Game of Thrones: Royal Game

Chapter 305 Melisandre
(The timeline here is after the 94th chapter of the last volume, Westeros Smash, more than two months earlier than the end of the third volume)

Obviously everything is going so smoothly, but what's the matter with this uneasy feeling?It's as if there is one thing, if I don't do it again, everything will slide into an irreversible abyss.

Melisandre pinched the ruby ​​on her chest, faced the holy brazier placed in the center of the tent, and prayed to the Lord of Light again, hoping that he would give her instructions.

It wasn't the first time she'd done this these days, and it was of little avail—the red god didn't respond to her.

According to Melisandre’s experience of serving the Red God for so many years, this is actually good news, because the Red God did not give new revelations, which means that she is on the right path, and everything is under the Lord’s control Among them. The current situation does seem to be the case.

The ancient book of Asshai prophesied that after the long summer, the stars will weep blood and the world will be covered in icy darkness. At this terrifying moment, Azor Ahai will be reborn in the land of smoke and salt, and will draw the red sword of the hero from the fire. 'Lightbringer', driving away the darkness.

The prophesied red comet appeared more than half a year ago, and he quickly found the fighter chosen by the Lord of Light - Stannis Baratheon, the lord of Dragonstone Island in the 'Land of Smoke and Salt', and obtained lost his trust.

Everything that happened after that confirmed his interpretation of the prophecy. First, King Robert's three children were judged as illegitimate children, and Stannis became the heir to the Iron Throne; Stannis was made Lord Commander of the Royal Army; and then, Robert himself died.
A few days ago, the news of Robert's death came from King's Landing. At the suggestion of Lorraine (a certain player), the Kingsguard who accompanied Stannis on the expedition, Stannis, in the name of the commander-in-chief, asked the great nobles who were accompanying the army to join the army. Big account meeting.

At the battle council, Stannis announced Robert's death to the nobles and asked them to swear allegiance to him.

None of the nobles doubted that Stannis had said that the Prince of Dragonstone was as smelly and hard as a stone in a hut, and a stone in a hut would not be able to falsely spread the news of his brother's death to start a rebellion.

So the crowd quickly fell on their knees and swore allegiance to Stannis—they had no reason to refuse.

Stannis is the legal heir to the Iron Throne, and at the same time the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces. The nobles are all meeting in his tent at this moment, and it is impossible for anyone to raise objections and questions under such circumstances.

Therefore, Stannis immediately obtained the allegiance of all the nobles accompanying the army.

These people include almost all the nobles of Dragonstone Island and the kingdom;

Counts Matus Rowan and Count Alister Florent, who personally led troops in the Reach Land, and the eldest son and heir of Earl Leighton Hightower, the "Old Old Town" who led the army of Oldtown, Baelor Lord Hightower and others;
Earl Jason Mallister, Earl William Mooton, and Earl Janos Bracken who had already rushed to the coalition camp in the riverland.

At the same time, the Karen family, Eastmond family, Errol family, Swann family and Selmy family in the Stormlands also swore an oath to Stannis—for Robert's war, the nobles of the Stormlands this time It was an army that came out in full force and brought almost the entire Stormlands.

Although Duke Renly himself disappeared before the meeting, with the established fact that the nobles of the Stormlands have all loyal to the king, it is difficult for Melisandre to imagine that Renly would have any ambitions, or that the Tyrell family would risk giving him support.

Stannis has won the throne, and then he only needs to defeat Tywin, who is at the end of his battle, to unite the entire kingdom, prepare for the holy war of life and death, and then drive the darkness away as prophesied.

Everything is so perfect, Melisandre believes that all this is arranged by the Red God.

But what was that uneasy feeling?What the hell is going wrong?
Suddenly, the flames in the cauldron became more intense, and there seemed to be shadows floating in it.

After a long absence, Melisandre finally saw the vision in the flame again!

It was a huge wall made of ice, snow and boulders. The top of the wall was wide enough for 12 knights to walk side by side. At this moment, there were only a few people on the top of the empty wall... A few wild men were chasing a wolf-headed man with a white wolf head. The boy seemed to want to hunt him down.

