Lynd did not get angry at Stannis's sarcasm. Instead, he continued to smile and said, "Stannis, such harsh words are not like something a man like you would say. It seems the failure of the war has brought about quite a change in you."
Stannis roared, "Failure! I haven't failed yet! I still have tens of thousands of troops..."
"Tens of thousands of troops, I don't see any," Lynd interrupted Stannis, turned to look at Ser Goode Morrigen and the Stormlands lords and nobles behind him, and said, "Ser Goode, are you planning to be my enemy?"
"No, my lord," Ser Goode Morrigen quickly said, "I just now, on behalf of the Stormlands forces, expressed our thoughts to His Grace Stannis. If we are to face you, please allow us to remain neutral."
"Hmm! That's a way to avoid offending either side," Lynd nodded, then turned to Salladhor Saan, Stannis's naval Commander who now controlled the most ships, and said, "What about you? Salladhor the pirate."
Salladhor Saan, who hailed from Lys, quickly said, "To hear my name from your lips, Prince Linde, I am already deeply honored. How could I dare to be your enemy? Please allow me to also remain neutral."
"Salladhor, you scoundrel..." The Onion Knight glared at his old friend, seeing him surrender at the last minute.
Salladhor smiled and said, "Davos, my old friend, when you invited me, you said it was only to fight against the powerful nobles of the Seven Kingdoms, but you never said we would fight against Prince Linde. I am from Lys, and Lys is the Prince's direct territory. I am also a subject of the Prince, so how could I do something to defy the Prince?"
Lynd then looked at the other lords and nobles from Crab Claw Peninsula and Driftmark. All these lords and nobles involuntarily lowered their heads, not daring to meet Lynd's gaze.
Lynd's gaze swept over Melisandre and finally returned to Stannis, saying, "My stance is consistent; I will not intervene in the civil war. However, I still abide by the existing laws of the kingdom. Since Dragonstone has been assigned to me, I naturally will not neglect it."
Stannis scoffed, "It's all just an excuse. By your logic, if I were to now bestow Casterly Rock in the Westerlands upon you, would you go and occupy Casterly Rock?"
Lynd nodded, admitting, "Of course I would, but only if you achieve ultimate victory in the Battle of King's Landing and sit on the Iron Throne."
Upon hearing this, Stannis's face grew even gloomier. Clearly, Lynd's words had hit a raw nerve. He had been so close to the Iron Throne, just a wall away. If he had been given half a day more, he could have completely breached the Red Keep and dealt with that abomination on the Iron Throne. Unfortunately, everything had been so unlucky; he had fallen just before the finish line.
Lynd watched Stannis's face turn exceptionally ugly, then pressed him further, "Stannis, I have a question I want to ask you, a question that concerns whether you are worthy of my friendship?" He paused to allow Stannis's emotions to settle a bit, then asked in a low voice, "Please tell me, did you kill Renly Baratheon? For example, by means of a Shadowbinder."
As he spoke, he looked at Melisandre.
However, upon hearing Lynd's words, Stannis erupted in fury, shouting, "Linde Terra, in your eyes, am I a kinslayer? Although I desire the Iron Throne, I am not so insane as to harm Renly, and certainly not use some filthy sorcery to kill Renly. I will use my own methods to reclaim my rightful Storms End, and then lock Renly in his little room forever, letting him reflect for a lifetime."
"I can vouch for what His Grace Stannis has said," Ser Goode Morrigen stepped forward and stated, "Before Lord Renly's demise, His Grace Stannis had already contacted us, and we also intended to declare our allegiance to His Grace Stannis after Lord Renly's wedding. At that time, Lord Renly would also have been taken to Highgarden by House Tyrell and would not have been in danger."
Hearing Ser Goode Morrigen's words, Lynd couldn't help but frown. He believed Ser Goode Morrigen wouldn't lie to him. Stannis had already persuaded the Stormlands forces at that time and was determined to take Storms End; there was absolutely no need to assassinate Renly.
Killing Renly in that manner would only burden Stannis with the accusation of kinslaying, as it did now. He couldn't even enter Storms End, which he could have otherwise controlled, and had to leave after taking over the army, because if he had garrisoned Storms End then, he truly wouldn't have been able to explain anything.
Lynd thought of this, then looked at Melisandre, suspecting in his heart whether Melisandre had acted on her own initiative.
Melisandre seemed to see through Lynd's thoughts and said, "To use Shadowbinder magic to create a shadow assassin, I need a king's blood and a king's descendant. Stannis doesn't want to give me a descendant, nor does he want to give me blood. I can't do anything!"
Stannis frowned, turned to Melisandre, and said, "That night, you had this purpose..."
Stannis did not finish his sentence, his face looking very displeased.
Lynd had already confirmed that Renly was indeed not killed by Stannis. A smile appeared on his face as he said, "Stannis, I am certainly going to reclaim Dragonstone, but I also don't want to fight you. After all, there are not many people in this world who adhere to legal principles like you do. I'll point you to a way out: go to the Wall and become the Commander of the Nights Watch."
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