"What did happen to the old Hand?" But Prince Viserys was already walking away, and Stannis never had his answer. Jaime Lannister followed the young prince closely, still looking bored and disaffected.

Where is Tywin Lannister in all this? Stannis suddenly wondered. On King Aerys' side, or Prince Rhaegar?

On the side that would bring the most advantage to his House, Stannis suspected. Tywin Lannister would most probably stay on the sideline while the fighting raged; only deciding one way or the other once victory seemed secure for one side.

How is that different from what you are doing? A voice whispered accusingly in his head. You are waiting, and watching as well.

I am not waiting to see who would emerge victorious, Stannis countered adamantly. The argument raging in his head was interrupted by the sight of a woman walking towards him. This was not someone he had ever met before, yet there was something very familiar about her. It was her eyes, Stannis finally realized. Her strange, peculiar violet eyes. Something Lyanna had told him about a woman Ned Stark had danced with at Harrenhal. Lady Ashara of House Dayne, one of Elia Martell's ladies-in-waiting. And the sister of Ser Arthur Dayne, the Kingsguard currently imprisoned along with Rhaegar and Jon Connington.

Stannis was surprised that she still had the freedom of roaming about the castle; that she had not been sent back to her family home, or had her movement restricted at the very least. But a moment later, he noticed two palace guards keeping watch on Ashara Dayne. She might not be imprisoned like her brother, but she was being watched. As they passed each other along the corridor, Lady Ashara's fingers furtively grasped his hand, a gesture that shocked Stannis to the core.

What is she doing? Is the woman mad? He tried to pull free, but her grasp was firm, and he did not wish to attract the attention of the guards keeping watch on Ashara Dayne. She was shoving something into his hand, he finally realized. A piece of paper. Her eyes were staring straight ahead, resolutely not looking at him, pretending not to notice him at all. Stannis folded the paper into his palm, and Ashara Dayne continued on her way, the two guards following her from a distance.

It was a letter from Elia Martell. "Letter" was too generous a word for it, Stannis scoffed. It was more a series of instructions. "Make your way here, turn there," so on and so forth. Stannis had no wish to follow those directions at first; he did not think he had any business meeting secretly with Rhaegar's wife. But then he recalled that Lyanna had asked him to keep watch to see if Princess Elia was being treated harshly. "She was kind to me at the feast, when she had every right not to be," Lyanna had said. And the look of the two guards following Ashara Dayne did not reassure Stannis regarding the fate of Elia Martell.

He followed the directions and ended up at a garden, where he spotted Princess Elia watching a little girl playing with a cat. That must be Princess Rhaenys, Stannis thought. She had her mother's Dornish look. Elia Martell seemed to be deliberately ignoring his presence. Stannis glanced around and saw multiple pair of eyes watching. Now he understood the other instructions in the letter.

He cleared his throat. "Princess Elia, I seem to have lost my way."

She finally turned to look at him, her expression for all intents and purposes looking genuinely startled. "Why, Lord Stannis. I didn't know you are back in King's Landing."

"I have only just arrived," Stannis replied.

She smiled. "That is my daughter's cat. Isn't he a beauty?"

Stannis could not see what was so special with the cat. He remained silent and waited.

"Come, let me introduce you to my daughter," Elia Martell said, beckoning him. The little girl was sitting down on the floor, talking quietly to the cat, her expression painfully solemn and serious. Elia sat down, smoothed over her daughter's hair, and pointed to Stannis. "This is Lord Stannis, your father's cousin."

The girl glanced up to look at Stannis, and held out her hand to him. Stannis hesitated, uncertain what to do. Elia nodded, looking at him meaningfully. Stannis knelt, taking Princess Rhaenys' hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Princess Rhaenys," he said.

The girl smiled and turned her attention back to her cat, whispering to him, laughing from time to time as if they were sharing in some private jokes. Stannis was about to get up, but Elia's hand grabbed his arm. It was a fleeting touch, but equally as firm and resolute as Ashara Dayne's grasp had been earlier. And just like with Ashara Dayne, Stannis flinched at Elia Martell's touch as well.

Stay, she was saying with her eyes. She continued smoothing over her daughter's hair, with both hands this time, but seemed to focus only on the region close to her ears.

She wants to talk, and this is the only chance to do so without being overheard by the guards watching her, but she doesn't want her daughter to hear us, Stannis finally understood.

"You shouldn't have come to King's Landing," Elia said abruptly, her voice insistent.

"I am here to ensure justice for Jon Connington, my sworn bannerman," Stannis said.

"It's a trap," Elia continued. "They want you in King's Landing as a pawn, a hostage, so Lord Rickard and the northern lords will not rebel on Rhaegar's behalf."

Stannis was incredulous; he could not see the connection at all. "What makes them think having me here will stay Lord Rickard's plan?"

"You are his son-in-law, the husband of his only daughter. His daughter who is currently with child. He wouldn't want his grandchild to be born without a father," Elia replied.

On the other hand, Stannis thought cynically, maybe his father-in-law was counting on the child Lyanna was carrying being a boy, a ready-made lord of Storm's End. He has no need for me any longer if that is the case.

"But Lord Varys objected to my appointment as Hand," Stannis said, recalling Queen Rhaella's words to him.

"Yes, but it was Lord Varys' idea in the first place to summon you to King's Landing. Not to be Hand of the King, of course. That was the king's sudden notion."

"What happened to the old Hand?" Stannis asked, anxious to hear the answer.

