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Chapter 7: Davos

They'd lost, Davos thought as he looked out over the city from the Red Keep. He'd thought they had a chance at least, even outnumbered as badly as they were. Stannis had won Storms End, King's Landing wouldn't be so different, or so he'd hoped. Stark had made it through the God's Gate yesterday, after Axell Florent had put his men halfway across the city from where the attack had come. Stannis himself had had to ride out and repel the forces, but they'd ultimately been unable to close the gate. He'd vaguely hoped they might be able to hold there, the gate removing whatever numbers advantage Robb Stark held.

Numbers had won out in the end though. He'd heard the reports as Stark men opened more fronts at more gates, and they'd eventually been spread too thin. Defending the city with 15,000 men against close to 60,000 had been impossible. He turned to Stannis, hoping he would have some way out of this, some plan for victory. If Stannis even saw his look, or that of the other lords on the rampart watching the battle he made no move to acknowledge them. He only stared at the city, grinding his teeth.

A few of the more nervous lords were glancing back and forth at each other, hoping one of the others would speak up and break the silence. Davos doubted they would though, most of them were minor lords or commanders who'd couldn't be trusted, every experienced commander was in the field doing their best to slow the Tyrell advance. Just before he'd started to speak a page rushed into the room, carrying two messages. The king turned and took them, before dismissing the boy with a nod.

The first note deepened his frown, but that was swiftly erased by whatever the second message said. It was difficult to tell but Davos thought he could just barely make out a hint of a smile on Stannis' face. Stannis strode back to the battlement, looking west toward the Old Gate and said "Robb Stark is in the city."

There was silence for a moment as Davos tried to work through that. One of the other sergeants apparently processed it faster as he declared "We need to send a force after him then. If we take out Stark we end the war. Please, your grace, allow me to lead the assault."

"I'll personally be leading the attack." Stannis replied "Stark's proven to be a capable commander, and I'll take no chances with ending him." He headed down the rampart and indoors, to one of the war rooms they'd set up over the past few days. He immediately went over to a table with a map of the city on it and began to lay out his plan.

"The first message was from Ser Morrigen, the Tyrell's have control of the walls and he's retreating towards the keep. Visenya's Hill is still holding, and will continue to for as long as possible, bombarding the Tyrells. Start firing the trebuchets on the castle walls once the Tyrells have entered range. Hold them as long as possible, and keep them focused on the castle. Ser Rolland, you've command." After the knight nodded he moved his focus to the western end of the city. "The scouts report Starks split off from the main body of his army to let the rest of his men in. Stark's forces will be divided but he'll still have a sizable number with him. I'll take 1500 men from the castle garrison and engage him. Once I've ended him I'll return to the keep and force a Tyrell surrender," He finished, dismissing them.

They were leaving the room when Davos heard Stannis call out "Ser Davos, stay behind." Davos nodded and stepped out of the way. What use could Stannis have for him now, he wondered. He hadn't played any major role in the battle so far, after they'd fished him out of the river and he'd woken up he'd been too grief stricken to do anything for the first week. Dale, Allard, Mathos and Maric's death had almost destroyed him, it had taken the arrival of the royal family and Shireen to move him out of it. Selyse devotion to the Lord of Light had increased even further in the wake of the victory, she was fanatical now. Davos had taken over as Shireen's guardian, the Queen was too focused on paying worship to the Lord of Light, she even seemed to have forgotten the death of her uncle in the battle to storm the Red Keep. It also let him spend more time with Devan, who Shireen had made friends with, in the absence of the highborn children who'd fled the capital after the first battle. He was snapped out of his musings when he heard Stannis say "You haven't had much to do with this battle so far."

Stannis was staring at the map of the city, searching it like it held the answer to winning this battle. Davos stood speechless while he did so, there wasn't any answer he could think of, all he'd done was stay in the castle and watch from the ramparts. Honesty would be the best policy then. "No, your grace, but I'm no commander and I've no interest in winning glory, so that suits me just fine."

Stannis lips turned up for a moment at that, not enough to be called a true smile, but enough to show his amusement. "Always honest. A good trait in any man." His expression flipped to an even deeper scowl than before as he continued. "If Axel Florent had been as honest about his ability to predict Robb Stark's attacks we wouldn't be in this position now. Tell me honestly, Ser Davos, what do you think of my plan?"

For a moment Davos thought about lying, he'd never heard Stannis admit doubt before, and honestly it scared him, but Stannis had asked and he'd sworn to always serve Stannis faithfully. "It seems desperate. But we're outnumbered five to one and they're in the city, so desperates all we've got."

Stannis stared at him for a long moment before nodding once, and leaning back over the map. "Yes." He said in a soft voice, but the iron in his voice returned as he continued, "Ever since the Tyrells joined with Stark, I knew it would come to this, another desperate siege against that fat fool." His expression turned darker as he continued "Always hiding, waiting, plotting. They'd never dare take a crown for themselves, but they'll marry themselves to any pretender who claims one. Stark, Lannister, Baratheon. If the Targaryen boy was still alive I imagine they'd try to marry someone off to him instead."

"Lannister, your grace?" Davos sputtered out, he'd nothing about plans for that marriage.

"It was in the Imp's notes. A plan to offer Joffery's hand in exchange for their aid against me. I've no doubt they accepted. A rebel, an incestuous bastard, even my own brother, anything for a crown." For a moment Davos thought he saw a hint of regret, Stannis' iron look weakening slightly as he continued "He never should've tried for the crown, it was mine by rights, we should've fought the Lannisters together. But Renly always was a fool, pretending to be a great knight, or some hero, or some legendary king. Then Mace Tyrell got it into his head that he didn't have to only pretend at being king, and an end had to brought to his foolishness."

