Game of Thrones: Battle Royale Game

(The timeline here is after the Battle of Westeros in Chapter 94 of the previous volume, more than two months earlier than the end of Volume 3)

Everything is obviously going so smoothly, but what's going on with this uneasy feeling? It's like there is one thing, if I don't do it, everything will slide into the abyss of no return.

Melisandre held the ruby ​​​​on her chest, faced the holy brazier placed in the center of the camp, and prayed to the Lord of Light again, hoping that He could give her instructions.

This was not the first time she had done this in these days, but the result was very little - the Red God did not give her a response.

Judging from Melisandre’s experience of serving the Red God for so many years, this is actually good news, because the fact that the Red God has not given new revelations means that she is on the right path and everything is under the control of the Lord. Among them, the current situation seems to be indeed the case.

The ancient book of Asshai predicts that after a long summer, the stars will cry blood and icy darkness will envelope the world. At this terrifying moment, Azor Ahai will be reborn in the land of smoke and salt, and pull out the heroic red sword from the fire. 'Lightbringer', driving away darkness.

The predicted red comet had appeared more than half a year ago, and he quickly found the champion chosen by the Lord of Light - Stannis Baratheon, the lord of Dragonstone Island in the 'Land of Smoke and Salt', and obtained the gained his trust.

Everything that happened after that confirmed his interpretation of the prophecy. First, King Robert's three children were judged to be illegitimate, and Stannis became the heir to the Iron Throne; then Robert declared war on Duke Tywin in the West, and Stannis was appointed commander-in-chief of the royal army; and then, Robert himself died.

A few days ago, news of Robert's death came from King's Landing. At the suggestion of Lorraine (a certain player) of the Kingsguard who accompanied Stannis on the expedition, Stannis, in the name of the Commander-in-Chief, asked the nobles who were accompanying the army at the time to come to the army. Meeting in the big tent.

At the war council, Stannis announced Robert's death to the nobles and asked them to swear fealty to him.

None of the nobles doubted what Stannis said. The Prince of Dragonstone was as smelly and hard as a latrine stone, and it was impossible for a latrine stone to falsely report his brother's death to start a rebellion.

So everyone quickly knelt down and swore fealty to Stannis - they had no reason to refuse.

Stannis is the legal heir to the Iron Throne and the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces. The nobles are meeting in his camp at the moment, and no one can raise objections or questions under this situation.

Therefore, Stannis immediately gained the allegiance of all the nobles accompanying him.

These people include almost all the nobles of Dragonstone and the royal territory;

Lord Matus Rowan and Lord Allister Florent, who personally led the troops to fight in the Reach, and Baelor, the eldest son and heir of Lord Leyton Hightower, the 'old man of Oldtown', led the army of Oldtown. Lord Hightower and others;

Earl Jason Mallister, Earl William Mouton and Earl Janos Bracken have arrived at the coalition camp in the Riverlands.

At the same time, the Cullen family, the Ismon family, the Errol family, the Sven family and the Selmy family in the Stormland also swore an oath to Stannis - for Robert's war, the great nobles of the Stormland this time They came out in full force and brought almost the entire Stormland army with them.

Although Duke Renly himself disappeared before the meeting, given the established fact that the Stormlands nobles had all pledged their allegiance to the king, it was difficult for Melisandre to imagine what ambitions Renly would have, or that the Tyrell family would risk giving him support.

Stannis has won the throne, and he only needs to defeat Tywin at the end of the crossbow to unite the entire kingdom to prepare for the holy war of life and death, and then drive away the darkness as predicted.

Everything was so perfect, Melisandre believed that it was all arranged by the Red God.

But what's that uneasy feeling? What exactly is the problem?

Suddenly, the flames in the sacred brazier became more intense, and there seemed to be shadows floating inside.

After a long absence, Melisandre finally saw a vision in the flames again!

It was a huge wall made of ice, snow and boulders. The top of the wall was very wide, enough for 12 knights to walk side by side. At this moment, there were only a few people on the top of the empty wall... Several savages were chasing a man with a white wolf head. The young man seemed to want to hunt him down.

The young man ran all the way and was forced into a corner by the opponent. He had no choice but to turn around and resist. Then he lost his footing and fell from the top of the wall during the battle.

