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The brothers returned to find people impatiently waiting. Lady Olenna even proclaimed loudly that they could now continue. Both of them sat down together, Brandon on Ned's left while Catelyn was on his right.
Catelyn gave Brandon a curious look but the man did not look at her.
[BARATHEON WAR CAMP, NIGHT]
[KING STANNIS BARATHEON sits by a hearth.]
"You said you saw my victory in the flames."
"I did. I still see it."
"Her lies are about to be unfolded" Renly said in a sing-song voice. Truth be told he quite enjoyed seeing his brother being smashed at the Blackwater, even if it came at Lannister hands. Serves a Kinslayer right.
"The flames lied. And I'm no better than a savage trusting in a fire god. I fought for your god in Blackwater Bay. I led my men to the gates of the seventh hell as their brothers burned alive, and for what? Attacked from behind by Tywin Lannister and the Tyrells. If you see so much in your flames, why didn't you warn me?"
"The Lord of Light only allows me glimpses."
Varys snorted. Hysterical excuses.
"You claimed to speak for a god."
"Will you quit the war just because you've lost a battle?"
"You talk about war as if you understand it."
"I've been fighting far longer than you."
"Have you? Show me how you fight."
[STANNIS leaps to his feet and starts choking MELISANDRE. She gasps painfully, grabbing his hands.]
Robert whistled while Stannis just blinked his shock away.
"Guess there is Baratheon blood in you after all" Renly laughed mockingly.
[MELISANDRE removes her hands from his and raises them in surrender.]
"Where's your god now? Will he save you? Where is your god?"
"Inside you."
[STANNIS releases her suddenly and MELISANDRE falls to the floor, panting.]
"I can't believe you're still falling for this horse shit!" Renly groaned.
Stannis grits his teeth. He couldn't believe it either.
"I murdered my brother."
[MELISANDRE walks over to STANNIS.]
"We murdered him. Share the weight with me."
"Can't share the sin of Kinslaing if I'm not your brother, witch" Renly stated blandly.
"Perhaps she's trying to get him in bed again" Robert suggested, making Renly choke on air and Stannis roll his eyes.
"He wasn't your brother."
[MELISANDRE caresses his head, soothingly.]
"This war has just begun. It will last for years. Thousands will die at your command. You will betray the men serving you. You will betray your family. You will betray everything you once held dear. And it will all be worth it because you are the Son of Fire. You are the Warrior of Light. You will sweep aside this pretender and that one. You will be king."
"Nobody would want a King who betrays them," Robert told Stannis.
"I know" Stannis muttered back.
"You promise these things, but you don't know. None of us know."
"Let me show you."
[She leads him over to the fire.]
"Look into the fire, my king. Look. Do you see? Do you see, my king?"
[STANNIS stares into the fire. His eyes grow wide and his face softens. MELISANDRE rests her head on his shoulder.]
"Oh for fuck's sake!" Renly threw his hands up in surrender. "How do you keep falling for this?!"
"She's making use of my desperation and guilt" Stannis muttered. "Using my sins to manipulate me into thinking I am doing something far greater than I am and as such should be proud. She's giving me what I need right then."
Renly stared at his brother. He honestly had no idea what to say to that.
[WINTERFELL]
[PRINCE THEON GREYJOY throws another log onto his fire, and sits before it, frustrated. A lone horn blows outside the gates of Winterfell. THEON rolls his eyes in anger.]
"First time I saw Winterfell, it looked like something that had been here for thousands of years and would be here for thousands of years after I was dead. I saw it and I thought, Of course, Ned Stark crushed our rebellion and killed my brothers. We never stood a chance against the man who lives here."
Robb snorted. Should have killed the cunt with his brothers.
"Lord Stark went out of his way to make it your home."
"Yes, my captors were so very kind to me. You love reminding me of that. Everyone in this frozen pile of shit has always loved reminding me of that. You know what it's like to be told how lucky you are to be someone's prisoner? To be told how much you owe them?"
"That's because you are lucky, you piece of shit" Robert grunted. "I wanted you to be killed with your sister and all. If not for Ned over there, your skulls would be decorating the beaches of the Iron Islands."
Theon kept his head down and his anger in check. He was so tired of listening to the same thing over and over again!
A hand on his shoulder made him look up. Yara was gripping his shoulder, but she was not looking at him.
[The horn sounds again. THEON gets up in a fury. He shakes his fist at the window.]
"I will kill that man. I swear to the Drowned God, the Old Gods, the New Gods, to every fucking god in every fucking heaven, I will kill that man."
Bran snorts. Serves him right.
"Theon, listen to me. I serve Winterfell. Now Winterfell is yours. I'm bound by oath to serve you."
"And what's your counsel, trusted friend?"
"Run. Five hundred Northmen wait outside the walls. You have twenty men. You can't win. Wait for nightfall and run."
"You couldn't win even with a thousand pirates" Robb muttered. "No sea, no power."
Theon glared at Robb but maintained his silence.
"There's nowhere to run. I'd never make it back to the Iron Islands. And even if I did, even if by some miracle I slipped through the lines and made it home, I'd be a coward. The Greyjoy who ran. The shame of the family."
"Don't go home. Join the Night's Watch."
[LUWIN leans over THEON's shoulder.]
"Once a man has taken the black, he's beyond the reach of the law. All his past crimes are forgiven."
"I won't make it to the Wall. I won't make it ten feet past the Winterfell gates."
"There are ways. Hidden passageways built so the Lords of Winterfell could escape. The road will be dangerous. But with a little luck..."
[LUWIN faces THEON.]
"The Night's Watch is an ancient, honorable order. You'll have opportunities there."
"The opportunity for Jon Snow to cut my throat in my sleep."
"I would" Jon muttered softly. Theon Greyjoy would know no peace if he became a black brother with Jon though it won't be happening so it's just empty talk
"The opportunity to make amends for what you've done."
"I've done a lot, haven't I? Things I never imagined myself doing."
"I've known you many years, Theon Greyjoy. You're not the man you're pretending to be. Not yet."
"You may be right. But I've gone too far to pretend to be anything else."
Robb pursed his lips. Beneath all the anger and the resentment, a small part of him whispered. Perhaps Theon was not all lost.