Stannis Baratheon is an impassing man. Perhaps from birth, he was always a stone shadow, all angles, all martial. A redacted summary of his life follows:
Princess Rhaelle Targaryen was the second daugher and last child of King Aegon V Targaryen, known as The Unlikely. She was also the only one to not be allowed to marry for love.
All of King Aegon's sons married according to their hearts desires, and because her older sister married her brother, she was allowed to follow her heart as well. Not her. If the young princess ever had a love to follow, this was soon lost to time. Out of all the problems her siblings broken bethrodals caused, the biggest was the one she was the consolation prize for: Prince Duncan Targaryen, heir to the throne and bethroded to Ormund's older sister Arlina Baratheon, casted her aside to marry a lowborn. common, mad woman named Jenny.
House Baratheon was furious as a whole. They, and the Stormlands, felt the prince broke not only his compromise to them but his compromise to the realm. With every sibling that based on his example, broke their bethrodals (Princess Shaera and Prince Jaehaerys II married each other, Prince Daeron spent his life with Ser Jeremy Norridge) this belief only grew. It didn't matter that Prince Duncan gave his throne to his younger brother, for that was a marriage of incest, a practice that Westeros was happy began to fade. Besides, House Baratheon. King Aegon V had found in the Stormlands some of his greatest supporters, and in one day they had become almost mortal enemies.
Full of anger, its Lord and Head Lyonel Baratheon, known as The Laughing Storm, rose in rebellion for his beloved daughter's honor. King Aegon V tried to quash it at all costs, as he and Lord Lyonel Baratheon had once been quite close friends. The rebellion ended in a duel between Ser Duncan The Tall, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, and several rights and concessions given to House Baratheon, of which the compromise of Rhaelle was the most important. It also ended in the Tragedy of Lyonel's early death. King Aegon V was not allowed attendance, though the court mourned him in the capital.
The girl was also fostered as a cupbearer not only to Arlina's mother but to Arlina herself, so she would never forget what the crown had taken from Arlina. Not just a title, but the life of her father. And Rhaelle never did: She had left King's Landing immediately and without fanfare, wearing Baratheon colors, with her parents barely able to look at her. With wars all around her, and without allies, it made for a few fearful years, even if she would later say she was glad to leave her home.
(Arlina would get offers for matches from King Aegon V for years, and refuse all of them. She would eventually marry a Celtigar, for love, and demand a ship off the crown which was swiftly granted. The pair sailed to Ulthos, where they found a fulfilling life and would only return once thereafter to visit. But before she left, what had been taken from her weighted incredibly heavy on Rhaelle.)
As for her betrothed, Ormund, he was as fiery as his father when roused, but mostly he felt pain. Once he would have been a page to the crown, but now they were distanced and his father was dead. Ormund, in fact, would not visit it for as long as Aegon lived. The unstable politics of the realm at the time had made him see several of his friends die, increasing his taciturn ways.
Despite this, he bonded with Princess Rhaelle. They both enjoyed reading, languages, and travel, he'd take the girl fishing and wear her favor at tourneys, and they both had a strange interest in the macabre, drawing skeletons and raising insects.
One of the less savory things they secretly bonded for was their distate for the ruling house's practices: Without dragons, what god would allow incest within siblings? Rhaelle was also disillusioned with how much worse the women in her house had been treated: Her mother was a Blackwood, and she had more agency in her lands than she ever did in the Red Keep. Arlina commanded respect from everyone until the moment she left Westeros.
When their only child was born, she swore to all of Ormund's vassals that she would educate him in the Baratheon manner, and that he would work for the Stormlands, marry in the Stormlands, and die for the Stormlands. As a woman marrying into House Baratheon, she could name him whatever she wished, but she chose Ormund, after Lyonel's own father, earning love and praise from their vassals. Rhaelle was not considered Targaryen at all in her laters years, but an actual Baratheon, to the crown's sorrow.
Perhaps such boldness is what made the Targaryens request Steffon become a page to the capitol. Only this duty send Rhaelle with him to King's Landing: She encouraged his friendship with Prince Aerys, at the time a charming young man, and heir to Casterly Rock Tywin Lannister. However, she never befell on her promises.
