"Unless the Lannister fleet did not go to the Free Cities at all, contrary to what we've assumed."
"Or perhaps the key to the problem lies in something we have not yet understood."
Kal voiced his speculation.
Tyrion nodded silently, his expression growing grave. "Such a possibility cannot be ruled out."
Hearing Tyrion say this, Kal pondered for a few seconds, then suddenly broke into a smile.
"It seems the waters here run deeper than what we see on the surface."
"I'm very curious—just who is the player behind all of this?"
Kal's tone was deep and meaningful.
As the ancestral holding granted to the Targaryens when they fled the Freehold of Valyria, Dragonstone's geographic position was rather unique compared to the current Crownlands.
Its lands were not wealthy—one might even say barren.
But as an island guarding the throat of Blackwater Bay, it was certainly not a place the Baratheon family could allow to fall into anyone else's hands.
...
Stone Drum Tower, the Painted Table Chamber.
Stone Drum Tower was the main keep of Dragonstone, and whenever a storm descended, its ancient walls rumbled within as though drums were beating.
The Painted Table Chamber stood at the tower's very top, a circular room with four tall, narrow windows facing the four cardinal directions. Inside it rested a massive wooden table, carved with a detailed map of Westeros—this was the very table Aegon the Conqueror had used to plan his campaigns during the Conquest.
The Painted Table was over 15 meters long, its widest point about half that length, and its narrowest just a little over one meter.
A chair placed upon a high platform had been designed to correspond precisely to Dragonstone's position on the map, allowing the entire table to lie under one's gaze.
And Stannis Baratheon was standing right there at this moment.
His face lay shrouded in shadow, his gaze deep and unlit as he stared fixedly down at the map of Westeros before him.
But at this moment, there was someone else in the Painted Table Chamber with him.
The person was none other than the priestess of R'hllor, Melisandre, but she was standing with her back to Stannis, before an iron brazier in which a blazing fire was burning.
She held her hands loosely around the brazier before her, and those red eyes of hers were fixed intently on the flames in front of her.
Melisandre was a true beauty, with a heart-shaped face, a pair of red eyes like flames, and a head of copper-red hair.
She stood behind Stannis Baratheon, and even across a few steps of distance, Stannis could feel a wave of heat radiating from her.
Just as the two of them were silently occupied with their own business in the Painted Table Chamber, Davos Seaworth, the man nicknamed the "Onion Knight," walked in with a letter pinched in his hand.
But as soon as he reached the doorway, he saw that the priestess of R'hllor who had been bewitching Stannis ever since she came to Dragonstone was once again toying with her magic.
As for his own lord, he had his back to her, silently lowering his head as he gazed down at the Painted Table.
Ever since King Robert died, Stannis had brought his fleet back to Dragonstone, and from that time on he had been like this.
Taking in the scene in the room, Davos Seaworth could not help but halt his steps at the entrance to the Painted Table Chamber, his brow furrowing.
At the same time, he unconsciously crumpled the letter in his hand.
But the sound of his hurried footsteps had already rung out in the corridor outside, so there was no way the two people in the room could be unaware of his arrival.
Melisandre still stared at the flames before her, her expression intent.
Stannis Baratheon, however, shifted his gaze away from the Painted Table before him to look at Davos Seaworth standing at the doorway, and immediately noticed the letter clenched in his hand.
"Why are you not coming in? What is that in your hand?"
Stannis asked expressionlessly, no ripple in his eyes, as if they were two stones.
Hearing Stannis's question, Davos could not help glancing at Melisandre, who still held both hands above the brazier, her gaze intent on whatever she saw there.
Then he bit the inside of his cheek, lowered his eyes slightly, and said, "My lord, a letter from King's Landing—it was written by Lord Eddard Stark himself."
As Davos spoke, the hand holding the letter loosened slightly. Then he let out a long breath, stepped into the Painted Table Chamber, and held the letter out toward Stannis.
Stannis Baratheon did not take it at once, but lowered his eyes to glance at the golden wax seal on the letter.
The seal was a crowned stag, not the grey direwolf of House Stark.
At this, Stannis's eyes flashed, and he snorted coldly.
"Eddard Stark? Hmph!"
With that, he finally raised his hand to take the letter from Davos and opened it to read.
The letter had already been unsealed, and Stannis silently scanned the contents on the parchment several times.
The more he read, the darker his face grew, until he suddenly slapped the parchment in his hand down onto the Painted Table.
By coincidence, it landed right at the position of King's Landing, and the corner of the parchment was jabbed through, leaving a small hole.
