Chapter 13
King Renly I Baratheon
The allegiance of House Tyrell had been secured but he needed the entirety of the Reach to stand behind him if he is to take the throne from the Lannister pretender. Tywin has the Westerlands behind him, the Starks have the North, the chances of that crazy wench Lysa Arryn interfering are almost none and Dorne will stay out of it as they did so far. The Iron islands are worthless and the Riverlands are already on the defensive. The Stromlands are powerful but the Reach has more coin and soldiers which we do need.
His plan, for now, is to ride to each of the most powerful lords of the Reach and insure their allegiance, Hightowers, Fossoways, Ashord, Bulwer and Tarly. Master tactician like Randyll Tarly joining him would be a great boon, he gave Robert his soul defeat during the rebellion. After all of that is done he will march with his army to the Stormalnds and gather further support there before making his way to the capital and taking it.
"We are ready," Loras said as he stepped in the room.
"Good," Renly walked to Loras and gave his a quick kiss "Thank your for this, I owe you so much."
"You owe me nothing, you are the true king. Now let us not keep the other waiting," The two of them walked to the entrance of the great hall, the doors opened and they walked in. Lord Mace was standing on the far end of the room with his two older sons and daughter beside him, soldiers, servants and lords were present all around. They walked up the steps and stopped in front of his future father in law. Renly bowed on one knee as Mace took a golden crown with a ring of roses. On its front is a stag's head made of dark green jade with golden eyes and antlers. Silence filled the room before Mace spoke.
"By the law of this land I lord Mace Tyrell, Lord of Highgarden, lord paramount of the Reach crown you Renly Baratheon the First of His Name, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm" Mace placed the crown on Renlys head and Renly stood up moments later and turned to the crowd.
"A bastard pretender sits on my late brothers throne, a bastard that shares no blood with me, one born of incest. Help me retake my family's throne and I will give you all the riches and glory you could ask for. Stand with me and I will stand with you, fight with you side by side and we will return whats has been taken from me."
There was a short moment of silence before someone shouted "For King Renly!" soon others joined.
"For King Renly, for King Renly, for king Renly!"
Renly looked at Loras who stood with his siblings behind their father and smiled. Once the noise died down Renly decided to immediately make a proclamation.
"Lord Mace step forward," Renly said and the Lord did as asked.
"Your grace," Mace said.
"From this moment onward you will be my hand of the king," Renly said and presented the lord the hand's pin.
"You honor me, your grace, I will serve dutifully and faithfully."
"I have no doubt about that my lord."
Then Renly walked up to Margaery and offered her his hand and she took it and they walked to the front. "The hand's daughter the beautiful lady Margaery will be my queen," The room erupted in cheers. "And last but not least the lord commander of my kingsguard will be Ser Loras Tyrell."
Loras walked to them and bend the knee "I Ser Loras Tyrell, hereby swear on my honor and my allegiance to protect the King and his family. I will do my duties until death, and through that time, keep all secrets of the King safe from spread. I will not speak unless spoken to, I will take no wife, father no children and I will defend the King's land or pay the price."
"Rise Ser Loras, lord commander of the kingsgaurd," Renly said and Loras rose to his feet. Renly looked at the crowd of cheering people and spotted Jon Snow looking proudly at Loras. "Ser Jon Snow steap forward," Renly said and could see that the knight was surprised but still did as asked.
"Your grace," Jon said as he bowed.
"Ser Jon, I wish you to be the second member of my kingsguard." Jon head went up, a look of utter surprised on his face.
"Your grace I..."
"Don't say anything Ser Jon only that you except," Renly said with a smile.
"I do. I Ser Jon Snow hereby swear on my honor and my allegiance to protect the King and his family. I will do my duties until death, and through that time, keep all secrets of the King safe from spread. I will not speak unless spoken to, I will take no wife, father no children and I will defend the King's land or pay the price."
"Rise Ser Jon, knight of the kingsgaurd," Renly said and Jon rose to his feet. It was Loras who persuaded Renly to name Jon to the kingsguard and he was not wrong, Jon was one of the best fighters Renly saw in years and the fact that he and Loras make an excellent team could not be avoided. Renly looked at Margaery who had a soft smile on her face "My love Margaery and I will be wed in three days time after that I will focus on reclaiming what has been stolen from my family." Renly said and the crowd cheered, this time even louder.
