AMBERLEE STARK sat on her horse awaiting Renly Baratheon's arrival to the meeting of the brothers. "Lady Stark, I had not thought to find you in the Stromlands."
"I had not thought to be here, Lord Stannis." Catelyn shared a warm smile with her sister in law given the circumstances.
"Can that truly be you?" Renly asked his brother as he observed him.
"Who else might it be?" Stannis retorted sarcastically causing Amberlee to smirk slightly.
"When I saw your standard, I couldn't be sure. Whose banner is that?" Renly asked curiously.
"My own." Stannis said proudly looking his brother dead in the eyes.
"Suppose if we use the same one, the battle would be terribly confusing. Why is your stag on fire?" Amberlee smirked at what Melisandre would say.
"The King has taken for his sigil the fiery heart of the Lord of Light."
"Ah, must be this fire priestess we hear so much about." Melisandre smirked at the man proudly causing Amberlee to also smirk. "Brother, now I understand why you found religion in your old age."
"Watch yourself, Renly." Stannis warned his younger brother.
"No, no, I'm relieved. Never really believed you're a fanatic." Renly joked causing Amberlee to play with her horse's reins. "Charmless, rigid, oh yes, but not a godly man."
"You should kneel before your brother. He's the Lord's Chosen, born amidst salt and smoke." Melisandre told Renly who looked skeptical.
"Born amdist salt and smoke? Is he a ham?" Renly mused causing Melisandre to roll her eyes.
"That's twice I've warned you." Stannis told his brother again.
"Listen to yourselves." Amberlee became the sole voice of reason other than Catelyn.
"If you were sons of mine. I would knock your heads together and lock you in a bedchamber until you remembered that you were brothers." Catelyn looked between the two brothers.
"It is strange to find you beside my brother Lady Stark." Stannis told her.
"It is not stranger than seeing Lady Lannister beside you rather than with the Lannisters." Stannis sidestepped what his brother said.
"Your husband was a supporter of my claim. Lord Eddard's integrity cost him his head and you sit beside this pretender and chastise me." Stannis continued to bash the side Catelyn had picked.
"We share a common enemy." Catelyn told the older Baratheon.
"The Iron Throne is mine by right. All those that deny it are my foes." Stannis told Catelyn plainly.
"The whole realm denies from Dorne to the Wall. Old men deny with a death rattle and unborn children deny it in their mothers' wombs." Renly told his brother who glowered at him. "No one wants you for their King. You never wanted any friends, brother, but a man without friends is a man without power."
"For the sake of the mother who bore us, I will give you this one night to reconsider. Strike your banners, come to me before dawn, and I will grant you your old seat in the council. I'll even name you my heir until a son is born to me. Otherwise, I shall destroy you." Renly only looked off into the distance.
"Look across those fields, Brother. Can you see all those banners?"
"You think a few bolts a cloth will make you King?" Amberlee quirked a brow at her own question.
"No. The men holding those bolts of cloth will make me King." Renly focused his steely gaze on his brother.
"We shall see, Renly. Come the dawn, we shall see." Stannis rode off with Ser Davos following him.
"Look to your sins, Lord Renly. The night is dark and full of terrors." Melisandre told him and all of the bannermen left until only Amberlee remained.
"I will try to make him see reason. It's good to see you again, Renly." Amberlee and Renly shared a smile. "Cat." The two shared a smile. Amberlee's eyes finally locked with Loras' as they shared a look as she trotted by. "Take care of him, Loras." She called as she rode off towards Stannis and Meilsandre who were waiting for her. "I haven't seen her in a while now. I wanted to offer my condolences."
"You don't need to justify your reasons for remaining behind, Stark."
"Stark." Amberlee hummed as she glanced over at Stannis. "I haven't been called by that name in a while. I just might keep it."
"Aren't you going to chastise me for speaking against your sister in law?"
"No. Although, I do urge you not to kill your brother, at least not in the way you plan to." Amberlee eyed Stannis with pleading eyes. "Perhaps you should wait until he has had the opportunity to reconsider his claim. By dawn we will know where his true loyalty lies anyways and if ot isn't with you, then you have my full permission to kill him."
"I don't need your permission to kill my brother." Stannis grumbled from beside her.
"You shouldn't need to kill him at all, but it may come to that irregardless." Amberlee said sadly as she guided her horse up the hill. "You asked for my guidance and opinion so now you have it up until the day you win the Iron Throne or I die, hopefully the latter." The two chuckled lavishing in the fact that one king was soon to be taken care of.
