A Clash of Kings (21 page)

“He fetched the glove without dropping it, yes,” said Dale.

Allard nodded. “That badge on Devan’s doublet, the fiery heart, what was that? The Baratheon sigil is a crowned stag.”

“A lord can choose more than one badge,” Davos said.

Dale smiled. “A black ship
and
an onion, Father?”

Allard kicked at a stone. “The Others take our onion . . .
and
that flaming heart. It was an ill thing to burn the Seven.”

“When did you grow so devout?” Davos said. “What does a smuggler’s son know of the doings of gods?”

“I’m a knight’s son, Father. If you won’t remember, why should they? “

“A knight’s son, but not a knight,” said Davos. “Nor will you ever be, if you meddle in affairs that do not concern you. Stannis is our rightful king, it is not for us to question him. We sail his ships and do his bidding. That is all.”

“As to that, Father,” Dale said, “I mislike these water casks they’ve given me for
Wraith
. Green pine1. The water will spoil on a voyage of any length.â/p>

✠got the same for
Lady Marya
,âsaid Allard. âœhe queenâ™ men have laid claim to all the seasoned wood.â/p>

✠will speak to the king about it,âDavos promised. Better it come from him than from Allard. His sons were good fighters and better sailors, but they did not know how to talk to lords.
They were lowborn, even as I was, but they do not like to recall that. When they look at our banner, all they see is a tall black ship flying on the wind. They close their eyes to the onion
.

The port was as crowded as Davos had ever known it. Every dock teemed with sailors loading provisions, and every inn was packed with soldiers dicing or drinking or looking for a whoreÂ.Â.Â.Âa vain search, since Stannis permitted none on his island. Ships lined the strand; war galleys and fishing vessels, stout carracks and fat-bottomed cogs. The best berths had been taken by the largest vessels: Stannisâ™ flagship
Fury
rocking between
Lord Steffon
and
Stag of the Sea
, Lord Velaryonâ™ silver-hulled
Pride of Driftmark
and her three sisters, Lord Celtigarâ™ ornate
Red Claw
, the ponderous
Swordfish
with her long iron prow. Out to sea at anchor rode Salladhor Saanâ™ great
Valyrian
amongst the striped hulls of two dozen smaller Lysene galleys.

A weathered little inn sat on the end of the stone pier where
Black Betha
,
Wraith
, and
Lady Marya
shared mooring space with a half-dozen other galleys of one hundred oars or less. Davos had a thirst. He took his leave of his sons and turned his steps toward the inn. Out front squatted a waist-high gargoyle, so eroded by rain and salt that his features were all but obliterated. He and Davos were old friends, though. He gave a pat to the stone head as he went in. âœuck,âhe murmured.

Across the noisy common room, Salladhor Saan sat eating grapes from a wooden bowl. When he spied Davos, he beckoned him closer. âœer knight, come sit with me. Eat a grape. Eat two. They are marvelously sweet.âThe Lyseni was a sleek, smiling man whose flamboyance was a byword on both sides of the narrow sea. Today he wore flashing cloth-of-silver, with dagged sleeves so long the ends of them pooled on the floor. His buttons were carved jade monkeys, and atop his wispy white curls perched a jaunty green cap decorated with a fan of peacock feathers.

Davos threaded his way through the tables to a chair. In the days before his knighthood, he had often bought cargoes from Salladhor Saan. The Lyseni was a smuggler himself, as well as a trader, a banker, a notorious pirate, and the self-styled Prince of the NarrowSea.
When a pirate grows rich enough, they make him a prince
. It had been Davos who had made the journey to Lys to recruit the old rogue to Lord Stannisâ™ cause.

âœou did not see the gods burn, my lord?âhe asked.

âœhe red priests have a great temple on Lys. Always they are burning this and burning that, crying out to their Râ™llor. They bore me with their fires. Soon they will bore King Stannis too, it is to be hoped.âHe seemed utterly unconcerned that someone might overhear him, eating his grapes and dribbling the seeds out onto his lip, flicking them off with a finger. âœy
Bird of a Thousand Colors
came in yesterday, good ser. She is not a warship, no, but a trader, and she paid a call on Kingâ™ Landing. Are you sure you will not have a grape? Children go hungry in the city, it is said.âHe dangled the grapes before Davos and smiled.

