Davos
The smell of smoke filled the air carrying with it the stench of death. Davos was troubled by how familiar the scent was becoming to his senses as he stood rigid. Several pyres lined up the beach as Lady Melisandre moved between them leaving a fire in her wake as she granted them her flaming last kiss. Atop each one was the body of deceased strangers from the sky. When the star fell from the sky, Lady Melisandre suddenly entered the Great Hall declaring that ships had to sail to find drowning men. Stannis had sent Lord Velaryon and himself to take ships out to sea and find them. Davos had thought it madness at the time but when his Black Bertha followed the falling star they found not just men, but women and children trapped in strange machines struggling not to drown. They rescued who they could from the water, but the sea was rough and unrelenting that night many drowned.
"Lord of Light embrace these fallen," Melisandre said. "Though they come from a land beyond our sky, guide them home through the wind. Carry their ashes beyond this realm."
"Bring them peace, R'hllor." The crowd spoke.
Stannis had ordered the dead not to be disturbed to allow the survivors to carry out their own burial rites, but the strangers had said their practice was impossible and Lady Melisandre and Stannis' wife Lady Florent insisted they must be burned so the King relented. He looked over at the small assembly as they watched the flame, most stoic, a few in tears as the dancing flames consumed their lost comrades. Davos glanced to his side as he heard quiet sobbing a small boy with messy blonde hair was crying as the pyre with a man and woman atop was lit aflame. It broke the sailor's heart to witness it, he had been there struggling to rescue them as they held their son over the water into his arms before their strange craft was swept away violently. They washed ashore a few days later drowned and bloody.
"It will be alright lad," he said. "You must be strong now."
The boy, Leon, said nothing but reached out by taking Davos' hand. The boy reminded him of his sons when they were young, losing one's parents was an inevitable part of life but the child was clearly ill-prepared for such a fate. He looked no older than young Shireen, some men would look down on a boy for displaying so much emotion, but Davos made no move to reprimand him, it would simply be unkind. He looked over at the assembly of survivors quietly watching a few performing movements with their hands and whispering prayers, it brought him some comfort to know they at least had gods though in this place it was best they kept them private.
Stannis stood with his court and assembled knights watching the ceremony with the same stoicism as ever. Ever since the night the star fell the King had become troubled, every night he brought the leader of the survivors to Great Hall for conversations that would continue for hours on end. Davos had attended a few meetings, but they brought him little comfort each one leaving him more lost. The strangers spoke of flying ships, worlds beyond the sky, and a Union of the Stars a vast alliance of nations with more citizens than the whole of Westeros, perhaps the entire world. Davos might have doubted their claims, many of the Lords had declared them mad but they brought with them proof of their claims. Dancing paintings were made by machines that could capture moments in time and display them, machines that could talk share information, and answer queries, and their metallic crafts were made from metals that were simply impossible for craftsmen to forge by hand.
Stannis had ordered that the survivors be treated as Highborn guests, not long after reports came from the North that similar orders had been made by Robb Stark. The objections of the Lords grew quieter, and they began to listen more closely to their stories. Some nights Davos would find Stannis staring silently at the stars a troubled look on his face. Even the enigmatic Lady Melisandre was troubled recently, every night she would be in her chambers calling to her Lord of Light for answers, she did not speak of the visions they saw but her wide eyes and subtle bite marks on her lips indicated they brought her no peace of mind.
As the funeral ended the pyres were now nothing more than empty husks and the assembled group of Lords quickly departed the beach, not sparing many words. King Stannis remained as the survivors from the Union slowly began ascending the staircase save for their leader, Boris Abraham, who went by the title of Doctor. Boris was an interesting person, to put it mildly. He was insatiably curious and often talked so fast that he outpaced his conversation partner in an instant if his mind wandered too much. Stannis seemed to enjoy his company well enough as Boris quietly conversed with the King and Stannis looked over to Davos motioning for him to join them.
Davos glanced down at young Leon who was still holding his hand. He looked around for someone to take the boy when he noticed Princess Shireen was lingering nearby, though her mother often shut her away Stannis permitted her to join the funeral. Shireen was quite curious about their guests herself and seemed to be developing a friendship with Leon as they shared stories. Davos leaned down and gently patted the boy's messy blonde hair.
"Go with the Princess, Leon," Davos said. "Shireen will tell you another story of dragons."
Leon nodded wiping his tears. "Thank you, Mr. Seaworth."
Davos smiled other Lords might have corrected the boy firmly, but Davos found the strange title of 'mister' enjoyable. If anything it seemed oddly fitting, he often felt more of a 'Mister' Seaworth than 'Lord' Seaworth especially where his highborn peers were concerned. As Leon walked away toward Princess Shireen who eagerly grabbed his hand and guided him toward the castle, Lady Florent did not look pleased but remained silent. Davos watched the children depart before joining King Stannis and Doctor Abraham. Boris was an older man to Davos' eye with silver hair and green eyes who looked rather handsomely young despite his aged features. He smiled as Davos approached despite the grim mood.
"Hello Lord Seaworth," he said. "I was just thanking King Stannis for the funerary service; it was quite valuable."
"Valuable, Doctor?" Davos said. Boris used that word often when he experienced something unfamiliar, he was unsure what the Union of Stars considered to be valuable. Truly he once asked the Doctor about it and his explanation had left him nursing a headache.
