Stannis's forehead flushed a little, and the atmosphere fell into the pre-storm tranquility, as the crowd speculated about what the King was going to do with Melisandre's public offense...... But to everyone's surprise in the tent, Stannis didn't have a seizure in the end.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have something to discuss privately with my priestess. ”

The king has an order, and all the princes obey it. The people involved in the battle meeting stood up and looked at Stannis and the red-robed woman with various glances before they rushed through the door and left the tent.

Rumors that the red-robed woman used dark magic to assassinate Ranri Baratheon, and some people say that this woman is the real queen of Stannis, these rumors will only become more and more popular after today.

......

"Your Majesty. Before leaving, Blackfish Brynden finally said, "We respect your faith and gods, but no matter how much we try to prove our piety, we should not allow monks to interfere in the affairs of the state." After all, most of your vassals and supporters don't believe in the Red God. ”

Blackfish Brynden was not qualified to say such things, but as Robb Stark's maternal uncle, he was senior enough and the guardian of the Little Duke of the Vale, so he represented the Vale to some extent...... Stannis couldn't blame anyone for thinking about it—as a king, he was able to swallow this breath in the face of a public confrontation with a priestess from across the Narrow Sea, and that alone was enough to make countless people think about it. He could only nod slightly, indicating that he knew what he knew.

＊＊＊

"Woman...... You're so presumptuous, I'm the king!" Finally waiting for the people in the tent to clear, Stannis gritted his teeth and said, "Is there anything that can't wait to be said in private? Guess what those northerners will do now, they will definitely go to the Bachelor to watch the Night's Watch for help, and I will spend my time trying to appease them next!"

"You have wasted your precious time in the wrong place, and as your faithful servant, I must give honest advice. You now turn around and head north, it's still too late!"

"Allowing the self-proclaimed true dragon to abuse my vassals in the land where I was born and raised, in the territory of House Baratheon for generations, has gained a foothold with the support of House Tyrrell...... Ignore the enemy head-on and run north to deal with a gang of peasants and goblins?" Stannis's expression stiffened: "Because of Robert's deathbed order and the countless gold treasures of the West, the armies of the North, the River, and the Vale have gathered under my command! Is there a more suitable opportunity to use troops than at this time? I don't have the prestige and appeal of Robert, if I give up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, it will be difficult for me to let these three families perform their elite again without reservation! Running to deal with the wild people at such a juncture, I'm afraid that by the time I settle the pile of in the north, the Red Dragon Banner will have been planted on the wall of King's Landing." If that's what your god is telling me in the flames, then unfortunately I can't do what I'm told this time!"

"My God?"

Why does this woman keep focusing on words? Stannis reluctantly changed her words: "Our God." ”

"Guess what I'm reminded of?" said Melisandre, looking directly at the king with displeasure, "a very vulgar folk saying—'It's ugly when it's done.'" All signs and foreshadowings point to you, and as a prophesied prince, you cannot just enjoy the help of Lakhlo and fail to fulfill your duties!"

"I will allow you to spread the faith of the Red God in the Seven Kingdoms, and allow you to make an exception to join the army, and even break into and interrupt my battle meeting without any punishment! I also ordered half of the royal fleet to go north to support Donghai Wang, and ordered the Iron People to go to assist in the defense of the Great Wall, and ordered hundreds of prisoners from the Lannister family, the royal family, and even Storm River Bay to be sent to the Great Wall...... I've even acquiesced to the continuation of the outrageous rule of tax exemption for the Night's Watch, what else do you want from me?"

"You think you've done a lot, but it's not enough...... The prophecy revealed that only the True King himself could go to the Great Wall to prevent the darkness from engulfing the world beyond that final line of defense. If you don't go, no amount of means and support will be in vain!"