(The Princess Shaera, now future Queen of the Realm, tried to mend their once-close bond many times, even naming her only daughter after her, to no avail. Though Rhaelle would visit the children Aerys and Rhaella and greet them warmly, she was curt and distant with their parents, and were it not for Steffon's career she may not have spoken to either at all. When she heard her nephlings were to be married to each other, before adulthood besides, she became even colder. When Jaehaerys insisted on a bedding ceremony, she became actually hostile.)
Princess Shaera would once talk to the young Steffon in the High Valyrian the Targaryens spoke, with the boy replying in the Tyroshi version, admitting to not knowing most words the Princess had said. Strangely, the princess cried, for this was the instance that proved nothing ever mended the wound with her younger sister. Still, Steffon was a good friend to Aerys, and to young Tywin Lannister, a page to the crown. (The relationship between dragon and stag would sour for the last time in a few more later years.)
House Estermont's background was much less complex, but not easy. The house had suffered a plague before Cassana's birth, and though the death toll had not been so high to be an emergency, the main line had gone. Direct heirs were already wedded to Lords and Ladies of other houses, and this left an overabundance of female cousins with the same degree of separation of the defunct main line. The crown remained away from this inner predictment, as they did not want to look too closely at the Baratheons after what they went through, and something as minor as Greenstone was not going to make them look closer. Cousins who loved each other as much as sisters turned against each other. Amidst it all, Green Myra Wylde (Named for her very provocative green eyes) saw that her husband, Ser Osgryn Estermont, would inherit the family seat.
Green Myra was married to Ser Osgryn Estermont, several years her senior, and both eyed Greenstone for their line. Despite the age difference, their marriage was of mutual choice: They both worshipped Gods technically long abandoned, and would only wed another Elenei worshipper.
Parents to two sons and two daughters, they wanted them to have a good future and start their own families, despite Lord Wylde, Myra’s father wanting at least one of the girls to join the faith. He had many brothers, and he himself had six sons, and he worried to house and feed them all, as they all resided at Rain House. Ser Osgryn and Myra despaired at leaving their girls unprotected, but pretended to consider it to not be seen as a threat when discussing succession, which took months, as it went to vote within the family.
Despite the ambition, Osgryn did not wish any relative of his harm, and neither he nor his wife retorted to a single threat: Manipulation, however, was at the top of their list. Convincing cousins to split their votes, spreading rumors of someone or other, offering things they did not yer have to others. Some of it was Myra and Osgryn's own virtue: While many forgot the only reason they were arguing was because their beloved Lord and all their children died, the pair did not, and both Myra and Osgryn mourned them publicly and well.
Myra and Ser Osgryn would end up winning rule to Greenstone. Their son, Eldon, became its heir. The infighting, however, would leave a lot of hurt feelings and wounded pride. Happy with having a child inherit, they focused on making the others Lord and Ladies, and eventually a bethrodal to their future Lord Paramount. (Myra's happiness would not last. A storm that shook the island to its core would make her fall to her death from a flight of stairs, but not before seeing her daughter Cassana wedded to Lord Steffon, and securing jobs at Storm's End for several relatives to end the inner strife in-between all the Estermont lines. This marriage would end up in excellent matches for their other two children, Stannis and Maryanna.)
The tragedy of Summerhall was known to the whole realm. The Royal Family, and anyone connected to it, was invited to a mysterious festivity. Nominally for the birth of Prince Rhaegar, truthfully for something far more sinister: King Aegon V, hated by his Lords, wanted to make a good difference from the smallfolk. Without betrothals, and without the trust of the realm, with the Blackfyre threat, he felt he needed dragons to make it happen: Sacrifice, fire, and grief killed almost the entire family. Ormund and Steffon were saved, as they were not allowed to see the main ceremony. The same went for Jon Arryn and his father. Of the main Targaryen line, only four survivors came: Jaehaerys II, though gravely wounded, his two children, Aerys and Rhaella, and their son, who was born when fire broke, Rhaegar.
