"She speaks her mind, I will give her that."
Sarah was stood in the dull courtyard of Dragonstone. She was slowly walking the perimeter, watching as her sister rushed around and played with another child. A small smile played on her face as she watched Shireen. She couldn't help but laugh as her sister relentlessly giggled and the small boy picked her up around her waist, her book flying around in her hands.
The Onion Knight had seen the sight in the courtyard. He had scanned around it with his large orbs, doing his best to make sure that the Lady Selyse was nowhere to be seen. She had never enjoyed seeing Davos with her daughters. She didn't trust him. Not that Ser Davos could blame her. He was a former smuggler. He knew the ways of nobility.
But he had then caught Sarah's eye as she sat on a stone bench and read her book. She stood with haste, holding the book in her hands and moving over to him. Davos had smiled kindly at her before she told him of what Melisandre had said to her the previous night.
"The Red Woman is not someone who should be messed with," Ser Davos responded, looking down to the concrete floor.
Sarah's eyes looked around as she thought of the rose garden in King's Landing. There were no such flowers in Dragonstone. There was nothing but the concrete of the area and the sculptured dragons looking down over them. Sarah couldn't help but find it most unnerving.
"No, I can see that," Sarah replied to Davos. She turned her head to the side, watching the man with intent as he ran his hand down his beard. "Mother says that she is working with father."
The shift in atmosphere was easy to pick up on. Davos knew what Melisandre was doing. He knew that she working alongside Stannis, trying to persuade him to turn his allegiance to the God of Light. Davos didn't know if that was a clever thing to do or not. He sensed not.
"She has been speaking with him quietly," Davos agreed with a small nod. "About what, I do not know."
"She thinks she can help him," Sarah whispered, wondering if Davos knew of the truth. She suspected that he did. Her father considered Davos to be one of his closest confidants. Davos slowly turned his eyes to look at her, a brief moment of understanding coming over the pair of them.
"You know, don't you?" Sarah whispered, her thoughts once again turning back to Jaime Lannister. She didn't know why she thought of him so often. Every time she closed her eyes she pictured him with his sister, the pair of them whispering at the royal table.
And then she would blink profusely, attempting to rid herself of the sight of him. She was still struggling to come to terms with it all.
"Aye," Davos nodded. "Your father told me that's why he needed you to come home."
"He told me too," Sarah replied. "We both know what that means."
"Do we?" Davos wondered. "So long as the King lives then your father remains the Lord of Dragonstone."
"The King is drinking and eating himself into an early grave," Sarah said, shocking herself as she spoke the words. Never before did she think that she could be so brutally honest. "Joffrey is not the rightful heir, Ser Davos."
"I know," Davos replied. "And I will support your father should anything happen and he makes the truth known. I just wonder what the Red Woman will do."
"What do you mean?" Sarah wondered from him.
The two of them kept quiet as they walked by the main gate which was guarded. Ser Davos kept his head down, feeling the glares of some of the men but ignoring them. He had grown used to the way some people looked at him. They did not think him worthy to be in Lord Stannis's group of advisers.
"If the day does come and your father contends for the Iron Throne...well...he will need supporters to fight the Lannisters," Davos gruffly replied. "They are a powerful family, Lady Sarah."
"But people will know of the truth if that day comes," Sarah responded, folding her hands into the skirts of her gown, feebly attempting to keep herself warm in the cold and moist air. "They will have a duty to support my father...to do the right thing..."
"People do not think like that, my Lady," Davos responded, solemnly shaking his head back and forth. Sarah could feel her brows furrow as she stopped walking and adjusted the book under her arm. "People will support whoever they want to, and whoever offers the right price. Besides, your father...well...I can sense that he is slowly changing his faith. The more the Red Woman talks to him then the more he changes."
"She sees him as the One God's True Champion," Sarah whispered as she heard Shireen squeal. "The Lady Melisandre told me that at supper last night."
"She keeps telling everyone who knows the news. Lord Stannis has kept it quiet. He's only told a certain few. I...well...I cannot help but think that trusting the Red Priestess is a dangerous thing to do. People in Westeros do not understand this God. They believe in the Old and the New Gods, Lady Sarah."
"And you think that they won't support my father because of his belief?" Sarah checked with Davos. Both of them kept their heads bowed as they whispered, knowing full well that rumours could spread and land both of them in trouble. That was the last thing they wanted.
"I think that Lord Stannis should not rule out that possibility," Davos nodded. "But we can do nothing for the time being, Lady Sarah."
"No," Sarah said, her mind still on Melisandre and what she had just heard. "I suppose we cannot."
"Sarah! Did you see what Don did?"
Sarah looked up as she heard her sister shriek. Shireen ran towards her and Ser Davos, standing before them with a large smile on her face. Sarah bent down and smiled back at her sister, shaking her head as the young boy stood next to Shireen.
"And what did Don do?" Sarah asked; her brow quirked and her eyes set on the boy behind her as he nervously scratched the back of his neck.
"He managed to read the first page of the book," Shireen said, turning her eyes back to the young boy.
"He has a good teacher, I assume," Ser Davos replied, his voice gruff as Sarah ruffled her sister's hair.