"He has acknowledged that bastard—a lowborn bloodline!"
"When Jon Arryn was still alive, he and I found more than a dozen of them in King's Landing—the youngest was still in his whore mother's arms, sucking at her breast!"
"But now he wants me to bow my head and bend the knee to Kal El?!"
Seeing Stannis grow angry just as he had expected, Davos Seaworth could not find any words to say.
He had spoken such words before, and apart from getting Stannis to lock him in a cell for two days of reflection, they had never had any effect at all.
Just then, the sound of somewhat shuffling footsteps and coughing came from outside the door.
Stannis and the Onion Knight both could not help turning their heads to look, and saw an old man of nearly eighty, face full of wrinkles and hands trembling, standing at the entrance of the Painted Table Chamber.
He was dressed in a maester's robe, with a maester's chain hanging about his neck.
"Maester Cressen." Seeing who it was, Davos Seaworth hastily lowered his head in a respectful bow.
Maester Cressen had once been the maester of Storm's End, and after Steffon Baratheon and his lady wife died in Shipbreaker Bay, he had helped raise the children of House Baratheon, with Stannis being the one he favored most.
This was because Stannis lacked the charm of his other brothers and therefore instinctively relied more on Cressen, while Cressen in turn regarded Stannis as his own child.
Twelve years ago, after Robert granted Dragonstone to Stannis, Maester Cressen had followed Stannis to Dragonstone.
Generally speaking, a maester could only serve a certain castle rather than a particular person, regardless of whose hands that castle fell into, so situations like this were very rare.
And now, as an eighty-year-old man, his body was already weak, and on top of that he had an injury to his hip, so moving about was somewhat difficult.
Seeing that the two of them had both noticed him, even before he stepped into the room, Maester Cressen looked toward Stannis Baratheon and said, "If you will not support this bastard, then you must seek allies of your own as soon as possible, Your Grace Stannis."
He had been the first to see that letter, and it was also he who had called the Onion Knight over.
However, Davos Seaworth had not given him an answer, but had instead taken the letter straight to Stannis.
So he had followed after.
On hearing his words, Davos's expression grew solemn; he wanted to say something, but in the end he still held his tongue.
Stannis, after hearing this, once again focused his gaze on the Painted Table before him.
Seeing the spot of King's Landing where the letter now lay, he shifted his gaze to the positions of the Crownlands and the Stormlands.
At last, after letting his gaze circle the map, he looked toward the position of Dorne.
"Kal El's having the Westerlands is already enough; all he needs to do is marry Sansa Stark, the eldest daughter of House Stark, and slowly build up his house."
"King Robert was foolish, but we cannot allow the Blackfyre Rebellion of House Targaryen in the past to be staged again."
Seeing that Stannis remained silent, Maester Cressen walked into the room and went on.
On the way, he glanced at Melisandre but paid her no mind, instead coming straight to Stannis's other side and lowering his head to look at the Painted Table as well.
Then he continued, "Before his death, Aegon the Fourth legitimated all his bastards, which ultimately led to the outbreak of the civil war known as the Blackfyre Rebellion."
"It now seems that Kal El has been very clever—he did not sit the Iron Throne, but instead returned to the Westerlands."
"This letter is his way of testing you and Renly."
However, as soon as Maester Cressen's words fell, Davos Seaworth, who had originally intended to remain silent, could no longer hold himself back.
He gritted his teeth and still stepped forward once more to maintain his opposition.
"But after he learned of King Robert's death, he also returned to King's Landing, even presided over King Robert's funeral, and afterward the Small Council read King Robert's will to him. He is now the lawful king of the Seven Kingdoms."
"And moreover, according to the law, he is now also King Robert's rightful heir. Among King Robert's more than ten bastards, he has acknowledged only Kal El alone, and he is also Robert's eldest son."
"So Kal El can also be considered King Robert's only legitimate bloodline."
"And what is most important is that he also has a dragon—what that means, I think I need not say, not to mention that he has the support of the North and the Vale, and even the Riverlands may well lean toward him because of this."
Davos Seaworth spoke these fair words, trying to urge his lord not to go on like this.
But this speech from the Onion Knight completely enraged Stannis.
"Davos Seaworth, do you mean to betray your king and go swear allegiance to that bastard?!"
"I do not, Lord Stannis, I only don't wish—"
Seeing Stannis speak so harshly, Davos hurriedly tried to defend himself.
But Stannis, already in a rage, would never tolerate these words that to him were tantamount to betrayal. He directly roared, "Call me Your Grace, Ser Davos Seaworth; remember that you are my knight, unless you choose to betray me!"
