Please R&R! Thanks guys!

Stannis woke up early the following morning, as usual. He moved away from his wife carefully, willing to let her sleep as long as she wanted. He dressed up silently, glanced at her one last time before leaving the room. Cold grabbed his throat and his chest and he shivered violently. He headed to the kitchen to eat something: Davos and Jon Snow were here. They usually were the three first to be awake in mornings. He nodded at them as they stood up to salute him, grabbed bread and sat by Davos. Jon soon left to his commander's room, and Stannis turned to Davos:

"Any news from my brother?"

"No. But he should be here soon, your Grace."

Stannis nodded and chewed lengthily on his bread. He checked that they were alone, and he turned to Davos:

"Do you know what Margaery says about the Red Woman?"

Davos gave him an inquiring look and whispered:

"No."

Stannis sighed and swallowed his bread. It didn't taste very good, nothing did in Castleblack but he was not difficult. He had eaten leather when he was besieged by the Tyrells so bread tasted like a feast.

"She says Melisandre killed the baby."

Davos gaped:

"Really?"

Stannis knew Davos hated Melisandre but he still trusted him for being neutral. He wanted his advice on what happened. He nodded at him:

"Yes. She told me I had to choose between her and the Red Woman."

"But, why would the Red Woman kill your son, your heir? It doesn't make sense."

Stannis clenched his jaw and looked at his knight:

"I… I think she wants my son to be…hers."

Davos let out a loud sigh:

"Do you believe the Queen?" he asked his King.

Stannis shook his head:

"I don't know. From the very beginning, they had been jealous of each other. And… Melisandre kissed me, yesterday. She said Margaery would be like Selyse. She said only her could give me a son."

"Can I speak frankly, your Grace?"

Stannis nodded and Davos looked straight in his eyes:

"This woman is evil. Let her stay here when we'll march on Winterfell. I think you need some time with the Queen, especially after what happened. She says you need her to take Winterfell, I say we just need your soldiers. And they are good soldiers, your Grace. You are a great commander. We'll take Winterfell without her. When it's done, you'll decide what you'll do with her."

"What if we lose?" Stannis asked.

Davos smiled:

"With you, we won't lose."

Stannis smiled back slightly and nodded.

"Winterfell, and then King's Landing. When I will sit on the Iron Throne, you'll be my Hand."

Davos had smiled and lost it as quickly as it had appeared. He stared at his King, dumbfounded.

"Your Grace, I cannot be your Hand."

"Why not?"

"I'm a smuggler, your Grace. The Lords will not appreciate", Davos argued.

"May they go to hell", Stannis stood up and looked down at him. "I am the King. I trust you. You were a smuggler, Ser Davos. Not anymore. I don't care about the Lords' opinion. I know who you are; I know what you have done for me. You will be my Hand."

Davos stood up and kneeled in front of Stannis:

"It will be the greatest honor of my life, your Grace."

Stannis made him stand up again, slightly smiled, and left to his room.

Around noon, the watchers on the Wall warn them there were riders approaching. Margaery rushed to see who it was and she beamed before shouting to Stannis:

"It's Renly!"

The Night's watch opened the gate and Renly's men came in: they were many, and Stannis thought, relieved, that they would soon leave for Winterfell. Renly got down from his horse and bowed in Front of Stannis and Margaery. Loras was by his side, and looked tired and pale. He smiled to his sister, who hugged him tight. They did not know about the baby, and Margaery told them everything that happened during their absence. Stannis didn't like that she talked about that, but it looked like she needed to, even though she ended up crying and sobbing. He looked down and took Renly apart to talk about the battle in Riverrun and the next ones. Renly, sat by his side, drinking a beer, talked for a long time about the men, the enemies, how the Freys and the Lannisters had been surprised by their arrival, as Stannis thought, how they were acclaimed by the Tullys. Renly insisted that they should take the Twins, the Northerners would want a full revenge on the Freys, which meant killing them all. Moreover, Edmure Tully was still prisoner of the Freys, and Brynden wanted him back, even though he did not love his nephew a lot. He was still his family, the only family he was left with. Stannis agreed, and they looked at a map to think about the organization of the attack. As for Riverrun, they didn't need all the men to take Winterfell, nor all of them to take the Twins. The Freys had no more than 4,000 men, and the Boltons in Winterfell around 6,000. With Renly joining Stannis, the Baratheons had now more than 100,000. They were not as numerous in Castleblack, of course 100,000 men could not fit in there, but the rest of the army would join them. They had the number; they had the justice on their side. All the gold of the Lannister could never repay what Walder Frey and Roose Bolton had done. Stannis and Renly agreed that they would send 5,000 men at the Twins, and 10,000 at Winterfell. Renly asked if they had news from the Eyrie, but Stannis shook his head: the new master was Petyr Baelish and he did not want to ally with Stannis unless he would have Sansa Stark as his wife. Lysa Arryn was dead. But Sansa was betrothed to Renly, and Stannis wanted this marriage. The Starks were one of the most powerful houses in Westeros and he wanted Baratheon's blood to run in every big family of the realm. It was vital for the future peace. Renly did not say anything: he was still not very enthusiast about the young Stark. Maybe, when he would see her…. They did not know where Brienne was either, if Jaime Lannister was still her prisoner, if they were still alive. Stannis had no doubt Cersei would never let the Starks go home safe. Never. She will take her brother/lover back and will kill Brienne and the girls. Unfortunately, Stannis had no way to reach Brienne and Renly told him she would never abandon this mission. He knew he could not do anything for them. Brienne would have reached King's Landing long before him, she may have already been there. For the sake of the realm, he hoped she will succeed. Starks were needed. They were the House of the North and, if they disappeared, the Boltons would take their place. The North could not be controlled, he knew that. But a friend at its head would be vital. Robert was not the smartest King there was, but he understood this fact. Renly asked to stay for a week in Castleblack: Stannis send someone fetch Jon Snow and they negotiated. It was hard for the Night's watch: more people to feed, when they were the weakest watch there ever was. Jon asked Stannis a favor: he asked that the he would give them ships to fetch the Wildlings in Hardhome, where they had fled to after the battle of Castleblack and Stannis's attack.