"Only the best," the eldest daughter nodded. "Why don't you try to master the second page before dinner this evening? I am sure Don would like that."
"Very much," Don nodded back and Shireen's smile seemed to widen.
Sarah couldn't help the small grin on her face as Shireen took hold of Don's hand and led him back to a stone bench, the book in her hands.
Davos and Sarah remained stood where they were, watching the sight. Davos chuckled gently.
"Never thought I'd see the sight of Lady Shireen so happy again," he commented. "She lost her spark when you left her alone."
"I'm glad to see she has it back," Sarah nodded. "She is just a child. She has much to learn. She does not need to be involved in father's business."
"You're not that much older than a child, my Lady," Davos commented to Sarah.
The Baratheon scoffed at hearing that, shaking her head back and forth as her gaze returned to Davos. She gave him a weak smile and her eyes held some form of sadness inside of them.
"Everyone has to grow up someday," she whispered. "I just want Shireen to be happy."
"And who is the boy with the pleasure of making her happy?" Davos wondered from the girl.
"Don," she replied. "I believe he is Ser Rontly's son. I only saw him this morning. He doesn't look at Shireen like some disease...not like most of the other children do. I am amazed that mother has yet to come out and demand for her to go inside."
"Not even the Lady Selyse can stop young love," Davos said.
Sarah spluttered. "Love?" she questioned the word. "I doubt Shireen is in love."
"The boy looks quite loved up," Davos nodded over to him.
"Shireen doesn't know the meaning of love," Sarah said.
Davos shrugged then; "Does anyone truly know the meaning of love? Even to this day, I am unsure of it. I know that I love my wife more than anything...but...what does that mean?"
"You're turning rather philosophical," Sarah observed; a sly smile on her face. "Honestly, Ser Davos, I never thought that I'd see you in such a state."
Davos shook his head, smirking as he bowed in front of Sarah.
"Perhaps you'll know it one day, my Lady," he said. "Now, if you'll excuse me I have business with your father to attend to."
"Of course," she nodded at him. "Goodbye, Ser Davos."
"Lady Sarah."
Sarah turned around and left in the opposite direction of Ser Davos. She took a seat back on the stone bench she had been sat on. She sat a few benches down from her sister, opening her book again and beginning to read.
"I had hoped to find you here."
Sarah turned her head over her shoulder as she saw the woman approach her. Her brow furrowed and she did her best not to let out an audible sigh at the sight of the Red Priestess. Melisandre sat down next to Sarah, resting her hands on her lap as she did so.
"Lady Melisandre," Sarah said, doing her best to be polite to the woman.
"Lady Sarah," Melisandre spoke, the curl of her lip prominent as she did so. "I wished to speak to you about what I have seen in the flames. I realise that they could have frightened you last night."
"Not at all," replied Sarah, her tone indifferent. "I am here on Dragonstone. That is where I shall stay now. There will be no chance of me running into any lions here."
"You will not be staying here for long," Melisandre said. "Your path lies in the North. It rests back in the North...but not Winterfell..."
"Then where?" Sarah wondered. "My marriage has been rebutted. My father is appeased with that."
"As I said before," Melisandre drawled. "You will be North with the wolves. You will be with the lions...well...a lion. Only then shall you be taken back to the lion's den."
"Honestly, I doubt it," Sarah said. "Perhaps the flames lied?"
"You doubt my power?"
"I doubt what you have seen," contradicted Sarah. "I know that my mother is a firm believer. I am not."
"Neither was your father," Melisandre said with a smirk. "You shall soon see, Lady Sarah. The flames never lie."
"The Lannisters are not to be trifled with. I doubt I would do that. I know that they wanted to keep me as a hostage, yet it failed. I am in Dragonstone and my father will not let me leave for any reason."
"You do not know what the future holds," Melisandre warned her. "You need to know that it is your father who you must stay with. You must do your father's bidding and not go against him under any circumstance."
"My duty is to my father," Sarah replied, her voice harsh. "It does not need to be questioned."
"Perhaps," Melisandre said. "I see that it will be. I can see that it will belong to a lion...you will be in trouble if that were to happen."
Sarah closed her book and held it tightly in her hands, her knuckles turning white as she feared what she was hearing from the woman in front of her. Looking down at Melisandre, Sarah pulled her hair over her shoulders and felt a sense of annoyance pass through her.
"Thank you for the warning," Sarah responded. "I must leave, Lady Melisandre. I need to freshen up before lunch."
"Of course," Melisandre responded, knowing full well that the girl was making an excuse to escape the conversation they were holding. She was no fool.
"Shireen!" Sarah shouted for her sister. "Come along. We need to go and change."
"But, I was just-"
"-Now," Sarah replied, her voice curt as she held her hand out expectantly.
Melisandre watched on as Sarah led her sister away from the courtyard. She folded one leg over the other, resting her chin in her hand as she did so. Her eyes remained intent on the disappearing figures, yet she said nothing. She would keep her eye on Sarah Baratheon for as long as possible.
...
A/N: Thank you to those reading and reviewing! This was just a short filler chapter, the next one is when the plot really starts to move.