"It gave us insight into your culture. Though I'm more of a biologist myself there is significant xenopological, well in your case anthropological value in seeing your funerary practices."
Davos nodded not familiar with the words, but he was aware that Doctor Abraham was something called a 'scientist' a learned man in his culture like a Maester without the strict vows of that order. He recalled that biology was the study of animals and life while the other term referred to studying people. It was far beyond him as a man who could not yet read but he found the Doctor to be less stiff than most Maesters he had encountered. He seemed to be quite fascinated by even the most minor of things.
"Well, I dare say the practices of Lady Melisandre are far from common," Davos said. "If you do not mind me saying your grace but the worship of her Lord of Light is not the majority in Westeros."
"I see," Abraham said. "Would the more common belief be the worship of the deities you call…the five?"
"The Faith of the Seven," Davos said. "Seven faces, one God. Though I'm not the man to discuss the gods with you."
"There is no shame in saying the truth," Stannis said. "I have embraced a new faith because the Seven have done nothing for me in my life. Should the Lord of Light grant me the powers to take what is mine then I shall not be burdened by renouncing them."
"Fascinating," Boris murmured to himself. "A religious schism in addition to a succession crisis."
He produced one of his machines from his pocket and began writing down his thoughts with rapid pressing of the fingers. He recalled the name being 'MoCom' which was a combination of words that meant nothing to Davos, so he had forgotten the meaning. The foreigners had so many strange tools it boggled the mind how they even kept up with them all.
"Are you not a follower of the Lord of Light, Lord Seaworth?"
"I trust you to keep this to yourself, but I must admit I keep to the Seven," Davos said. "I am a man of King's Landing, in Flea Bottom sometimes the Seven was all you had."
"I understand it may be a sensitive topic," Boris said. "I will try not to bring it up too much."
"Very wise," Davos said. "Do you keep a faith yourself, Doctor?"
"Oh well I'll admit I'm not the most pious man, but I was raised in an Abrahamist family," Boris said. "I would be lying if I said I did not say a few prayers ever since this whole mess began."
"Abrahamist? You share the name," Davos said. "Is that part of your worship?"
"Ah well, I suppose it is. Abraham is the name of the patriarch of the Hebrew people. Long ago in a faraway place called Levant on my world, he was called by God to lead his people to the lands of Canaan. So, the story goes anyway. I would offer you a copy of the Three Holy Books for reading material, but I would be violating quite a few laws."
"Does your Union forbid the teaching of religion?" Stannis said.
"Oh no, not at all," Boris said. "Religious tolerance is one of the Union's founding principles there is just a matter of proper time and place. Theological debates and thorough religious studies and comparisons require an extensive list of approvals and academic permissions. A precaution against inciting conflict from theological... disagreements for lack of a better term."
Davos smirked slightly amused at the thought of imposing such rules on Lady Melisandre. Though he kept the comment to himself, he had his doubts that the King would find such a jest amusing. Quite well the opposite most likely.
"Well, there is some connection between us," Stannis said. "One God, yours must be a powerful one. Abiding over a people who wander the stars."
"Some may say," Boris admitted. "Though all gods guide in their own way do they not? In time maybe even your people will join us."
Stannis loudly snorted, Davos almost dared to think it was nearly laugh. "That would be the day. We must seem like primitives to you. Children with swords fighting over stone and trinkets while you wander the skies."
"I would not say that exactly," Boris said. "The scale is different and what is valued but the Interstellar Union and the Seven Kingdoms are not so different. When my ancestors left my ancestral home world many dreamed that when we left for the stars we would leave all our problems behind. War, social division, nationalism, yet all those things followed us the names changed, the weapons changed but fundamentally we became neither better nor worse."
"I may not have wandered the stars, but the seas are similar. Men value ideals but many fall to the same old troubles in the end." Davos concurred. "Flying ships and new worlds would hardly change that."
"The ideals perhaps," Stannis said. "But there is a fundamental difference. I have read the histories of Westeros. Do you know how far back they go? Eight thousand years. In eight thousand years we have lived the same as our ancestors. The banners change, the gods change but we have never altered our way of life. The only difference between Aegon the Conqueror two hundred years ago and myself is that he had dragons. Tell me again how old is your Union, Boris?"
"Well… The IU celebrated its 100th anniversary about thirty years ago."
Stannis simply pointed toward Boris for emphasis. "A hundred and thirty years. When Rhaenyra Targaryen and her brother were dancing on dragons, men were wandering the stars."
"That…troubles you, your grace?"
Davos had to admit the thought gave him some pause. He was not educated like Stannis was, his familiarity with the histories was legends told in Flea Bottom and Princess Shireen reading to him. He certainly was impressed men on different worlds could walk such a path he still did not see what was weighing on Stannis' mind.
"It troubles me," Stannis said. "Because it is an insurmountable challenge. I could unite the Realm; I could unite the whole damned world, and we would be less than insects to the Union. The combined strength of every army, every man, woman, and child would be no threat. Though what truly leaves me disturbed is the matter of how you arrived, Doctor. Your ship could have traveled above us for a hundred years and even the finest Maesters would be none the wiser. But you were attacked, someone not only saw your ship but had the means to destroy it."
He gripped the walls tightly.
"It is not just that your Union exists. It is the fact that someone with that power is already here, and we know nothing."