He had not answered. She had told him she loved him and he had remained speechless. She felt humiliated. Margaery had got off him suddenly, had grabbed the shred of her dress and had left. Since then, she had been cold as ice with him. Of course, she had kept sleeping with him because she knew how much an heir was important for them, but she kept glaring at him the whole time. After a while, he looked away, or closed his eyes. He never apologized, and of course he never told him he loved her too. She had stopped saying it. When they were done, they turned on a side and fell asleep. Stannis was not sleeping a lot lately: he was worried about the war. He had a few messages from Catelyn, but none from Davos. Robb had agreed with Stannis's terms and he had to admit he was relieved. But things never went as he planned: Lord Tully, Catelyn's father, was dead, and Robb and she had to go to the funerals. The war would be delayed. All those worries kept him awake at nights. That night was not different from the others: he turned to Margaery, asleep by his side. She was shivering: the nights grew colder. Winter was coming… Stannis wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer. She moaned slightly, almost protesting but he stroked her hair and she soon curled up against him. He closed his eyes smiling.

Davos was sitting with the Prince Doran and his younger brother Oberyn. He felt ill at ease, as always when he was with royals. Except with Stannis. He had never been ill at ease with Stannis. Oberyn was staring at him with a smirk, and he did not really know if it was good or bad.

"Ser Davos, you came to see us. I am very conscious you must be exhausted. Maybe you wish to rest", Doran said gently.

Davos smiled at him:

"Thank you but I am fine. I think we could start talking about King Stannis's terms, if you agree."

Doran nodded but Oberyn said:

"Lord."

"Excuse me?" Davos frowned.

"Lord Stannis. As far as I know, it's King Joffrey."

Oberyn smiled watching for Davos's reaction. He looked at him straight in the eyes:

"Joffrey is not a Baratheon."

"Yes. We heard about this. Do you have any proofs of what you say?" Oberyn asked again.

"Look at the boy, and you'll know. Ned Stark is dead because he told Stannis about that monstrosity. It is true. Believe me."

Oberyn made a face and Doran said:

"We had news from Essos. Daenerys Targaryen is alive. And she intends to take that throne. So, tell me, why would we support a Baratheon when we could support a Targaryen?"

"Prince Doran, if I remember well, the Targaryen your sister married left her for a Stark, right?"

Suddenly, they did not smile anymore. Their eyes reflected shock and sadness. Davos felt bad for talking about their sister. But he had to use all the ways he could to have them on their side. He needed them. Stannis needed them.

"Yes, it's true", Doran said after a long embarrassing moment. "And the Starks fight at Stannis's side, right?"

"Eddard did not kill your sister. Eddard lost his sister in this war, as you lost yours. Who killed your sister, Prince Doran? You know who did it, right? It was not Gregor Clegane. Oh, of course, he did it physically, but someone gave him the order."

"Tywin Lannister", Oberyn groaned slowly.

Davos turned to him and nodded:

"We have a common enemy: the Lannisters. You want revenge, we want the Throne. We can help each other getting what we want."

Oberyn turned to his brother. Doran seemed lost in thought; memories of his childhood came back to his mind. He remembered when Elia was born. How fragile she was, how sure he was that she would not survive. She did, though, and became a nice and beautiful lady. She was so in love with Rhaegar. And he betrayed her. He could not send men to fight for his brother-in-law when the war started. He finally did it because he knew Elia would be queen, and her son Aegon King after her. But then Tywin Lannister ordered Clegane to slaughter them. Her, her children, Aegon who was only a few months old. What kind of man would give that order? But Robert Baratheon had not said a thing against that murder. None of the Baratheons ever had. And now, another Baratheon was asking for his help. He did not know what to do. He needed to think about it. If he could, he would kill them all, Lannisters, Baratheons, even Targaryens. He let out a sigh and realized the two men were staring at him, waiting for his decision.

"Have some rest, Ser Davos. I need to think about your proposal."

Davos needed and Doran called at a servant to lead Davos to his room. He was alone with Oberyn: his young brother was not the wisest of men. But he was his brother and he wanted revenge for Elia as much as Doran did. Doran didn't particularly like Stannis, not that he knew him, but people talked, even in Dorne. He was seen as a just but cold man, hard and ruthless.

"What do you think?" Doran asked.

"Would you marry Trystane to this Stark girl?" Oberyn asked in turn.

"As much as it hurts me to say it, Davos is right: the Starks did not kill Elia."

"But they supported Robert! Robert who made Clegane a knight for what he did! Robert who married that Lannister!" Oberyn shouted.

"Ned Stark always spoke frankly to Robert. I know he did not approve. The Lannisters are our enemies. The Lannister have to die. All of them."

"Do you want my advice, brother?" Oberyn asked.

Doran nodded.

"Send a message to this "Young Wolf". Tell him I want to kill Gregor Clegane myself. Tell him I want to kill Tywin Lannister myself. Then, maybe we can start talks."

Doran stared at his brother, and nodded approving.