Whatever weakness had slipped into Stannis left him as he said that, and the next words were colder than any he'd ever heard his king speak before. "So I'll use this last, desperate plan. I'll go out, I don't trust any of the other commanders to do it. Every useful commander's already in the field, or died on the Blackwater, and if Stark can do one thing its lead an army. I won't send some fool out to get my men killed trying to beat him. I'll take Stark's head, and his armies will splinter without him holding them together. After they surrender I'll burn Mace Tyrell's fat body and all his heirs for their crimes. Axel Florent will become Lord Paramount of the Reach." He paused for a moment finally standing up straight, and turning to face Davos.

"You wonder why I'm telling you this." It wasn't a question and Stannis didn't pause for an answer. "I want you to know my plans, for dealing with the traitors who've conspired against me. I trust you, Ser Davos, you aided me in a time of need and have served me loyally and well since. Tell me then, what would you have me do with Northern Lords, and the River Lords who follow Stark against me, the lords who follow Mace Tyrell on his path to kingship."

"What do you counsel, Ser Davos?"

I'm a smuggler turned knight, I've no idea what to do with them was what Davos wanted to say. But Stannis wouldn't accept that, he also wouldn't accept the lie he thought about telling. Stannis wanted vengeance, revenge against all those who wouldn't accept his rightful rule, and Davos could council that. Tell Stannis to simply kill them as well, teach a lesson to any usurpers. Part of him wanted it too. To punish the fools who forced him to keep fighting after he'd lost four sons, and might cost him his fifth. That wouldn't help anyone though, and so he said

"Give them mercy. Lesser lords and peasants follow their high lords into battle, they've little choice in the matter. The North and Riverlands started their campaign justly, to beat back the attacking Lannisters and free their liege lord. Let them return with justice, after all Robb Starks twisted it into. House Stark will be gone after you take Robb Stark's head, choose a new lord paramount from among the northern lords and let the war end. If you need, marry someone into their family to ensure their loyalty, but let it end."

Stannis was quiet for a moment before he said, "Axel Florent suggested exactly the opposite earlier, as did my wife. They both said to burn the traitors and heathens, make an example of them so great none would ever doubt my power, or the Lord of Lights, ever again. I asked Shireen what she thought, she'll be Queen after me, and will have to deal with these problems. She said the same as you, make peace, put an end to the war."

He paused for a long moment before saying "You and Shireen have the right of it. I'll make peace with them, the Tyrells will stand as an example."

Stannis approached him before continuing. "Kneel, Ser Davos. For your honest council and loyal service, I name you Lord of the Rainwood, Admiral of my Fleets and Hand of the King."

Davos stopped for a moment, shocked, before he managed to stuttered "Your Grace, I'm honored but I'm only…" An upjumpted smuggler? Barely a knight? Whatever it is it's not a…

"A Lord. One who has served me faithfully, no matter the situation or cost. I need a competent man to command the Keep's defense." He stepped back and motioned for Davos to rise before heading toward the door. Davos followed him down several sets of stairs, until they made it to the main hall where most of the remaining prominent lords were either waiting for orders or preparing to move out.

They turned and bowed as Stannis entered the room and declared "I have named Lord Davos Hand of the King and Lord of the Rainwood. Until I return he has command." Reactions to the announcement were mixed from what Davos saw. Axell Florent fixed him with a glare of utter hatred, as did the Queen's Men who followed him. He thought he saw looks of relief on the faces of some of the King's men thought, so he'd have some support.

Stannis walked back over to him while he waited for the rest of them to get ready. "There will only be about a thousand men left to the defense. If it looks like the main force is about to get overwhelmed, order them back into the castle, there will be room. Mace Tyrell will move to siege the castle, buying me enough time to take Stark's head." Stannis ordered. "If by some poor turn of luck I get Stark's head but his men take mine in revenge, raise up Shireen. Without Stark the alliance should still fall apart, and the men will have orders to rush back immediately after I kill him. That should give you enough men to hold the castle." He stopped for a second before saying "Protect my family, Ser Davos, no matter what."

"I will, your grace." He replied, and Stannis nodded. He turned and walked back to one of the waiting captains.

"Are the men ready?" he heard Stannis ask the man. When he received an affirmative he turned and headed for the castle doors without saying anything else, to end the battle beyond.

Commanding a defense was easier than Davos had thought it would be. Stannis had already assigned most of the officers their positions, and so all Davos had had to do so far was coordinate logistics. It also helped that none of the enemy forces had made it to the castle walls, the farthest advances by the Tyrell's had just put them in range of the trebuchets.

The commanders Stannis had put in charge of major operations were more than competent, and were organizing well throughout the city without much input from him. He mostly received messages about how the main lines were holding out, and watched the battle through a spyglass. It was difficult to make out troops, or even who was who, but he could get a general sense of how things were going, and it wasn't well.

The force near the trebuchets on Visenya's hill were slowly being pushed back on multiple fronts, and the main force was holding just south of the castle, using the buildings and hills to their advantage. They were reducing the numbers advantage, but the main Tyrell force had steadily been pushing them back.

All of the peace was interrupted when a soldier dashed out onto the balcony. "Lord Davos! A rider from Stark! With a white flag!"

He rushed over and grabbed the man by the shoulders "You're sure?"

The soldier nodded, and a smile broke out across Davos face. Either Stannis had slain Stark, or another soldier had. Likely the later, he didn't think Stannis would have reached the boy yet. "Lets go see his terms then."

He was most of the way to the main hall when he heard a great roar, and felt the castle shake slightly. He looked at the men following him down the stairs and saw looks of shock in their eyes. What in the Seven Hells was that?

