Chương 229: Chapter 227: Broken Negotiations
As one of the strongest castles in Westeros, Storm's End is located in the heart of the Stormlands, on the west coast of the Narrow Sea.
The castle walls are said to be eighty feet thick at their thickest, made up of two layers of rock and a sandwich of sand and gravel, making them indestructible.
The walls were smooth arcs, and the stones were packed so tightly that not even a breath of wind could get in.
From a distance, Storm's End looks like a giant fist soaring into the sky, defying any incoming enemy.
Legend has it that this castle is the masterpiece of Brandon Stark, the "The Builder" who built the Wall and the Hightower. Since its construction, it has never been captured.
The last Storm King, Argilac the Proud Durrandon, foolishly abandoned the defence of Storm's End during the War of Conquest and instead gathered an army to fight the Targaryen armies and dragons in the wild. Ultimately, he failed miserably.
After the War of Conquest, Aegon Targaryen granted Storm's End to his illegitimate brother, Orys Baratheon. Since then, Storm's End has become the ancestral fortress of the Baratheon family.
After Robert's rebellion , Robert Baratheon sat on the Iron Throne and granted Storm's End to his younger brother Renly Baratheon. Unfortunately, this man died in Sunspear.
The vacant Dukeship of Storm's End was conferred by King Tommen, who now sits on the Iron Throne, to Edric Baratheon, the illegitimate son of the late King Robert.
"Edric Storm!" Stannis Baratheon corrected his men, "What qualifications does the false king on the Iron Throne have to legitimize an illegitimate child."
"Yes, your majesty," the messenger followed suit, "Edric Storm agrees to meet you in the afternoon, on the cliff east of Storm's End Castle. At that time, both parties are only allowed to bring a maximum of ten followers."
"Okay." After the messenger left, Stannis turned to look behind him and asked, "Has anyone among the Stormland nobles responded to my call?"
There was a silence.
Stannis began to grind his teeth.
After a long while, "Onion Knight" Davos said, "Your Majesty, it's not that the Stormland nobles are unwilling to support you, but their armies are trapped in Dorne. If you can persuade Prince Doran to release them, they will surely be willing to send troops to support your cause."
"No need to give them a reason!" Stannis said firmly, "The Stormlands army trapped in Dorne is only more than 20,000 people, so does this leave them with no troops to send? They just don't want to fight for me. It just so happens that the Iron Throne has supported a bastard son to take the position of Duke of Storm's End, and they have even more excuses."
"In fact, there is also the threat of the Reach army," Davos added, "Even if the Stormland lords still have some troops, they will stay in the castle to guard against the Reach."
"Reach!" Stannis said through gritted teeth, turning his eyes to his father-in-law, "Alester, where is your guarantee? Didn't you say that Reach will definitely support me? What kind of support is this ?"
Alesy Florent, Earl of Brightwater Keep, was also a little embarrassed after hearing this.
Just the day before yesterday, they received news that Duke Mace had ordered the Reach army to march towards Storm's End Castle.
Although the people of the Reach claimed to be helping Stannis deal with that illegitimate son who had usurped the position of Duke of Storm's End, everyone with a discerning eye knew that they just wanted to take this opportunity to plot the Stormland.
After hearing his son talk about the scene of mistaking a deer for a horse at the hunting party in Highgarden, Earl Alester originally thought that the Tyrell family would definitely support his son-in-law Stannis to ascend the Iron Throne, so he happily came with his army to Dragonstone, ready to seize the opportunity.
But who knew that the Tyrell family's next ambiguous statement and ulterior motives made him dumbfounded.
He finally came to his senses. His grandson, who is engaged to Highgarden Rose, obviously has other thoughts.
But at this time, the Florent family had no way out.
Lord Allister's daughters were all married to Stannis, and he himself went to Dragonstone in advance to express his sincerity and was promised the position of Hand of the King by him. Of course, he would not, and could not, receive such courtesy again half-heartedly.
"Your Majesty," Earl Alester said carefully, "As long as we make the bastard in Storm's End give up his unrealistic delusions, the Tyrell family will have no excuse to continue marching into the Stormlands."
"Do you think that boy will voluntarily give up his position as Duke of Storm's End?"
"As long as you promise to treat him well, I believe Edric Storm will recognize the reality."
"I hope so."
Hearing this, Davos suddenly suggested, "Your Majesty, if you promise that as long as Edric is willing to be loyal to you, you can legalize his identity and even grant him Storm's End Castle, then he will have no reason to fight against you anymore."
"Impossible!" Stannis flatly refused, "A filthy bastard wants to inherit Storm's End?"
Davos sighed and stopped trying to persuade him.
He knew that his lord hated Edric Storm, an illegitimate child because the child was conceived by Robert Baratheon and Delena Florent on Stannis's wedding bed on the day of his wedding.