Talking to the red-robed woman was always so difficult, she didn't listen to other people's considerations and hardships at all, just talking to herself, Stannis found that she was at a disadvantage in the dispute, and immediately became angry: "Well, you can now kill the pseudo-king who calls himself Aegon Targaryen for me, take Storm's End for me, and give the Tyrells enough punishment...... After all this, I won't say any more nonsense, turn around and lead the army north to fulfill that damn prophecy!"

"You can only ask for Rahlo's bounty, not command—"

"Take away your damned, one-on-one rhetoric!" Stannis finally couldn't help himself, "I didn't see any gifts from Laherlo, only you, the shadow magic of the Shadowbinders from Asha!, why would Laherlo use such dark methods as the self-proclaimed Lord of Light?!"

"The Shadow is the Servant of the Light, the Son of the Flames, and it is Rahlo who has commanded the Shadow to assist you in ascending to the throne. ”

"Heh—you can always give an explanation that looks like that anyway. ”

"As Your Majesty wishes, I put away all religious rhetoric. Melisandre's face did not change in the slightest, and she used a more understandable explanation: "Lahlor did not show the date of death of these people in the fire, they may have died, but at least not recently." ”

......

The cost of any spell is far beyond ordinary people's imagination, and Melisandre has never seen this Aegon Targaryen, nor has she had access to his voice and physical features, or even if he is in Storm's End or which room he lives in...... In this case, she simply had no way to kill the person. But these words, once spoken, would greatly affect the fear that others had for Rahlo, and even the prophesied prince was not intended to be completely frank.

"It takes power to use this magic, and if you have to die these people, it is a good idea to continue sacrificing the blood of the king - and your flame is too faint for me to draw any more or it will kill you, Your Majesty. She didn't lie, only slightly embellished, but there was a solution: "Your brother's illegitimate child is a good choice." ”

"That's enough!" Stannis understood that Lan Li's violent death had caused all kinds of speculation throughout the Seven Kingdoms, and if the same thing happened again, his prestige as a king would be dealt a heavy blow: "I don't want to be a family killer again and again, I now have the strength to win without your damn sorcery." I will breach the Storm's Rest with dignity and hang the men you spoke of before they are dead at the head of the city, so that you know that even you cannot see everything in the flames!"

"Your Majesty—"

"Either use your skills again to sweep away the enemy for me, or shut up. You have helped me, and I can show my tolerance, but I promise you - the next time you damage my majesty in front of my vassals, you will find that a king's patience is limited!"

Melisandre stopped talking, only silently staring at Stannis, and the room fell silent again.

Stannis couldn't stand the confrontation for a while, he turned around and sat down again in his chair, no longer looking at Melisandre: "Let's go, get out of my sight, and go back to King's Landing, back to Dragonstone...... Wherever you go, to preach, to recuperate...... In short, stop babbling in my ear about where to go and what to do! I must secure my kingdom before I can muster enough resources to fight my prophesied damned 'old enemy'! I promise you, when the matter of the south is over, I will go to the Great Wall at once!"

Melisandre knew that things would never turn around: Stannis was in awe of himself, but that awe ...... He couldn't overwhelm his own stubbornness and self-confidence. After standing in the doorway for a few more moments, she turned, lifted the curtain, and stepped out of the tent.

......

It was already dark, and campfires had been lit in the coalition camp, and along the way the soldiers saw the red-robed woman leaving the king's tent alone, pointing and talking behind her back.

Melisandre didn't care what the people around her were looking at, and as she walked towards her tent, she was full of thoughts: she prayed to the fire for guidance, but the fire only repeated the cold, tall figure of the Desperate Wall, which she interpreted in front of Stannis as "The Children of Prophecy must rush to the Wall as soon as possible", but could it actually mean something else—such as "The Children of Prophecy are already on the Wall", or "I must get to the Wall as soon as possible"?

(Is it possible that I have a wrong understanding of the images shown in the flame?)

This thought will be difficult to get rid of for a lifetime. She began to wonder—and there was no better way to get rid of that than to rush to the location where the image was shown...... A more straightforward approach.

——