Read my new story >>Marvel *Villain Points* (Evil MC)
CaveLeather
Four days had passed since Jon's offer to surrender. The sky hung low and leaden, the color of hammered iron.
The army's maester predicted snow before nightfall. If it was snowing this far south in the Riverlands, then winter had truly arrived.
The weather was foul, but morale in Stannis's camp was strangely high. The queen herself had come to the front.
Selyse Baratheon had ridden into camp with wagons of wine, fresh supplies, and chests of coin for rewards. She had also brought women—plenty of them. The scent of Arbor red and the sound of laughter drifted between the tents. Soldiers who had spent days throwing themselves at Jon's lines drank until they could barely stand. Officers and nobles pulled the prettiest girls into their arms. The whores from King's Landing still knew their trade, even if the brothels had been shut down. Petyr Baelish had made sure of that.
For the first time in weeks the men felt like they were being looked after. They raised cups to Queen Selyse and called her generous. Some even compared her to the old Queen Alysanne, who had once given her own jewels to repair the Night's Watch castles. Men will say almost anything when the wine is free and the women are willing.
Only one man in the entire army was not pleased.
Stannis's tent was bare. No carpets. No incense. Only armor, swords, and longbows hanging from the poles. He sat behind a plain table and stared at his wife as she stepped inside.
"What are you doing here?" he asked. "This is no place for you."
Selyse's first instinct was still to flinch. Fourteen years of marriage had trained her well. But she thought of Petyr's words, of her daughter, of every slight and every betrayal. She lifted her chin.
"Your Grace," she said, "the Florents' betrayal has hurt our men. Until you strip me of my crown, I am still your queen. A queen has duties."
Stannis studied her as if she had become a stranger. "Where did you get the coin to reward them?"
"My dowry," Selyse answered. There was a thin, bitter edge to her voice now. "Consider it House Florent's final act of loyalty."
"Without the Florents I would be in a better position than I am now," Stannis said coldly.
Something small and final broke inside Selyse. She looked away from those hard blue eyes.
"When the Tyrell army arrives," she asked, "what do you intend to do?"
Stannis was quiet for a long moment. "Return to King's Landing. Preserve the army. Survive the winter. Then we will see."
He did not believe in the Long Night or the Others. Old stories. Cold winters happened. His lands lay farther south than Jon's. The Narrow Sea brought warmer winds. He could strengthen ties with the Free Cities and rebuild. He was not ready to kneel.
Selyse gave a short, scornful laugh. "So the king means to let the bastard sit the Iron Throne?"
Stannis's jaw tightened until his teeth ground. "Watch your tongue, woman."
"If I had known my husband had already surrendered," Selyse said, "I would not have bothered coming."
The meeting ended in silence and cold anger.
The moment she left Stannis's tent, Selyse went straight to Petyr Baelish.
By the time the sun set, Petyr knew exactly what Stannis planned. He and Varys had feared this outcome more than any battle. On Selyse's ship that night, the two of them sat by a single candle and spoke in low voices.
"Your Grace," Petyr said, "we still have one chance. Stannis wants to negotiate. That means he will gather every lord in one place. If we remove the right people, you and Princess Shireen can keep your positions."
Selyse's voice was barely above a whisper. "You mean kill him."
Petyr did not answer with words. His eyes were enough.
Selyse hesitated. "And then what?"
"Then we take the army and return to the Vale," Petyr said. "The Reach host blocks the road back to King's Landing, but the road from Harrenhal to the Vale is still open. Once we control the army, Jon cannot touch us. The Bloody Gate has never fallen to any army that did not have dragons. We crown Shireen queen in the Eyrie. From there we can march south, take the Crownlands, and reclaim King's Landing. Then we offer Shireen to Dorne in marriage. The Vale, the Crownlands, the Stormlands, and Dorne together can stand against Jon."
Selyse was not a clever woman, but Petyr had spent weeks feeding her one simple truth: if she did nothing, she and her daughter would lose everything.
She gave him command of the guards she had brought from King's Landing.
The next morning Stannis rode back to Harrenhal with his personal guard and Selyse beside him. He left the main army camped by the God's Eye.
Ser Alexander Emmons looked uneasy. "Your Grace, is this wise?"
"Does the bastard now decide where his king may ride?" Stannis snapped.
He had found the loophole. Jon's terms bound the coalition army. They said nothing about Stannis himself. Jon would never know he had left until it was too late.
Back in Harrenhal, Stannis finally allowed himself to relax. He handed day-to-day command to Yohn Royce and accepted that the war, for now, was over.
Petyr Baelish used the quiet days that followed to move among the lords under the cover of distributing supplies and checking inventories. He was already marking who could be won over and who would have to be removed.
The game had only just begun.