Later after the festivities where done, he retired to his room with Loras. They entered the room and Renly immediately went to the table and poured them to glasses of Arbor red.
"You did great out there," Loras said.
"Thank you, I do have a neck for inspiring people," Renly replied.
"That you do and thank you for Jon, he will be a great asset I promise."
"I don't doubt that I saw him fight. Maybe if I had a hundred of him I would not need an army."
"Well you still need coin and as I said before I have an outrageous amount of money to give you."
Renly sighed "Men will die in this war."
"Men die in every war, they die every die. There is always a war somewhere in the world."
"I will have to fight Stannis if I'm to take the throne," Renly said with regret in his voice.
"People love you because of who you are, you are a kind, generous man Stannis has a personality of a rock, people will never follow him."
"My brothers always told me that I'm not like them, not strong enough, Robert would say that any man that has not gone to war is not a true man," Renly said with clear annoyance but there was also sadness in there, he still loved both of his brothers.
"Robert is dead and a little shit sits on the throne that belongs to you."
"I honestly prayed to the gods for Robert so live but they did not hear my prayer," Renly said in a remorseful tone.
"The way I see it we win this war we will all get what we want."
"And what do you know about war?"
"I don't know much about the war but I do know something about fighting and war is just a really big fight."
"After I wed Margaery I will go to Hornhill first to speak with Rendyll Tarly."
"Rendyll Tarly is the most boring man in the history of boring men."
"And one of the best military minds in Westeros, I will need him to win. The best course of action I see is to take the Reach army, go to the Stormlands, get more troops there, wait for Tywin to exhaust his resources fighting the Tullys and then strike the capital. We take the city, take the Lannisters hostage, free Ned Stark which will grant us the North and then focus on subjugating the Westerlands."
"A good plan, there is only one problem with that plan."
"What?"
"Tywin Lannister has pretty much occupied the Riverlands, Edmure Tully is trapped in his castle while Jaime Lannister sits outside of it. Unless someone intervenes Tywin will score an easy victory."
Renly put his hand on his chin "You have a point there, let's hope that Ned Stark's heir is a warrior and not a coward, but knowing the Starks its the former. But what even happens we will prevail."
"We will," Loras said determent.
"With you by my side I don't doubt it," Renly said.
"Now your grace the time was come to go to bed, would you like me to guard you in front of the door or from inside the room," Loras said with a mischievous smile.
"I would feel a lot safer if you stayed here lord commander," Renly said and smiled back.
Margaery
She did not know how to feel about everything that had happened, on one hand, she was delighted that she will be queen in a matter of days but on the other hand, she will marry a man she does not love and who loves her brother. A loveless marriage between the king and queen is one of the reasons this is happening in the first place.
When Loras first came to her with the proposition she wasn't sure what to do but after some explaining and Loras saying that Jon will be in the kingsgaurd with him she agreed, this way she would get both her desires the crown and Jon. It was a perfect plan which no even her grandmother would go against, she will be queen after all.
Renly naming her father his hand was a bit of a surprise but she was happy when she saw her father joyful expression. Loras and Jon being in the kingsguard was a good choice, they are some of the best fighters in the realm and would do their job dutifully.
But she still felt fear, for Renly to take the throne they would have to fight a war and that would bring both Jon and Loras in danger. Maybe Renly will not be like Robert and would stay in the rear with the guards while other warriors fought. She could not stand the thought of losing either her brother nor her love.
"You will be queen soon," said Elinor, sitting opposite from her at a table in the gardens.
"I will," Margaery said.
"Does that mean we would have to call you your grace every time we speak to you?" Megga asked.
"I don't know, maybe only in public but I'm still me even with a crown on my head," Margaery said with a smile.
"You will look beautiful with a crown," Mira said. Mira gave up her attempts to take Jon just as she said, much to Elinor's annoyance.
"Am not already beautiful?"
"You are…your grace," Mira said and they chuckled, she will need to get used to people calling her that.
Margaery was getting all she ever wanted, what her grandmother and father wanted too and she could now almost dance with excitement. She will get to be the queen of Westeros and keep the one man she truly loves.
