DISASTROUS ( Jon Snow )

13

ares wears a helmet and carries a gun. he doesn't want to fight anymore, but he's not strong enough to stay away.

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Death by fire is the purest death.

Amaris tried to remember those words as she watched the men, the septons who had lived in Dragonstone since before the Targaryens were removed from power, before her scream in agony as flames licked at their flesh. Each septon was tied to a statue depicting the New Gods. Each blood curdling scream sent her flinching and wanting to run away crying. She looked to her father, watching as he stared upon the burning men with an unflinching glare. Inhaling deeply, she squared back her shoulders and did her very best to mimic his gaze.

"Lord of Light, come to us in our darkness," Melisandre called out theatrically as she stood before the people of Dragonstone. "We offer you these false gods. Take them and cast your light upon us... for the night is dark and full of terrors."

"For the night is dark and full of terrors," Amaris and all the others replied.

"After the long summer, darkness will fall heavy on the world. The stars will bleed. The cold breath of winter shall freeze the seas and the dead will rise in the North–"

Melisandre would have continued, if not for the old maester interrupting her.

"All you men were named in the Light of the Seven!" the maester yelled. "Are you so eager to spit on your ancestors?"

Nobody answered, staring up at him with withering glares. Amaris, who had never been devout to a religion, believed wholeheartedly in the Lord of Light. How else would she have been able to see the things she had seen?

Slowly, Melisandre walked up to the maester and touched his face.

"You smell of fear... fear and piss and old bones," she told him. "Do you want to stop me? Stop me."

The man made no inclination of intending to physically stop and harm Melisandre. The Red Woman noticed and smirked, backing away slightly from the maester.

"In the ancient books it's written that a warrior will draw a burning sword from the fire. That sword is Lightbringer!" Melisandre yelled to the crowd, slowly approaching Stannis. "Stannis Baratheon, warrior of light, your sword awaits you."

Dutifully, Stannis nodded and walked towards the statue of the Father. Amaris smiled as he drew out a sword with flames licking at its steel. He lifted it for all the crowds of people to see.

"Lord, cast your light upon us," the crowd yelled, kneeling before their king.

"For the night is dark and full of terrors," Melisandre finished.

Grimacing, Stannis spoke the words as well. "For the night is dark and full of terror," he muttered as he cast the sword into the sand.

And with that, Stannis walked away without ceremony, beckoning Amaris to walk with him.

__________

"And I declare, upon the honor of my house that my beloved brother, Robert–"

Stannis was quick to stop the scribe from his letter reading.

"He wasn't my beloved brother. I didn't love him. He didn't love me," Stannis said gruffly.

Biting back a smile, Amaris bowed her head and said, "A harmless courtesy, Father."

"A lie," Stannis replied without missing a beat. "Take it out."

The scribe nodded frantically and scratched at the parchment before beginning to read once more.