Chapter 60 Meeting

The "map table" in the map table hall is more than 50 feet long, with the widest part being about half the length and the narrowest part being less than 4 feet.

The whole of Westeros can be seen at a glance on the map table. This was made by craftsmen after Aegon the Conqueror rode a dragon to travel around the Seven Kingdoms 300 years ago. The mountains, rivers and valleys are vividly portrayed.

The circular hall is full of knights and princes. Today, King Stannis summoned important officials to discuss the next strategic direction.

The three earls with the highest status sat in the second place of the king. Old Earl Adrian Celtigar of Crab Island responded to the call with his lavishly decorated "Red Crab". He is an old man who kills the fun. Whenever people reach a consensus, he always sings a different tune out of the blue.

The one who advocated sending troops to King's Landing as soon as possible was Lord Montford Velaryon. He was not the standard Valyrian, but had long golden hair and was extremely handsome. He said that now that King's Landing's defense was weak, it was a good opportunity to send troops to fight for it, and with the fleet of Dragonstone, it could sail to the tower of King's Landing without any hindrance.

The last earl was a fat 14-year-old boy, Ser Durran Bar-Emon, Earl of Pointe. He inherited the family title at a young age, and seemed to be a believer of the Seven Gods. When Stannis ordered the burning of the statues of the Seven Gods, someone saw him crying silently.

The voice of advocating sending troops to King's Landing was the highest, led by Lord Velaryon, while the opposite was the old Lord Celtigar, who sang the opposite tune. The old earl advocated that the army be stationed on Dragonstone and waited for Renly's army to fight the defenders of King's Landing until both sides were defeated before taking action.

Stannis watched the two parties arguing expressionlessly. He was actually quite helpless. After all, there was no one around him who could be of great use, and Davos was sent out by him.

He could not get any good advice from his men. Velaryon was very radical, Celtigar was very conservative, and the fourteen-year-old Bal Aemon was just a child who had not grown up yet.

So he had to make the decision himself.

"With our army, as long as we surround King's Landing for a few days, the dwarf and the young boy Joffrey will definitely roll out of the city and surrender." Lord Velaryon said fiercely. "Their food will not last long."

Stannis sent him to lead the fleet to blockade the sea and prevent any merchant ship from entering King's Landing.

"Tywin Lannister's army is stationed in Harrenhal. As long as they go south along the King's Road, they will reach King's Landing in a few days. If King's Landing cannot be captured by then, how will we deal with it?" Old Lord Celtigar asked.

"Tywin, he can't even handle a Stark kid." Lord Velaryon said disdainfully.

That's right. Judging from the news from the north in recent days, Tywin seems to have suffered a great loss at the hands of Robb Stark. He underestimated the enemy and can only retreat his army to Harrenhal. The two Lannister armies will take care of each other between Riverrun and Harrenhal.

His three-light act in the riverlands caused resentment. The people of the riverlands, led by the nobles of the riverlands, assembled an army and almost took back Riverrun through internal and external cooperation. If it weren't for Kevan Lannister's quick response, quelling the rebellion in the city, blocking the city walls, and then sending out ravens for help, it is estimated that Riverrun would have changed hands again.

And the cavalry sent by Tywin to support, their actions were somehow known to the North, and they were ambushed by the North knights on the way, suffering heavy losses.

At this time, Tywin realized that the siege was just a trick. He said that the Northern army confronting him looked like they were ready for a decisive battle at any time. It turned out that they had divided their forces again.

When he reacted and prepared to attack the Northern army camp, he found that the people had already retreated to the Neck and Luanhe City.

Robb took advantage of Tywin's information gap. In the home battle, Robb had much more information than Tywin. After all, only the locals were the scouts who were most familiar with the terrain and the most informed. Tywin made the riverlands a mess, and the people of the riverlands would never help him.

In fact, he himself could not have imagined that the final battle would develop into this. His original intention of launching this war was just to ease the financial crisis of the Lannister family. After all, the gold mountain was empty, and the war was a new gold mountain. Revenge for Refining Ang was a good cover, which was why he indulged his men in burning, killing and looting in the riverlands.

Unfortunately, the situation became a mess in the end. Robert died, Stannis and Renly both defected, and there was a big crisis waiting for him in King's Landing in the south.

Stannis knocked on the table, and the hall was quiet in an instant. Now he had to face not Tywin, but Joffrey in King's Landing and Renly who was leisurely rushing to King's Landing.

Renly was actually his biggest enemy now. After all, the forces gathered in Stormland and the Reach were a powerful storm.

King's Landing was already shaky now. He was not worried about not being able to capture it, but after conquering King's Landing, how to deal with Renly was a big problem, and it was impossible to conquer King's Landing without consumption. If he was surrounded by Renly's army, would he wait for another onion knight to send him a ship of onions like he did when he defended Storm's End?

