"He is here," Ser Barristan whispered softly to the woman standing in front of the carved figure of the Mother.
The queen was with child, Stannis realized with shock, as the woman turned to face Stannis. How had he missed it during the tourney? The bulge was visible despite the very loosely fitting robe she was wearing. Her face was hidden behind a veil.
Was she praying to the Seven? It seemed odd to Stannis. The Targaryens had their own gods, Stannis knew.
"Kneel, Lord Stannis," the queen whispered softly. "Kneel like you are praying." She proceeded to do so herself.
Stannis hesitated. "Your Grace, I –"
Ser Barristan whispered impatiently to Stannis. "The queen is not asking you to pray! This is the only way to talk without arousing suspicion."
It made sense, Stannis thought. They were in a sept after all. A small, secluded sept located outside the city gate. He kneeled down next to the queen. Ser Barristan stood back a little further behind, standing guard.
Well, that's not very shrewd, Stannis thought. The queen seemed to be trying to conceal her identity with the robe and the veil, but Ser Barristan's presence would have announced to anyone watching that a member of the royal family was present. Barristan Selmy was not wearing his Kingsguard uniform, but Stannis had no doubt that most people in King's Landing would have recognized Barristan the Bold, no matter what clothes he was in.
Stannis admonished himself for falling for the cloak-and-dagger nonsense. Not just falling for it, but actively involving himself in it. He had refused to come, at first, when Ser Barristan had accosted him just outside the city gate with the summon from the queen.
"My order from the king is to see him immediately, as soon as I arrive in King's Landing," Stannis had protested. "Please let Her Grace know that I will come to her as soon as the king is done with me."
"But you have not arrived yet, Lord Stannis," Ser Barristan said solemnly. "You have not crossed the gate to the city. We are still outside King's Landing at the moment."
Stannis scoffed. "Surely you do not actually believe in that argument, Ser Barristan. And the queen is in the Red Keep, which is inside the city."
"No, she wishes to meet with you somewhere else. Not in the Red Keep, and not inside the city."
Somewhere else? Does that mean Queen Rhaella is on her son's side?
"The king has made his command clear, Ser Barristan. I have to obey my king," Stannis replied firmly. "I will see the queen afterwards, if she still wishes to speak to me then."
Ser Barristan sighed. "Her Grace was right after all, she knew you would be this stubborn," he said, his hand handing a letter to Stannis. "This is from her own hand."
Stannis stared at the letter with suspicion. "From Queen Rhaella? For myself?"
Ser Barristan was no longer hiding his impatience and disgust. "Yes, Lord Stannis, it is for you." He pushed the letter into Stannis' resisting hand. "If you still have any feeling for your late father's cousin, then read it. Read it now, Lord Stannis."
"The king is my father's cousin too," Stannis pointed out.
"So is the queen," Ser Barristan refused to give up.
"Why are you doing this, Ser Barristan? You, a member of the Kingsguard, sworn to protect the king, sworn to serve him with absolute loyalty," Stannis said.
"Perhaps there are times when the king must be protected from himself. From his own … instincts," Ser Barristan replied. There was not much conviction in his voice, however.
Stannis waited silently. Barristan Selmy had more to say, he knew.
Sure enough, Barristan Selmy continued after a while. "That's what I tried to tell myself, at any rate," he said, his voice full of disgust, but disgust with himself, not with Stannis this time.
"What is your real reason?" Stannis asked.
"Because … because I remember a young woman who was deeply in love with a knight, but was forced to marry her brother instead. Because of all the times I, and the other members of the Kingsguard, pretended not to see, or hear, when her brother … her husband … was mistreating her. We pretended not to see the bruises or hear the screams and cries."
Queen Rhaella and Ser Barristan?
Barristan Selmy laughed, seeing the expression on Stannis' face. "No, no, Lord Stannis. I am not that knight." He paused, his expression solemn again. "The knight she loved and lost, who could have made her life less of a living hell. Will you read her letter?"
Pretended not to see the bruises or hear the screams and cries. Stannis remembered the king's long and sharp fingernails digging into Queen Rhaella's arm during the feast. He took the letter from Ser Barristan, before he knew he had truly decided to read it.
But read it he did. It was a very short letter, consisting of only one sentence.
The last time I saw your father, Cousin Steffon said I could always call for his help if ever I have a need for it.
She had signed the letter simply 'Rhaella'. Not Queen Rhaella, or Rhaella Targaryen.
Stannis sighed. A thousand different thoughts and considerations passed through his mind.
"Do not trust anyone. Anyone at all. Not even my father. They all have their own schemes and plans." His wife's words to him before he left Storm's End rang in his ears. He almost wished that Lyanna was here, with him, at this moment. He violently pushed that thought aside. No! She is exactly where she should be.
"Lord Stannis?" Ser Barristan was staring at him. "Have you decided? Are you coming with me?"
There is nothing wrong with merely listening to what she wants to say, he thought. "Take me to the queen, Ser Barristan."
Barristan Selmy had led Stannis to this small sept. The dust and cobwebs indicated to Stannis that it had been deserted for quite a while.
