Dragonstone Island, Picture Table Hall.

Davos Seaworth, the "Onion Knight", pushed the door open and saw Stannis Baratheon standing behind a large wooden table.

The king wore a gray woollen coat and a red-gold crown in the shape of flames, but he seemed to be ten years older than before, his hair was gray, his eyes were sunken blue hollows, and the shape of his head could even be seen under his face.

Davos sighed to himself, the hellish battle at Blackwater Bay had nearly ruined the king.

For more than a year, he kept himself in the room at the top of the tower, without seeing outsiders or giving orders—except to order the Count of Allister Florenton, the Hand of the King, to be imprisoned in the Black Cell.

Because Earl Allister had persuaded Stannis to marry his daughter, Princess Shireen, to Tomman Lannister in order to reach a settlement.

Stannis's furious reaction also proves that even in today's near-exhausting situation, the king did not think of surrendering.

But he couldn't stop his men from surrendering......

"Davos." Stannis spoke, "They're all leaving me, why are you still on Dragonstone?" ”

"Because of the oath, and because you promoted me from a lowly smuggler to a knight." Davos replied without hesitation.

Stannis nodded expressionlessly:

"If all the people of the world had kept their oaths as you did, perhaps there would have been no war. But it's a pity ......"

After a pause, he continued through a bit of gritted teeth:

"Count Setiga, Lord of Crab Island, has also taken root with the Lannisters, you know?"

Davos nodded silently.

Stannis said coldly:

"It has been proposed that I lead an army to attack Crab Island, and to execute Count Tiga, and burn his castle as a warning to the renegades. What do you think of this idea? ”

"It's a stupid idea." Davos said without hesitation.

"Why? You don't think I can't even capture Crab Island now, do you? ”

"Of course not." Davos knew that despite the heavy losses in the last Battle of Blackwater, there were still more than 1,000 soldiers on Dragonstone Island, "I'm afraid that I can't even assemble a hundred-man team on Crab Island today, and it will be easy for us to capture it." But I would like to ask you, why did Xiedao end up in such a situation? ”

Stannis didn't answer, he was grinding his teeth.

Davos did not seem to care at all that his words would anger the king, and continued:

"Because when you issued the call for call, Count Setiga unreservedly supported you with his fleet and soldiers, and in Blackwater Bay, they fought for you and died for you."

"But now they've apostatized!" Stannis raised his voice and said angrily.

"People are different, some are strong, some are weak." "Count Setiga is an old man who has lost almost everything, and you should not kill him, if you can't forgive him for his weakness." That just makes you look ......"

"What does it seem?" Stannis said coldly, "It is the duty of every lord to be loyal to the rightful king, and Setiga has forgotten his responsibility and deserves it. ”

Davos knew he would regret it, but he retorted almost frantically:

"Why didn't you continue your allegiance to the rightful King Aerys Targaryen when your brother Robert was on the rise?"

There was a terrible silence in the room.

A swollen tendon bulged out of Stannis's forehead, and the sound of grinding his teeth became louder.

"Smuggler, I can make your tongue short, too."

"I am your man, Your Majesty, and the tongue is also yours, at your disposal." "But I'm going to tell the truth, even though it's often bitter." ”

Stannis calmed down a little, but the anger in his eyes did not diminish at all, and after staring at the onion knight for a long time, he squeezed out a word from between his teeth:

"Say."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Davos secretly breathed a sigh of relief, "No matter how angry you may be, the reality is that we have suffered heavy losses in Blackwater Bay, and we are no longer able to fight against the Lannisters or other reelers, and even if you kill Count Setiga and burn Crab Island to the ground, it won't change that." ”

"So what should I do? Surrender to the Lannisters? ”

"Nope. The Lannisters are nothing more than clowns who steal the throne. ”

"What about Caesar? I heard that he had returned to Westeros and brought back the girl from the Targaryen family, she was a true dragon. ”

"The true dragon bloodline is full of tyranny and madness." Davos still shook his head, "In my opinion, only you are qualified to rule the Seven Kingdoms. ”

Stannis smiled wryly:

"But what do I have with my men now to fight the Lannisters and Caesar for the Iron Throne?"

"The human heart."