King's Landing was in constant trouble and had no natural defenses outside. Unless there were dragons stationed, how could he deal with enemies from all sides?

"Gather all the troops, our target is Storm's End." Stannis made a decision that no one expected.

What's in Storm's End? Why didn't King's Landing go get it instead of gathering an army to go to Storm's End? Many people had question marks on their heads, obviously unable to understand the Lord's intentions.

When the meeting ended, countless voices were still discussing.

Some people say that Stannis wants to restore the ancient road and call himself the Storm King after retaking Storm's End. After all, the Baratheon family has the blood of the Storm King.

Others say that Stannis wants revenge on the Stormlands nobles who did not honor him as king.

Cole and Shireen were sitting in Aegon's Garden playing chess, with Patch-face jumping up and down next to them. Little Shireen's face had obviously put on a lot more smiles in the past few days.

In the corridor of the garden, Stannis's figure hurriedly walked over. Next to him were several of his attendants. Suddenly, silver bell-like laughter sounded in the garden, "Balerion defeated the aliens at the Great Wall." Ghost, I got the divine sword 'Ice Sorrow', and my attack power increased by ten points."

His hurried pace slowed down, and he signaled to the attendant beside him to stop, and then strolled into the thorn bushes and flower stamens until he could clearly see the two people sitting on the grass.

There was a map in front of them, with a pile of paper balls next to it, and then Shireen slid around the map with a wooden carved bird.

He slowly leaned forward and walked behind Shireen. Suddenly Cole stood up, raised his chest slightly and saluted, "Your Majesty the King."

Shirin stood up in surprise and greeted weakly, "Father."

Stannis nodded slightly and looked at the map. It was Westeros. This picture is engraved in the picture table hall.

Shireen had a look of fear on her face, like a child who had done something wrong. This can't be blamed on the children. After all, Stannis has such a cold temperament that even adults, let alone children, have to be cautious in front of him.

Rumor has it that he has a heart of iron, is ruthless, and will not be moved by anything.

But Shireen is definitely the warmth that remains in his heart. No father doesn't love his child, but people like him are destined not to show love. He can't even hold his daughter because of her illness.

"The map is well drawn." He complimented, and Cole could hear that he was trying to keep his tone as gentle as possible.

"Cole drew it, and the wooden knight and dragon were also made by Cole." Shirin handed out the wooden dragon in her hand.

Stannis took it in his hand and looked at the wooden dragon. He believed it was a bird. Then he asked, "Like wood carvings?"

Shireen nodded and shook her head, "This is Balerion, father. And Ser Duncan the Tall."

Apparently Tall Duncan was the Wooden Knight, which was the name she and Cole gave their character.

Stannis nodded, put the wooden dragon back into Shireen's little hand, and said, "There are Balerion's bones in King's Landing."

Stannis did not stay long. He left the castle and went to the dock to inspect his warships. It was not until nightfall that he slowly returned to the castle with his knights.

In front of the window of the Picture Table Hall, he looked at the distant sea in the sky, and his memory could not help but return to the two battles. One was the very depressing battle to defend Storm's End, and the other was the very enjoyable battle to defeat the Iron Fleet.

"What is your Majesty thinking?" Behind Stannis, a red figure came out.

Melisandre walked out from the side of the door, her steps were graceful and her voice was subtle.

"What prophecy did the Lord of Light give you?" Stannis asked, then turned his head.

"No, it is God who wants to give the real king some inspiration." She walked to Stannis and whispered in a bewitching whisper, "Please, great king, follow me."

She led Stannis to the side of the fire. "Please look into the flames, Your Majesty."

Stannis stared at the dancing red and white candlelight, and suddenly some pictures emerged from the flames. He saw a man wearing a deer-antlered helmet. He recognized it as Renly. Suddenly, a fast horse attacked. He came and cut off the deer helmet with one sword. He noticed that the man was holding two swords.

Suddenly the sparks jumped, causing him to step back in surprise. He turned to Melisandre. Although this was not the first time he saw the strangeness of the red-robed witch, this time it was definitely the one he felt the most.

"Your Majesty, what did you see?" Melisandre asked him.

"Renly."

"There will only be one king in the kingdom, and the false king will be punished, my lord."

Stannis's eyes were cold, and he was actually a little wavering about what he just saw.

He knew that the only one who could wield the two swords was that child. In this case, what if I take him alone.

In the following days, the oppressive atmosphere on Dragonstone became even more solemn. Everyone knew that the army was about to set sail, and Cole was stunned by an edict. He was ordered to fight with the army, and his task was to lead dozens of new recruits. of recruits.

They mingled with Stannis's loyal army and were placed aboard the "Lord Steffon".

It seems that Stannis won't let him go any further.