The lord's study in Storm's End was still brightly lit.
There were many fine touches throughout the room: beautiful marble from Tarth, a stag sculpture carved from precious Rainwood timber, portraits of Baratheon Great Lords brought from Myr, along with furs, amber, and other treasures. The quiet rainforests of the Stormlands were famous for their furs, timber, and amber.
Gendry sat in a tall chair carved with the crowned stag. Great Lord Stannis Baratheon, Ser Cortnay, Ser Barristan Selmy, the red priestess Melisandre, and the others were gathered there as well.
The Stormlands' next step was to march north toward the Crownlands.
"Our forces are scattered now," Stannis said to Gendry.
Gendry nodded. "Robb Stark's northern army and House Tully's forces are cutting off Tywin's supply lines around the Riverlands. I've ordered the Crackclaws and the Vale army to land near Maidenpool and Duskendale. King's Landing's grain routes and Tywin's supplies will both begin to collapse."
"Though we are scattered, we still have the advantage in total numbers, Lord Stannis," Ser Barristan said. "The question is simply whether we destroy Tywin's army first, or besiege King's Landing first. The next wave of streamlined Winter Wolves troops from the north, together with the Vale and Crackclaw forces, will be fully capable of facing Tywin head-on. But King's Landing is fixed in place. Tywin's army is not."
"Yes. Tywin does not have the kind of military art that wins three battles in a row, and his main force may retreat back to the Westerlands," Gendry considered. Tywin was known for steady, orthodox command, not clever surprises. The current task of the Crackclaws and the Vale lords was to cut off supplies and harass the enemy, and they had already done that well. As for a decisive battle, Gendry would still need to split off forces and command them himself, but he felt he might not be able to catch Old Tywin before he ran. Highgarden and the Vale both needed time to mobilize, and Tywin was not a complete fool.
"And we are advancing along three routes, all of them spread apart," Stannis reminded him. "Dividing the army too much is a taboo in war. As for Robb's army and the forces at Riverrun, I do not think they can stop Tywin's army from returning home without Prince Gendry's command and coordinated support."
"Even if they cannot devour him, the vanguard can still hold Tywin down. If our Stormlands army takes King's Landing first, the overall situation will be settled," Ser Cortnay said. By common sense, King's Landing's few defenders were no match for the soldiers of the Stormlands and a great fleet. But King's Landing had its own trump card.
"If we attack King's Landing, our commanders will certainly have plenty of opinions. The younger Velaryon will insist on storming the walls, using grappling hooks and ladders against arrows and boiling oil. Some of the older, steadier lords, like my grandfather Lord Estermont, will advise us to make camp at once, seal the city off, and use hunger as a weapon to force surrender, just as the Tyrells and Redwynes did to me years ago. Many old donkeys will agree with that. They have no shortage of patience. As for Lord Caron and the hot-blooded lords, they will be eager to put on their iron cans and decide everything in one battle," Stannis said.
"King's Landing is important, but it will not be so easy to enter. As I told Uncle Stannis, the city's defenses are not especially tight. What is truly dangerous is the wildfire buried beneath King's Landing," Gendry reminded them.
"Wildfire?" Ser Cortnay was shocked as well. The Mad King's plot to burn King's Landing had never succeeded, and no one knew just how much wildfire lay beneath the city.
"Yes," Gendry replied. King's Landing was a starving city, but even more terrifying were the wildfire beneath it and the Spider's web, spread everywhere.
Ser Barristan had known of the Mad King's obsession with wildfire, but he did not know about the Mad King's final wildfire plot. During part of Robert's Rebellion, he had been away fighting at the Battle of The Trident.
"The process for making wildfire is fixed, but after the Red Comet, its efficiency will greatly increase," Maester Qyburn said. There might already be new methods in King's Landing that made wildfire easier and more effective to use. This could be connected to the return of dragons to the world.
The red priestess nodded thoughtfully. To her, after the Red Comet and the appearance of the magic dragons, the fluctuations in her power had indeed become obvious.
