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[INT. DRAGONSTONE WAR ROOM]
[STANNIS BARATHEON sits, looking out to the sea, with MELISANDRE standing beside him. DAVOS enters.]
"I heard you were dead."
"Maybe smile a little to show you are relieved" Robert suggested.
"Davos knows what I mean" Stannis muttered with a shrug.
[DAVOS approaches to address STANNIS.]
"Your Grace, you are the rightful king. Not only by blood. You're an honourable man, a just man. And there is still a war to fight."
"I am fighting."
"By burning prisoners alive?"
Stannis flinched.
"How would you punish the infidels, Ser Davos?"
"Infidels" Robert spat. The more he saw of this woman the less he was inclined to show her any mercy.
"These Red Priests and Priestesses are some of the most extreme people I've ever seen" Oberyn muttered.
"I do not judge people for the gods they worship. If I did, I'd have thrown you in the sea before you ever set foot on Dragonstone."
"I'm not your enemy."
"You are my enemy."
"Aye, she is" Robert grunted.
"Was it me you fought on Blackwater Bay? Did I set your ships ablaze? I wasn't there when the wildfire killed our men by the thousands."
"Ironic your fire god allowed that after all the sacrifices" Oberyn drawled sharply.
"He does not like them does he" Daenery whispered to Elia.
"He does not" Elia sighed.
"I could have saved those men. You would have taken the city, Stannis would now sit upon his rightful throne, and you would stand beside him. But I wasn't there because you convinced your king to leave me behind."
"And she pins it on him!" Renly barked a laugh. "Tell me you do not believe it."
"I'm afraid I don't recognize the man I'm seeing" Stannis muttered.
Renly stared at his brother, too shocked to speak after seeing him this confused and conflicted for the first time in his life.
"Do you hear them screaming? All those burning men in the water crying for their mothers, for their gods for help? Until the moment the Blackwater swallowed them."
[MELISANDRE touches DAVOS 's cheek, and he recoils.]
"Don't despair, Ser Davos. What I told your son is true."
[She whispers in his ear]
"Death by fire is the purest death."
"How dare she" Catelyn snarled in outrage. Not only a heretic, but she was cruel as well! Who even says that to a man who just lost his son?!
[Enraged, DAVOS draws his dagger and raises it to stab her. The guards hold him back. DAVOS growls.]
"This woman is evil! She's the mother of demons."
"Take him to the dungeon and lock him in a cell."
Stannis' eyes darkened. How far had he fallen...
[The guards pull him backwards out of the room.]
"You've chosen the darkness, Ser Davos."
"She will destroy us all!"
[The guards remove him from the chamber.]
"The moment she appears on Westerosi soil, we will make sure she dies" Robert rumbled furiously, his eyes pinned on the Master of Whispers.
Varys bowed low. He had no problems killing a witch like her.
[KINGS LANDING STREETS]
[MARGAERY walks with purpose, and her maid tries to keep up.]
"What are you trying you foolish girl" Olenna narrowed her eyes.
"I shall let you know once I figure it out, Grandmother," Margaery said with a smile.
"My lady. We should have guards, my lady."
"You should. Those streets are not safe for a woman" Renly explained.
[MARGAERY is blocked by a disfigured commoner, who looks at her with disdain. She smiles at him.]
"Pardon me."
"He might not like that smile" Sansa muttered with worry for her new friend. She still remembered seeing the people turn feral on her.
[A woman empties a bucket of faeces just in front of MARGAERY's path.]
Arya made a face.
[She continues, optimistic and undeterred.]
"Stop, my lady. You'll ruin your dress."
"I have others."
[She steps across the puddle of filth and her handmaid follows.]
[A SMALL COURTYARD]
[MARGAERY sits surrounded by children. One, a young boy, is speaking to her.]
"He was a soldier. He went to fight on the walls when the ships came into Blackwater Bay. He never came back."
"And your mother?"
"She died when she had me."
"Bad men wanted to come into this city and do terrible things, but your father stopped them."
[MARGAERY hands him a toy knight carved from wood.]
"Whenever you look at this knight, I want you to remember your father."
"He wasn't a knight. He was just a soldier."
"And what do knights swear to do? Protect the weak and uphold the good. Your father did that. Be proud of him."
[She turns to another child.]
"Was your father a soldier, too?"
[The child nods]
"You should be proud, too. Under King Joffrey's leadership, your fathers saved the city. They saved us all. From now on, we're going to take care of you. All of you."
"Interesting way of winning the Small Folk" Jon Arryn commented thoughtfully. "I believe with your presence and show of friendship and understanding, they would open up to you even more."
"Going there without guards was stupid" Olenna muttered.
Margaery only smiled and patted her grandmother on the hand.
[INT. JOFFREY'S DINING TABLE, NIGHT]
[The doors open. JOFFREY and CERSEI join MARGAERY and SER LORAS TYRELL for dinner. They rise and bow.]
"Please, sit. Sit. I do apologize, my lady. Small council meetings. At what point does it become treason to waste the king's time?"
[MARGAERY laughs.]
Sansa rolled her eyes. Once upon a time, she would have swooned at words like those. But she'd seen the monster that Joffrey was. All of those were empty pleasantries.
"That's a lovely gown, my lady."
"Yes, it suits you perfectly. I imagine you might be rather cold."
"The climate is a bit more forgiving back in Highgarden, Your Grace."
"Shall I have them bring you a shawl, my lady?
"I am touched by your concern, Your Grace. Luckily for us Tyrells, our blood runs quite warm."
"Loras, isn't the queen's gown magnificent? The fabric, the embroidery, the metalwork. I've never seen anything like it."
"Why are you asking your brother that? Boys won't understand all of that," Sansa asked.
"I have three brothers, Lady Sansa. Loras would be the only one to understand that" Margaery smiled. "He's picked on a lot on fashion and things from mother and I growing up."
Sansa nods. She wished at least one of her brothers was like that. Or even Arya.
[They all sit at the table, and servants begin to pour the wine.]
"You might find a bit of armour quite useful once you become queen. Perhaps before. Joffrey tells me you stopped your carriage at Flea Bottom on your way back from the sept this morning."
"Yes. I paid a visit to an orphanage the High Septon told me about."
"Margaery does a great deal of work with the poor back in Highgarden."
"The lowest among us are no different from the highest if you give them a chance and approach them with an open heart."
"An open heart is what you'll get in Flea Bottom if you're not careful, my dear. Not long ago, we were attacked by a mob there. We had a full complement of guards that didn't stop them. The king barely escaped with his life."
"The King was the first to run and hide" Arya snorted.
"But she isn't wrong either. Flea Bottom is dangerous" Sansa muttered.
"She is. But Joffrey is still a coward big" Arya shrugged.
"He is" Sansa chuckled.
"My mother's always had a penchant for drama. Facts become less and less important to her as she grows older. Our lives were never truly in danger."
"You're right, of course. But you are your father's son. We can't all have a king's bravery."
Multiple people snorted.
"Hunger turns men into beasts. I'm glad House Tyrell has been able to help in this regard. They tell me 100 wagons arrive daily now from the Reach. Wheat, barley, apples. We've had a blessed harvest. And, of course, we must assist the capital in time of need."
"Well, as Ser Loras said, Lady Margaery has done this sort of... charitable work before. I'm sure she knows what she's doing."
"The concept must be foreign to the bastard" Oberyn drawled, "with Cersei for a mother."
Jaime fisted his hand in frustration. Try as he might, he couldn't defend Cersei in this instance. She was not the most charitable person.