The news greeting him at Eastwatch was no better than the tidings he heard at White Harbor. Davos had brought back the youngest Stark child from Skagos for Lord Manderly, only to be told that Manderly had gone marching to Winterfell. To aid the Boltons or Stannis? Worse news greeted him at Eastwatch - or rumors and confusions - tidings of a pink letter, and the fate of Lord Commander Snow. If the King is dead, my Devan must be too, he despaired. He took the Stark boy and his wildling companion with him to Castle Black. At least the boy should be reunited with his half-brother.

It was the Red Woman he first saw when they arrived at Castle Black. She lives, and my son dies, he raged. She was trailed by a boy, nay, a young man, whose face Davos could not see. "Father," he heard. What sorcery is this? Is she mocking me for losing yet another son?

"Will you not greet you son, Lord Davos? He has been in despair, thinking his father is dead." Her voice was as melodious as ever.

Davos was too stunned to reply. He grabbed his son and hugged him, long and hard.

"But how? Why are you here?"

Devan seemed to take the question as a rebuke. "I wanted to march with His Grace, father, I really did. But His Grace told me that Lady Melisandre had need of my service, that she specifically requested for me to attend to her."

"No, no, my son. I am glad you are here."

Later when they were alone, he had asked her the reason. She shrugged. "You heard your son, Lord Davos. I have need of his service. And I know how loyal your son is."

"You could have asked for His Grace's other squire."

She stared at him with a piercing gaze. "Why do you think I asked for Devan?"

Davos hesitated. Devan had whispered to him his suspicion regarding her real reason.

"Perhaps…because I have lost four sons in this war, and you, you do not wish for me to lose more. But why should you care? We have never been friends, you and I. I tried to kill you once."

She laughed, a full-throated laugh. "I doubt we will ever be friends, Lord Davos. But we are allies, working towards the same goal. We had differences of opinions on the methods, shall we leave it at that? I have never doubted your loyalty to the King."

"Thank you, my lady. For my son's life. And for sparing my wife another despairing news."

She nodded, and lapsed into a long silence. We're both thinking of him, but neither one of us wants to bring it up.

"He grieved for you, when he thought you were dead," she finally said, very softly. "You were the only one he really trusted."

"He still had you," Davos replied.

"He has both of us now. Stannis is not dead." There was no hesitation in her voice, she was certain of this.

"How do you know, my lady? The letter -"

"I would have seen it in the flame if he is dead." She sounded less certain this time.

It was not her flame or her god she was basing this on, Davos finally realized. It's a conviction felt in the bones - I would have known it, felt it, the moment he died. He knew this because he felt that way too. We are each bound to him in our own way. Me with my finger bones, her .. Davos would have said before that she was bound to Stannis by the conviction that he is Azor Ahai reborn, R'hllor's chosen. But now…now he was not so certain. This is a different sort of bond, a different kind of conviction.

"His Grace could be captured by the Boltons. Or the letter could be a lie. I mean to find out. I will ride to Winterfell myself."

"And I will ride with you, Lord Davos."