There are even rumours that Stannis has been unable to give birth to a male heir because his marriage bed was defiled by his brother.
How could Stannis let go of such humiliation?
As the afternoon rolled around, Stannis, wearing a red gold crown, rode to the negotiation site.
Soon, a group of people slowly came from the direction of Storm's End Castle.
The leader was wearing a green velvet coat and a satin cloak trimmed with pine bark. He looked handsome and glamorous.
When the two sides got closer, Stannis also saw his brother's illegitimate son clearly. He had the black hair of the Baratheon family and the windy ears of the Florent family.
He was strong in his body, but his face was slightly green.
"Edric," Stannis greeted him. He didn't call him Duke, but fortunately, he didn't call him by his bastard's surname either.
"Uncle," Edric's greeting was equally concise.
The uncle and nephew then stared at each other in silence, and the atmosphere became awkward.
Finally, Lord Alester Florent, who was behind Stannis, coughed lightly and said with a smile:
"Edric, just hello when you see your uncle?"
Edric is Robert Baratheon's child with Delena, the niece of Count Alester Florent, so the two parties do have a blood relationship.
But the young Duke of Storm's End turned to look at Earl Alester and said in an indifferent tone:
"So you are Lord Alester. This is probably the first time we have met. I really didn't recognize you."
Indeed, Earl Alester would certainly not pay much attention to his niece's illegitimate child, even the illegitimate child of the king. After all, King Robert had too many illegitimate children.
Before, he only knew that such a child existed, but he had never cared about it.
"Edric," Earl Alester tried to calm down, "His Majesty Stannis came this time with goodwill and forgiveness. As long as you give up resistance and give up Storm's End, His Majesty can take it as None of this happened."
Edric snorted softly and asked, "Then what? Will I continue to be an illegitimate child that everyone despises?"
Earl Alester glanced at the king and said: "His Majesty can give Edric the surname of House Theon and even grant him a fiefdom."
"Fiefdom? Storm's End?"
"Don't even think about it!" Stannis flatly refused.
Edric shrugged: "Uncle, you are really stingy. No wonder no one is willing to fight for you."
These words touched Stannis's pain point, and his face instantly became extremely gloomy, he growled through gritted teeth and said, "Boy! Do you know that your death is near? The Reach army has advanced towards Storm's end. Do you think anyone besides me can save you?"
"I have Storm's End Castle, and I don't need your rescue," Edric said calmly, "During Robert's rebellion , the Reach army also besieged Storm's End Castle.
They attacked for a whole year but failed to capture it. Uncle, you were in the city at the time, so you know how strong the castle is, right? Moreover, learning from your last lesson, I have stored up three years of food this time. I want to see if the Reach army can besiege here for three years!"
Stannis began to grind his teeth again. This is a sign of his extreme anger.
But he really couldn't do anything to this illegitimate son who refused to back down.
In desperation, Stannis looked at Ser Cortnay Penrose behind Edric and said, "Ser Cortnay, are you willing to follow this bastard nonsense ?"
Ser Cortnay did not answer but pointed to the flag behind Stannis. He asked, "Lord Stannis, have you changed your coat of arms?"
The flag in the hands of Stannis' flag officer was indeed a bit strange, with a fiery heart painted on it, surrounded by a circle of orange flames. The mark of the crowned stag was still there, but much smaller, outlined in the heart of the fire.
"This is the flaming red heart, the flag of R'hllor, the Lord of Light," the red-priest Thoros explained.
"What nonsense, Lord of Light," Sir Cortnay spat, disdainfully, "Stannis, you change your faith as easily as I change my boots, and you have the kindness to call me nonsense?"
"Enough!" Stannis suddenly drew his sword.
Under the pale sunlight, the blade of the sword shone with a strange light, sometimes red, sometimes yellow, and sometimes turning into a blazing white light.
Even the surrounding air sensed the heat radiating from the blade and changed and glowed accordingly. Everyone's war horses were frightened and neighed.
Stannis raised his glowing sword, pointed it at his illegitimate nephew, and roared: "I'm warning you for the last time, Edric Storm! I don't want to stain the 'Lightbringer' with the blood of my relatives, but if you are so stubborn, I will kill you even if I bear the curse of parricide!"
Edric sneered in response: "Uncle, do you know why the nobles of the Stormlands are willing to die for my father and fight for Uncle Renly, but they just don't want to send a single soldier to support you? It's because of your cruelty and ungratefulness! If you can't change this, you will never be able to sit on the Iron Throne."
After saying that, the illegitimate Duke turned his horse, heading towards Storm's End Castle.
Stannis was left holding the strangely glowing sword, slashing the air with fury.
[END]
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