The boy ran all the way and was forced into a corner by the opponent. He had no choice but to turn around and resist, and then slipped and fell from the top of the wall during the battle.

The picture suddenly disappeared during the boy's fall.

This was a very short illusion, so short that it ended before Melisandre had time to think, and no matter how many times she prayed, she still couldn't get another response from the Red God.

What was that picture just now?
That gigantic wall was undoubtedly the Great Wall at the edge of the North, separating the kingdom from the lands of the wildlings and keeping out the servants of the Cold God.

A few months ago, an army of wildlings found a way to cross the Great Wall and captured Castle Black, wiped out the already stretched number of the Night's Watch, and began to move south.

But according to the latest news sent by the raven, the northern army led by Ed Stark smashed those wildlings in Long Lake not long ago, and then led his troops to Castle Black.In terms of time, Lord Stark will be able to arrive at Castle Black and recover it within a few days.

Stannis has already written a letter to Stark. Judging from the personal style of the guardian of the North, he will undoubtedly pledge allegiance to Stannis immediately after receiving the letter, so the North will never would be a threat to Stannis.
So, what does the picture that Red God just showed me mean?
A few savages are chasing and killing a werewolf?Wolf head and human body. Some kind of creature that has never been seen.
Melisandre firmly believes that the Red God will not show herself some meaningless things, especially in the recent times when she only responds to herself after a long time. In this case, the revelation of the Red God must be crucial Information.

but
"It's really stupid!" The curtain of the big tent was violently lifted, and a voice interrupted Melisandre's thinking.

She turned to see Stannis walking in.

It was impossible to discern his emotions from Stannis's face, for his face was always tense, as if he had long since forgotten how to smile, let alone what it was to be happy.Under the normally frowning eyebrows, a pair of eyes are like two wounds, dark blue like the ocean of night.

Davos, the 'Onion Knight', followed behind Stannis. It was a thin, mediocre middle-aged man with an obvious aura of poverty.

During the War of the Usurper that year, Stannis led a small number of garrison troops and was ordered to defend Storm's End. Surrounded by Tyrell and Redwyne's coalition forces, Stannis held on for a year. Tree roots and rat flesh survive.

Just when they ran out of ammunition and food, Davos took advantage of the cover of night to venture across the Redwyne fleet and the treacherous reef of Shipbreaker Bay and sent a boatload of onions and salted fish into Storm's End.Relying on this few supplies, Stannis survived until Eddard Stark's reinforcements arrived.

In order to reward Davos' achievements, the Duke of Stannis gave Davos the fertile land of Cape Wrath, a small castle and the identity of a knight, but he also tried Davos for many years of smuggling crimes, and cut Davos himself. All the terminal knuckles of Foss' left hand.

After so many years, Duke Stannis has become King Stannis, and the nobles who serve under him are like fish in a river, but the one he trusts the most is the 'Onion Knight'.

Perhaps noticing Melisandre's scrutiny, Davos frowned slightly, while Melisandre smiled at him.

Melisandre knew that the onion knight didn't like her. After all, he believed in the false god of Westeros with seven faces, but she held high the banner of the fiery red heart.

But Melisandre is not angry, because R'hllor is the only true God, He is all-knowing and omnipotent, anyone's attitude towards anything is part of the Red God's plan, including those who don't believe in Him and their opposition to false gods. God's devotion.

"What happened?" Melisandre turned to Stannis who was already sitting in front of the giant map sand table and asked, her intuition told her that this was bad news.

"My brother." He seemed unwilling to mention Renly's name. "He was crowned in the Golden Tooth City, and he wrote me a letter of surrender."

"He has no army at all!" Melisandre was surprised, "All his vassals have pledged their allegiance to you."

"His vassals?" Stannis interrupted roughly, seeming to be stung by the words, "If you mean Karen, Emmons and the Stormland nobles, they should have been my vassals. Lord! For 300 years, Storm's End has been the hereditary territory of the Baratheon family. According to the law, I should inherit Robert's Iron Throne!

I was the one who held Storm's End while Robert fought in the North!After Robert seized the Iron Throne, it was I who built the fleet for him and wiped out the remnants of the previous dynasty entrenched on Dragonstone.I did my duty as a brother--as Renly should have done to me.