The scene suddenly disappeared as the boy fell.

This was a very short vision, so short that it ended before Melisandre had time to think about it, and no matter how many times she prayed, she failed to get another response from the Red God.

What was that scene just now?

That huge city wall is undoubtedly the Great Wall of Despair located on the edge of the North, which separates the kingdom from the savage land and also blocks out the servants of the Cold God.

A few months ago, an army of wildlings found a way to pass through the Great Wall and captured Castle Black, wiping out the already overstretched Night's Watch legion and starting to move south.

But according to the latest news sent by Raven, the northern army led by Ed Stark crushed the savages at Long Lake not long ago, and then led his troops to Castle Black. Judging from the time, Lord Stark will arrive at Castle Black and regain it soon.

Stannis has already written a letter to Stark. Judging from the personal reputation of the Guardian of the North, there is no doubt that he will be loyal to Stannis as soon as possible after receiving the letter, so the North will never Will become a threat to Stannis.

So, what does the scene that Red God just showed me mean?

Several savages are chasing a werewolf? A wolf with a body and a head. Some kind of creature that has never been seen before.

Melisandre firmly believes that the Red God will not show her something meaningless, especially when it takes a long time to respond to herself recently. In this case, the Red God's revelation must be crucial. Information.

But

"How stupid!" The curtain of the big tent was roughly opened, and a voice interrupted Melisandre's thinking.

She turned around and saw Stannis coming in.

It's impossible to tell Stannis's emotions from his face, because his face is always tense, as if he has forgotten how to smile, let alone what it means to be happy. Under the frowning eyebrows, a pair of eyes were like two wounds, as dark blue as the night ocean.

'Onion Knight' Davos followed behind Stannis. He was a thin, mediocre-looking middle-aged man with an obvious aura of poverty.

During the Usurper's War, Stannis led a small garrison and was ordered to defend Storm's End. He held on for a year under heavy siege by the Tyrell and Redwyne forces. In the end, he even relied on cooking horses, cats, dogs, They live on tree roots and rat meat.

Just when they ran out of ammunition and food, Davos took advantage of the cover of night and ventured through the Redwyne fleet and the dangerous reefs of Shipbreaker Bay to deliver a shipload of onions and salted fish into Storm's End. Relying on these few supplies, Stannis held on until Eddard Stark's reinforcements arrived.

In order to reward Davos for his achievements, Duke Stannis gave Davos the fertile land of Cape Wrath, a small castle and the status of a knight. However, he also tried Davos for his smuggling crimes for many years and personally cut off Davos. All the distal knuckles of Foss's left hand.

After so many years, Lord Stannis has become King Stannis. There are many nobles working under him, but the one he trusts the most is the 'Onion Knight'.

Perhaps noticing Melisandre's appraising gaze, Davos frowned slightly, while Melisandre smiled at him.

Melisandre knew that the Onion Knight didn't like her. After all, he believed in the false god of Westeros with seven faces, while she held high the banner of the flaming red heart.

But Melisandre is not angry, because R'hllor is the only true god, he is omniscient and omnipotent, and any attitude of anyone on any matter is part of the Red God's plan, including those who do not believe in him and their attitude towards hypocrisy. God's piety.

"What happened?" Melisandre turned to Stannis, who was already sitting in front of the giant map sandbox, and asked. Her intuition told her that this was bad news.

"That brother of mine." He seemed reluctant to mention Renly's name. "He was crowned in the Golden Tooth and wrote me a letter of surrender."

"He has no army at all!" Melisandre was surprised. "All his vassals are already loyal to you."

"His vassals?" Stannis interrupted rudely. He seemed to be stung by these words. "If you are referring to Cullen, Aemons and other Stormland nobles, they should have been my vassals." Sir! For three hundred years, Storm's End has been the hereditary territory of House Baratheon. According to the law, when Robert ascends the Iron Throne, I should inherit it!

While Robert fought in the north, I held Storm's End! After Robert seized the Iron Throne, I built a fleet for him and wiped out the remnants of the previous dynasty on Dragonstone. I did my duty as a brother to the letter—Renly should do the same to me.