The wedding that happened days later was spectacular, father sparing no expenses. Renly looked dashing in his enameled green armor and the stag crown on his head but she could not shake the wish for someone else to be standing there instead of him. Margaery wore a snow-white dress as her father escorted her threw the sept to her future husband. As they stopped in front of the Septon and Renly her father took off her maiden cloak that was in the colors of her house.
Renly then placed a cloak of his own house colors about her shoulders.
"With this kiss I pledge my love," they both said and kissed. The kiss was not like when she kissed Jon, the kiss was quick and unemotional whereas when she kissed Jon it was full of passion and love. But that much was expected.
"… and take you for my lord and husband" Margaery continued.
"…and take you for my lady and wife" Renly followed.
"With the blessing from the gods I now pronounce you to be man and wife, you are now one flesh, one heart, one soul, now and forever." the Septon said.
The wedding feast was large and she honestly had fun, Renly was charming, kind and had a good sense of humor. They danced several times and every time there was a smile on his face, like he truly loved her but she knew that that was just a mummery and she was glad for it. They shared the bed together that night but nothing happened.
Renly spent another two days in Highgarden before he finally had to ride out to meet with the nobles around the Reach, only some managed to come to the wedding due to it being so sudden. Loras and Jon being his kingsguard would accompany Renly on this journey, Margaery knew there was little threat in the Reach for them but she still worried.
She was standing in the courtyard with her ladies and father saying farewell to the group of riders that will depart in mere moments. Renly was in his full battle plate with a helm adorned with a pair of golden antlers while Loras and Jon wore their usual armor.
"Safe journey husband and come back to me quickly," Margaery said to Renly.
"I will my love, I promise," Renly said and kissed her cheek.
She turned to Loras "Stay safe, don't do something stupid while you go and talk to the lords."
"I won't, for who do you take me for little sister, you have my word," Loras said with his usual confidant smile.
And then came time for Jon "Take care and please come back safe," Margaery said almost pleadingly.
"You have nothing to worry about we are just visiting few castles to talk to their lords, there is no real danger there," Jon tried to reassure her.
"I know," Margaery sighed "Just promise me you will stay safe and that you will keep them safe."
"I swear on my honor, my queen," Jon said and she almost wanted to hit him for saying the last part. She will need to get used to him calling her queen instead of Margaery now.
"Lord hand I entrust you with taking care of the remaining preparations," Renly said to her father as he goes on his horse.
"Everything is in good hands, my king," father said. Soon they all mounted their horses and she watched as they left the castle, an additional two hundred men going with them on this journey for the king's protection.
Jon
It took them several weeks to reach the sits of all the great houses of the Reach. Renly proved to be a skilled negotiator easily getting support from all of the noble families, Ashord, Hightower, Oahheart and even Tarly. Lord Tarly being the hardest to persuade but in the end, he agreed to support Renly.
"Why should I support you, my lord?" Rendyll Tarly asked from behind his desk.
"He is king," Loras interjected. Renly and Jon looked at Loras before the king returned his attention to the lord in front of him.
"Your liege lord Mace Tyrell already supports me," Renly answered.
"You are fourth in line."
"Roberts sons aren't his, they belong to Jaime Lannister and Stannis is not made to be a ruler."
"Your brother sent me a letter claiming the same thing. What proof of the children's illegitimacy?"
"I'm all proof my need, Baratheons always have black hair and blue eyes, Robert has them, Stannis too, and my father before us. No matter who the mother is the Baratheon looks are always the same."
Lord Tarly looked like he was thinking about it. "Tell me why would I don't support your brother, Stannis is next in line and he is a proven battle commander, while you are a green boy," Jon could see that the shrewd lords comment did not please the king.
"I have the Stormlands at my side, Stannis has nothing, and I already have the support of Lord Mace and several other houses. Margaery is my queen and Ser Loras and Jon are in my kingsguard" Lord Tarly placed a hand on his chin and looked at us both. "You are a military man lord Tarly, you know better than anyone that you need soldiers to win a war and Stannis was none, he doesn't have men and he doesn't have a fleet, few ships at best."
"What us your plan for the campaign?" Lord Tarly asked and Jon could see that Loras was starting to get annoyed by the man's reluctance while Renly remained calm.
