Horror was etched on the faces of everyone watching, the more pious ones muttering prayers and chants. It was not like they were surprised by magic, hell they were in a place only magic can create. No, they were surprised by the creation of a demon, and that too with the face of Stannis Baratheon.
"What did you do?!" Robert roared in anger.
"I—" the words died in Stannis' throat. Even he was shocked by what he was seeing, a demon with his face… A son… that's what that red witch had promised him. But this?!
"Father has not done anything!" Shireen stood in defence of her father. "This hasn't happened! He had done nothing!"
The King and his niece stared at one another and Robert had to respect the spine the usually timid girl was showing. Jon Arryn put a hand on Robert's arm and told him to sit down. And once the King had taken his seat, Shireen stared at everyone else.
"My father has done nothing!"
Nobody spoke and Stannis urged his daughter to sit. Shireen listened, but she was still glaring at them all. Stannis put an arm around his daughter's shoulder and held her close.
[SHADOWLANDS, RENLY'S TENT, NIGHT]
[The camp is alive with activity, despite the late hour. Soldiers move in every direction. KING RENLY BARATHEON and LADY CATELYN STARK are seated across from one another while LADY BRIENNE OF TARTH stands at guard.]
Renly's eyes widened but a fraction. No… his brother would never… They may not like each other much, but Stannis would never kill him.
"You swear it?"
"By the mother. My son has no interest in the Iron Throne."
[RENLY takes a long sip of wine.]
"Then I see no reason for hostility between us. Your son can go on calling himself King in the North. The Starks will have dominion over all lands north of Moat Cailin, provided he swears me an oath of fealty."
"So just the North, not the Riverlands" Lyanna murmured.
"The Riverlands would do better under Baratheon rule than Lannister rule" Catelyn muttered to her.
Lyanna nodded with pursed lips.
"And the wording of this oath?"
"The same Ned Stark swore to Robert eighteen years ago. Cat, their friendship held the kingdoms together."
"A good oath to swear" Ned nodded. He remembered the oath well like he'd sworn it just yesterday.
"And in return for my son's loyalty?"
"In the morning, I'll destroy my brother's army."
Renly sits in tense silence, not unnoticed by the rest.
"When that's done, Baratheon and Stark will fight their common enemy together, as they have done many times before."
[RENLY walks across the tent. BRIENNE removes his cloak.]
"Our two houses have always been close, which is why I am begging you to reconsider this battle. Negotiate a peace with your brother."
"Negotiate with Stannis? You heard him out there. I'd have better luck debating the wind."
[BRIENNE continues to remove RENLY's armour.]
"Please bring my terms to your son. I believe we are natural allies. I hope he feels the same. Together we could end this war in a fortnight."
[The wind howls, and a dark cloud of mist races into the tent. CATELYN watches it cross the floor. BRIENNE gasps as a dark spirit takes form from the mist, rising behind RENLY. The dark spirit stabs RENLY in the back, through the heart. RENLY gasps and the spirit hisses. The dark spirit dissipates into a wind as RENLY starts to collapse.]
Renly stood as the rest stared in shock and horror.
"You preach about what is right and honourable, but you would use dark magic to kill me instead of meeting me in open battle. You would kill your brother! Kinslayer! " he spat.
Renly rushed out of the hall, ignoring all the rest and went straight to his chambers.
He paced, he screamed and he threw things around in anger, but most of all he cried. He cried from frustration, from anger, from hurt. His brother, his own brother would kill him over a throne! It was one thing to kill him in battle, something Renly would have accepted, but this? Not this. This abomination.
The doors to his chambers opened and swung around, ready to curse out whoever it was that walked in.
It was Robert, his eldest brother.
"If you're here to defend that… that thing! I want you to leave!" Renly screamed.
Robert said nothing, taking hold of the wine jug, filling a cup and holding it out to him.
Renly slapped it away.
"Not everything can be cured with wine, Robert!"
"No, but it will dull the pain" Robert grunted.
Angrily Renly stared at him before he took the offered glass and inhaled the drink.