"If there truly is wildfire, then our fleet certainly won't dare sail into the Blackwater Rush again," Ser Cortnay said. "But if we do not take King's Landing, we will be branded cowards."
"Let them talk. Winter is almost here, and people and grain come first. Men before land. In time, King's Landing will collapse from hunger. I want Harrenhal." Gendry stood and pointed to Harrenhal's position. "If I station myself on Dragonstone, Uncle Stannis can station himself at Harrenhal." Gendry needed Dragonstone. It was a transfer point between the two places, and it was also suited to the growth of magic dragons.
Gendry's thinking in war was clear: fortify, blunt the enemy's edge, then pursue them hard and take the greatest spoils possible.
"I can do that," Stannis said with a nod.
"Our enemies are clear. The Lannisters, our old enemy. Lys and Volantis, whom I drew here. And the Ironborn. I have a new plan," Gendry said.
"We still have Theon as a hostage. Balon cannot be that mad, can he?" Ser Cortnay asked doubtfully. The other enemies were obvious, but the Ironborn were not. By ordinary reasoning, the Ironborn should take advantage of the Westerlands' emptiness and raid them, but no one imagined Balon would be such a cowardly and deranged fool.
"Balon has already lost two sons. I doubt he values this last one all that much either. I have dealt with them before. They are a pack of madmen," Great Lord Stannis said after thinking back to the Ironborn of those years. Their heads had indeed never been very clear.
"The Stormlands army will leave the Kingswood and march north with great fanfare. Meanwhile, Uncle Stannis's Royal Fleet and my Twin Cities fleet will split into two routes. One will pretend to pass through the Stepstones to attack the Westerlands, while the other will move to attack King's Landing. Then I will lure the Lyseni and Volantenes through the Stepstones and destroy their fleet somewhere along the way." Gendry looked at the place on the map that marked King's Landing. The wildfire had always been there. If the Royal Fleet served as bait, whether the Lyseni and Volantenes would be brave or reckless enough to enter the Blackwater Rush was hard to say.
Ser Cortnay would hold Storm's End, Guyard would serve as the vanguard of the Stormlands army, while Gendry and Daenerys would take the great fleet and Great Lord Stannis to Dragonstone.
"A mad plan, but luring the enemy deep is a sound idea," Great Lord Stannis said. In truth, Stannis had tried the tactic of surrounding and destroying an enemy before.
During Balon's Rebellion, when Victarion's Iron Fleet sailed into the strait between Fair Isle and the Westerlands coast, it was suddenly trapped from north and south by the fleets led by Stannis Baratheon and Pykester Redwyne, and in the end it was utterly defeated.
"But where will our fleet be stationed?" Stannis asked, looking at Gendry. Gendry's appetite was even greater than he had imagined. This battle would at least involve the forces of Lys and Volantis as well. It would be one war against three kings.
"To make the plan a little more complete, one fleet may be stationed somewhere in Dorne or The Reach."
"Then it seems the Young Wolf will need to keep a close eye on the hostage under his hand," Stannis said thoughtfully.
As for Theon, Gendry had already warned Robb that Theon had always been sensitive and far too full of himself, yet Robb still used him carelessly.
Whether Theon could be used well was Robb's own problem, and Gendry could not interfere too much. Theon was skilled with both sword and bow. He was Robb's friend and guard. If Gendry had taken away one of Robb's close companions from the start, even the Young Wolf, dull as he might be, would have had thoughts about it.
When the military council ended, everyone rose and left. Ser Cortnay and Great Lord Stannis both departed the room. The red priestess, however, remained behind, watching Gendry.
"Do you have something to say to me, Lady Melisandre?" Gendry asked the red priestess Melisandre.
"Does the brave Storm fear a woman?" the red priestess asked with a soft, delighted laugh. "If you are willing to draw close to me, and agree to let me burn the Temple of the Seven on Dragonstone, I can bring you greater wonders, Storm. I serve light and fire, but I can also bring the servants of light, the children of flame. Shadows can accomplish things for you that tens of thousands of soldiers cannot."
