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Post by Gandalf on Jun 1, 2023 11:35:15 GMT -5
Davos rose hurriedly, looking abashed.
”Hardly fed is better than none.” He said, though he nodded grimly in agreement. ”I heard nothing but bad news in the capital, lord, but I left before your brother’s army had arrived near the city.”
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Post by oznerol on Jun 1, 2023 12:03:02 GMT -5
Davos rose hurriedly, looking abashed. ”Hardly fed is better than none.” He said, though he nodded grimly in agreement. ”I heard nothing but bad news in the capital, lord, but I left before your brother’s army had arrived near the city.”Said Stannis. "Either the dice falls in our side of the table or theirs. Such are the affairs of men"
He frowned and gritted his teeth slightly. "I did not want this. This foolhardy war over whatever arouses the thing dangling in my brother's breeches. I would never wage war over something as mundane as a woman, whoever she might be. Less so over that horse-faced girl without an ounce of common sense"
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Post by Gandalf on Jun 1, 2023 13:07:42 GMT -5
”I don’t rightly know why your brother rose his banners my lord, but you have done your duty by him, none can deny..”
Davos had heard a lot about the King in the slums of Flea Bottom, and none of it good. Many had wanted the Prince to return and take things in hand.
”I hope my sons would do their duty the same. Though I’d clout one round the ears if they went off fighting over a girl, horse faced or not.”
He smiled to himself. Dale was getting to that age. Now he had a place for him to settle, and marry a good woman if the Gods willed.
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Post by oznerol on Jun 1, 2023 13:58:43 GMT -5
”I don’t rightly know why your brother rose his banners my lord, but you have done your duty by him, none can deny..”Davos had heard a lot about the King in the slums of Flea Bottom, and none of it good. Many had wanted the Prince to return and take things in hand. ”I hope my sons would do their duty the same. Though I’d clout one round the ears if they went off fighting over a girl, horse faced or not.”He smiled to himself. Dale was getting to that age. Now he had a place for him to settle, and marry a good woman if the Gods willed.
Said Stannis. "All because Lyanna Stark had absconded herself with the prince. Her father and brother demanded justice and that's the kind of justice my cousin delivers"
He added. "My brother, refusing to yield his head and in a fit of rage over his loss... ahemmm... love, decided to raise banners"Baratheon looked at Davos.
"I did my duty yes, but I do hope this does not cost us our heads. Would be a shame, I am rather attached to it"
Was that a jest? "If he is to become a knight, he might find a nice plump woman, a rich burgher or even a noble lady"
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Post by Gandalf on Jun 1, 2023 14:24:26 GMT -5
”I suppose that would be my head on the block too, milord, now that I am one of your bannermen.”
Davos chuckled. Well, if he could sail into the blockade, he could sail out of it. He blinked when he realised that Stannis had referred to the King as his own cousin. Was that something nobles did, or were they truly related that closely? Gods be good. He was standing here with a cousin to kings. Him, the son of a crabber.
”As long as he finds a good woman. Rich or poor, it makes no matter. I want my sons to be happy, not growing old and miserable..” The way Stannis told it, this entire war was born from unhappy marriages.
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Post by oznerol on Jun 1, 2023 16:37:32 GMT -5
"Ah, Ser Davos, I wish more lords and ladies shared your thoughts on the matter"
Said Stannis.
"It is my duty to marry someday. I will probably rue the day I do, for I expect it to be loveless. Just a contract signed for the benefit of my house"
He looked pensive for a moment. Baratheon's jaw looked tense.
"I do not know why I share my thoughts with you, Ser Davos. Maybe it is because you are sincere. Not many are honest with me. Not many I can trust..."
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Post by Gandalf on Jun 1, 2023 16:52:41 GMT -5
Seaworth appeared surprised. "You have your noble bannermen, my Lord. Men who have sworn to defend your life and house."
Men whose houses had been sworn to Storm's End for as long as anyone knew. Davos did not know much of it, other than that.
"I am just a crabber's son, lord. Though I know that every man needs a good woman, sooner or later. Some go out to find one, some get lucky and are found."
Davos could feel the younger man's anxiety, and eyed the younger man sympathetically. The young Lord Baratheon did not seem at all comfortable around people. The former smuggler sometimes felt the need to talk, just to fill the silence.