"This used to be a well-known spot for travelers coming to King's Landing. But ever since the construction of new routes for the Kingsroad, this sept has been almost entirely abandoned. A septon is no longer assigned here, in fact," Ser Barristan had explained. "But we never know who could be watching, so we must still be wary, and careful."
Stannis and the queen kneeled in front of the Mother for what seemed like an eternity to Stannis, before she finally started speaking. "There is no time for long explanations or preambles, my absence at the palace will be noticed soon. You must accept the appointment, Stannis. As Aerys' Hand of the King."
Stannis could not hide his shock and astonishment. He had not expected her to say this.
The queen glanced at him, studying his face. "You are surprised? Did you think I asked you here to take Rhaegar's side, to fight for him against his father?"
Stannis' face reddened. "The thought did occur to me, Your Grace."
"Why?" The queen was asking. "Because a mother must always take her son's side? Otherwise she is not a good mother?"
Stannis shook his head quickly. "No. Only … the king … your husband …"
She closed her eyes. "There is no need to say it. I know what my husband is, Stannis, better than anyone else." Her hand was clutching his arm suddenly, insistent, desperate. "That is why you must take up the appointment. You are the only one who can stop this madness, this march to war against his own son. He will listen to you! He will!"
The queen's desperation must have driven her quite mad herself. "Your Grace, I do not have the influence over the king that you think I do," he said, as gently but firmly as he could. "He does not know me, has not seen me for years and years before the tourney, in fact. And he certainly does not trust me." Not the way the king seemed to trust the Spider, certainly.
"He trusted your father," the queen said. "He believed in your father's absolute loyalty, in fact. After all, your father died performing a service for Aerys."
"I am not my father, Your Grace," Stannis said sadly.
"But you are your father's son, and you reminded the king of Cousin Steffon very much. It grieves me to say this, but Aerys never liked your brother Robert. Never trusted him, in fact. With you, on the other hand, it is quite a different story."
The queen's hand was still on Stannis' arm. "My son has been foolish. Very foolish and naïve. Convening a council to choose a new king? Does he really believe that those men who claim to support him would be content with putting Rhaegar on the throne and leaving Aerys alone once he is set aside? No, they would demand Aerys' head, to secure Rhaegar's throne. Viserys' head too, and this child I'm carrying. They will kill us all and Rhaegar will be a mere puppet on the throne, powerless and under the command of those lords. Or they might even turn against Rhaegar in the end, killing him too, and putting one of them on the throne. It will be the end of House Targaryen. That must not happen! That cannot happen!"
"Why didn't you tell your son this?"
"I didn't know, you see! About Rhaegar's plan. Not until it was too late. He did not seek my counsel. He … he fears for me, for what his father might do to me." The queen smiled, a sad, sorrowful smile. "He is a sweet boy. My son, my firstborn." The smiled faded quickly. "But he should have told me. I am not as weak and helpless as people think I am."
Stannis did not want to say what he was about to say, but he knew it was something he had to point out to the queen. "Forgive me, Your Grace, but perhaps now that the king has arrested Prince Rhaegar, the plan has been foiled. The king will pardon his son at some point, and –"
The queen snatched her hand away from Stannis' arm, and stared at Stannis, disappointment shining clearly from her eyes. She sighed deeply, and muttered something under her breath Stannis could not hear.
"Your Grace?"
"Forgive me, Stannis, I've forgotten how young you are, even younger than Rhaegar," she said finally.
What does my age have to do with anything?
"Aerys will not forgive and forget so easily. And I fear what he might do to Rhaegar, as well as to the other two he arrested alongside Rhaegar."
Stannis understood now, the queen thought him naïve too, perhaps more naïve than her son, for thinking that the danger had been averted. But he did not think that, not really, the situation was more precarious than ever, Stannis knew. And yet he also did not see how accepting the appointment as Hand of the King would change anything. There was nothing he, Stannis Baratheon, could do in this matter, despite what the queen was desperate enough to believe.
"Your Grace, I am only here to inquire about the fate of Jon Connington, my sworn bannerman. If he is suspected of a crime, then he deserves a fair trial," Stannis said.
"You cannot help him as Stannis Baratheon, lord of the Stormlands. But as Stannis Baratheon, Hand of the King, you might have a chance," the queen replied. "Aerys wants you as his Hand, the Spider argued strenuously against it, I heard them talking. That means something, doesn't it? How can you let go of the opportunity to make things right? Isn't it your duty to try and prevent war and bloodshed?" The queen was almost pleading now.
"Perhaps it is not me the king wants, but merely to ensure the support of the lord of the Stormlands. He wants my bannermen, not Stannis Baratheon the man, or my counsel," Stannis replied without hesitation.
"You will regret this, one day. When you finally realized that you had a chance to save us all and you refused to take it because of your fear and insecurity. I promise you, you will regret this." The queen was no longer pleading now. She was angry. Livid, in fact.
Ser Barristan's voice was whispering insistently. "There are people coming. Your Grace, we must leave. Now."
The queen was having difficulty standing up, after kneeling down for so long. Stannis held out his hand to help her up. She refused to take it at first, but she finally did, holding on to his hand even after she was up. "Think carefully about what I said, Stannis. Very, very carefully. Before you make your decision. Remember this too – Aerys does not take too well to rejection."
She was gone before Stannis could think of a reply.