Ormund would, however, venture into Summerhall enough to see his wife, pregnant at the time, buring before his very eyes. His palms and knuckles would bear scars from the event until his eventual death, for he tried to bring a door down to reach her. Jaehaerys, however, would feel the most guilt: It was he who brought prophecy to the family, it was he who married his children and who encouraged such an early birth (As Rhaella gave birth at fourteen, at a grave cost to her health), all for nothing, all because of misinterpretation, all to see his family die. While he lived, he allowed his children to lead separate lives, taking the burden of care of Rhaegar himself. He would later claim that watching the babe walk was helped him walk again after the fire, and that the both of them would learn to live together. However, he would live only for three more years.
To Ormund, Jaehaerys' massive change of action proved to him he was not his father or his terrible ilk. Surely his children and grandson would follow on these footsteps. Jaehaerys became King Jaehaerys II, and Ormund his hand. Steffon would go to his own lands, his years as a page mostly finished: He needed to grieve, and the Stormlands needed ruling. Steffon felt the need of prayer and counsel, specially after the failed sacrifice happened on his very domain. Green Myra had her Cassana there, ready for the action. Perhaps by her doing, perhaps they were simply compatible, but despite her rank they fell in love and made promises of fidelity to each other
War did not take long to arrive to Westeros after seeing how weakened the royal line was. The War of the Ninepenny Kings united the realm, by fear of a foreign threat if nothing else. It also cemented the bethrodal of Cassana Estermont and Steffon, as Estermont and Rain House, where her father was from, were islands extremely vulnerable to attack.
King Jaehaerys was excempt from all battles. Though he had claimed to want to lead the fight, most Lords assumed he only said so because his Hand would refuse it, as he was too weak to even make the journey to the coast, much less lift a sword. He would rule too little time, and only after prophecy tore his family apart did he attempt to switch course. In the field, it was Lord Ormund Baratheon calling the banners and leading the fight, and the tiniest whispers of King Ormund began to surface. Ormund died to put an end to the Blackfyre threat in his sons arms, though, and any talk of that was put to rest with the man.
Lord Steffon, meanwhile, would do his best to remain outside King's Landing and its politics. Both father and mother had died for them, and he was enough friends with the new King Aerys II for him to understand. Ocassional visits would come, besides letters, but nothing like his father had done for Jaehaerys. Though Aerys had wanted to name his friend Steffon his hand, he accepted Tywin for the job, as they were also close.
Steffon Baratheon also distanced himself from new Lord Tywin Lannister. Both were invited to his wedding, but a small rift against House Lannister would begin to happen. Though not from Tywin himself, members of said house wondered what he had done to marry someone of such a lesser status, and he did not want that speech around his future children. Tywin had recently committed terrible acts, resorting to extreme violence, to keep houses of the Westerlands in check, and he began to look at House Lannister as he did to House Targaryen
Little by little, step by step, Steffon would put distance against both, never losing cordiality. Such small steps they were not noticeable until there was an ocean between them. It worked: Aerys' mental state would begin to worsen after many personal tragedies, and every time he would blame either his wife or his Hand, but never Steffon.
Lord Steffon Baratheon and Lady Cassana Estermont, Paramounts of the Stormlands, would welcome their first son and heir Robert Baratheon in 262 ACHis younger brother, Stannis, was born a month early, during a long autumm, in 264 AC. He would not cry as a babe, nor crawl for is first two years of life: However, he began to walk unexpectedly. Neither would he speak until the age of four, when he surprised his parents and older brother by replying in full sentences. Stannis not speaking or crying also gave his parents worry: Once, when he was a baby, they woke up seeing their son covered in bug bites which needed treatment. It was also difficult to know when he was hungry in the cradle. As he caught up to his peers, the worries from his parents ceded, and the Lady Cassana, his mother, would sometimes say he was a perfectionist from the cradle.
Despite being loved and wanted, his parents did not want him to be seen as lesser, so Stannis would not accompany his parents on trips in the first years of his life save to Greenstone. Perhaps this is why he eventually became so close to the family's main Maester, Cressen.