*****
ANNALYS TYRELL sat beside Loras as they both mourned Renly. Rumours had spread that Brienne of Tarth had stabbed him through the back, but knowing of Brienne's loyalty, Annalys couldn't bring herself to believe the rumours. Chaos ensued throughout the camp as Stannis' forces grew nearer. Annalys watched as her sister paced around the tent. "We need to go home."
"Loras." Annalys pleaded with her brother as he stared at Renly's corpse.
"Milord, miladies." Lord Baelish's voice neared the siblings' ears as he entered the tent.
"Get out." Loras snarled his eyes unwavering from Renly.
"Stannis will be here in an hour. When he arrives, Renly's bannerman will flock to him. Your former companions will fight for the privilege of selling you to their new king." Lorad unsheathed his sword and approached the older man.
"And you want that privilege for yourself." Loras sneered as he glared at Baelish.
"You will note that I am standing here talking to you, not Stannis." Margaery made her way in between them.
"There's no time for this."
"Ride back to Highgarden, sisters. I'm not running from Stannis." Loras grumbled sword still in hand as he made his way back over to Renly.
"Brienne of Tarth murdered Renly." Margaery told her brother.
"I don't believe that. Neither of you believe that. Who gained the most from our King's death?" Loras looked over at Annalys.
"Stannis." Annalys murmured barely heard.
"I'll put a sword through his righteous face." Loras screamed angrily as he stormed towards the tent's exit.
"Stay here." Annalys pleaded with her brother.
"He would have been a true King, a good King." Annalys bowed her head in sorrow.
"Tell me, Ser Loras, what do you desire most in this world?" Annalys eyed Lord Baelish warily at his question.
"Revenge." Loras snarled tearfully.
"I have always found that to be the purest of motivations, but you won't have a chance to put your sword through Stannis, not today. You'll be cut to pieces before he sets foot in solid ground. If it is justice that you want, be smart about it."
"You can't avenge him from the grave." Margaery told her brother sternly. "Bring the horses." Margaery carressed her brother's hair. "Please." Loras left the tent leaving his two sisters saddened. "I'll begin packing, sister." Margaery smiled softly at her sister before leaving her behind with Lord Baelish. Annalys needed more time to process her grief than her siblings did. She and Renly had shared an unbreakable bond of friendships despite their differences and situations.
"He was very handsome despite Margaery saying otherwise." Annalys observed from where she stood beside the corpse.
"He was, Milady."
"Margaery always loved being called Milady until she became your Grace, but calling yourself King doesn't make you one and if Renly wasn't a King then my sister wasn't truly a Queen." Annalys glanced over at Baelish. "I was always envious of the way people treated Margaery as Queen. I always wanted a taste of it for myself."
"Do you want to be a Queen?" Baelish asked her quietly.
"No." Annalys shook her head with a soft smile. "I want to be the Queen." She faced Lord Baelish with a smirk. "If you'll excuse me, Lord Baelish." Annalys strode from the tent towards her own a small smirk still present on her face.
******
LEWYS LANNISTER walked alongside his older brother and close friend as they walked among the streets of King's Landing. "Completely humiliated by Robb Stark's time consuming."
"We won't be able to hold the city against Stannis, not the way Joffrey's planning on holding it." Lewys mused with a small smirk.
"Corruption! Yes! We are swollen, bloated, foul! Brother fornicates with sister in the bed of Kings! Are we surprised when the fruit of their incest is rotten?!" A townsperson called out from a platform. "Yes! A rotten King!"
"Well, it's hard to argue with his assessment." Tyrion told his companions as he observed the crowd forming.
"Not after what you did to your birthday present." Bronn deadpanned causing Lewys to roll his eyes.
"The King is a lost cause. It's the rest of us I'd be worried about now." Lewys told his older brother.
"Sent down his blood stained whores to the tune of a twisted demon monkey." The spokesperson said causing the crowd to laugh.
"Demon monkey?" Lewys scoffed at their laughter.
"You have to admire their imagination." Tyrion grinned almost beginning to laugh himself.
"He's talking about you." Bronn told the dwarf whose smile instantly faded and whose head turned to face Bronn.
"What? Demon monkey?"
"The people think you're pulling the King's strings. They blame you for the city's ills."
"If only they knew." Lewys said softly so only his brother and Bronn could hear.
"Blame me? I'm trying to save them." Tyrion looked back at the crowd.
"You don't need to convince us." Bronn said as he walked forward.
"Come along, now, demon monkey." Bronn chuckled heartily at Lewys while Tyrion glared at his younger brother playfully.
"I mean, honestly, demon monkey." Tyrion grumbled under his breath as the three continued on through the city.