"I need those ships to attack King's Landing", Stannis warned Jon.

The boy nodded:

"I know, your Grace. I promise I'll give them back to you. But I have to go fetch them, or they'll swell the ranks of the Dead."

Stannis gritted his teeth and glanced at Renly:

"There was something else I wanted to tell you before we leave to Winterfell. You are a Stark, Lord Commander. When I'll win the throne, I will make you Lord Jon Stark, lord of Winterfell and Governor of the North."

The boy turned as white as his wolf's fur. He bowed slightly and said:

"I am sorry, your Grace, but I cannot accept. I belong to the Night's Watch."

He turned to Renly and smiled at him:

"I hope my sisters are alive. I know, with Sansa's help, you will be a great governor of the North."

Renly smiled back at him. But Stannis could not let down this easily:

"You have broken your vows with a Wildling and now, you come and tell me you cannot be Lord of Winterfell?" he grinded his teeth.

The young commander did not lose countenance:

"Yes, Your Grace. I have broken my vows. I have made a mistake. Winterfell was my home. Not anymore. My home is Castleblack, my brothers are Sam, Ed, and the others. I have no father anymore, no sisters. Only brothers."

Stannis glared at him and showed the door with a nod. Jon understood and left after a bow. The King could not help but admiring the young boy for his loyalty to the Night's Watch. He was disappointed, though, that he would have to see the Starks disappearing from Westeros. He told Renly he had to see Margaery and he left. He found her in the common room, where she was chatting with Gilly. Margaery did not care about what the men of the Night's watch said: Gilly was the only woman here, well, except for Melisandre, and Margaery was naturally appealed by her. She would look after her son when Gilly was working for the Watch, talk about Highgarden and how she would love to see her there. When Stannis came in, Gilly stopped talking immediately and looked down. Margaery gave her a comforting smile and joined Stannis. He led her out and walked with her:

"We're leaving in a week", he said.

She looked at him and slightly smiled:

"How long will we have to walk before getting in Winterfell?"

"About a month", Stannis sighed. "But the men have to get there in shape."

She wrapped her arms around his waist and smiled at him. Slightly embarrassed that the men could see them, he looked around.

"She's not here", Margaery stated.

"Who?" Stannis genuinely asked.

"Melisandre…"

Stannis let out a loud sigh:

"I don't care about Melisandre."

He moved away from Margaery's embrace but she saw the Red Woman walking out a room and looking at them. She grabbed Stannis's arm:

"Prove it."

She cupped his face and kissed him passionately, eyeing the witch, still staring at them. Stannis, unaware of Melisandre's presence, kissed his wife back happily. When they both looked for air, they broke the kiss. Margaery smiled and stroked the fur coat Stannis was wearing:

"You look really good"

Stannis smiled at her:

"Thank you. Talking about Melisandre, she is going to stay here, in Castleblack. I'm not taking her to Winterfell."

Margaery nodded approving:

"Good. But remember what I said. It's her, or me. If I am pregnant again, I don't want to ever see her. I am not joking, Stannis. I have never been more serious. I know she had killed our son. I know she feels for you, whatever it is."

Stannis did not want to talk about her. They were having a good moment together, and she would ruin everything.

"I will join you tonight", he said, stroking her hips.

"I will wait for my King", she bowed.

He gently took her chin and made her look at him, before kissing her again. He wanted to tell her he loved her, that she was the most important person of his life, that she was making him so happy, a happiness he never thought he could reach. But none of the words he wanted to say came out. He ran a hand in her hair, smiled at her and left back to Davos and Renly.