To the Wall, 303 AC
Stannis wakes up with a start, after a terrible nightmare. He looks around him: it is still dark, but it must be not long before dawn. Rolling on his back, he takes a deep breath before turning his head on the pillow next to his. Melisandre has not stayed with him. He almost feels like he has just dreamt, and that nothing has happened. He hears some voices outside, and sits up in bed. He can see two pairs of feet standing by each other, one of them walking away, the other stopping by his tent.
"Your Grace?" Melisandre's voice calls out.
He lets himself fall back down on the sheets and sighs again:
"Come in…"
She obeys, holding a tray. As she passes the hessian, Stannis realizes all his men are ready, putting out the last fires. He pales and suddenly stands up:
"Why did you not wake me up?!"
"You needed to rest, after last night, my King" she quietly says.
Alas, it was not a dream. He closes his eyes tight, chasing away the images of the night, and he sees a plate held at him.
"Eat" Melisandre orders.
He glares at her, but nevertheless takes the meat and bites it furiously.
"Devan!" He bellows.
The young son of Ser Davos runs in, and bows, not without a glance towards Melisandre:
"Your Grace?"
"Prepare my armor. Quickly", Stannis spats.
The boy nods and does so, as Stannis covers himself. He glares at Melisandre again:
"You should have woken me up" he says, but it is towards Devan.
The boy glances at Melisandre, who smiles at him. She knows he has a crush about her. But she would never encourage him to lie to her King.
"L-Lady Melisandre forbade us to, Your Grace" he stammers afraid, and Stannis turns to Melisandre so bluntly he slams his shoulder in Devan's skull, who cries out. Stannis does not even look at him:
"Get out. Now!"
The squire runs away without further ado, and Stannis, in a stride, grabs Melisandre's dress.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" he hisses in her face. "You do not command my men, nor my squire, nor your Queen, nor anyone here. Do you hear me?!" he yells.
She stares at him, very calm, not even afraid:
"You do not realize the sacrifice R'hllor demands. It is normal, you do not know about my faith. Trust me, I was right to let you sleep. See how angry you are, my King. It is the fire in you that is finally unleashed."
Stannis does not let her go:
"I am angry because you have disrespected me, and overstepped your role. Now leave, and call back Devan", he says, brutally letting her dress go.
He would like to ask her if what they did last night even worked, but he is too mad at her for that now. Melisandre curtseys and walks out of the tent. Devan gets back in, and dresses the King up silently. Stannis looks down at him and notices a bit of blood on his hair:
"I am sorry Devan. You should see a maester. You are bleeding."
"I will be fine, your Grace."
Stannis looks at him, concentrated as always on his task. Devan is a good lad, he has always been. He does not really look like his father and Stannis guesses he takes more after Marya. It is a shame he is so poorly born: he would have been a good husband for Shireen, the King thinks. Now more than ever, he needs to think about his family. They are worth fighting for, all of them. He nods at Devan when the squire is done, and orders him to go see one of the maesters who accompany the army. This time, Devan nods, and leaves quickly. When Stannis walks out of his tent, the soldiers are all ready, and his tent is the only one standing on the field they have chosen to set up their base camp. They greet the King, and, once they are finally ready, Stannis gets on his horse and starts walking straight North, the whole army following him as one man. The army walks by some smallfolks, peasants taking care of their fields, children playing. Most of them stare at the Army without a word. Some cheer them, others would give them food and water. The news from the Night's Watch has been known by everyone in the realm now. The people of Westeros know it is maybe their chance to get rid of the Others forever, even if some are doubtful. After all, everybody thought the Others were extinct, a few years ago. Time is for unity, though, and the smallfolks understand that. Stannis tries to smile when a father holds his young child very high so he can see the King. Soon, the rumor about them coming reaches the towns faster than them. When they end up getting to these towns, the inhabitants have all formed a guard of honor. Stannis is astonished by that, and gets down from his horse, leading him with the reins. His men imitate him and a smile enlightens their faces as they shake hands, kiss children, nod at the men. Stannis suddenly stops walking, but let his men going on. When the last soldier has walked pass the town, and that the inhabitants gather in a circle to watch them leave, he gets back on his horse, turns to face them, his people, and, without even hiding his emotion, he whispers "Thank you", before bowing to them and galloping back to his army, taking its lead again. He can hear the soldiers talk about this welcome until they set the base camp again, and this is when he believes nothing could ever stop them now.
As they leave the camp again the following morning, they are suddenly stopped by a group of men standing ahead of them on the road. Immediately, soldiers gather around Stannis to protect him but Melisandre leads her horse ahead of them and turns to Stannis:
"They are faithful servitors of R'hllor, your Grace. They will not hurt us."
Stannis nods, and walks to the men, not without two soldiers by his side. He knows some of these men: Lord Beric Dondarrion, Thoros of Myr, the man who got in Pyke the first, with a flaming sword during the Greyjoy rebellion, and Sandor Clegane, Joffrey's Hound.
"What are you doing here?" He asks them.
"We were waiting for you, your Grace", Beric says.
"We heard that you were riding to the Wall, to fight the Others", Thoros smirks. "We would like to join, if you allow us to", he bows respectfully.
Stannis does not like the idea: those men belong to the Brotherhood without Banners, which, as the name says, is not faithful to any leaders in Westeros. He glances at Melisandre, who nods slightly.
"Why?" the King asks Thoros. "Why do you want to come with us?"
"We are fighting for Westeros, and we know Westeros will be lost if the Others win. If our sacrifice can help defeating them, we will give our lives gladly. They do not worth much" Thoros laughs.
Stannis frowns slightly and looks at them:
"How many are you?"
"A few hundreds, I wouldn't know exactly. Maybe a thousand", Thoros shrugs.
Stannis nods: a thousand men are great news. The more men he has, the more chances he has against the Others. He thinks about King's Landing for a moment, hoping everything is alright for his Hand. He would not know, none of them can send messages which could be intercepted by the enemy. He trusts Davos enough to not be too worried about the capital's fate.
"Join us then. But as soon as this war will be over, your Brotherhood must be dismissed. Lord Dondarrion has a woman to marry, if I remember well. You have nobles in your ranks who are supposed to rule lands. Their place is by their people", Stannis asserts and Beric looks at Thoros for a moment. The realm has been at peace since Stannis has taken the throne, and the Dothrakis are not people Westerosi want to see settle on their lands.
"As soon as the war is over", Beric nods, and calls out his other men, hiding in the bushes. The army marches again, towards Winterfell, where half of the Northern army is waiting to swell their ranks.