Davos entered Red Keep and looked at the flags fluttering overhead; they weren't much different from when he first saw it more than a decade ago.
Aside from the extra fiery red heart, Davos still felt that the old flag was cleaner and purer.
He wanted to tell Stannis that it wasn't the Seven Gods' fault that his parents perished in Shipwreck Cove; after all, everyone faces storms.
But seeing Melisandre and Stannis growing closer and Stannis rising in status, Davos knew that his advice might not be of much use.
Moreover, he didn't have any particular motivation to do this.
Not long ago, his title was changed from knight to knight, and now Davos can be called the Onion Knight.
However, he should perhaps be called " Sir Blackwater Rush," since Stannis has now put him in charge of the Blackwater Rush fleet.
The captain could still vaguely recall the first time he met Stannis, when Stannis was just a seventeen-year-old boy trapped in Storms End.
He himself was a smuggler.
Unexpectedly, fate had taken a different turn. The calm-faced boy had grown into a man and then a king. Now, this smuggler from Flea Bottom had transformed into the adult the common people spoke of.
Sometimes Davos would think that if his father, who had perished at sea, knew that his son had come to this, he would probably be overjoyed and swim up from the seabed.
" Forget it, I'd better not let him know about Dao." Davos thought to himself happily.
Since Stannis has bestowed such honor upon me, I should repay him with an equal return.
Looking across the Seven Kingdoms, only Jon seems to share a similar fate, though Jon's destiny is more legendary. Regardless, Davos believes Jon should, like himself, prioritize loyalty.
Halfway there, Davos frowned again, remembering Varys's words from not long ago—
Everything Jon has now is both a gift from Stannis and something he earned himself. In some ways, Stannis needs him more than Jon needs Stannis.
In particular, he mentioned that House Tyrell is very likely to be corrupted, Jon said.
Davos thought about it carefully and found that this was indeed the case.
Perhaps Jon is still "heart-natured and innocent" now, but he will be marrying Tyrell in the future. Won't the difficulty of dealing with House Tyrell affect him?
With this in mind, Davos was somewhat worried. From the very beginning, almost everyone had been taking advantage of this young man.
To this day, Jon only has a title; he owns no land and no castle of his own.
This is somewhat unfair, considering him the greatest contributor to the Iron Throne. Of course, he has gained official recognition and become Stark, but Varys ' warning forces Davos to consider the possibility of Jon "corrupting" in the future.
He hoped to persuade Stannis, even if it was just empty promises, to do more for Jon and make Jon see the current difficulties of Stannis's court, so that he wouldn't easily change his mind.
Davos pondered for a moment, and soon he arrived at Maegors Holdfast. The guards at the corner saluted him, and Davos nodded and straightened his clothes.
Stannis was naturally also keeping an eye on the battle at Casterly Rock. When Davos entered the study, Stannis, Prime Minister Alliser, Varys, Chancellor of the Exchequer Adrian, and the now much older Pycelle were all present.
"I'm late, Your Majesty."
"It's alright, have a seat," Stannis said casually.
Seeing that all the important ministers had arrived, Pycelle explained the day's agenda to everyone.
" Duke Tywin still hasn't budged; he remains adamant—"
" Tywin is no longer a duke, Old Maester," Davos offered a kind correction.
"Oh, sorry." Pycelle gave Davos a grateful look. To be honest, he admired Tywin quite a bit, but he often made mistakes in his speech.
Fortunately, Stannis didn't seem to mind and simply gestured for him to continue reading.
Stannis actually preferred a younger Grand Maester, but according to the old rules, he couldn't change the Grand Maester at will unless Pycelle died. But that old fellow was too long-lived, having outlived five or six kings.
Pycelle continued in his aged voice, " Tywin hasn't budged yet. He's only agreed to forgive the royal family's debt of three million gold dragons. His other conditions are that Cersei and Jaime be returned, and Jon's army must leave the West. Only then will he agree to pledge allegiance to Your Majesty."
"Hmph, this old guy seems to have lost his sense of the situation, daring to make such a request," Paxton said disdainfully.
He glanced at Stannis, whose expression was also not good.
It seems he was very dissatisfied with Tywin's almost provocative conditions. If he agreed to Tywin's conditions, what kind of just king would he be?
