Dragonstone, 5th day of the seventh moon 296 AC

Renly Baratheon had been the Governor and Lord of Dragonstone and the Blackwater Bay for already three years now, three very unhappy and nerve-wracking years and dear gods but did these three years felt like a lifetime already, thought Renly as he made his way from the training court back to his rooms, followed by his squire and bastard nephew Edric Storm.

Sometimes, especially like now, after having to deal with the old Targaryen followers not only on Dragonstone but also having visitors from the other Targaryen loyalist Islands, he wondered if he should not have rather stayed on Tarth and accepted the Evenstar's offer to just marry Brienne and try his best to sire an heir into her, for there the weather was nicer, the people were friendly, Brienne loved him well enough to see only the best in him and Lord Tarth himself had chosen to ignore Renly's little adventures with the very handsome sailor in the little house at Tarth's western Shore.

And it was not that Renly has disliked Brienne back then or now, even though it had been a bit embarrassing for him that not only Brienne was a better and stronger swordfighter than he himself was or ever could hope to be, but also that she was already then with barely thirteen as nearly tall as him, even though he was three years older than her.
No, it was mostly that she was really not pretty by even half of his standards and if he ever had to marry a woman at all, not that he would really like to do so, then he would really prefer this Bride to be a lot prettier, mostly for his own aesthetic pride.

But to be honest, the ten Years of being fostered on Tarth since shortly after his sixth nameday had been enough for him, even though the Sapphire Island and it's Lord had helped him immensely after he had survived the siege of Storm's End as such a young boy but lost Mother to the hunger and having to live with the guilt back then, heavily intensified by the grief of his older brothers, especially of Stannis, for her.
Stannis, his hard and unbendable older brother, who had left his young bride in her father's home, just two days after his wedding, who had returned to their ancestral seat with just a few men and on ruined horses when the news about the huge forces from the Reach on the march came to be known, Stannis' who's iron will and discipline had hold Storm's End and the people in it together throughout the year of the dreadful Siege.
Stannis who had starved himself often enough of the few meagre rations throughout that hard time to rather give mother and Renly what he could.
And mother had given her portions to Renly too, only to starve too much then and to became ill and feverish and then...

Well, Stannis had not been able to look at his youngest brother back then anymore and had sent Renly to Tarth as soon as possible after their oldest brother became the new King , even though Stannis and his wife would not be allowed to leave the capital and to live on Storm's End until Robert's own heir had been born and so Renly's own fostering on Tarth had left their ancestral seat completely in the hands of a Stewart for three years.

Oh how it all had hurt him when he was a little boy all these years ago, but his brothers certainly had their own problems to work through and neither of them were very sensitive brothers, even back then or before, as far as he could remember.

And Renly knew it all to well of how Stannis hated it back then, to have to stay in King's landing and not be allowed to leave for his own domain till their oldest brother sat safely and secured by an heir in his uncomfortable throne.

Renly grinned slightly at his thoughts and the never ending dislike, nay hate between his older brothers, while he tugged his belt loose, gave it to Edric and then pushed his dusty legclothes down and took the rest of his clothing off.

He watched as his illegitimate nephew picked everything of from the floor and then took it away to be cleaned. The boy had just had his ninth nameday a few weeks ago, but he was already quite accomplished in doing all his necessary tasks.
A shame that Edric had been born a bastard, he was a lot more nice to have around than Robert's heir with Cersei, though that might also be so because Edric had never the unpleasure to grew up with his own maternal family around him, like Joffrey did.

The Lannisters were a haughty, arrogant and tasking lot at the best of times, no wonder Joffrey came out as he did, surrounded by not only his mother and uncle but also a ton of lesser Lannister cousins as servants.
Renly could only imagine of how Edric might have come out if he would have grown up in the Florent Household, large-eared pestilences that they all were to be around with.
Arrogant, sly and never to be truly trusted people, at least the men of them. Delena, Eric's mother, had been pleasant and enough though, the three times that Renly had seen her in his life and she was the one after all, to make sure that her son was grewing up far from the Reach and her own family and as close as possible to his father.

Not that Robert cared about this bastard anymore than as he cared about his other children, legitimate or not.
And Stannis had not been happy those seven years ago, when the small ship had arrived at Storm's End, with a bedraggled Delena and her toddler on board and the Florent girl left little Edric with the Lord of the Stormlands before secretly escaping to Sevens might know where.

Rumors were back then that she had made over to Essos, other Rumors had been that she went to the North, unbelievable as that sounded but most Rumors were that she had found herself a Sand lover lived somewhere happily in Dorne.
Neither burdened by the Reach conflict nor by embodiment of her foolishness with Robert.

Renly wished her only the best, for he liked having Edric around and was forever thankful of Delena's idea of bringing the boy to his paternal family.

The youngest Baratheon reminded himself to stop thinking about his older brothers as much and all their accompanying relations, for he felt a headache already starting behind his eyes.
He longed for a bit of peacefulness and pleasure right now.
The bathtub had been already filled for him and he sighed blissfully as he sat down in the warm and soothing water.

But he could not completely turn of his mind, for to many thoughts were in his head right about now.
Not much anymore about his brothers but rather now about the always troublesome Lords of the Blackwater Bay and their endless complaints.

Renly regretted it not for the first time that he had been forced by his brothers to become the Governor here on this Sevens bedamned, dragon spawn infested and ugly pile of Stones.

Dragonstone should have really stayed under the control of the Stonewolves, like in the first ten years after the War or at least they could have done him and everyone else then the favor and extinguished the Targaryen loyalists, before their Cousin, the Warden of the North called them back to their cold home Island and gave over this dreadful place to his fosterbrother Robert.

Oh well, thought Renly to himself, nothing to be done then and thus more work for himself to fulfill since then and in the years yet to come, especially now, when Monford Velaryon had once again decided to come to Renly personally to complain about a thousand things and to surely put a few more spies wherever possible.

It was still a better Situation here for Renly in the old Targaryen seat than as in anywhere in the Reach, where the Hightowers, the Tyrells and the Florents were still keeping their feuds against each other and against the surrounding Kingdoms, hot and bloody and occasionally even very very deadly.

It was sad for such a rich and important lands like the Reach that even the Targaryens loyalists here in Blackwater Bay and the surrounding areas had more sense, to at least keep their troublemaking unbloody, than the proud Hightowers and the greedy Florents thought Renly with a tired chuckling while he leaned back in the tub and he felt the headache slowly leaving his mind.

Ahh, the Reach.
What a waste.
Still so very bountiful but at the same time a neverending headache for the Crown and everyone around them.
And in the Reach, among the three great Houses?
Oh well, not his Problem thought Renly to himself.
He would enjoy his bath, would meet Velaryon later on and they be pleasant enough to each other while at the same time despising each other and as soon the Lord of the Driftmark had left Dragonstone again, his Stormlander Household Guard would make sure to search for eventuell new Velaryon spys.
A neverending game here in Blackwater Bay.

Renly closed his eyes while he enjoyed the warm water and leaned deeper into the bathtub.
He definitely needed to find himself a Lover again.
One who was not from Dragonstone and also not from any of the other Islands in the Bay. He had learned THAT particular lesson very quickly in his first year here.

A deep sigh...

It was a shame though, Aurane was definitely handsome as hells, but sadly a Velaryon to the bone, even though he was only born as a Waters.

Oh well... Nothing to be done about that.