Stannis was introduced to King's Landing soon after learning to speak as Steffon feared he'd be considered inadequate or ill to the rest of the higher nobility if he had done so before. There were also other reasons for him wanting to delay it, all related to Tywin's increased nihilism and Aerys' worsening mental state. Lord Steffon, feared getting too close to either again would end with a son at best disgraced and at worse dead. All of the relationships House Baratheon was to have with House Targaryen would be through him.
To prevent any of his children to be pages at the capital, like he himself had once been, Robert was fostered with House Arryn: Jon Arryn, its Lord, also had a Targaryen mother, so this was not seen as disrespectful to the crown. And because Aerys didn't want any second son as a page, much less a third, Stannis and any potential rest of Steffon's children would remain in Storm's End, or fostered to bannermen.
Neither was Cassana suggested as a Lady to the Queen: When Aerys called her too lowborn for court, he agreed, to protect her. Cassana was aware of this and did not feel any different, as on the one hand, she felt that she was, and on the other, the Queen was very strict about her ladies. Distance allowed her freedom and perhaps safety.
It's in this context that Stannis' education in Storm's End was unique one: Despite being a second son, it was he who was his father's shadow. There was nothing particularly strange about this for many years (Only much later would it be odd that Robert's fostering extended past adulthood: The STAB block and the realm's bubbling instability could easily mean Robert would rule the realm as king, and Stannis would rule Storm End's as Lord) as he was his spare, and most likely would be his main steward and right hand. This did not bother Stannis in the slightless, as the boy was more worried of failing his elder than jealous of his position. After all, it was Robert with the prowess of a Lord, extroverted and powerful of warrior soul. Who else could call the banners?
Besides, for his entire life, he found it very difficult to bond with others, and thought of submitting, completing orders, and fulfilling commands his best qualities. It was sometimes the only thing he got congratulations on, which his parents would regret even before Stannis grew to double digits. Still, his education was impeccable, and his skill with the sword commandable, though he had little chances of proving it.
His father, however, was a warrior of great renown. He preferred the melee to the tilts, though he'd sometimes play at both, specially when hosting. His mother was very pious, not just to the Seven, but to Elenei herself, and the gods of wind, sea, and sky. For the first years of his life, he followed her in worship. He was always a little shadow behind his mother or his father, or sometimes his aunts and uncles, rarely speaking, mostly observing.
House Baratheon was small, but not invisible, as people from the previous generation married into its cadet branches, and House Estermont was so large there were always several adults and some children at Storm's End. Sadly, this didn't mean they would be companions to Stannis, often they would be much older or much younger, or come with friends from Greenstone, or were girls, who Stannis never fully understood.
Other than being a good student or a good worker, a part of Stannis thought there was nothing in him to like. His temperament also did not match his older brother, his father, or most of his family. He had the look, but his hair was brittle,. He hated the look of certain garments and would often choose, if allowed the choice, simple wear, mostly in black. Still, Stannis felt part of a whole, and bowed to do the best he could from his position for the honor of his house.
As for Robert, he was fostered out with Jon Arryn and raised with the same hate for the regime. Jon Arryn had lost as much as Steffon in Summerhall, and he forgot even less.
Whereas Storm's End could be dourt and severe, The Vale was carefree and fun. Robert had almost nothing to miss, as his parents would visit so frequently Jon's heir Elspert was on first name basis with most of Cassana's ladies. Jon Arryn saw in Robert the strong warrior son he never had, and therefore he was more permisive and coddlier to him than he was to his own heir and nephew. He could often be found socializing, drinking, and fighting at tourneys where he'd earn a name very quickly.
Steffon told him he was bethroded to young Lady Stark, Robert was overjoyed: Eddard Stark, one of her siblings, had been fostered with him in the Vale and he felt of him as a brother. A better brother than the bore at Storm's End, at least, to Stannis' eyes. And Stannis had only visited the Vale once. Though happy for his elder, he could not understand why his big brother was allowed so much more freedon when he was the first son. He did not know the lessons his parents learned was different: Stannis was already good at following commands, even at giving them. He needed to learn to make friends out of enemies. It would be much harder to teach.
