Chapter 110

He wore a gray woolen coat, a flaming red gold crown on his head, a sword with a ruby ​​hilt at his waist, and a dagger.

Next to him stood a man in a dark brown coat. His dark green cloak fluttered slightly in the sea breeze, and he had a thick beard on his face.

On the other side is a beautiful woman in red robe.

There have been frequent storms recently, and the sea is freezing cold at this time. The waves are rushing up, and occasionally there are some pieces of cloth and wooden boards, or dead fish and shrimps.

Standing on the pier, you can see the steep cliffs not far away. Most of the rocks there are black, like stratus clouds during a storm.

There are occasional spots of white on the rock wall, which are seabirds flying around.

This place is untouched and is a paradise for seabirds and snakes.

The rocky coast extends from there. In addition to sand, there are also many rocks scattered on the coast, and of course there are some shells.

The coast is in an arc shape and extends all the way to this side. The waves are mostly dumped on the rock walls and beaches. When it gets here, it seems a little calm. There is a small village outside the pier.

Low houses are densely packed together, and mercenaries, merchants, and slaves are all on the road. There are several commercial ships docked at the pier.

"A ship is coming." A shadow of a ship can be seen in the distance on the coast.

Stannis, Davos and Melisandre. All the important officials from Dragonstone gathered here. The castle guards dispersed the people around them, and dozens of people formed a circle.

As the black shadow grew larger, they could clearly see a flag with a lace pattern on the ship, and of course a flaming white bird flag.

There were still some curious civilians standing around, and they seemed to be curious about who could make the castle launch such a large formation.

When the ship docked, they finally saw a silver-haired aristocratic young man wearing a simple dark woolen coat stepping off the ship. He looked around and came slowly.

"Your Majesty the King." He bowed on one knee.

"Get up, ser."

Cole stood up and looked at the people in front of him. They had not seen each other for a short period of time, and they had changed tremendously.

Stannis was so thin that he seemed to be covered only by a layer of skin, with gray-white hair and sunken eyes. His clothes already looked baggy on his body, as if he had aged by ten years.

The condition of Onion Knight Davos is not much better, he is still thin, although he is quite thin to begin with. He lost four sons in the Battle of Blackwater, and returned to Dragonstone and was imprisoned in a dungeon.

"I have read that letter, and I am very pleased that you have not betrayed me."

"Your Majesty, I swore an oath to you on Dragonstone Island." Cole glanced at the dragon-like castle built on the hill.

Are there not many people who swear an oath for him? At that time, many people knelt on the ground and declared to respect him as king, but when the war really came, they all surrendered to Tywin's hands one by one.

Returning to the Picture Table Hall on Dragonstone Island, Stannis left him alone. They sat by the fire, in front of a wooden table. On one side was the map of Westeros when Aegon the Conqueror conquered it. The wind whistled outside the window, and the flames in the furnace flashed a little light.

The king looked at the flames, "For a long time after I came back, I didn't dare to look at the flames. I felt sad for my cowardice."

"Your Majesty, are you still blaming yourself? There will always be a victory or defeat in the war, and dwelling on failure will not bring us victory. Twenty years ago, you encountered a far worse situation than this at Storm's End. At that time You are not discouraged."

The king looked at him and said, "The Onion Knight always advises me bluntly, but you put it more politely. He should learn from you. Do you know what my men said when I showed the letter to them?"

Stannis's tone was a little low, "They all agreed that you would betray me and defect to King's Landing. I have faced so many betrayals that I have even become accustomed to it. I find that I do not have the gift of loyalty. At least compared to Robert and Renly, I Not as good as them. Robert can make his enemies loyal to him, but even Renly has people like Loras Tyrell who are unwilling to betray him."

"You have Ser Davos with you, and Ser Axel Florent. They all swear an oath to you, Your Majesty."

There was a trace of ridicule on his face, "They should really listen together. I know what Axel wants. He wants to replace his brother Allister Florent as my prime minister."

"They suggested that I send troops to the Crab Island of Celtija to let the Seven Kingdoms know the consequences of betraying me, and at the same time boost our morale with victory. What do you think? Sir." The king asked.

"Other than plundering some materials, it doesn't have much effect, at least that's what I think. Capturing Crab Island will not increase our soldiers or our ships, it will only make our enemies become more.”

Stannis nodded, "Then do you have any good ideas?"

Cole thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, you can deprive Adrian Celtigar of his title by order of the king, and then canonize a new Earl of Crab Island and ask him to come to Dragonstone to take the oath."

"The Onion Knight praised your wisdom, and he also advised me not to adopt this suggestion of pure revenge and anger. The king should protect every inch of Westeros and every innocent person. The guilty ones are Adrian Settiga, not those innocent people on Crab Island.

"I asked Davos to kneel down, then pulled out the 'Lightbringer' and put it on his shoulders. I made him a lord and asked him to serve as my Hand of the King. He refused, and refused very decisively. He told Me: You have someone more suitable.”

Cole was stunned.

"Everyone was sure of your betrayal at that time, but Davos told me that you sent the letter to Dragonstone and also sent Mace Tyrell here. He believed that you did not betray and asked me to write a letter for you."

The king stood up, "Sometimes I even feel that I am not as smart as a smuggler. Are you willing to be my Hand of the King, sir?"

He stretched out his hand, "Don't rush to refuse, I know Tywin wants you to be the Duke of Storm's End."

The king walked to the map, "Storm's End is the fortress of my family. During the conquest of Aegon, he gave this castle and the Stormlands to my ancestors. I shouldn't give it to others." He pointed to the Stormlands on the map, "This is originally a kingdom, but it is called the Seven Kingdoms. It's ridiculous."

"My former Prime Minister wrote a letter to King's Landing. For his own rights, he actually wanted to marry my Shireen to Cersei's incestuous bastard. This is simply an insult to me."

Stannis looked at him with a complicated look, "I will choose an honorable husband for her. Cole, are you willing to marry Shireen?"

Cole sat there motionless.

"But you have to wait until she comes of age before you can get married."

ps: I forgot to write the chapter title. Damn, I can't change it.