Then, how do you think Robert thanked me?He made me Lord of Dragonstone, but gave Renly the lands and taxes of Storm's End. "This past event hurt him deeply, and it has always been a thorn in his heart, "And now, that kid who can only play games in beautiful armor wants to steal my crown!" "

"He can't steal it, Your Majesty." Melisandre reassured.

"Of course he can't steal it! I will teach him a profound lesson, and then put the heads of all the rebels on the spears." Stannis snorted coldly.

"Treason? Who did Renly get support from?" Melisandre seemed to have found the reason for her uneasiness these days, but it felt wrong.If it is said that the uneasiness I have been feeling all this time is because of this incident, then why didn't I see this in the holy flame?
The holy fire does not deceive, and the Lord will surely show her the most important illusions.

"Duke Renly headed west after leaving the camp," Stannis said nothing, and it was Davos, the Onion Knight, who answered her. "They found Lord Randyll Tarly and Garland at the crossing of the Red Fork River. Tyrell's cavalry, and they soon joined another army under the Lord of Mace."

"With the loss of the entire Stormlands and the two most important vassals of Rowan and Hightower, the Tyrell family still chooses to fully support Renly as king?" Melisandre felt incredible. She came to West Luo hasn't been there for a long time, but he still has a clear understanding of the virtues of the Tyrell family.

The clan language of this family is 'endless life', and usually, they are more willing to stand on the side of the winner.

"They have gained a stronger ally." Davos glanced at Stannis, and then explained in a low voice, "Before Renly became king, they had already made peace with Lord Tywin and established an alliance."

"A league of traitors!" Stannis snarled.

"Forgive me, Your Majesty," Davos said, "Duke Tywin knows that you will never condone his treason, and Lord Renly promised him a pardon, and his wildling allies have been killed by Duke Eddard. Destroyed, he had no choice but to side with Renly."

"So?" Stannis frowned.

"What I want to say is that if you also promise to pardon Duke Tywin... Duke Renly will immediately lose the support of Casterly Rock City and Highgarden, and he can only choose to lower the rebellion flag."

"A pardon?!" Stannis raised his voice, "Tell me your suggestion again, Davos."

"Your Majesty," Davos wanted to continue to fight, "Lord Randyll led two-thirds of our cavalry, and Lord Mace Tyrell led a quarter of our infantry. After the Lannister siege of the Riverrun region converges, they have already formed an advantage over us in terms of strength. And in Harrenhal, which we have not captured yet, there are still thousands of Kevan Lannister's elite soldiers."

"But the law is the law! Tywin Lannister's sons and daughters have disgraced the previous king, and he launched a rebellion in order to protect his son, so he must be punished! Just as I was treated most unfairly by Robert , but remain unwavering in his allegiance, just as I should be the new king after Robert's death. Like your severed finger, the law is the law! Traitors may be forgiven, but not from me .”

If Robert had been like you back then, then he would never have won the crown, Davos smiled bitterly in his heart, "Yes, Your Majesty, I just made a very stupid suggestion." He knew it was impossible to convince Stannis , then lowered his head, "But maybe we can have a peace talk."

"What is there to talk about with traitors? They can only choose to either surrender or be eliminated."

"Yes, Your Majesty, but we must give them a chance to surrender," Davos continued to explain, "the marriage relationship between the nobles in Westeros is very complicated, and this time the rebellion is... quite large. In Before letting the nobles fight each other, an attempt at peace talks allows the nobles to see your efforts to avoid war, to show the vassals that you are not alone."

"A cruel man," said Stannis when Davos stopped, "that's how everyone sees me, right?"

"You are so kind to me." Davos shook his head.

"Davos, I trust you because you never tell me the truth." Stannis frowned again.

"This sentence is the truth."

Stannis was silent for a while: "Well, you're right. Being a duke and being a king are two different things. If a peace talk can reduce the little thoughts of those guys, then prepare a peace talk." After speaking, she looked at Merry Sandra, "What do you think?"

"I support the peace talks, and" Melisandre glanced at Davos, and in the end did not choose to avoid him, "I have suggestions to solve the rebellion without going to war."

"Put away your magic, I don't need those." Stannis refused without thinking.

(End of this chapter)