"This won't get me drunk."
"Then you keep drinking until it does."
"No, the wine here doesn't get you drunk."
Robert grunted.
"I'd forgotten that."
Renly snorted, before he broke into peels of laughter, Robert joining him.
"He fucking kills me with black magic! Stannis Baratheon the righteous kills me with black magic!" Renly wheezed before the laugh died and he was simply staring at his brother.
"It was the red woman."
"Robert you can't be—"
"You know Stannis better than I do. You tell me, would Stannis ever do that if he's in full control of his actions?"
There was a tense silence.
"We must keep the red woman away from Stannis. I'll go as far as to ban that religion in Westeros and order a kill on sight for any priests. I'll make sure Stannis doesn't fall off his high horse and you don't get stabbed by a fucking shadow."
"You're doing a lot for Stannis and me. How brotherly of you."
"Better to start now than let it be too late. Now stop throwing a tantrum like a woman and continue to watch with us" Robert grunted.
Renly rolled his eyes but followed Robert back out. The two took their seats in silence. Neither met the looks thrown at him, especially Stannis' who was trying to get Renly's attention in his own stoic way.
[RENLY'S TENT]
[SER LORAS TYRELL mournfully kneels beside RENLY's body. LADY MARGAERY TYRELL paces in the background. LITTLEFINGER enters the tent, just short of a panic.]
"That fucking weasel!" Catelyn sneered. Trust him to take advantage of this situation.
[KING'S LANDING, TYRION'S CHAMBERS]
"Killed? By whom?"
"Accounts differ. Most seem to implicate Catelyn Stark in some way."
Catelyn shifted in discomfort. Of course, she'd be implicated in some way.
[LORD TYRION LANNISTER picks up a goblet.]
"Really? Who'd have thought?"
"Some say it was one of his own Kingsguard, while still others say it was Stannis himself who did it after negotiations went sour."
[TYRION pours himself some wine.]
"Whoever did it, I say well done."
"It's not what Varys says. He says Renly's army is flocking to support Stannis, which would give Stannis superiority over us on both land and sea."
[CERSEI finishes pouring her wine.]
"Littlefinger says we can outspend him three to one."
"By taking more loans and driving the crown further in debt" Jon Arryn sighed.
"Has your father taught her nothing?" Joanna hissed to Tyrion.
"I fear she hears what she wants" Tyrion sighed.
"And I say Father raised you to have too much respect for money. Stannis Baratheon is coming for us, sooner rather than later."
"Aren't there other things you should be doing, like sealing my daughter in a crate so you can ship her away?"
"She'll be safer in Dorne."
"Yes, I know how concerned you are for her safety."
"I am very concerned for both your safety" Tyrion assured his niece and nephew, "even if it might not seem like it."
"We know" Myrcella smiled at him tightly.
"It so happens that I am. Myrcella is a sweet, innocent girl and I don't blame her at all for you."
"So clever. Aren't you always so clever with your schemes and your plots?"
[CERSEI walks past TYRION and sits.]
"They are going to attack us. We need to be ready."
"No need to concern yourself over it. The king is taking personal charge of siege preparations."
"Oh we're all doomed" Tyrion sighed.
"May I ask specifically what the king has in mind?"
"You may, specifically, or you may ask vaguely. The answer will be the same."
"It's important that we talk about this."
"It's the king's royal prerogative to withhold sensitive information from his councillors."
[TYRION exits in frustration, while CERSEI takes a sip, enjoying the upper hand.]
"She'll be gone once we're back. It's only here I need to stand here" Tyrion sighed deeply.
Joanna frowned sadly. Deserved or not, she was still a mother and Cersei was her child. It still stung.
[ THE STREETS OF KING'S LANDING]
[BRONN stands waiting among the bustling cityfolk next to a small tent, where TYRION and SER LANCEL LANNISTER meet in secret.]
"It's wildfire."
Jaime jumped violently.
"Brother?" Tyrion asked.
"Nothing" Jaime shook his head and waved the matter off.