"Thank you for your kindness, my lady." Gendry looked at the red priestess. Her prophecies in the sacred flames were sometimes rather accurate, and her magic seemed extraordinary. Now, she had become one of Gendry's advisors. Besides, even if the Seven Kingdoms disliked the Red God, the Red God had many followers on the Eastern Continent.
Ser Barristan stood behind Gendry, watching the seductive red priestess. Melisandre was beautiful, with a heart-shaped face, red eyes, and copper-red hair. Heat seemed to radiate from within her body.
"There is fire burning inside every human body, Prince," the red priestess said to him. "Magic dragons are Fire and Blood, and there is fire inside human bodies as well."
"So?"
"Your uncle, Lord Stannis, is resilient, but he is old now. Stannis's fire can only burn twice. I have already measured it. As for the others, of all those I have seen, only Ser Davos's fire burns a little stronger. But you are different. Your fire burns fiercely, a vigorous flame. If you want more, visit my room at night. I will give you pleasures you have never known, and from the fire of your life, I will create them."
Gendry drew Orphan-Maker and laid the black longsword against the red priestess's throat, but she did not move at all. "My lady, you are indeed beautiful. But the paths we have chosen are different. I would rather rely on myself than on others."
"What a Storm." The red priestess looked at Gendry. She seemed to stand within a crimson glow, the great ruby at her throat, her red eyes strange and beautiful. "Though the purpose of my existence is only to hold back the darkness, I think we need not speak of those grand wars and deaths. I can bring you only the most primal pleasure."
"Enough, my lady." Gendry put away his sword and made a gesture toward the door. The red priestess was indeed very beautiful, but he was still wary of her, and even more wary of the power of the Red God.
"Why did I not see you in the flames? Now I think I know the reason," the red priestess said. "Lord Stannis is a settled man, but you. You are an unsettled man. That is why I am all the more interested in you."
"What does an unsettled man mean?"
"The past has already passed, while the future twists and changes, with thousands upon thousands of roads. Most futures can be predicted slightly, but for certain stronger lives, their futures are even more blurred. No one knows whether they will bring success or greater chaos."
"Lord Stannis, whom I supported, has failed. An unsettled man is a far more terrifying existence than he was."
"We can speak of these things another time, my lady. Serve me well, and I will respect your power," Gendry said, looking at the red priestess.
"I will show you the great power of the Lord of Light, Prince. But you are such a clever man. Why do you not understand the nature of the world?" the red priestess asked in return.
"What nature?"
"See the nature of the world clearly. Truth surrounds you, and all things are plain before your eyes. The Long Night is dark and full of terrors. Daylight is bright and flourishing. One black, one white. One ice, one fire. Hate and love, bitter and sweet, woman and man, pain and joy, winter and summer, evil and justice." The red priestess took another step forward. "Death or life. Opposites have existed from ancient times to now. War is everywhere."
"War?" Gendry looked at the red priestess.
"Yes. War," the red priestess confirmed.
"A war between two true gods, Storm. Not seven, not one, not a hundred, not a thousand. Only two! Do you think I crossed half the world to place yet another arrogant king on an empty throne? You are wrong. The war began with the beginning of the world, and before judgment comes, every person must choose a side. On one side stands the true god R'hllor, the Lord of Light, the Heart of the Holy Flame, the god of shadow and fire. On the other stands an ancient alien god whose name mortals may not speak, the god of darkness, the soul of black ice, the god of night and fear. Our choice is not Baratheon or Lannister, Greyjoy or Stark. Our choice is life or death, light or darkness." The red priestess came to Gendry's side and seized his hand. The great ruby at her throat seemed to pulse in rhythm.
"Do you not want to become Azor Ahai, the Savior?" the red priestess asked. "Darkness is slowly descending upon the Seven Kingdoms, and after the sun, it shall rise again. Someone will appear. The will of the Lord of Light, the son of the holy flame, the warrior of light. After the Long Summer, when the stars bleed, the Savior Azor shall be reborn amid smoke and salt, and shall wake the magic dragons from stone. The Lord of Light is the source of goodness, good knight. He will aid your flame."