"The human heart? I'm running out of people. ”

"That's because they don't see your determination and courage." Davos exclaimed, "Your Majesty, you can't stay on this island any longer, you have to do something. ”

"What else can I do? You don't agree to attack Crab Island. ”

"You can go to the Great Wall of Desperation."

"The Great Wall of Desperation?" Stannis frowned, "You also think there are real ghosts?" ”

"Whether there are strange ghosts or not, but at least it is true that the wildlings are going south, if they are allowed to break through the Great Wall, it will cause great disasters to the north, and even to the whole of Westeros, you should wave your army north and save the country."

Stannis was silent.

"Just as it is foolish to put a carriage in front of the horses, it is also a matter of putting the cart before the horse," said Davos, "to save the kingdom and thus win the Iron Throne." ”

"Sir Davos is right!" A loud voice came from the doorway, "Your Majesty, compared to the real battle that is coming, the battle for the Iron Throne is nothing more than a fight between children, and the ancient gods that are incomprehensible to mortals are gathering strength, and as the cold wind blows, winter is coming, and the unbelievable horror will also come beyond the Great Wall of Despair." ”

When Davos turned around, he saw the red-robed monk Thoros standing in the doorway, accompanied by Queen Selyse Florent.

"Husband, Your Excellency Soros is right." Queen Celis walked up to the king and took his arm, "The strangers are coming, and Westeros must unite in the name of the only legitimate king, that is, you, the prophesied prince, lord of Dragonstone, and the chosen people of Lahlo." ”

Stannis gave a pained expression:

"Since the true gods have chosen me, why did you let my fleet be consumed by the flames of Blackwater Bay? Now that I have only 1,300 men left, can I stop the invasion of the strangers with this little strength alone? ”

"Three hundred years ago, the soldiers under Aegon the Conqueror were about the same." Soros said.

"But he has dragons."

"You can have it too."

Stannis narrowed his eyes and said:

"Where did I get the dragon?"

Soros opened his arms and said loudly:

"Your Majesty, ancient prophecies foretold that you will awaken the sleeping dragon from the stone. They're right in front of your eyes, but you just don't see them. ”

Indeed, Dragonstone is full of statues of dragons.

But it's just statues, it's stones.

However, these are statues cast by the Valyrians and are said to contain the witchcraft of blood and fire.

Maybe you can really hatch a dragon......

"How do you wake up?" Stannis asked patiently.

"King's blood." Soros said, "Only death can be exchanged for life." Your Majesty, you will need to sacrifice a man with the blood of a king to Rahlo to awaken the dragon in the stone. That's what Caesar did in the city of Heaven and Earth. ”

"King's blood?" Stannis seemed to realize something, stared at Soros with cold eyes, and asked, "Who do you want to sacrifice?" ”

Soros bowed his head: "Your daughter, Shireen. ”

"You're crazy!" Davos blurted out.

Stannis suddenly turned to look at his wife:

"He told you about it?"

Queen Selys's lips trembled, but she gritted her teeth and nodded, and said in a fanatical tone:

"Salvation requires sacrifice! In order to quench the 'Lightbringer', Asea used the brainchild of his wife Nissa Nisha! Your Majesty, if you want to awaken the Demon Dragon, you must also make sacrifices! ”

"Shireen is my only daughter." Stannis said coldly, "And your only daughter!" ”

"Shireen has gray scales, it's a tainted bloodline." Queen Celis hugged the king, "I'm still young, I can give birth to more children for you!" ”

"Your Majesty!" "I don't know about dragons, I don't know about Lachlo, but everyone knows that those who kill their relatives will suffer an eternal curse from the gods!" You can't hurt your own flesh and bones! ”

"Winter is coming." Soros said, "Your Majesty, if you can't stop the ghosts, then your daughter will die in the long night and the cold winter, along with thousands of Westeros. Great salvation requires great sacrifices, Your Majesty, you must make difficult choices. ”

"Your Majesty......"

"Husband......

"Enough!" Stannis yelled, "You all get out!" I need to be quiet! ”

"Yes." The three of them retreated.

Stannis was the only one in the room, and he took off the red gold crown from his head, tossed it on the table, and walked to the large floor-to-ceiling window to the north.

Outside, the starry sky at night, and the deep sea.

Stannis stood for a long time, silent, as if he were a stone statue.

(End of chapter)