He dashed down the rest of the staircase and into the main hall. He saw the other knights and soldiers gathered around the windows. He, and the men he was with, pushed them aside to get a better view and he sucked in a breath and swore when he saw familar green flames. Where had wildfire come from?

"A sign! From the Lord of Light! He's delivering his judgment on the rebels and usurpers!" He heard one of Melisandre's devotees say. It was taken up by some of the more faithful lords, but Davos didn't believe it. Nothing good ever came of fucking wildfire.

"It looks to have hit the Tyrell soldiers, at the least." One of the captains near him said.

Before Davos could say anything he was distracted by shouting and a disturbance making its way towards him. It was a knight shouting that he needed to see the king or an officer, but what caught his attention was that he was shouting about the wildfire. Davos tapped two of the men near him on the shoulder and told them to follow him as he pushed toward the knight.

Davos didn't know the sigil on the knights chest, but the flowery and ornate armor made him think he was from the Reach. "I'm the King's Hand, now what's that about the wildfire?" He said once he'd reached him and gotten his attention. The knight looked him over, clearly not sure whether to believe what Davos said, but the two knights behind him seemed to legitimize his status and so he began to speak.

"My apologies for flying a false flag of surrender to get in, the Queen thought it would be the best way to ensure I made it to the castle. I am Ser-"

"I don't really care who you are or how you got here. What I care about is that wildfire." Davos interrupted.

"Yes, well." He stuttered out "That's what I'm here about. We've received intelligence that there are caches throughout the city, and I think that should serve as proof enough." He finished gesturing to the window.

Davos could barely process that, but it made sense. That was too much wildfire for it to be a single pot, or even as small stockpile now that he thought about it. "You're sure?" he heard himself say. When the knight nodded and the shock had passed a bit he asked "And what does Stark want. I doubt you were sent just to warn us."

The knight flinched at that slightly, it seemed he might actually have been sent just to warn them. He eventually found an idea though, puffing out his chest and saying "Surrender. We would have won this battle without the wildfire, and we'll still win after it burns out. A surrender now will merely save your lives."

There were shouts of protest from the rest of the crowd around them, which Davos silenced with a hand. Apparently his new authority was good for something. "Don't be ridiculous. That wildfires burning your men, not ours. I know your king's out there, fighting right now, while King Stannis is safe within the castle walls. All I need to do is pull our men back into the castle, and wait this out, while yours burn as they try to leave. Now try again."

It was a bluff, but based on how pale the knight went it would work. He thought longer this time before saying defeatedly, "A clean withdrawal. Your men stop shelling ours, and let us leave unmolested and we let yours do the same, we can work out the rest after."

Hopefully your surrender. Davos nodded this time "Good. That deals acceptable, in light of you bringing this to us." He then turned to one of the captains and continued "Send men to our forces on Visenya's Hill and in the streets telling them to fall back to the castle. Let him go unmolested back to the Stark forces and tell them the same."

The captain nodded and ran off, and the Stark knight did the same. He signaled to what was left of the military leaders to follow him, the rest of the nobles didn't need to hear this. As they headed up the stairs he turned back to one of the men and said "Make sure a rider is sent to the King, he'll want to know. And do we still have that Alchemist, from the pyromancers guild, in the dungeons?"

"I think so, I'll send a man to check and retrieve him, if you want." Davos nodded in reply, and the captain sent a sergeant and a few other men to take care of it when they reached the next landing. "Send men to the trebuchets, tell them to cease firing." He'd honor the terms they'd made, and if Stannis still killed Stark then it would be a perfect end. Until then it would just be waiting.

They'd returned to the command room Stannis had been in earlier, when another commander entered about 15 minutes later, asking after some of the other captains. Davos let them go, there wasn't much of a point in them all sitting around waiting, and they were Queen's men anyway. The only distraction was watching the city go up, and that wasn't anything anyone wanted to focus on. More blasts had occurred, and there were raging fires throughout most of King's Landing, though the Northern area where Stannis was headed to hadn't gone up yet. It was a long time before the soldier returned, this time with the pyromancer Stannis had had taken into custody.

Davos didn't know the man's name, and didn't care to learn it. He grabbed the pyromancer, dragged him outside onto the balcony and shoved him against the railing. He growled in a voice he didn't entirely recognize as his own "Why is the city on fire?"

The look in the man's eyes as he studied the destruction disgusted Davos further. Rather than horror the man almost seemed enraptured, it took him a moment to answer but when he did it wasn't what Davos wanted. "I don't know. I DON'T KNOW!" he shrieked as Davos started to push him over the edge. "Lord Lannister only requested the substance for use on the Blackwater! We gave him all we had to use there!"

Davos pulled him back, and let go of him. The pyromancer straightened himself out for a moment before looking back at the flames and continuing. "I can tell you two things though. There's a lot of it."

"I figured that out." Anyone with eyes could have.

"I mean in the individual caches, and more than you might think. Ten or Twenty pots wouldn't be enough to cause that much damage. You'd need barrels, dozens of them in each spot. It would take years to create that much, even if we had every apprentice working on it. It's old too. It wouldn't be that volatile and explode like that otherwise. The substance grows more unstable with age, you see. If you need more proof look there." He said indicating an area north of Visenya's Hill that was glowing, but not wholly aflame. The buildings looked like they were warping, and the whole ground was glowing ominously.

"The substance spread out over an area, meaning it leaked out of whatever was holding it, forming a pool. Jars don't leak, so it must have been stored in barrels. When it leaks like that it destroys one a larger area as a burning pool, rather than simply exploding." He finished.

"As fascinating as that was it doesn't help us much. How did that much wildfire even get into the city, and without you knowing?"