Especially Lannister The Family has done something that tarnishes the Royal Bloodline and reputation. Tywin himself has led troops to massacre civilians in the Riverlands and joined forces with Tyrell to attack his own army.
Any one of these offenses alone would be a capital offense, yet they still dare to continue to act so defiantly. Stannis is absolutely unwilling to accept this.
"Since that's his attitude, let Jon continue playing." Stannis's voice was like icy rain.
At this moment, Davos suddenly remembered something and asked Alliser, "Prime Minister, does Jon know about our peace talks with Tywin?"
"Of course I don't know Dao. This is Casterly Rock speaking directly to us," Alliser said matter-of- factly.
"Shouldn't we tell Jon?" Davos looked at Stannis. "After all, he's the one who directly confronted the West on the battlefield, and he just broke through Casterly Rock. We should let him know. "
" Ser Davos, Jon just needs to focus on fighting, there's no need for him to know about these things, right? " Alliser said.
"Why shouldn't Jon know Dao? Wasn't Dao's lord of casterly rock appointed by Your Majesty? Aren't we talking about changing his fiefdom?" Davos's words were full of confusion.
"Have you considered that if Jon knew Dao was negotiating with Tywin, would he still be willing to risk his life for Your Majesty?"
As soon as Alliser finished speaking, he immediately sensed that the atmosphere around him was a bit strange.
Isn't it a bit too dishonorable to plot against a general who is fighting on the front lines in such a dark way?
Alliser noticed that Davos was clearly angry, while Varys remained indifferent, looking away.
" Your Majesty, this isn't what you meant, is it?" Davos looked at Stannis with some resentment.
Stannis didn't answer, and Davos felt that he, like the flag, had "changed his mind."
" Your Majesty, how could you deceive your subjects? This is pure exploitation!" Davos's voice was filled with disappointment.
" Ser Davos! Watch your tone when you talk to Your Majesty!"
Alliser reminded Dao, but Davos ignored him, staring intently into Stannis's deep blue eyes as if trying to find the answer he was looking for.
Faced with his ministers' relentless questioning, Stannis began to lose face.
"That's right, I didn't intend to let Jon know about Dao, but Dao, do you think he can break through Casterly Rock? Have you ever been to Casterly Rock? I have!"
Casterly Rock alone has two hundred giant crossbows, each over four meters wide and capable of shooting four hundred paces away! Their food reserves can last for more than ten years, and their water source is rainfall. They are impenetrable by attack and impossible to starve to death. How do you think we should fight them?!" Stannis was also somewhat unhappy, after all, it was he who ultimately decided not to tell Jon that they were negotiating with Tywin.
"But why don't you tell him? I believe Jon will understand you!" Davos's voice trailed off.
Although Davos has never been inside Casterly Rock, he has seen it. It is a castle carved into a rocky mountain; the mountain is the castle, and the castle is the mountain.
He racked his brains but couldn't figure out how Dao could take down a magnificent city that rose more than two hundred feet (forty or fifty meters) high.
Seeing Davos's tone weaken, Stannis continued, " Now that he's breached Casterly Rock, I'll give him all the Gold Mine around Casterly Rock, the Gold Mine in Craster May, and all the Gold Mine he can take down. That should be fine, right?! And I'll even give him tax exemption! He won't need to pay me a single Gold Dragon for the next ten years!"
Stannis's words were somewhat agitated, and Davos knew that his king was struggling internally.
On the one hand, doing so was indeed inconsistent with his Daoist values; on the other hand, as king, if he wanted to stabilize the country, he had no other good way.
"For a bastard to receive a promise like Your Majesty is already incredibly lucky," Alliser chimed in from the side.
"Prejudice in people's hearts is a mountain." Jon's words suddenly popped into Davos's mind. He looked at Alliser and sneered at Dao: "At least this bastard didn't go so far as to collude with the enemy for a piece of land."
"What did you say!" Alliser was embarrassed when his past was exposed.
"Enough!" Stannis found that his royal council meetings were never pleasant.
"That's settled then. Let Jon continue fighting. If he can really take down Casterly Rock, I won't break my promise." Stannis stood up and left the council meeting alone.
Everyone else also quickly stood up and bowed slightly to Stannis.
Watching Stannis leave, Davos really didn't know what Dao was going to say.
He still believed that Jon should be informed of their ongoing negotiations with Tywin, rather than so rudely undermining the trust between the monarch and his minister.