(Robert's bethroded, Lyanna Stark, lived in Winterfell, away enough to the capital where fostering hate for the regime would not be necessary. Her father, Rickard, didn't know how to talk to her either, as her mother had died, and so she remained unaware of his ambitions. All he shared were expectations. A recipe for disaster.)
Around this time, Stannis found an injuried goshawk while on a walk with his parents. Seeing their son hold it kindly, they both encouraged him to do his best to heal it and named it. In the end they voted on names, and named it Proudwing. Though it'd never soar, as goshawks don't, for a time Stannis was very content with the animal.
The learned distaste for the regime would not be louder as when Aerys arrived to Storm's End personally: He needed a valyrian bride for Rhaegar, and all of Rhaella's pregnancies would end in miscarriages or deaths in the cradle. He commanded Steffon to try for a girl. And Aerys was doing the most for such a child, even when it seemed he resented his only son. There was also the matter of Rhaella's confinement. To not upset him, or to not be against the crown, Steffon and Cassana complied, as both wanted more children. However, they prayed to all the gods for a boy, and a boy they got: He would be named Renly Baratheon.
This would not be the end of Aerys' orders: He would command Steffon and Cassana to find a suitable bride for his son in Volantis. Though they put effort in this mission, no Volantene family would marry Westerosi after what happened to the Rogares. Steffon and Cassana would spend some of their time touring the city, as they would be shut down by the nobility quickly. During these times, they met a slave boy with a lot of talent for speech and languages, kind heart and gentle wit. They bough his freedom, offering him a free life in Westeros, which he accepted.
However, the pair failed, and their ship crashed when arriving back to Westeros, with his children, who had gone to greet them, witnessing the act. Only the Volantene boy survived, but his mind would forever be clouded thereafter. He became Stannis' fool instead of companion, and as he could not even say what his name was, he would be renamed Patchface. For weeks, pieces of bodies would wash ashore. Renly would not remember his parents. (Prince Rhaegar would end up wedding Dornish Princess Elia Nymeros-Martell, who he considered too isolated to have an army big enough to contest him, and had Targaryen ancestry. However, King Aerys felt no love from the Dornish.)
Though it nominally fell to Stannis to care for him after his parent's passing, in truth House Estermont was large, and very present. However they all focused more on the child, leaving Stannis alone. He was becoming a young man, and his unusual for his age height and his demeanor made everyone default to treat him like an adult. Stannis did not weaver under this pressure, but he did feel bitter. Often he would feel worse because Robert was allowed a lot more grace (He continued his fosterage for some time, even in adulthood) in his grief and mourning. Robert was touring the tourney circuits, when Stannis was doing his job. While he was not a tourney man, he did have a desire for leisure, which he feared verbalizing, which meant his relatives assumed he was doing better than he was. Only when anger began to cloud his responses to his superiors would they begin to realize they were misunderstanding him, which made Stannis believe that was the only way he would be listened to. Already cold by nature, he became even harder.
Eventually his great uncle, trying to bond with the boy, gifted him a red falcon to use in competitions and replace Proudwing. Assuming Stannis was shy of accepting the gift, said uncle told him he had gifted it so Proudwing didn't embarrass him at competitions. It was not meant to be a slight: He had realized Stannis told his young years goodbye too early, and had wanted to compete with him. This would not materialize, as he would fall ill from a chill he would not recover from. Stannis kept both birds. The misunderstanding was never resolved.
Meanwhile, as the Baratheon children were doing their best to become men, Aerys would become worse: Madness grew within him, and it showed on his face and body: Fearful of assassination, he forbade any blade to come closer to him, save from his Kingsguard. His nails grew uncontrollably and his hair matter, he would frequently stab himself with the Iron Throne and let his wounds lose, and end up covered in scars. He would make grand promises and projects that he would abandon or never start. He would also fight with his Hand, jealous of his competence, and afraid of his temperament.