"March from here to the Stormlands, gather more troops, trample any resistance there and then move towards the capital and take it. If the Lannister attack us they would be met by a superior force and would be defeated," King Renly said and the lord still seemed reluctant.
"Which other houses have joined you?"
"Houses Orme, Oldflowers, Footly, and Dunn, but they were at my wedding, you are the first lord I decided to come to."
"Why?"
"You gave my brother Robert his only defeat, you are the best commander in the Reach: I could use a man like you, I would be honored if you joined me and I swear your loyalty will be rewarded."
The lord appeared to think about it some more, for a long moment, nothing by silence filled the air.
"My liege lord supports your claim and then so will I, house Tarly will stand behind the crown," Tarly said and the king smiled.
"Thank you my lord, I swear you made the right choice."
"I will start gathering my men immediately, and when the time comes me and by bannermen will join your host, my king."
Lord Tarly offered them to stay the night and they took it, sleeping in an actual bed being better than in a tent. Dickon was charged by his father to lead them to their rooms, being the kingsguard he and Loras would stay guard in front of the king chambers in shifts.
"So where is Sam?" Jon asked Dickon.
"He is in the library," Dickon answered.
"I will take the first watch, Jon, you can go and rest," Loras said.
"Fine, I will come and relieve you in few hours, you should get some sleep too," Jon replied and Loras nodded. Dickon showed Renly and them where they would be staying the night and Loras took his post while Jon asked Dickon to show him to the library. Once Jon entered the library he immediately spotted Sam sitting at one of the tables a selection of books scattered around him.
"Sam," Jon said and Sam screamed and fell off the chair he was sitting it. Jon chuckled a bit and went over to help his friend up.
"Jon, what are you doing here?" Sam asked surprised.
"I'm here with King Renly, we have come to ask your father for his support in taking the throne from the Lannisters."
"King Renly? I heard something was going on at Highgarden, lady Margaery being married to him, right?"
"Aye, she has, we intend to get all of the Reach and Stromlands and march on the capital."
"So you serve Renly now?"
"Aye, as his kingsguard, Loras too." Sam's eyes went wide.
"You are a kinsggaurd, that's great. I'm happy for you."
Jon smiled "Thank you, Sam."
"How long will you be staying?"
"Just this night, then we will be back on the road, we got more houses to visit."
"Its seems you all got what you wanted, Margaery, you, Loras, I'm glad to hear it."
"Thank you my friend," Jon looked at the table filled with books "What are you reading?"
"Oh, its a book about the Dance of Dragons, I'm halfway through it already."
"By maester Sivit?"
"Yes, you read it?"
"Aye I did, Willas gave me the book for my twelfth name day, an interesting read."
"It is, that's why I took it."
They spent the next several hours talking and japing, the japes coming mostly from Jon. Jon liked spending time with Sam, his friend having a sharp mind and has accumulated wast knowledge over the years. If you wish to have an intellectual conversation Sam was the man for it. It was then when he realized that the time for his shift was probably near.
"It was great talking with you Sam and I'm sorry to cut our time short but I have a king to guard now."
"I understand," Sam said with a small smile "Go, do your duty." Jon nodded and started walking towards the door.
"See you in the morning," Jon said.
"Y-Yeah, in the morning," Sam replied and Jon left to relieve Loras. When he arrived in front of the king's chamber his friend was standing in front of it, hand on the hilt of his sword, standing proud.
"I'm here to relieve you lord commander," Jon said with a smirk.
"Very well Ser Jon," Loras said with the same expression on his face.
"I never thought I would call you commander," Jon said.
"Well get used to it, you will be hearing it a lot more once more join our ranks."
"Preferably someone you can actually use a sword."
"As long as they are better then Blunt or Trant they have a chance. It is up to the king who is named to the kingsguard but I do have several candidates on my list."
"Who?" Jon asked intrigued.
"That's for me and the king to know, for now, you will find out if they are accepted."
"Fine, just go to your room already and let me do my job."
"Your job is to guard the king, take it seriously," Loras said in what he tried to be a serious tone.
"I take it as seriously as you;" Jon said and Loras left for his room.
The next morning they said their goodbyes to the Tarlys and continued onward to the next stage in their journey.