Tyrion frowned at his brother.
[STORMLANDS, RENLY'S CAMP]
[STANNIS's forces have landed at RENLY's camp. SER DAVOS SEAWORTH meets STANNIS as he enters the main courtyard, and they move through the compound at a rapid pace.]
"Fools love a fool. I grieve for him as well, for the boy he was, not the man he grew to be."
Renly spat at that, but he said nothing.
"I need to speak to you - about what I saw in that cave."
"I thought I made it clear to you there'd be no need to speak to me on this matter."
"Listen to Ser Davos" Shireen muttered. She hid it well for a child her age, but even she was horrified by what happened to her uncle… and how her father was involved in it.
"All my brother's bannermen have come to my side. Except the Tyrells, who fled like cowards. They won't be able to resist us now. Soon I shall be sitting on the Iron Throne."
"Nothing is worth what this will cost you, not even the Iron"
"I'll hear no more about it."
"When do we sail for King's Landing?"
"As soon as I've consolidated my troops. We'll make short work of the Lannisters' fleet. Once Blackwater Bay is cleared, we'll deliver our troops to their doorstep and take the city."
"And will you bring Lady Melisandre with you?"
"That's not your concern."
"If you take King's Landing with her by your side, the victory will be hers."
"I never thought I'd have reason to doubt your loyalty. Was I wrong?"
"Ser Davos is loyal" Shireen assured her father.
"I know" Stannis' pursed his lips.
"Loyal service means telling hard truths."
"Oh, truth again. All right, what's the truth? The hard truth?
"She's a foreigner preaching her foreign religion. Some believe she whispers orders in your ear and you obey."
"What do you believe?"
"That she's gotten you under her spell by feeding you what you need to hear" Robert grunted, "which is why you don't see the wrong here.
Stannis kept silent.
"You won those bannermen from Renly. Don't lose them to her."
"We set out for King's Landing without Lady Melisandre. And you lead the fleet into Blackwater Bay."
"Your Grace, I'm honoured, but my time on the sea was spent evading ships, not attacking them. The other lords won't be happy."
"Most of those lords should consider themselves lucky I don't hang them for treason. Hard truths cut both ways, Ser Davos."
Shireen smiled. Ser Davos deserved that position most of them all.
[IRON ISLANDS, MORNING]
[LORD THEON GREYJOY walks up a dock dressed in armour. He gazes on a ship and smiles. The crew walks up noisily.]
"You're the crew of the Sea Bitch? I'm your commander. Welcome."
Yara snorts.
"You've really forgotten our ways."
"I haven't had long to get used to them" Theon muttered.
"Yeah well, I don't think you will" She stared at the Starks. Theon did not. He couldn't meet their eyes.
[The crew ignores THEON.]
"Stop. Stop! Your captain commands you to stop!"
"Where are we headed, Captain?"
"The Stony Shore, to raid their villages. There'll be spoils in it for you, and women if you do your jobs well."
"And who decides if we've done our jobs well?"
"I do. Your captain."
[BLACK LORREN stands directly in front of THEON, challenging him.]
"I have been reaving and raping since before you left Balon's balls, Captain. Don't reckon I've got much use for your ideas on how to do it. Don't reckon I've got much use for a captain at all. I think I can do the job of captain real well myself. All I need is a ship. You wouldn't know where I could find myself a ship now, would you?"
[BLACK LORREN walks away down the steps to the dock.]
"Why are they being like that?" Theon asked his sister.
"You haven't earned their respect" Yara answered.
"I am their Lord's son."
"And? Have you earned their respect because of it?" Yara raised a brow. "The Ironborn need their respects earned. It is not given so easy."
Theon scowled. All he imagined, all he thought of the Iron Islands was wrong.
[HARRENHAL]
[While ARYA prepares food, LORD TYWIN LANNISTER presides over his war council.]
"The Starks have overextended their lines. Now that summer's over, they'll have a hard time keeping their men and horses fed."
"The Starks understand winter better than we ever will. The cold won't beat them."