Elia was shaking her head. "No one knows. My father-in-law claims that he is a traitor, and he absconded once it is discovered that he is in league with Rhaegar. But Rhaegar would never have brought that old fool into his confidence." Elia paused, lowered her head to kiss her daughter's cheek. Her voice was softer when she finally continued; Stannis had to bring his head closer to hers to hear the words. "I know you have no fondness for my husband. We both know the reason why. But his life is in danger, and so are ours - myself and my children."

"Prince Rhaegar did not wrong me, he wronged my late brother," Stannis replied. "And he wronged you, Princess Elia," he pointed out.

"He is still my husband, and the father of my children. Our fates are bound up with his fortunes. That is the truth of it, whether I like it or not," Elia replied, her voice unwavering. She closed her eyes. "I tell myself that I must not judge them too harshly. Lyanna is so young. I was naïve and full of illusions at that age too."

"Rhaegar is not young and naïve," Stannis said.

Elia smiled, a sad, melancholic smile. "Not in actual age, no. But he had lived most of his life with a cloud of illusions and inside a protective bubble. His mother shielded him from the worst of his father's behavior while he was growing up, much like she's trying to do with Viserys now. It was only as Rhaegar started to be more involved with the Small Council that he realized the extent of his father's … problems."

Stannis waited.

Elia continued. "And Rhaegar has always been surrounded by people who not only greatly admire him, but are vigorous in showing their admiration; men and women both. He has strength of character enough that it did not turn him into an egotistical monster, fortunately. But his view of the world is … shall we say … very idealized. The shock when he finally realized the extent of his father's madness, and what he might have to do to save the realm - it was great indeed. He did not confide in me at the time, I blame him for that. Perhaps he was even tempted to run away, so he would not have to choose between what he saw as his conflicting duties. His duty to the realm, his duty to his father."

Stannis frowned. Was that what Elia truly believed? That Lyanna was merely a temporary diversion, Rhaegar's way of avoiding the hard choices he had to make?

Elia smiled, noticing his skeptical expression. "I know what you are thinking. That I'm merely deluding myself, wanting to believe that to feel better about the situation. Perhaps I am deluding myself. But you see, it is a choice I am making, a conscious one. I choose to believe that. It is a choice I had to make, so I can live with myself. We women cannot afford to live in resentment of our husbands forever; our fates are tied up with them in a way that men's fates aren't to their wives. You can afford to continue suspecting and resenting Lyanna for what she had with Rhaegar. I don't have the same luxury."

"I tried to delude myself as well," Stannis blurted out suddenly, to this woman he had no right to confide in. "It was not Rhaegar she loved, I told myself, it was what he represents. Freedom, choice, all the things she could never have."

"Did you manage to convince yourself?"

Stannis shook his head. "No. Maybe because I had the luxury of not believing, as you said." The conversation was veering into territory he was not comfortable with. He reminded himself of his reason for meeting Elia Martell. "Are you and your children … safe? Treated well?" Stannis asked.

"Safe enough. For now," Elia replied. "But you must leave King's Landing at once, before the king knows that you have arrived."

Too late for that, Stannis thought. But before he could tell her that, Elia had continued. "Whether you choose to stay on the sideline, or fight for Rhaegar's side, or his father's side, that is your choice. I would not presume to implore you to fight for my husband, Lord Stannis. But you must not let yourself be used as a pawn, to prevent the lords who have sworn their support to Rhaegar from coming to his rescue."

"I have a duty to my king," Stannis said.

"You don't think the king will dare harm you? Why? Because you are the son of his cousin? Rhaegar is his own son, his own flesh and blood," Elia replied.

"I have no such illusion. The king has no reason to favor me more than his own son. But that still does not negate my duty to be loyal to my king."

"You would choose blind loyalty over sanity prevailing?"

"I choose peace over war and bloodshed. War is not inevitable, it can still be prevented. The course is not yet set."

"If my father-in-law murders Rhaegar and his two companions, that will not stop war and bloodshed. The lords will definitely rebel then. Look at the king, mad enough to kill his own son." Elia was looking frustrated. "It wasn't supposed to come to this. There was supposed to be a grand council, and –"

Stannis interrupted. "So you knew, the whole time?"

"Not from the very beginning, but later, as the plan was developing, Rhaegar finally confided to me." She laughed bitterly. "I suppose he did so out of guilt, more than anything else. I almost ruined your life for another woman, and now I might do it again. But it is for the kingdom this time, that's what he told me." She stared at Stannis, conviction shining from her eyes. "Whatever his failings as a husband, Rhaegar is a good man still, in other ways. And he will be a good king, better than his father. It was not an easy decision for him, you must know that. He struggled with it for a long time."

"I need time to think," Stannis said.

"There's no time!" Elia insisted. "Any moment now –"

"Lord Stannis," a voice called out from behind them. Stannis turned around to see six fully armed and armored guards. "King Aerys summons you to attend to him in his bedchamber."

Stannis nodded. "I know the way," he replied brusquely.

One of the men smirked. "We are to escort you there, in case you lost your way again."

Elia Martell was whispering to him. "Run," she whispered. Was she mad? He had done nothing wrong, he would not run. Stannis stood up and started walking, the guards flanking him on all sides. They were not restraining him in any way, or even touching him, but Stannis had the uncomfortable sensation that he was being escorted the way a prisoner would be.

A tiny hand tugged on his sleeve. Princess Rhaenys. "Will you tell Grandfather that Balerion misses Father?" She said, looking up to Stannis with an intense expression, too intense for such a small child.

"Who is Balerion?" Stannis asked.

"My cat," the little girl said, pointing to the black cat now in her mother's arms.

Stannis smiled. "Yes, I will tell him that." He wondered however if he would even have the chance.