"Though I know you noble born folk have it different, if you pardon my frankness. Marrying for advantage and the like."
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Post by oznerol on Jun 1, 2023 17:27:54 GMT -5
"Yet, some of them fight for the king. Lords like Fell or Grandison, who served my father and grandfather and my great-grandfather before that"
Stannis sighed.
"Many of them are true, indeed, but they are still lords. Noblemen who love too much bickering, fighting each other, feuding over precedence, honor and who owns what... It can be exhausting"
He added.
"A crabber's son often speaks more truth than maesters... But, it is harder than I looks. I have to marry out of duty. And duty can be the death of love"
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Post by Gandalf on Jun 1, 2023 18:34:14 GMT -5
"Yet, some of them fight for the king. Lords like Fell or Grandison, who served my father and grandfather and my great-grandfather before that"Stannis sighed. "Many of them are true, indeed, but they are still lords. Noblemen who love too much bickering, fighting each other, feuding over precedence, honor and who owns what... It can be exhausting"
He added. "A crabber's son often speaks more truth than maesters... But, it is harder than I looks. I have to marry out of duty. And duty can be the death of love"
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Post by oznerol on Jun 1, 2023 18:59:31 GMT -5
"And sometimes, it's all we have"
Said Stannis.
"Maybe I wouldn't win wars, but my domain would be twice as rich as Casterly Rock. Peace is hard to come by, much sought and sometimes elusive"
Baratheon did not enjoy the current state of affairs, that much was evident. He did not share his brother's wrath or enthusiasm.
"Who knows, maybe. Certainly I'm not too sure about such thing. If I keep my head I might be lord of the Stormlands, not just the proverbial spare"
He thought of small, fair and joyful Renly, unscathed by misery, loss and sadness.
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Post by Gandalf on Jun 2, 2023 3:30:27 GMT -5
”But that would mean your own brother’s death, milord. Does that not trouble you?”
Asked Ser Davos, full of wonder at the strange customs of the world he had now been pulled into. He had found out the hard way that knights and princes were not all brave and chivalrous like in the stories, but he wanted to believe that at least some of it were true.
”I pray that the King is merciful, then. He should know that you have done no wrong in fighting for your brother. This is not a war of your doing.”
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Post by oznerol on Jun 2, 2023 4:00:24 GMT -5
"It does trouble me, Ser Davos"
He added, behind his teeth.
"But I do know, as well as he, that if we lose, his neck will be placed on a trunk for the executioner's caress. That, with any luck, because if he were to fall into my cousin's hands, he would burn"
Stannis imagined the unpleasant smell of a man cooked on his own armor. Stark's fate couldn't have been worse.
"Alas, that's beyond me, there's nothing I can do"
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Post by Gandalf on Jun 2, 2023 4:35:44 GMT -5
”I knew a man who said he was there on the day that Lord Stark came into the city. I thought the story was a load of… well, false, milord.”
Said Davos, checking his blasphemies around Stannis. He wrinkled his nose.
”If all goes wrong-shaped, lord, I can smuggle you east. Not worth dying over nothing, least of all burning alive.”
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Post by oznerol on Jun 2, 2023 6:53:38 GMT -5
"I thank you for the offer, Ser Davos. If not myself, at least Renly should be spared, he is still a child"
Said Stannis. He looked weirdly relieved.
"My cousin, the king has... lunatic tendencies. He does not bathe, or cut his hair or trim his beard. He is unkempt and covered in scabs and small cuts, for the throne pierces his flesh continously"
He frowned.
"He is a vicious beast"
Baratheon added, flatly.
"I would not wish to end at his mercy"
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Post by Gandalf on Jun 2, 2023 7:51:19 GMT -5
”I hear the same talk around the city.” Davos said grimly. ”King Scab, they call him. Even the Goldcloaks. Many wonder why a better man doesn’t sit the throne instead, but to talk of much gets you a knife in the guts. Even in the slums, the King has friends.”
King’s Landing had become a dangerous place of late.
”If you ask me, it doesn’t matter who sits the throne. Everything stays the same as it always has, and always will.” He gave a shrug. ”Most men don’t care, either, but they fight for and die for it just the same.” It was something he never wanted for his sons, to have to fight in some distant war for an uncaring king. But that was the price they might pay, one day. It was as it had always been; Davos’ own uncle had gone off to fight the Ninepenny Kings and never came back.
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