Today is the day that Stannis and his false king brother Renly agreed to make peace. Although Stannis did not have any hope for the outcome of this meeting, Davos still succeeded in persuading him to go to the appointment, because Stannis had to make peace with him. His vassals said their king had made every effort to resolve the dispute peacefully.

Davos hoped that this incident could help Stannis restore some of his image among his bannermen. After all, Stannis's execution of Kevan Lannister at the stake outside Harrenhal a month ago had shaken the nobles' view of him. His trust.

On that day, Kevan Lannister and several knights of the Westerland who refused to surrender were engulfed in flames while wailing and cursing. Davos stood in the crowd of onlookers. He heard the cheers of the rear party and the respect for the foreign fire god. Prayers, and also heard the frightened whispers of other nobles, and words such as 'mad king' that they said in trembling voices.

Davos was not an old nobleman. He did not fear Aerys II, the last Targaryen monarch who was later called the Mad King, like other nobles, but he still heard a lot about that man. The deeds of a king.

Before the Usurper's War, Rickard Stark, Duke of Winterfell, came to the Red Keep to save his eldest son and asked Aerys II for a trial by combat. ‘Fire is the warrior of House Targaryen, and you must prove your innocence without being burned. ’ The Mad King answered him like this.

Lord Rickard was burned alive, just like Kevan Lannister on the stake. Davos noticed that the faces of the two old earls beside Stannis turned pale. Later he found out, It turned out that the two old nobles were standing in the throne room.

They didn't dare to speak up for Duke Rickard back then, and they didn't dare to speak up for Kevan now. Davos didn't know what they were thinking, but he knew that things were getting worse.

The ominous premonition came true. That night, more than a dozen knights and an earl tried to escape Stannis' camp, but it seemed to be a trap. Because the newly appointed Earl of Harrenhal, Lorraine, had already deployed his manpower in advance. , caught them on the spot, and then all of them were sentenced to be burned at the stake.

Since then, there have been no more defections in Stannis's camp, and more and more nobles have joined the Queen's party. Melisandre did fulfill the promise she made to Davos that "no one would betray the king", but Davos believed that this was not a long-term solution.

Because since then, Davos often heard discussions such as 'Mad King II' in the camp. Most people knew that they were King Stannis' cronies, so they would definitely avoid discussing such treasonous issues. Own.

Under this situation, Davos could still hear so much gossip. It was not difficult for him to imagine the extent of dissatisfaction with the king among the coalition forces. These nobles stayed in Stannis's camp out of fear. Yes, once the war resumes, the defecting nobles will be like crucian carp crossing the river.

Suddenly, Davos remembered another 'Mad King II'.

When the siege of Harrenhal was still going on, Davos overheard the news from the merchants coming from King's Landing from the sailors, saying that the Mad King's daughter did not die in Pentos, but appeared in Slaver's Bay, became the queen there, and hatched dragons.

That was not the first time that similar news came. In fact, no one believed it at first. After all, Pentos fell, and the 'Dragon's Venom' (Robert's language) and its protector Illyrio suffered the consequences and died on the horse. When he was the hand of man, Robert held a grand banquet and a tourney in King's Landing to celebrate this event. At that time, he even temporarily forgot the anger caused by the fact that the three children were not his.

The Royal Council unanimously determined that Daenerys's appearance in the east was a lie. However, more and more businessmen brought back similar rumors, which forced everyone to take the news seriously.

Davos vaguely remembered that Stannis used the name Mad King II to describe her when he mentioned her.

But my king, do you know that this title has been added to your head now! Davos turned his head and glanced at the king, who was surrounded by seven Kingsguards.

Stannis seemed to be sculpted of strength and fortitude, with broad shoulders and strong limbs, a tense expression on his face and skin that had been tanned by the sun for a long time and seemed as solid as iron. Although he was not yet thirty-five, most of his hair had receded, leaving only thin black hair that hung behind his ears like a shadow of a crown.

Six Kingsguards, led by Captain Barristan the Fearless, guarded closely beside him. They were fully armed, wearing exquisite armor helmets from head to toe, with long white cloaks shaking behind them, and their left arms A shiny white shield was strapped to it.

Barristan was deliberately summoned from King's Landing by Stannis for today's occasion. After all, the old sergeant is the only living legend today. Whoever he serves will be more respected in the eyes of the nobles. legality.

During this trip, Stannis brought a total of 200 noble knights and an equal number of attendants. His army was left ten kilometers away from the peace negotiation location. As promised, Renly would do the same.

"Lord Renly is so rude. He hasn't arrived yet." Lorraine, who had become the Earl of Harrenhal, was riding behind Stannis. He complained loudly, which quickly aroused the anger of all the nobles. Notice.