And he hated his son and heir, often putting him down. Despite not tolerating hate and slander against him, he would inflict it on his own. This hatred extended to his wife and first son, who he planned to disinherit to install the second: Viserys, a young child. Prince Rhaegar was trained in arms, but also calm, a harpist who composed his own songs, and whose demeanor was the oppossite of his father's. Being hated by the mad king worked in Rhaegar's favor as well. Some members of the STAB block, but mainly Aerys' detractors, like Tywin Lannister, wanted to replace father with son. Jon Arryn's claim was largely forgotten based on his age, but Robert's was a very strong contender.
However, no member of the STAB block wanted to commit treason: It was formed to have a shield against bad kings, not against having a king. They were simply shielding each other. Rickard Stark was certain that with a Northern wife, the entire North would back him, as Westeros had not had a Northern monarch since its conception as a unified kingdom. (Lyanna was kept in the dark as to her destiny as shield to the North, however.) and the rarity of having matches intertwining so many Paramount families declared so long ago was a fact noticed by all the realm. It was quiet resistance, not a secret from their King.
When a massive tournament was hosted at Harrenhall, where everyone but the king would attend, including all Lords Paramount to the realm, the STAB block understood that Rhaegar would finally act against their faction, or join it. Nominally a Tournament for a Whent's nameday, secretly backed by someone else, because who had the coin to host so much of the realm but the crown? Even when Aerys secretly showed up, leaving King's Landing for the first time in years, everyone waited for an act, coded or otherwise, from the Crown Prince.
And it came: Prince Rhaegar won the tilts and shamelessly crowned Lyanna Stark, an engaged woman of no relation of his blood, Queen of Love and Duty, even when his own wife was present. The STAB block interpreted this sing as to what it was: A secret declaration of war from the prince, and in a swift motion Rhaegar gained many detractors who began seeing Robert as the only likely choice (Prince Rhaegar had a child, but the Lords were tired of waiting: They had waited for him to escape the madness and unworthiness that they felt plagued Aegon V, Jaehaerys, and Aerys) and in a single day he proved to be just like his forefathers.
A year later, before the wedding of Brandon Stark and Catelyn Tully (Another STAB block alliance) the prince would also “steal” Lyanna, and Brandon and all of his companions would lose their lives in the Red Keep when asking for justice for his sister. Rickard Stark, who went asking for his son, also suffered the same fate. Jon Arryn's heir was one of the casualties, and when a raven came from the crown not asking for forgiveness but demanding the heads of his wards Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark, the block moved, beginning a bloody war that put Robert on the throne.
To Stannis, this was what Rhaegar intended: War, because why else not ally against his father? He had never liked the man, and he could put together what his parents were doing, or at least get the gist of it. Usurping was not what they were doing, but lawful Rebellion. Their King had tried to force a Lord Paramount to break Guest Right in his name, after killing people without due trial. When he was tasked with holding his home, he did not hesitate.
House Tyrell, who derived all power from the Targaryens, and had never been invited to the STAB Block, were the ones who besieged Storm's End. Feasting daily outside the castle walls, they assumed Stannis' will would not last, or that his unfriendly nature would have him overriden. Winter had recently passed, and the castle had almost no food stock. They would shoot down all ravens that came even close, and any ship that got close to its outer shore was dealt with long before Stannis could even see it. However, Stannis proved himself formidable for holding the castle for a year.
Stannis made sure everything was kept fair: Everyone would have the same ration, including himself, and everyone would divide the work equally. And there was work, Stannis planted what he could, stole horses in the dead of the night, ate his beloved pets (Who he killed himself. His two birds. Neither saw it coming, as he held them close and snapped their necks without hesitating, which he thought a kindness) to some less emotional, but equally as disgusting, sort, including rats, boots, boiled belts. He saw babies being born so thin they barely looked human, just to then die. Relatives of his died and wept. By the time the siege ended, most looked more dead and alive, and I showed in Stannis most of all: He'd often cut his already small portions short, so he would sometimes not eat in a day or two. Sometimes he'd hallucinate people walking his own halls. The only reason Renly lived, was because Stannis ate even less than most for giving it to him, and still he held on.