"And I must remind you that long before Robert's will of legitimization, I was the true first heir to the throne!"
"You speak of the Small Council? The moment Robert legitimized his bastard, I had already received the recognition of Robert and the Small Council!"
"Now it is Kal El who is the usurper!"
"Those Starks who now support him are traitors as well!"
Stannis's furious shouts echoed through the not-so-spacious Painted Table Chamber.
Davos Seaworth instinctively lowered his head, Maester Cressen let out a silent sigh, and only Melisandre seemed to turn a deaf ear.
But after he finished roaring at the Onion Knight over these words that in his eyes were tantamount to betrayal, Stannis too, after drawing in a deep breath, went on, "Yes, I do not deny Kal El's present status. Robert did indeed exercise his rights as king; I acknowledge Kal El's current status."
"But you must remember, if he wants to inherit the throne, he will have to wait until Renly and I are dead. The throne of House Baratheon should not be occupied by the lowborn blood of a bastard!"
"And if you do not mean to betray me, you should call me Your Grace. Otherwise, for what you just said, I will, in my capacity as king, have you put to death."
Facing the enraged Stannis Baratheon, the Onion Knight Davos Seaworth opened his mouth, only to find he had nothing to say.
He knew that what Stannis said was not wrong, even if there was a hint of self-justification in it.
For before Kal El, after the war with House Lannister, because of the issue of the heir, the Small Council and King Robert had indeed already recognized Stannis Baratheon's right of succession.
So strictly speaking, even if Kal El was legitimized, his right of succession should indeed come after that of his two uncles.
However, King Robert's will clearly stated that his throne would be passed to Kal El.
That was the crux of the dispute.
Yet none of this was the main reason Davos truly doubted his lord Stannis.
The real reason was that he did not believe Stannis Baratheon could win.
He felt that after hatching a dragon, Kal El had chosen not to remain in King's Landing precisely because he wanted to leave himself enough time to grow.
For before he returned to the Westerlands, he had already received the Small Council's acknowledgment in the Red Keep at King's Landing, and had already become king in all but name.
On top of that, given Kal's birth and his friendship with the Vale, when the time came and Stannis fought against him, the Vale would, in all likelihood, not support Stannis.
In such circumstances, with the North already openly acknowledging Kal El's right of succession, the Vale, the Westerlands, and the Riverlands would, in all likelihood, also choose to support a king with a dragon.
In such a situation, so long as the Reach and Dorne were not fools, it was not hard to imagine whom they would choose to support.
Under such circumstances, how could Stannis possibly have any chance of victory?
He did not want his lord to walk a road doomed to failure for the sake of a so-called title—that was the real reason he had chosen to reject Stannis's ideas.
So, when faced with Stannis's pressure, after a painful struggle in his heart, Davos still made his choice.
He first said, "Yes, Your Grace. My house, the Seaworths, and I are loyal to you alone."
Seeing him yield, Stannis also relaxed, and his gaze was no longer quite so cold and severe.
However, before Stannis could say anything more, Davos went on, "But, Your Grace, I must remind you that perhaps we will not have a chance…"
Gritting his teeth, Davos still decided to speak these words.
He was still Stannis's knight, still loyal to him.
And it was precisely because of this that he felt he had to say them.
After warning his liege, he closed his eyes, ready to accept whatever punishment awaited him.
But just then, a voice rang out—clear and ringing, yet still soft and alluring—interrupting Stannis Baratheon, who had been about to order Davos Seaworth locked up again.
"Ser Davos, the sight of mortal men cannot reach far. There is nothing shameful in that—but you should keep faith in your king."
"He is Azor Ahai reborn, as foretold by R'hllor—the hero destined to succeed."
"He will not only be a king; he will be the hero who ends the Long Night."
"You think that Kal El's bringing a dragon into the world is his achievement—no, on the contrary, that proves precisely that Stannis is the one marked by fate."
"Even dragons ought to bow at his feet."
"I have seen the prophecy in the flames: the Seven Kingdoms are soon to be thrown into unforeseeable chaos."
"And compared to the great war that is coming, this struggle you speak of is nothing more than children squabbling."
"That ancient, alien god which mortals cannot know is gathering its strength, Davos Seaworth—a terrible, evil, and mighty power, against which it will be hard to stand."
"The cold winds have already begun to blow. What will soon arrive is an unending Long Night—unless righteous men find their courage and uphold the faith of the fiery heart."
"Our true enemies are not them. On the contrary, those like Kal El ought to become our strength."
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