"I do not. I am only myself. I am only the Storm. Why should I obey the gods, instead of the gods obeying me?" Gendry said calmly.
"Enough, my lady. Your speech is over." Ser Barristan invited the red priestess to leave.
"Storm, mighty good knight, good king. Will you choose the hardest road? Your strength, honesty, integrity, resolve. If power is founded not on faith, but on Bloodline, then every step will be difficult. Since the ancient Storm Kings, Dragonlords, and the kings of the Rhoynar departed, no one has possessed great power in the strength of Storm, fire magic, or water magic." The red priestess gathered her skirts and walked out on her own.
"And the magic of the Northmen," Gendry added.
"Warging?" The red priestess smiled. "A foolish power. Good luck, Prince."
"My instincts tell me this woman is extremely dangerous, Prince," Ser Barristan warned. "She seems to possess some kind of magic, and she has a very persuasive tongue."
"She does," Gendry said. "The Long Winter is coming. We have no choice but to win over such talents." Besides, the red priestess's loyalty was fairly reliable, if rather rigid.
...
When Gendry and Ser Barristan stepped out of the room, they found a middle-aged man standing outside the door, a little farther away from Anguy and Lothor.
Ser Bonifer Hasty, nicknamed "the Good."
Ser Bonifer wore a plain purple tunic bearing the white bend of his house. He looked solemn and dignified, and he could hardly speak three sentences without mentioning the Seven.
"Prince Gendry, Ser Barristan," Ser Bonifer said, bowing to them.
"Ser, what do you wish to say?" Gendry asked him. Ser Barristan looked at Bonifer with a strange expression. Ser Bonifer Hasty came from a landed knight's family in the Stormlands, and the greatest story about him had been his love for Queen Rhaella, a love that had come to nothing.
"We are all sinners, Prince," Ser Bonifer said. "I too have been deeply sinful. But the Princess is the last. The last dragon. I wish to lead my Company of a hundred knights and protect you both with my life."
"Ser Bonifer, thank you for your kindness," Gendry said. The man was gentle, calm, just, and devoted to his duty. The holy warriors of the Seven he had shaped were disciplined soldiers. Though not especially outstanding, they still performed well. In the future, if the scars of the Riverlands or King's Landing needed to be healed, he would be a good choice.
Watching Bonifer's departing figure, Gendry could not help sighing over what a tragic man he was. A warrior of pure love would weep on the spot.
Accompanied by Dacey Mormont, Daenerys happened to arrive at that moment. Since the military council had gone on for some time, she had come to see what was happening. Dany saw the old knight bowing to her. Bonifer looked at her once, and his heart was filled with sorrow.
"My princess." Gendry affectionately ruffled Daenerys's silver-gold hair. She was wrapped in the hide of a white lion, soft and fluffy.
"Who is he, Ser Barristan?" Daenerys asked in confusion. "I saw sorrow in that old knight in purple's eyes. Does he know me?"
"He knows you, and he knew your mother even better." Ser Barristan wore gold and silver armor, his white cloak flowing over his shoulders. He looked dashing and elegant, yet his voice was full of pain, as if every word were a mountain.
"My mother?" Daenerys asked in surprise.
"Your mother was faithful to her duties as a wife. But when she was a young girl... she once gave her heart to a young knight from the Stormlands. That knight won her favor at a tourney and named her Queen of Love and Beauty. That was more or less the story."
"What happened to that knight afterward?"
"On the day your mother married your father, he put away his lance. After that, he became unusually devout, saying that only the Maiden could replace Queen Rhaella in his heart. But his love was impossible. How could a landed knight be worthy of a royal Princess?"
Daenerys froze for a moment. When Ser Bonifer saw her, had he thought of her mother, Rhaella? But that had been decades ago.
***
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