âœtâ™ ale I need, and news.â/p>

â€The men of Westeros are ever rushing,âcomplained Salladhor Saan. âœhat good is this, I ask you? He who hurries through life hurries to his grave.âHe belched. âœhe Lord of Casterly Rock has sent his dwarf to see to Kingâ™ Landing. Perhaps he hopes that his ugly face will frighten off attackers, eh? Or that we will laugh ourselves dead when the Imp capers on the battlements, who can say? The dwarf has chased off the lout who ruled the gold cloaks and put in his place a knight with an iron hand.âHe plucked a grape, and squeezed it between thumb and forefinger until the skin burst. juice ran down between his fingers.

A serving girl pushed her way through, swatting at the hands that groped her as she passed. Davos ordered a tankard of ale, turned back to Saan, and said, âœow well is the city defended?â/p>

The other shrugged. âœhe walls are high and strong, but who will man them? They are building scorpions and spitfires, oh, yes, but the men in the golden cloaks are too few and too green, and there are no others. A swift strike, like a hawk plummeting at a hare, and the great city will be ours. Grant us wind to fill our sails, and your king could sit upon his Iron Throne by evenfall on the morrow. We could dress the dwarf in motley and prick his little cheeks with the points of our spears to make him dance for us, and mayhaps your goodly king would make me a gift of the beautiful Queen Cersei to warm my bed for a night. I have been too long away from my wives, and all in his service.â/p>

âœirate,âsaid Davos. âœou have no wives, only concubines, and you have been well paid for every day and every ship.â/p>

âœnly in promises,âsaid Salladhor Saan mournfully. âœood ser, it is gold I crave, not words on papers.âHe popped a grape into his mouth.

âœouâ™l have your gold when we take the treasury in Kingâ™ Landing. No man in the Seven Kingdoms is more honorable than Stannis Baratheon. He will keep his word.âEven as Davos spoke, he thought,
This world is twisted beyond hope, when lowborn smugglers must vouch for the honor of kings
.

âœo he has said and said. And so I say, let us do this thing. Even these grapes could be no more ripe than that city, my old friend.â/p>

The serving girl returned with his ale. Davos gave her a copper. âœight be we could take Kingâ™ Landing, as you say,âhe said as he lifted the tankard, âœut how long would we hold it? Tywin Lannister is known to be at Harrenhal with a great host, and Lord RenlyÂ.Â.Â.Ââ/p>

âœh, yes, the young brother,âsaid Salladhor Saan. âœhat part is not so good, my friend. King Renly bestirs himself. No, here he is
Lord
Renly, my pardons. So many kings, my tongue grows weary of the word. The brother Renly has left Highgarden with his fair young queen, his flowered lords and shining knights, and a mighty host of foot. He marches up your road of roses toward the very same great city we were speaking of.â/p>

âœe takes his
bride
?â/p>

The other shrugged. âœe did not tell me why. Perhaps he is loath to part with the warm burrow between her thighs, even for a night. Or perhaps he is that certain of his victory.â/p>

âœhe king must be told.â/p>

✠have attended to it, good ser. Though His Grace frowns so whenever he does see me that I tremble to come before him. Do you think he would like me better if I wore a hair shirt and never smiled? Well, I will not do it. I am an honest man, he must suffer me in silk and samite. Or else I shall take my ships where I am better loved. That sword was not Lightbringer, my friend.”

The sudden shift in subject left Davos uneasy. “Sword?”

“A sword plucked from fire, yes. Men tell me things, it is my pleasant smile. How shall a burnt sword serve Stannis?”

“A
burning
sword,” corrected Davos.

“Burnt,” said Salladhor Saan, “and be glad of that, my friend. Do you know the tale of the forging of Lightbringer? I shall tell it to you. It was a time when darkness lay heavy on the world. To oppose it, the hero must have a hero’s blade, oh, like none that had ever been. And so for thirty days and thirty nights Azor Ahai labored sleepless in the temple, forging a blade in the sacred fires. Heat and hammer and fold, heat and hammer and fold, oh, yes, until the sword was done. Yet when he plunged it into water to temper the steel it burst asunder.

“Being a hero, it was not for him to shrug and go in search of excellent grapes such as these, so again he began. The second time it took him fifty days and fifty nights, and this sword seemed even finer than the first. Azor Ahai captured a lion, to temper the blade by plunging it through the beast’s red heart, but once more the steel shattered and split. Great was his woe and great was his sorrow then, for he knew what he must do.