Davos glanced at the king's new favorite. He was the brother of Lyanna, the widow of the late King Robert. When the war first broke out, Robert wrote to Stannis many times, asking to give the boy more opportunities so that he could make meritorious deeds, but Stannis turned a deaf ear to him and gave him a cold shoulder.

But after Robert's death, Lorraine quickly joined the rear party and turned to Melisandre, thereby quickly gaining Stannis's trust. Davos even suspected that there were any secrets between the three of them. Of course, even if there were, it didn't matter. After all, Stannis was his king, and he had the right to decide who to trust.

"Even if he arrives earlier than us, he will stop behind the hill in front and wait for us to arrive before appearing here. Because those who arrive early will wait for those who arrive late, and Renly does not want to be the one who waits. He Think of this as some kind of king's game, and maybe war is part of the game in his mind. Renly was so childish when he was a child, and he hasn't changed now," Stannis said contemptuously.

The expressions on the nobles' faces after listening to Stannis's words made Davos realize that this might be a double act. In this way, Lorraine and Stannis reminded the nobles that Renly was just a man who had not grown up. The hairy boy.

Finally, Renly and his supporters appeared in the sight of Stannis and his party.

They carried the banner of House Baratheon, the true Baratheon, with a golden base and a black crowned stag. Not like the crowned stag wrapped in a fiery red heart in the hands of Stannis' banner-bearer.

Renly wore a green velvet coat, his favorite color, and a satin cloak trimmed with squirrel skin draped on his back, looking very polished. On his head was a crown decorated with golden roses, and on his forehead was a jasper stag, and his long black hair hung loose beneath the crown.

Renly was followed closely by four people, Lord Randyll Tarly, the number one general in the South, Ser Garlan Tyrell the Brave, Ser Loras Tyrell the Knight of Flowers, and a man who looked like A rather unfamiliar knight. The man's breastplate had the emblem of a fleur-de-lis. Davos couldn't remember any Westeros nobles with this emblem. Maybe the man was a favored upstart like Lorraine.

A little further away from Renly, Jaime Lannister led a group of Western nobles. They had bright red cloaks hanging on their shoulders and lion helmets on their heads. They were slightly behind Renly in their positions.

"Lord Renly." Stannis spoke first.

"It's King Renly, brother." Renly corrected him with a smile. He didn't give Stannis a chance to get straight to the point. He pointed to the banner in the hand of Lord Barristan, Captain of the Kingsguard, and asked, "This thing is really yours." Banner, Stannis?"

"Whose does it belong to?" Stannis frowned.

Renly shrugged lazily, "I saw it from a distance, but I'm not sure yet. Which company are you under the banner of?"

"Mine."

"The coat of arms of His Majesty the King is the flaming red heart of the Lord of Light." Melisandre explained.

"Oh!" Renly exclaimed in surprise, "I've heard of this. The Beggar King's sister also has a similar banner! No wonder I heard that everyone calls you the Mad King II."

"Oh, I remember!" Renly didn't give Stannis a chance to interrupt, and continued to laugh, "You were the one who let their brothers and sisters run away, and Robert was furious about it. If you could have brought those two villains back, If the dragon remnants are brought back to King's Landing from Dragonstone, maybe it won't be my turn to inherit Storm's End."

"There is no point in trying to anger me." Stannis knew Renly wanted to open his own wounds, so he tried to remain calm.

"Okay," Renly shrugged again and finally stopped chatting, "What did you want to talk about when you came to me here?"

"Dismount immediately, kneel down on one knee, and swear allegiance." Stannis made his request without any hesitation.

"Oh? You figured it out so quickly?" Renly deliberately showed a surprised look, "Then kneel down quickly, I can forgive you and your supporters."

"Are you crazy?" Stannis's ashen face twitched slightly, "You are the one who should kneel down."

"If you can do it for Robert, why can't you do it for me?"

"Robert is my eldest brother, and you are but my little brother."

"Yes, I am younger, braver and more beautiful than you."

Before Renly could say anything else, Stannis suddenly drew out his sword. Under the pale sunlight, the sword's blade shone strangely, sometimes red, sometimes yellow, and sometimes turning into blazing white light, which pierced the nobles so hard that they could not open their eyes. They opened their eyes and turned their heads to dodge.

"Who said provoking you is useless?" Stannis was about to say his final warning when he suddenly heard Renly's whisper.

At the same time, the knight behind Renly with the fleur-de-lis emblem on his breastplate suddenly shouted "Guard" and raised his crossbow, pointed it at Stannis and shot an arrow.

The Valyrian steel crossbow bolt instantly pierced Stannis's gorget and exited from the back of his neck. Bright red blood flowed down the gaps in the armor, and Stannis fell off his horse.

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