"Based on its age I'd guess that it was a Targaryen effort. We experienced a… loss of our senior members in the sack 19 years ago. Many of them were in the Red Keep working for Aerys, and were killed when the city was taken, along with important ledgers and documents. Even I was only an acolyte at the time. Although…, yes, I do remember some kind of larger project, though it was kept highly secret."

It would make sense. Robert had no interest in wildfire, and burning the city seemed a uniquely Targaryen thing to do. Apparently Jaime Lannister was good for something in the end, even if only by luck and betraying the king.

"You'll tell the king about this, yes, advise him to be lenient?" The pyromancer cut in.

"Return him to his cell." Davos said icily after glaring at him for a moment. As the soldiers dragged him out, despite his protests, Davos turned back to the other lords, all of them with looks of fear on their faces.

"If there's fire all throughout the city, then there's no reason it isn't in the Red Keep itself." A pointy bearded lord said, Lord Estermont he thought.

"You'd have to be mad to do that!" A mustachioed lord shouted back, one who'd name Davos didn't know.

"He was called the MAD King!" The first replied.

"Enough!" Davos roared. "Go get the Princess and the Queen, and bring them to the main hall." He directed one of the captains, who ran out to obey the command, before addressing the rest. "Now I don't know if there is wildfire in the keep, but I'm not eager to chance it. We'll get the Queen and the Princess and pull out of the Red Keep with all the men. We'll fall back to the harbor, and wait on the ships. When the fires burned out we'll reenter the city. Worse case, we pick up Stannis from the Iron Gate and break Stark's lines on the Southern end with all our forces and make for Storm's End."

Stannis wouldn't like it but it was their only real option. If they could do it quickly enough Stark wouldn't be able to mount a defense and they'd only need to break through the thinner siege lines. The armies size might have been reduced, but they could still field enough men to break the lines.

"That would mean abandoning the city." A younger lord pointed out.

"There won't be a city to abandon if it comes to that." Davos retorted.

That got a few nods, before one of them piped up saying "We should leave men in the keep, to hold in case Stark men try to take it."

"If Stark sent a messenger to us then he's pulled his own men out too, and they have to be panicking too. They won't keep pushing to the castle. Not through that." Davos replied, gesturing at the glow from the balcony.

"Still we should-"

"The next man who suggests leaving men in this Hell will command them through it." Davos cut him off. He wouldn't allow a highborn to leave some commoners to burn to death to protect castle that wouldn't be taken. That had threat silenced them and so he continued "Gather the men, we'll head down into the main hall before we start to make-"

"Lord Davos!" A soldier shouted as he burst into the room. "The Queen's men! They're holding the princess, won't let any of us near her. They're going on about you as 'false hand', they're saying Ser Allister is the real hand, and gives the orders now."

Davos turned to confront the Queen's men in the room, before remembering they'd all left. From the looks on the other commanders faces it seemed they were drawing the same conclusions.

"Seven hells, they planned this!" The young lord from earlier shouted.

"Aye." Lord Estermont replied "The flames probably emboldened them, and they never liked you to begin with Lord Davos."

"Do they think Stannis will let them get away with this?" Davos asked

"They're fanatics, who knows what they think." Lord Estermont said flatly. "We need to find any loyal men and rally them before the Queen's men get to them." Davos saw nervous glances go around some of the younger commanders, he needed to stop them from panicking.

"Is the commander of the main force with them?" He asked "That's what'll matter."

"He was with Renly before he turned his cloak. He's a rational man though, I doubt he'll fall for their load of shit, he's knows what kind of man Stannis is, and this'll earn him no favors with Stark if he wins either."

"Then we need to get men to him, he's got more men than either of our sides. Take a few men you trust and hurry to him." He finished, nodding at two of the captains. "The rest of us will rally who we can. We need to get to the princess."

They left the room quickly, with the two captains splitting off with the guards at the door to go warn the commander. They were heading toward the castle wall to start, that's where most of the men would be.

"What if we find Queen's men first?" one of the lords asked as they walked toward the tower leading to the wall.

"That divide only matters with the commanders." Davos responded. "Most of the men out there will be common folk, and they tend to pray to the seven." The change in faith had really only been among the lords, they might say the words but Davos had heard enough of them praying to the seven when things went bad. Besides that most of them would follow the most powerful Lord at any given time. Remind them about Stannis and that he was Hand, with half a dozen other lords behind him, and most of them would go over to their side. Hopefully.

He didn't have to test that thankfully, as the commander of that area was a King's Man. Davos remembered seeing him with them in the past. A quick explanation had them on his side, and with the two hundred men he commanded they moved back into the main part of the castle. They'd sent some men to warn the other groups of the rebellion, but they had mostly taken the men with them to secure the princess.

They made it back to the main hall before they found the first of the Queen's men. They were ushering the nobles still there out, but froze when they saw Davos and the men behind him. They looked like regular soldiers, he could see the fear and nervousness in their eyes, rather than the fanaticism of some of the Queen's men. The soldiers behind him moved forward, but Davos halted them with a hand.

He stepped up to them, the nobles automatically moving out of his way, and said "I take it you know who I am." None of them were able to say anything but one eventually nodded nervously. "I'm also guessing that your lords said that I was a traitor, not to obey me, and to try to stop me if you found me. Now you can listen to them, in which case these men and I will go through you, or you can keep getting these people out of here and pretend you never saw us."

"We'd prefer the second, milord." One of them managed to get out after a moment of them all looking around nervously. Davos nodded before continuing on past them and toward the Maidenvault. They encountered a few more groups of Queen's men along the way and were able to talk some of them down, but they had to fight other groups when they wouldn't yield.

They finally found the Queen and Princess when they reached the Maidenvault, accompanied by Ser Alister and 4 score Queen's men.

