“Your Grace, the two armies have already set up camp outside the city along the Stormlands and Riverlands front. There are about thirty thousand soldiers in total, stationed at seven locations, with at least two thousand outside each gate. The Lion Gate, the King’s Gate, and the River Gate have the largest concentrations, each with over five thousand men.” The soldier knelt on one knee and reported loudly, “Lord Renly’s banner is raised outside the King’s Gate, and his men are shouting, demanding that Your Grace come out to negotiate.”

“Negotiate?” Stannis gave a cold smile. “A rebel who defies his brother’s will and the line of succession, disregards honor and order, now wants to negotiate with the true king? Keep the defenses tight and ignore whatever nonsense they shout… No, wait. I should respond. Send someone with a loud voice to deliver this message: ‘Lower your false king’s rebel banner at once, kneel before me, and beg for my brother’s forgiveness. Only then might you still have a chance to live.'”

Eddard opened his mouth as if to speak, but in the end, he sighed and remained silent. He didn’t know Renly well, but he knew enough to understand that trying to convince a duke who had resolutely raised arms to contest the Iron Throne to retreat and confess was an impossible task.

“Renly has always liked grand gestures and flashy shows. Instead of focusing his forces to breach weak points in a city like King’s Landing, with its high and thick walls, he’s split them across multiple fronts in a plan for a full-scale assault. This is command as childish as play-acting.” After the soldier left, Stannis spoke with disdain. “There are no famed generals in the Stormlands, and the only capable commander from the Reach, Randyll Tarly, is fighting in the west. I see no need to sit and wait in this city. I should take the initiative, crush the rebels in one decisive strike, and throw my brother into the dungeons of the Red Keep.”

“No one doubts Your Grace’s command of war, but we must face reality. Half of the garrison consists of new recruits, and even the veteran half lacks real combat ability. They might suffice to defend the walls, but forget about field battles.” Eddard Stark said with concern, “The reinforcements from the noble houses in the Crownlands are mostly peasants, and there are scarcely any knights among them… And the troops Your Grace brought are drawn from too many different places. A third of them are sailors. If we were to gather them and march out of the city for open battle, I fear they wouldn’t even be able to form a proper line. The safest course now is to hold the walls and wait for the royal host to return and reinforce us.”

What Eddard said was true. Stannis had to admit it, even if grudgingly. It had been more than ten days since they first received news of the Stormlands army’s unusual movements. The King’s Landing garrison had quickly been expanded from two thousand to four thousand, and the Crownland lords had reluctantly raised an additional two thousand fresh recruits… Adding in the nearly three thousand soldiers that Stannis had brought from the Narrow Sea lords just a day earlier, the capital now barely mustered ten thousand defenders.

A 1:3 ratio of defenders to attackers should not have been a desperate situation… but the quality of the soldiers was so poor that even two veterans seasoned in the fires of Robert’s Rebellion were forced to hunker down inside the city when facing a newly risen challenger like Renly.

It was truly disgraceful.

…

“Deep Den is only a few hundred miles from King’s Landing. Renly has taken his time, gathering sellswords and wandering knights on the way, and waited for reinforcements from the Reach… His pace is already sluggish. Even if the king’s army is dragging its heels, there should have been some word by now, shouldn’t there?” Stannis looked at Eddard with a frown. “Has something unexpected happened, or are they deliberately stalling to prepare for treachery?”

“Perhaps they were delayed by Renly’s forces intercepting them,” Eddard offered reluctantly, though unease gnawed at him. Renly had always been close to the lords of the Crownlands, and Stannis’s suspicions were not groundless. But the army was out in the field now. If they didn’t send a raven back, there was nothing they could do, no matter how anxious they were, not with the city under complete siege. “But regardless, at least they haven’t joined Renly’s army… For now, we can only wait.”

Join Renly’s army? Many of the noble families and their households were still in King’s Landing. Would they truly dare to side with the rebels?

(What a pity I didn’t bring Melisandre.) The thought flashed through Stannis’s mind, and his brow furrowed.

The Red Woman had lived on Dragonstone for over a year, and during that time she had shown powers that were certainly no parlor trick. Half a month ago, she had clearly predicted that something would happen in King’s Landing, and that she herself would be betrayed again… The fact that the king’s army had not returned—was this the fulfillment of the “betrayal” she foresaw?

If she were here, Stannis could have asked her directly. But on the day he received Eddard’s summons, he had been leading the Dragonstone fleet in pursuit of pirates near Crab Bay outside Seagard. He sailed to King’s Landing the moment he got the news, not even stopping at Dragonstone on the way. Though he made it in time to claim the throne, he had left the queen, the princess, and his enigmatic sorceress advisor behind. Now, filled with questions, he had no one to ask.

Stannis snapped out of it. What was he doing? During Robert’s Rebellion, he had held Storm’s End with only a few hundred men, resisting the Reach army led by Lord Tyrell, and did not let the enemy gain even a foothold until the end of the war… Back then, he had faced enemies dozens of times his strength without flinching. Now, seated upon the Iron Throne, facing a force only three times his number, he found himself placing hope in reinforcements and arcane powers he barely understood?

He cursed himself inwardly, then quickly pulled himself together and assumed the mantle of commander once again. The city still had enough food and fodder. He had plenty of experience in defending fortresses. All he had to do was hold out for ten days or two weeks. Once the people of the Seven Kingdoms saw that their new king could protect the capital, their fears would melt away like snow in spring. Even if the king’s army was up to something, no matter how many excuses they made, they couldn’t delay indefinitely. Besides, he still had the backing of the three northern houses.

After a moment’s consideration, Stannis decided to act as though the king’s army did not exist. Then, after thinking for a while longer, he issued his commands. “Eddard Stark, Hand of the King, you will lead two thousand soldiers to defend the River Gate, the weakest of the seven gates, and the city wall along the river. Davos Seaworth, the new Lord of Ships, I’m sorry that your first battle won’t be at sea. You will command two thousand men and defend the Lion Gate for me. I will personally go to the King’s Gate and confront my foolish brother, so that the people of the Seven Kingdoms can see for themselves the difference between the true king and the pretender. The other four gates will be held by five hundred soldiers each. The remaining thousand men will maintain order before the battle, serve as a reserve during combat, and be ready to reinforce any gate whose defenses begin to fail.”

“Yes, Your Grace!”

“Renly will likely launch his attack soon. This meeting is over. If anything unexpected occurs, don’t panic. Follow the backup plans we’ve already discussed.”

(To be continued.)

***

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