Despite it all, he remained strong out of sheer will. He had taken a like to self-harm, and hunger was a good way to enact it without marking himself anywhere. Exhaustion and lack of sleep were others. Throughout the siege, he only had three detractors, which he disposed off quickly: While at first he said he would swing their living bodies to the Tyrell camp, he was later persuaded to send them to the dungeons in case it came to cannibalism, which he did. All three would die there. No matter how strong a person was, if help did not come soon they would all be down to bones.
Help came one night in the hour of the dead when a smuggler showed up with fish and onions. Davos Seaworth, who turned out to be a man with a conscience despite having led a lifetime of crime, had expertly arrived without been seen and parked his ship in Storm's End outershore. Stannis could greet his people in the morning with the smell of salted cod and onions, and if anyone cried, he made no notice of it. For the first time in months people felt an ounce of happiness.
And Davos respected him, not as a man of the nobility, but as a man who made choices: Stannis saw, in him, in his way of treating his peers, inferiors and superiors, in his boldness, in his eyes, the type of loyalty he wanted to attract as a man. As he did not ignore his good character, neither would he ignore a lifetime of smuggling for one good act: Punishment would come to Davos with a reward. Stannis would chop the fingertips of every finger off his left hand, and give him a knighthood and land in the same breath. Davos accepted, but only if Stannis swung the cleaver, which he did.
(Love and lust where there, as well. Stannis squashed it down as quickly as it came: Soon this smuggler would depend on him alone, and he would not force the man to bend for him. Whatever indication of romantic attraction would force him to reciprocate, that much was clear. Besides, he was married, with several children, one older than him.)
Despite their unique situation, Ser Davos Seaworth would become Stannis' man of trust, even later on becoming his hand. Stannis would gift him with a knighthood and lands that once belonged to House Connington, and while it was in the Stormlands, Davos would be sworn to Stannis. Davos would also name his youngest sons Stannis and Steffon, in honor of the man who raised him. Though neightbouring lords would hate his lowborn status, none complained of him being disloyal.
Ned Stark, upon hearing of his sister's wereabouts, would be the one to lift the siege. With Rhaegar Targaryen dead, House Tyrell bowed and left. There was no fight, only a communication. And yet he got honors and tribute for it, when Stannis got none after surviving such a hard besiege. He even received an order, to build a navy and storm Dragonstone, and bring Former Queen Rhaella and Former Prince Viserys, her last living son. She would later give birth to a daughter, which sent her to an early grave.
Though Stannis built this fleet in record time, the weather delayed him for two weeks, enough time for Viserys, his newborn sister, and a few loyal men to steal them away to the East. For this Stannis got reprimanded, which he thought extremely unfair: He had done it all as fast as possible, without recovering from his time besieged. He still looked ghastly and had many difficulties over his thin frame, and still he complied. Robert's hateful manner destroyed him, and they raged at each other until separated.
Stannis and Robert also disagreed on how to handle House Lannister: Though they had taken the city in Robert's name, they had done so extremely violently. The city had been sacked with such defenestration that bodies piled on the streets, and they piled in the Red Keep as well. The most infamous would be the ones of Elia Martell, raped and murdered, her son Aegon Targaryen, whose head was smashed on a wall, and Rhaenys Targaryen, who had been stabbed to death hundreds of times. Worst of all Ser Jaime Lannister, who had been named Kingsguard in the Tourney of Harrenhall, and never been away from the man since, had been the one to kill him, stabbing him from the back.
While Stannis argued over and over to trial and punish the men who did the killing, he was always overruled. Stannis also greatly disliked that Robert married Lord Tywin's daughter, Cersei, but he would only listen to surrogate father Jon Arryn, who worried about the westerlands beginning another rebellion with their intact men (For they did not fight for either side) or their huge amount of gold, which would purchase swords easily.