"Ser Allister!" he shouted. He saw the man turn to him and watched the Queen's Men behind him nervously put their hands on their weapons as they saw the number of men behind him.

"Smuggler." He said with a sound of disgust. "Come to take your power by force?"

"I'd ask you the same. Last I checked Stannis named me Hand, not you."

"I have name Ser Allister hand." Seyles cut in, stepping forward. She had Shireen's hand in hers, and Davos could see the look of fear in her eyes. He tried to reassure her with a glance, but his attention was drawn back to Seyles as she continued "My husband had a lapse in judgement, no doubt brought on by the stress of the battle."

"You'll pardon me ma'am, but that authority still lies with King Stannis."

"And Stannis' authority is from Rhollor, who has granted me a vision in the flames that engulf our enemies. Stannis will triumph over the heathen king, but only with Ser Allister as hand. We shall raze our foes and the filth from this city and then we will rule together, forever."

He could the fanaticism in her eyes, though it seemed lacking in her brothers. All he could see was cold calculation in his eyes. That was what he could appeal to, hopefully.

"Aye, Stannis'll win the battle, but not with these flames. We'll put them out then reclaim the city. There's no need for a fight, we've three times the men you do, just put down your swords and there's no need to for this to go any further."

He heard the men behind him ready their weapons and saw the Queen's men across from him do the same.

"Peasants, cowards, and heathens. Any of ours are worth ten of yours." Ser Allister responded, gesturing for Selyes to step back as his men moved forward. It seemed his own self-interest was overriding his self-preservation. The stalemate hung for a moment, before Shireen broke away from her mother and started running down the hallway towards him.

"Protect the Princess!" He shouted as he ran forward, and heard the rest of the men behind him rushing forward. A few of the quicker men got ahead of him, some moving to block the incoming Queen's men while others herded her towards him.

"Are you alright?" He asked her as she reached him.

"I'm fine." She said looking up at him. "So's Devan, he's hiding in a wardrobe in my room." He breathed a sigh of relief at that, before he that her face had fallen again. She hesitated for another moment before continuing. "He killed Patches. Ser Allister. Said I didn't need any crazed fools following along."

It wasn't something Davos was too sad about honestly, the fool had always scared him and he'd never really thought he was a good person for the children to be around, but Shireen had liked him so he at least tried to pretend to feel some sorrow. "I'm sorry, but right now we need to get you out of here, it's not safe."

That was a bit of understatement now that he thought about. Despite the wall that his men had formed around them he could hear the fighting pressing closer. The hallway was working to reduce their numbers advantage and while Davos was still sure they'd win he wanted Shireen as far away as possible.

The Queen's men chose that moment to push through their frontline. One of them took a swing at him, that Davos barely managed to block in time. One of the men beside him stabbed the man and Davos took the moment to shout "Go! Protect her!" at Shireen and the soldiers around her. They nodded, before they started to pull her back, forming a wall in front of her.

Davos turned back to the fighting. He'd never been good with a sword, but you didn't live in Flea Bottom or as smuggler without learning to fight. He took down two more men before he heard a shout and felt a sharp pain on the back of his head as his world went dark.

The first thing he was aware of was the pain in the back of his head. As more sensations trickled in he gradually became aware that he was on a bed, looking at the ceiling of a well-lit room. The next thing he heard was someone saying his name, and he gradually tried to focus on that voice. Sitting up was accompanied by shooting pain, and he heard a familiar voice urging him to stay down and drink something as a goblet was thrust into his face. He tasted milk of the poppy and after a few minutes the pain had died down enough for him to sit up and look at the man next to him, who he recognized as Ser Morrigen.

"Looks like your well enough to be up now." The knight said as he looked at Davos. "You didn't look anywhere near this focused last time. I'd imagine you have questions."

That was an understatement. Davos had more questions than he cared to sort through but eventually he decided to ask the most important ones first. "What happened with the battle, and with Stannis? And the castle?"

"We lost." He replied bluntly. "After you went down the rest of your men put down Ser Allister's rebellion, but not without cost. He had other men in castle, running around saying you were starting a coup. We got it sorted out, and most of the men abandoned them once they found out, but we still lost too many people . Then Stark came up the next morning after the fires had gone out. He had Lightbringer, said he'd killed Stannis, we didn't have much of a choice other than surrendering.

"You're sure?" Davos asked in shock. When the knight nodded Davos just had to stop for a minute to process it. Stannis had been a constant since Davos had delivered the onions all those years ago. He'd been as constant in Davos life as the sun rising and setting. Always the same, always reliable. Without him Davos wasn't quite sure what to do, and he sat there for what felt like an eternity just trying to process it.

At some point Ser Morrigen left, but Davos hardly noticed. The man said something before he left, but it didn't really register. He just considered staying like that, without Stannis his part was over, there wasn't much left in King's Landing or even the Seven Kingdoms for him.

Protect my family, Ser Davos.

He could almost hear Stannis as clear as he had been in the entrance hall. The last duty Stannis had charged him with, and one that didn't end with his death. Beyond Stannis and Shireen he had his own family, Marya, Devan and his boys back at Storm's End. Abandoning them wasn't something he could do.

He pushed himself out of bed, and set about dressing. There wasn't much, just simple breeches and a leather jerkin, but it would do. Now that he looked around the room he recognized it as the Hand's Office. His head still hurt but it was lessening and he could at least think.

He threw open the doors to see a pair of what he assumed were Stark guards, judging by the symbols over their mail waiting outside. They seemed surprised to see him up and about, and looked at each other nervously.

Davos broke the silence, as neither of his guards seemed to know what to say. "I'd suggest you go inform your lord that I'm awake and able to speak. I assume that's why I'm up here rather than in a cell."