“A hundred days and a hundred nights he labored on the third blade, and as it glowed white-hot in the sacred fires, he summoned his wife. ‘Nissa Nissa’ he said to her, for that was her name, ‘bare your breast, and know that I love you best of all that is in this world.’ She did this thing, why I cannot say, and Azor Ahai thrust the smoking sword through her living heart. It is said that her cry of anguish and ecstasy left a crack across the face of the moon, but her blood and her soul and her strength and her courage all went into the steel. Such is the tale of the forging of Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes.

“Now do you see my meaning? Be glad that it is just a burnt sword that His Grace pulled from that fire. Too much light can hurt the eyes, my friend, and fire
burns
.” Salladhor Saan finished the last grape and smacked his lips. “When do you think the king will bid us sail, good ser? “

“Soon, I think,” said Davos, “if his god wills it.”

“
His
god, ser friend? Not yours? Where is the god of Ser Davos Seaworth, knight of the onion ship?”

Davos sipped his ale to give himself a moment.
The inn is crowded, and you are not Salladhor Saan
, he reminded himself.
Be careful how you answer
. “King Stannis is my god. He made me and blessed me with his trust.”

“I will remember.” Salladhor Saan got to his feet. “My pardons. These grapes have given me a hunger, and dinner awaits on my
Valyrian
. Minced lamb with pepper and roasted gull stuffed with mushrooms and fennel and onion. Soon we shall eat together in King’s Landing, yes? In the Red Keep we shall feast, while the dwarf sings us a jolly tune. When you speak to King Stannis, mention if you would that he will owe me another thirty thousand dragons come the black of the moon. He ought to have given those gods to me. They were too beautiful to burn, and might have brought a noble price in Pentos or Myr. Well, if he grants me Queen Cersei for a night I shall forgive him.” The Lyseni clapped Davos on the back, and swaggered from the inn as if he owned it.

Ser Davos Seaworth lingered over his tankard for a good while, thinking. A year ago, he had been with Stannis in King’s Land1ing when King Robert staged a tourney for Prince Joffrey’s name day. He remembered the red priest Thoros of Myr, and the flaming sword he had wielded in the melee. The man had made for a colorful spectacle, his red robes flapping while his blade writhed with pale green flames, but everyone knew there was no true magic to it, and in the end his fire had guttered out and Bronze Yohn Royce had brained him with a common mace.

A true sword of fire, now, that would be a wonder to behold. Yet at such a cost
. . . When he thought of Nissa Nissa, it was his own Marya he pictured, a good-natured plump woman with sagging breasts and a kindly smile, the best woman in the world. He tried to picture himself driving a sword through her, and shuddered.
I am not made of the stuff of heroes
, he decided. If that was the price of a magic sword, it was more than he cared to pay.

Davos finished his ale, pushed away the tankard, and left the inn. On the way out he patted the gargoyle on the head and muttered, “Luck.” They would all need it.

It was well after dark when Devan came down to
Black Betha
, leading a snow-white palfrey. “My lord father,” he announced, “His Grace commands you to attend him in the Chamber of the Painted Table. You are to ride the horse and come at once.”

It was good to see Devan looking so splendid in his squire’s raiment, but the summons made Davos uneasy.
Will he bid us sail?
he wondered. Salladhor Saan was not the only captain who felt that King’s Landing was ripe for an attack, but a smuggler must learn patience.
We have no hope of victory. I said as much to Maester Cressen, the day I returned to Dragonstone, and nothing has changed. We are too few, the foes too many. ff we dip our oars, we die
. Nonetheless, he climbed onto the horse.

When Davos arrived at the Stone Drum, a dozen highborn knights and great bannermen were just leaving. Lords Celtigar and Velaryon each gave him a curt nod and walked on while the others ignored him utterly, but Ser Axell Florent stopped for a word.

Queen Selyse’s uncle was a keg of a man with thick arms and bandy legs. He had the prominent ears of a Florent, even larger than his niece’s. The coarse hair that sprouted from his did not stop him hearing most of what went on in the castle. For ten years Ser Axell had served as castellan of Dragonstone while Stannis sat on Robert’s council in King’s Landing, but of late he had emerged as the foremost of the queen’s men. “Ser Davos, it is good to see you, as ever,” he said.

“And you, my lord.”

“I made note of you this morning as well. The false gods burned with a merry light, did they not?”

“They burned brightly.” Davos did not trust this man, for all his courtesy. House Florent had declared for Renly.