There was one final blow from Robert to Stannis during this time: He was not named Lord of Storm's End, but of Dragonstone, so that his failure to the crown would never be forgotten. He was also forced to marry faster than he'd like, to a Florent Lady he was already bethroded to, two years his elder. Robert would humillate both of them at their wedding night: He bedded Selyse's cousin, Delena, and brought on her a son. For years, Stannis and Selyse would have no children, which they felt added to the mockery.
(Stannis applied to Robert what he learned from the stab block: Keep his family away from the capitol, obey but don't advance relationships as a person, take what is given but handle it personally, keep them out of your personal life and the people under your care. Robert, who had not meant to slight him by giving him Dragonstone, found this icing out was the worst thing his brother did to him, not understanding why. Whereas they had never been friendly, this hostility would grow and grow through the years.)
Stannis became Master of Ships when the ancient Lord Velaryon passed. Though Robert meant for this to be an honor, to Stannis, who distrusted his elder and felt hated and spurned hate in return, it was another slight. Fearful of Robert and House Lannister (Which held more office every day) However, he felt suited to office, he had quashed a lot of crime at sea, most memorably one time when he stopped poachers who used a fake lightower to crash ships to rock.
He also felt his wife suited for ruling in his stead in Dragonstone: The pair had made allies out of all the lords in the Narrow Sea, and she held women's court frequently. If she had any difficulties, she needed only to call for Stannis, and he would move to her as soon as he received the message.
Two years later such a letter would come: Selyse had a viable pregnancy, after years of trying. A girl would be born from her, which she'd name Shireen (As the people who marry into House Baratheon are the ones to pick the children's names, a tradition Stannis would continue). However, it came accompanied by more terrible news: The Iron Islands were plotting rebellion.
While Selyse understood Stannis would not be at her side as much as she wanted him to (And she was not barred from inviting as many people as she wanted) both were incredibly sad about it. Here came the babe they wanted so badly, and it was not a cheerful one but a hasty, worried one. However, they were in agreement that Stannis had to do the most to be successful. Fight well, and go early.
It was not made any easier when the girl caught greyscale. A disease fatal in everyone over five, she had chances to live, but the lifelong effects could be severe. The marks began showing in her cheek, and going both up and down. It was extremely dangerous, for it turns your skin into cold, scaley stone. The gravest place to catch greyscale was the neck, for it meant feeding would always be compromised, and breathing as well. Shireen would have to beat her illness in record time lest she fall to this problem.
Stannis would train himself on how to feed an infant with such a neck, and he never mastered it. A boiled, copper tube was to be inserted in the mouth, long past the esophagus. Food would go in, mashed and tasteless, with care to avoid aspiration. Most children fed this way did not live long lives, as injuries were prone. To practice, Stannis would try to pass such a tube through offal fat without tearing it. He never could. It would keep him up at night more than the war.
Stannis would gain praise as a warrior in this time as well: He fought Victarion Greyjoy at sea, the Ironborn's domain, with less men and less ships, and won by using strategy. The same night he defeated Victarion, Shireen was in Dragonstone being declared clean of Greyscale. Though she never would feel anything in her cheek, it spared both her sight and her throat. There would be no need for feeding assistance.
Stannis and Selyse were overjoyed, and could finally spend time as a family. Knowing that Robert would not honor him, Stannis asked for levy to go to his estate the second he arrived in King's Landing, celebrating his daughter's life with his wife's family. Though it was always tense with Lady Ciret, this was one of the few times they did not fight. Robert could give Eddard Stark all the honors he wanted, as for once he did not care.
Privately, Stannis and Selyse decided that Shireen would be the child to inherit all he possessed. A child that could survive greyscale without difficulties was a child who would be strong enough to hold any seat. Free of the pressure of sons, time with each other abed became much more enjoyable for both. They also agreed on educating Shireen with tutors, not septas, including high medicine from their actual maester. Shireen would also be there at court since she was old enough to sit, learning how it was held.
As for presenting her to King's Landing, they were as brief and took as long as possible. She would develop herself before being picked apart by courtiers, and do so when she desired. And if she desired to, Stannis would fight for a position for her, whichever it was she wanted.