Loras
With the loyalty of the Reach houses secure with exception of the Redwynes do to Horas and Hobbar were being kept as hostages in the capital by the Lannisters. The plan was for Loras to lead the vanguard when they decide to move out and for father remained in the Reach with ten thousand men to guard it in case the Lannister tried to attack them, also close the Rose rode to cut off supplies to the capital to cause famine and weaken it.
As soon as Stormlandandes heard that Renly was crowd king they immediately started flocking to Renlys banner, the first being house Penrose and Caron, sending messengers to Renly. During this time Renly made a new addition to the kingsguard, surprisingly Robar Royce, the knight of the Vale appearing one day and proclaiming his loyalty to Renly and soon after Lord Bryce Caron.
Now, Renly, Lord Mace, Loras, Jon, Lord Estremont, lord Wensington, Lord Mathis Rowan and lord Tarly were in the kings solar looking over a map and disusing the potential fight they would have if Stannis decided to challenge them and what will they do with Tywin Lannister.
"Robb Stark has marched south with a large army, he intends to free Lord Eddard and his sisters from the Lannisters," Renly said.
"This is good, it means he will probably side with us," Estremont said.
"I'm not certain yet, knowing Eddard he will probably support Stannis if we don't persuade him otherwise," Renly said but Loras knew that was unlikely considering that Renly asked lord Eddard to support him just before the coup and was declined. Maybe the son will be more cooperative. With Jon, they might be able to persuade Robb to join them.
"Jon do you think you could talk to your brother about joining us?" Loras asked.
"I think so, it's been years since we last saw each other, but we both want the same thing so I believe he will join us," Jon said.
"Glad to hear it," Renly said with a smile "My lords I think its enough for one night, I believe we would all profit from so rest."
"As you wish your grace," Tarly said and all left the tent but him.
"You really think it's possible for the Starks to join us?" Loras asked Renly.
"I highly doubt it, but they can at least wear the Lannisters out."
"You think that Ned Stark's son is capable to do that?"
"He doesn't need to win every battle he just needs to tire Tywin out, kill as many of his men as he can."
"And then we come in and take them out."
"Yes."
"You don't think we should hurry this up a bit, Ned Stark might support Stannis but he should not be a prisoner and the same goes for his daughters."
"With an army, this large it will take us at least a month and a half to reach Kings Landing, and it will get only larger."
"I know but still maybe we should take this more seriously, we are at war."
"I'm taking this seriously, let me worry about the war, we let our enemies tire out and then we strike, what's the hurry?"
"I made a promise to Jon I would keep his sisters safe and I failed. I should have taken them with us when he fled," Loras said full of remorse. Ever since they found out about what happened Jon hasn't been himself completely, he is trying to hide it, to act normal but Loras could see threw his friend facade and he understood somewhat, he would probably be the same if something happened to Margaery.
Renly stepped closer "Nothing is going to happen to them, they are too valuable everyone knows that."
"I'm aware of that but I still, they are children trapped in the lion's den. Jon has been asking me when will we make to rescue them, what I'm supposed to say to him?
"Tell him it will be soon, when I sit on the throne he will get his family back safe and sound," Loras knew that there was nothing more he could say about the matter, all they could do now was wait to march for the Stormlands.
"As you wish, your grace" Loras said and exited the room feeling Renlys gaze as he did so. When he exited the room he found Jon several meters away waiting for him.
"What did he say?" Jon asked with y concerned look of his face.
"He said that it will be soon, but first we need more troops,"
"We have enough troops, we can assault Kings Landing tomorrow and the city would fall, what are we waiting for?" Jon asked.
"Stannis has pressed his claim also, Tywin has a large army in the Riverlands, if we are to win we have to be patient, to do things accordingly." Jon frowned, it was easy to see he did not approve of how slow everything was going.
"Patient! Patient! You want me to be patient when its the lives of my family that are at stake. Every day we linger here it's one more day my father rots in a dungeon." Jon said angrily. Jon lasing out caught Loras off guard he did not expect it from his friend.
"I know," Loras said bowing his head "I understand."
"You understand?" Jon shouted "No you don't understand because it's not your family that is in the hands of our enemy. After years I finally got to see my father and sister and as soon as I left they were arrested."
Loras sighed "You are right I don't know how it is but I can sympathize with you, I want to help you free them more than anyone but this is war, we can just blindly charge at something and hope for the best."