Later, how did Robert thank me? He made me Duke of Dragonstone, but gave Renly the lands and taxes of Storm's End. "This past incident hurt him deeply and has always been a thorn in his heart. "And now, that boy who only knows how to play games in beautiful armor wants to steal my crown! "

"He can't steal it, Your Majesty," Melisandre said with relief.

"Of course he can't steal it! I will give him a profound lesson, and then put all the rebels' heads on spears." Stannis snorted.

"Rebel? Whose support does Renly get?" Melisandre seemed to have found the reason for her uneasiness these days, but it felt wrong. If the uneasiness I have been feeling is because of this incident, then why didn't I see this in the Holy Fire?

The Holy Fire does not lie, and the Lord will surely show her the most important visions.

"Duke Renly left the camp and headed west." Stannis said nothing. The one who answered her was Davos, the Onion Knight. "They found Lord Randyll Tarly and Garland at the crossing of the Red Fork River. ·The cavalry led by Tyrell, and then they quickly joined up with another large army led by the Duke of Metz."

"After losing the entire Stormlands and the two most important vassals of Rowan and Hightower, the Tyrell family still chose to fully support Renly in becoming king?" Melisandre felt incredible. She came to West He didn't live long in Luo, but he still had a clear understanding of the virtues of the Tyrell family.

The clan motto of this family is 'life goes on forever', and usually, they prefer to be on the side of the winner.

"They have gained a more powerful ally." Davos glanced at Stannis and then explained in a low voice, "Before Renly became king, they had already made peace with Lord Tywin and established an alliance."

"An alliance of traitors!" Stannis shouted angrily.

"With all due respect, Your Majesty," Davos said, "Lord Tywin knows that you will never condone his treason, and Lord Renly promised him a pardon, and his wildling allies have been killed by Lord Eddard. Destroyed, he can only choose to side with Renly."

"So?" Stannis frowned.

"What I want to say is that if you also give Lord Tywin the promise of pardon, Lord Renly will immediately lose the support of Casterly Rock and Highgarden, and he can only choose to lower the flag of rebellion."

"Pardon?!" Stannis raised his voice, "Tell me again what you just suggested, Davos."

"Your Majesty," Davos wanted to continue fighting, "Earl Randyll leads two-thirds of our cavalry, and Lord Mace Tyrell leads a quarter of our infantry. They are fighting with Jaime. After the Lannister army gathered to besiege Riverrun, they already had an advantage over us in terms of strength. And in Harrenhal, which we have not captured yet, there are thousands of Kevan Lannister's elite troops."

"But the law is the law! Tywin Lannister's children brought shame to the late king, and he launched a rebellion to protect his son, so he must be punished! Just as I was treated the most unfairly by Robert , but unswervingly loyal to him, just as I should be the new king after Robert's death. Just like your cut off finger, the law is the law! Traitors may be forgiven, but not from me. .”

If Robert had the same character as you back then, he would definitely not be able to win the crown. Davos smiled bitterly in his heart, "Yes, Your Majesty, I just made a very stupid suggestion." He knew that it was impossible to convince Stannis. , then lowered his head, "But maybe we can have a peace talk."

"What's there to talk about with traitors? They can only choose to surrender or be eliminated."

"Yes, Your Majesty, but we must give them a chance to surrender," Davos continued to explain. "The marriage relationship between the nobles of Westeros is very complicated, and the rebellion this time is quite large. In Before letting nobles fight against each other, an attempt at peace talks allows the nobles to see your efforts to avoid war, and to show the vassals that you are not alone."

"A harsh and ungrateful man," Stannis took the initiative to speak out when Davos stopped. "That's how everyone sees me, right?"

"You are so kind to me." Davos shook his head.

"Davos, I trust you because you always tell the truth to me." Stannis frowned again.

"This is the truth."

Stannis was silent for a while: "Well, you are right. Being a duke and being a king are two different things. If a peace negotiation can reduce the petty thoughts of those guys, then prepare for a peace negotiation." After that, she looked at Merry Sandra, "What do you think?"

"I support peace talks, and" Melisandre glanced at Davos and finally did not choose to avoid him, "I have suggestions to solve the rebellion without going to war."

"Put away your magic, I don't need that." Stannis refused without thinking.