"Aye, milord, though I'm not sure it'll be tonight." One of them replied looking at the window. Now that Davos looked it was nearing sun down, likely too late to do anything serious. "We'll tell im, though."

Davos nodded at them as closed the door. He doubted he'd get any sleep, and so he set about working out what he knew. That he was alive and in the Tower of the Hand likely meant that his side had ended the coup. Which meant Shireen and Devan were more than likely fine, though he'd like to make sure of it.

He was working through what he might say to Stark when one of the men knocked and entered. He had a tray of food with him, that he set down on a desk in the room. "The king said he'll meet with you tomorrow, ordered me to bring you this." He finished gesturing at the tray. There wasn't much on it, just bread with some cheese and grapes and a goblet of wine, but it was better than nothing. Now that he let himself feel it he was quite hungry.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed, though he knew it was night. He'd lit candles an hour or so ago once it had gotten too dark, though he didn't think he'd be able to sleep, there was too much to do. He ate the bread and drank a little of the wine, he needed to be sober to deal with what was next but was too thirsty to ignore the drink, as he sat at the desk in the room thinking about what was next and how to handle what came next.

"…rd D…os. Lord Davos. Davos!"

He was jolted up by someone calling his name. He looked up to see Shireen and Devan staring at him, Shireen with a hand on his shoulder, and Devan watching behind her. Before either of them could say anything else he grabbed them both into hugs. They were shocked for a moment before they returned it. "We were worried, father." He heard Devan say.

"Not half as much as I was about you two. Are you both alright, have Stark's men been treating you well?"

"Yes." They both answered together. They shared a quick smile and a glance before Shireen continued. "It's only been a three days since the fighting ended. Ser Morrigen surrendered, with my permission. With…With Father dead there wasn't much else I could do." She finished in a quiet voice.

She was ashamed of that, he could hear it in her voice. She knew that her father wouldn't have surrendered would have kept fighting to his last and even past that.

He put his hands on her shoulders and stared at her until she returned his gaze. "You aren't your father, and you don't have to be. I've told you the story of how I lost these?" He said, reaching for the bag around his neck before realizing it wasn't there. He held up his hand instead and continued, "I followed your father because I'd never seen a man like that before, one who didn't just talk about fairness or justice but followed it through. It cost him though. Friends, family, allies, no one can fully trust a man they know won't have their back all the time."

"But he was like iron, hard and strong, but brittle. Robert's slights, Renly's rebellion, the Realms rejection, it grated on him, wore him down until it finally broke him. You can do better, you've proven that already. You knew when you surrendered it would be the end of your claim, but you did it anyway, to protect the people in this castle. And I imagine they're all mighty grateful for that even if they haven't said it. You don't have to be your father, you can find your own path."

She nodded at that, and he drew her into a hug before letting her go. "Same goes for you." He said to Devan. "Just because I chose this path doesn't mean you have to."

"I…I think I'll stay with you father. I'm starting to understand what you meant when you talked about Stannis." He finished looking him square in the eyes. Davos couldn't quite hide a smile as he wondered if he looked like that when he'd met Stannis.

"Devan!" Shireen said suddenly "The King!"

"Right!. We were send to tell you the King would be up shortly to finalize the surrender. You're the Hand of the King, and Shireen was deemed too young to formally negotiate terms. Some of the other lords have already negotiated their own terms, but some of the more loyal lords are waiting on you."

"Mother hasn't been the same since the battle." Shireen said quietly. "She just stares at the flames, she doesn't say anything even if you try to talk to her."

He wasn't sure if he was up to negotiating for a kingdom. He'd done some negotiating in Flea Bottom over goods, but that was the extent of it. For a moment, he thought about telling Shireen that someone else would be better. Would be able to negotiate a better deal. But Stannis' last order ran through his head again, and he knew he couldn't back out.

"We'll sort your mother out afterward." He said to reassure her, though truthfully he didn't have much sympathy. Having someone try to stage a coup over you and burn your home city tended to remove any such feelings.

"Shireen, you should stay with me. You'll likely be involved with the negotiations. Devan-"

He was cut off as several men entered the room. The first was a large man, though not armored as a Kingsguard, that Davos failed to recognize. He could at least tell he was Northern by the look though, with a wild beard and otherwise imposing figure. Behind him were a few more Northern guards, followed by the King himself.

He was younger than Davos had though he would be. He'd never actually seen Robb Stark face to face, only from looking down atop a rampart. He couldn't have been any older than 18, despite the beard he tried to hide his youth behind. His eyes looked older though, which gave Davos some hope that he'd want to end the war on more just terms.

He was followed in by a giant wolf, half the size of horse and twice as mean looking as any other wolf he'd seen. The Stark direwolf then. He thought as it sat down behind it's master. Devan was cautiously watching the wolf, while Shireen seemed to have a spark of excitement in her eyes at it.

The guards suddenly went from Northern to Southern as he turned back to face the door, as he saw two more formally dressed knights enter followed by a Mace Tyrell who looked entirely to healthy for Davos tastes. He'd apparently advanced his position too, Davos recognized the badge of the Hand of the King pinned to his chest. The fat bastard's schemes had prolonged the war and made it that much harder to take King's Landing. Without him his sons might still have been alive.

The final two guards entered, more southerners, and then closed the door behind them.

They stood in awkward silence, both groups sizing each other up, before Stark broke the tension.

"It's good to finally see you up, Lord Davos."

"It's good to be up, I've been getting knocked out a bit too for my liking. Makes it hard to keep up in these troubled times."

"Aye. I take it they've at least brought you up to speed on what's happened, and I know Ser Morrigen told you somethings yesterday."

"That he did, though it's been a bit much for to process. I think I've got most of it though."

