ear lobe. "My Lady", he simply replies, and, as she spreads her legs slightly to welcome him in her warmth, he looks at her, gets on his knees and strokes her buttocks before filling her. He leans on her, moaning, his sex thrusting in her, and he whispers:

"I have seen the baby…"

Aylis moans too and turns her face to him:

"It's a girl…"

Stannis takes her lips with his in a long and passionate kiss:

"Good…"

Aylis frown slightly:

"Are you not disappointed?..."

He shakes his head and breathes harder as he speeds up:

"You will give me a son. I know it. Girls are easier to bring up for first born, I think."

Aylis nods and moans louder: she has missed him so much, and his comeback is just perfect. She leans on her elbows to arch her back more and he groans loudly, speeding up again, turning his face here on the left, here on the right, to kiss every inch of her. The bed is creaking and she beams, loving how erotic this sound is. She feels how Stannis's rhythm makes the sheets rub her clitoris and she begs for him to go faster, already close to the edge. He does so, and she feels his belly slapping against her butt, louder and cluster. She clenches her fists on the sheets and tightens hardly around him before coming. Stannis unleashes himself and makes her cry out, himself groaning and breathing hard. He moans her name as he comes in her and collapses on her back, his eyes closed, ready to drift off to sleep immediately. He feels Aylis, out of breath too, turning her head to him:

"I have not named her. I wanted to wait for you and I had no idea about a girl's name."

Stannis, his face leaning on her sweaty and burning back, his eyes closed, smiles a bit, overwhelmed by endorphins and tiredness, and mumbles:

"Shireen… Her name is Shireen…"