"Our spies report growing discontent among the Northern lords. They want to return home and gather the harvest before the crops turn."
Rickard clicked his tongue in distaste. That was always a threat.
"And I'm sure if those same spies snuck into our own encampments, they would report growing discontent amongst the Southern lords. This is war, no one's content. We've underestimated the Stark boy for too long. He has a good mind for warfare, his men worship him. And as long as he keeps winning battles, they'll keep believing he is King in the North. You've been waiting for him to fail. He is not going to fail, not without our help. So how do we stop him?"
"We've worked through the night, my lord. Perhaps we'd profit from some sleep."
"They thoroughly underestimate Father just because he is blood" Tyrion rolled his eyes.
"Yes, I think you would, Reginald. And because you're my cousin, I might even let you wake from that sleep. Go, I'm sure your wife must miss you."
"My wife's in Lannisport."
"Well, then you'd better start riding. Go, before I change my mind and send her your head. If your name wasn't Lannister, you'd be scrubbing out pots in the cook's tent. Go!"
[REGINALD exits. ARYA comes to TYWIN's side to pour him some wine. He stops her.]
"Not wine, water. We'll be here for some time. Girl, where are you from?"
"Maidenpool, my lord."
"He knows you're not lowborn now" Tyrion warned.
"How? I did nothing!" Arya shouted.
"You spoke. Lowborn don't speak like that" Tyrion explained.
Arya scowled. How was she supposed to know how lowborn people spoke?
"And who are the Lords of Maidenpool? Remind me."
"House Mooton, my lord."
"And what is their sigil?"
[ARYA does not answer, she does not know.]
"A red salmon. I think a Maidenpool girl would remember that. You're a Northerner, aren't you?"
"Perhaps we might benefit from the girls knowing house sigils like the boys" Ned suggested and Catelyn nodded.
[ARYA nods]
"Good. One more time, where are you from?"
"Barrowton, my lord. House Dustin. Two crossed long axes beneath a black crown."
"And what do they say of Robb Stark in the North?"
"They call him the Young Wolf. They say he rides into battle on the back of a giant direwolf. They say he can turn into a wolf himself when he wants. They say he can't be killed."
"And do you believe them?"
"No, my lord. Anyone can be killed."
[They stare at one another, unblinking.]
"Fetch that water."
"You've… impressed Father" Tyrion was not sure how to feel about that. He's tried all his life and this girl did it in one conversation.
Arya smiled smugly… before she remembered who she impressed. Then she scowled.
[Arya walks to fetch water. She turns a corner and sees JAQEN H'GHAR coming towards her, dressed as a gold cloak. She lowers her head, trying to be unnoticed. They pass and she continues. She enters the catacombs and passes a helmet. She realizes that JAQEN has forgotten it and that he might return. Indeed, JAQEN turns the corner, walking slowly.]
"A girl says nothing. A girl keeps her mouth closed. No one hears, and friends may talk in secret, yes?"
"He's strange" Elia commented.
"Not many speak like that" Oberyn nodded. There was something odd about the man.
"A boy becomes a girl."
"I was always a girl."
"And I was always aware. But the girl keeps secrets. It is not for a man to spoil them."
"You're one of them now. I should have let you burn."
[ARYA picks up the helmet and thrusts it into JAQEN's hands.]
"And you fetch water for one of them now. Why is this right for you and wrong for me?"
"I didn't have a choice."
"You did. I did. And here we are."
[ARYA fills her water pitcher, and steps back as JAQEN approaches her.]
"A man pays his debts. A man owes three."
"Three what?"
"The Stranger takes what is his, lovely girl. And only death may pay for life. You saved me and the two I was with. You stole three deaths from the Stranger. We have to give them back. Speak three names and the man will do the rest. Three lives I will give you, no more, no less, and we're done."
Oberyn inhaled sharply.
"Brother?"
"He's a faceless man" Oberyn whispered. "Only a faceless man would keep records of such a thing. He's one, I am sure of it!"
Elia turned to the wall with worry, unable to withhold it for the Stark girl.