"Then we can finish the surrender negotiations." Mace Tyrell cut in. "We had been hoping to finish them before, but the Lady insisted on waiting for you to wake up."

Stark shot him a look before saying "Negotiating with a child would not have been honorable."

You say that like Mace Tyrell cares about honor. He couldn't help but think. He held that back though and said "Then let's get started, no need to stand the whole time." He finished gesturing at the desk in the room.

Shireen and Devan took seats behind him, while Stark sat directly across from him, and set the huge sword on his back down beside him as he did so. Now that Davos looked he recognized it as the blade Godry Farring had taken from the King's Executioner when he'd killed him. The man had been overly pleased about getting the Valyrian Steel blade, joking he'd take Stark's head with his own sword. Apparently it had been the other way around.

As Mace Tyrell sat down to Stark's left and called for food and wine Robb Stark began "Let me begin by noting we are discussing the terms of surrender, not whether you surrender. Lady Shireen has already formally surrendered, and we know you don't have the men in Stormlands to oppose us."

Blast. There'd be no bluffing about that then. So they would have to negotiate without any real leverage. It wasn't a position Davos was used to, he'd negotiated before, as a smuggler you had to, but he usually had some out or trump card.

"Alright then, let's hear your offer." Davos said. He needed to find out where Stark was before they started negotiating.

"Lady Shireen will retain her lordship, though another lord will be appointed as Great Lord until she either has a son or proves otherwise loyal. She will also be put under protection of a steward, until she reaches the age of majority and proves a loyal servant to the throne. The rest of your soldiers will be allowed to return unmolested, with an oath to never take up arms against House Stark again. Hostages from major Stormland lords will be taken to ensure those oaths are kept. House Baratheon will also surrender control of Dragonstone, and return to their traditional holding at Storm's End." Robb Stark finished.

Surprisingly lenient, given the advantages Stark held. They retained their land and some of their power, but the terms weren't overly harsh. He did have a few questions though.

"And who do you have in mind for steward?"

"A loyal man." Mace Tyrell cut in. "We must be assured that the Storm Lords do not rebel again.

That we rebel again? He though with indignant fury. The rebellion against the Mad King had been justified by any imagining of the concept, and it was Mace Tyrell himself who'd incited Renly to rebel again. The idea that they needed to be watched for rebellion was as insane as it was hypocritical.

But he swallowed all that. It wouldn't help their position at all. He needed to find a way to convince Stark not to put a Tyrell in command of Storm's End. He hadn't believed in ghosts before he'd met the Red Woman, but he didn't think Stannis would need any help from her to rise from his grave if he let one of Mace Tyrell's relatives into Storm's End. But he needed leverage to do that, some way to convince Stark to work with him. He didn't have anything Stark wanted though.

Wait. If he didn't have anything Stark wanted then why were they here? The basics of negotiation were that both parties had something the other wanted. But they didn't, they were outnumbered and cut off with no hope of winning. Stark could dictate terms and they wouldn't have been able to do anything against it.

But they were here, and Stark was offering terms. Which meant that they had something he wanted. Not lands, or a quicker end, but something else.

It wouldn't be honorable.

That was what Stark had said when Mace Tyrell had mentioned why they'd waited for him. Which meant Stark wanted to make this peace honorably. Which meant they did have something he wanted.

"Lord Davos?" Stark asked.

It took everything Davos had not to smile as "If you intend to put a Tyrell in command, you might as well scrap any ideas of peace you have." Mace Tyrell opened his mouth to speak but Davos cut him off before he could say anything. "The Storm lords remember that you've invaded them twice now. They won't take to putting a Tyrell in command of their lands."

Stark considered for a moment before saying "Then who do you have in mind? The girl's mother hasn't been…well since we took the castle. We can't leave her under her guardianship."

So Lady Seylse was worse than Shireen had said. Though he could at least feel a pang of sympathy over the cause, he wasn't sure what he'd do if he lost Marya, but he knew it wouldn't be good.

"There are any number of Stormlords who could serve as steward. You're already taking hostages to ensure their loyalty, they don't have any reason to rebel."

"Aye, that could work. Though I'd want one of my Northmen or Lord Tyrell's Reachmen to visit regularly to ensure that they remained loyal."

"We can't be certain that they won't ferment rebellion, your majesty." Mace Tyrell cut in again. "We must be assured of the loyalty of all the houses in the realm."

"Then what about a marriage pact?" Shireen cut in mildly.

"Excuse me, my lady?" Stark said after a moment.

"A marriage pact." She replied with a bit more steel behind her voice. "You can marry me to a loyal lord once I flower and be assured of the loyalty of the Storm Lords."

"That would work." Stark said as he rubbed his beard in thought. "It would ensure the loyalty of the Stormlands without overly antagonizing them. I know a few good men from my King's company that would make good matches."

"I appreciate the offer, my lord. Though I do have one request in exchange for it."

"If it will help with the peace, and is within reason then I am willing to consider it."

"Name Lord Davos as steward." When there was no reply owing to the shock of all present she continued. "He served my father loyally, and he'll serve you loyally to protect me. Beside that he's acted as an uncle to me, and with all the other losses recently…"

A part of his heart lept at that, he'd grown to consider Shireen like daughter, and was glad to know it was mutual. He saw a look of sympathy in Stark's eye and knew she had the man.

"Nonsense! We cannot allow some upjumped smuggler to be steward of Storm's End!" And there was the difficult part, Mace Tyrell certainly wouldn't allow an opportunity to control another of the Seven Kingdoms to simply pass by.

He went to argue back, but Shireen beat him to it. "Not a smuggler. A man my father trusted beyond all others, and elevated to Hand of the King and Lord of the Rainwood. There was no one my father trusted more, and there is no one I trust more."