Jon looked at Loras with sorrow in his eyes, he put his back to the wall and sat on the stone floor. "Before I left I promised Sansa I would be there when she needs me, that I will always be there when she needs my help. What I'm doing now?"
Loras lowered himself and sat next to Jon "We will get them out, Lord Eddard is strong he will endure, Arya well," Loras chuckled slightly "Arya is Arya, I doubt they are able to contain her in some room and Sansa is stronger then you think," Loras said trying to reassure his friend.
"I just…if something would to happen to them I would never forgive myself."
"I know it's hard but you can't just think about the worst, there is always hope."
"Starks don't do well in the south," Jon said sadly and Loras knew what he meant, his grandfather and uncle both died in King Landing and his aunt died in Dorne.
"You did well in the south, better than most southerners."
"I'm not a Stark, I'm a Snow."
"Not this again," Loras said annoyed. Every time Jon felt sad or depressed he would go to his bastardy, claim that he is nothing more than a bastard. "Is your father Ned Stark?"
Jon looked at him "Yes."
"Is Robb Stark your brother?"
"Yes."
"Are Sansa and Arya your sisters?"
"Yes."
"Then you are a Stark, may not be my name but by blood and judging from what I saw I heard you look more like your father than Robb does. If you ask me that story about your father and Ashara Dayne just might be true." Jon looked at him surprised but quickly returned his gaze back to the floor.
"Ashara Dayne threw herself from a tower, the baby was a stillborn girl," Jon said sadly.
"What if the baby lived and has a boy?"
"The boy would still be a bastard."
"The boy is the most stubborn fool in the world."
"Fuck off," Jon said.
"The boy who can't see when I girl is hitting on him."
"Stop it."
"The boy that pissed himself when he was ten."
"That's enough!" Jon said agitated and rose up. Loras rose up too.
"Enough of your melancholy, we will get your father and sisters back, win this war and get back to me throwing your ass to the dirt."
"I think you got that reversed," Jon said, his face softening.
"Maybe but until then I suggest we grab something to drink, Robar is taking this shift so the two of us are free for the night." Jon looked at him skeptically "Don't look at me like that, let's go wine will help you get the bad thoughts out of your head."
"Fine, lead the way," Loras smiled and proceeded to walk to his room with Jon.
The gods must have heard his words that night but instead of granting him that wish they decided to play a cruel joke. Loras was sitting with his father and Margaery in the hands solar when the maester arrived with a message from Kings Landing.
"What's it says?" father asked.
"I think its best for you to read it for yourself, my lord," Lomys said and handed father the scroll.
Fathers face went pale as he read the message.
"Father, what is it?" Margaery asked in a panicked tone but father did not answer.
"Father?" Loras asked.
"L-Lord Eddard had been executed for treason," father said and Loras could not believe what he heard. There was no way that this was true, the Lannisters would never kill their most valuable prisoner.
"A lie, a ruse of some sort," Loras said.
"They would never, the Lannisters would never," Margaery said stunned. The only thought going threw Lorass head now was Jon, how he would react. We waited here too long and now a good man is dead because of it.
"Jon," Margaery said, a look of despair and worry on her face. After a long moment of silence, father spoke.
"He needs to know, we can't keep this from him."
"You are right, I will tell him," Loras said.
"No, I will," Margaery interjected.
"Then we both will," Loras said and Margaery nodded, they soon left their fathers solar and headed towards Jon's room. They entered just as he was about to go replace Robar.
"Margaery, Loras what's going on?" Jon asked. They stayed silent, not knowing how to tell what they just learned. "Margaery?" Jon asked and Margaery ran to him, embracing him, tears started flowing down her cheeks.
"I'm sorry Jon," Margaery said.
"Sorry for what?" Jon asked confused "What is wrong, what has happened?"
"Jon, your father, he, he was killed in the capital." Jon's eyes went wide in shock.
"What?"
"I'm sorry Jon," Margaery said again.
"This is not true," Jon said.
"A raven just arrived with the news, lord Eddard was executed for treason by the order of King Joffrey. I'm sorry." Jon did not say anything he just stared at Loras. Loras walked over to Jon and Margaery and embraced them, Jon not reacting just staring into nothingness.