Davos found himself holding back another smile as Mace Tyrell was cowed by an 11 year old girl. It almost looked like Stark was doing the same as he said "Lord Davos has conducted himself honorably in these negotiations and he order the catapults to stop firing during the siege. I believe he can be trusted to watch over Storm's End."

"But, my lord!"

"Enough, Lord Hand. I've made my decision." He said decisively before turning to Shireen. "I swear the marriage will be as good a match as I can find and worthy of your station."

"I appreciate it, Lord Stark." Shireen said in reply. "Now then, shall we finalize the terms?"

From there the negotiations were simple enough. There were oaths of loyalty to be made and the Storm Lords territories were confirmed. Stark asked that they stay and swear fealty publicly at the coronation, which Davos reluctantly agreed to, he didn't want to see another King crowned, but even he could understand the symbolism behind it.

After every had been decided Stark looked up at him for a moment before saying "And what of your own titles, Lord Davos?"

"King Stannis granted you lands and a title, did he not? And yet you haven't asked about them at all."

With everything that was going on Davos had honestly forgotten, he wasn't used to being a Lord and hadn't even though to ask about them. The truth would probably be best to go with then.

Always Honest, Ser Davos.

"I'd forgotten, honestly. I was only made a Lord before the battle ended, and even then only to be Hand of the King."

"I'll reconfirm it, the Steward of Storm's End cannot be a Knight. The Rainwood is here isn't it?" He said gesturing to it on the map.

"It is." Shireen confirmed. "It's mostly marcher lords, there aren't any traditional lords in the region."

"Then I see no problems with the confirmation. I'll leave the costs of the keep to you, however."

"Of course, I imagine the crown will have enough expenses repairing King's Landing." And that was an understatement, Davos though as Stark added the last lines onto the parchment. He didn't want to think how much it would cost to restore the city, and to feed all the people who'd been displaced.

Stark handed the paper to him, saying "I believe this should be everything then. Feel free to read it over and sign it when you're ready."

Which of course brought up the problem of his inability to read. Thankfully Shireen leaned over to look at it and he pretended to offer it to her so they could read it together.

"It seems to be in order." she said, before handing it back to him. Davos might not have known how to read, but he could at least fake his signature. Sallador Saan had shown him how to years ago in order to fool customs workers and other highborns. He'd never thought it would be useful here though.

"With this, we have peace." Stark said, standing up.

"And the realm is one again." Mace Tyrell added. "We shall see you at the coronation then. Lady Shireen, Lord Davos."

Davos stood up as they exited the room and almost collapsed into his chair afterward. He felt a hand on his shoulder and heard Devan say "Are you alright, father?"

"I'll be fine, that was just more stressful than anything I'd ever imagine I'd do." He replied.

"But now it's done?" Devan asked nervously.

"Now it's done. We have a peace." Though I'm not sure whether it will hold or if I negotiated it well. "I'm not sure how well your father would have liked that, though."

"He wouldn't have." She said directly "But… he isn't here. And we have to go on."

Part of him was sad at that frank acceptance of what had happened to her father, and how the war had gone on. But another was somewhat proud that she'd grown up, and at the person she was growing into.

"Aye, now then let's go get something to eat, and then we'll need to tell the other lords what happened." They both nodded and hurried for the door. Davos followed them a little more slowly, he didn't think the lords would like what they'd negotiated but there wasn't much he could do about that. For now the war was over, and as Shireen had said, they had to go on.

ITS ALIVE!

Sorry for taking so long with this though, it was a combination of a busy year and a hard chapter to write.

This was a hard chapter to do. Some characters are harder to write than others, and that especially applies Davos and Stannis at their lowest moments. That's part of what took so long, it was hard to put them in stressful situations, and still keep them in character. Stannis was especially hard, as throughout this chapter he knows on some level he's going to lose. It's similar to how he feels after the Blackwater, where everything seems lost, and he's willing to go to any length to win. He's a little better here, as he doesn't have to kill his kin, but he's still embarking on a desperate mission.

That's also part of why this took so long. This chapter had to happen but it was a pain to write. It wasn't particularly interesting or easy. I'm not super proud of this chapter either, it's not my best writing, but I've tried to make it better and it just wasn't happening. This chapter did need to happen though, we need to establish where Davos and Stannis are, and how peace gets settled out for the rest of the realm. Things should get better from this chapter, as I can go in new and more interesting directions. The circumstances of this chapter, and basically every chapter before this were set in stone in a way. They had to happen to advance the story and tie up old plot threads. From here out were in new territory and I have a lot more paths that I can take the story down.

But before that we have to take a moment to address a plot hole, and not one I can just graze over. Much like most of the bad things in the series it involves Ramsay, namely his reputation in the North at this point. In the books he's already kidnapped Lady Hornwood, married and killed her. That gets him branded a criminal and he's in a lot worse shape in the books. Unfortunately, I wrote the scene where he's legitimized based on the show. In order to make dialogue more accurate I tend to watch episodes or scenes to make sure my lines sound like things the characters would actually say. Even then it can still be hard, but it can also lead to problem. In order to get a better handle on Robb and Roose for the Catelyn scene I watched a few scenes of them together. Including one where Roose mentions Ramsay as a potential way to help with problems in the North. Because the backstories are different, it works, but it doesn't work well with the book backstory. So Ramsay's backstory has been changed to be more in line with the show. He didn't kidnap Lady Hornwood, and has kept a lower overall profile. He's still just as much of a monster, but he's been a little quieter about it.

So with that addressed we'll be moving forward soon. I plan to do a chapter for my other story first, but after that the next chapter will hopefully be out soon. See you next chapter.