"Extraordinary times require severe measures. This concerns the safety of all humanity, and His Majesty Stannis is not wrong. He bravely shoulders his responsibility.
Even knowing he would be misunderstood and cursed by millions, he still made the choice most beneficial to the Seven Kingdoms and to the great cause of fighting the Others!"
Jon said nothing, the dwarf remained silent, and Sansa stayed cold and indifferent.
Yet Davos kept speaking. It seemed he was not trying to persuade them, but rather trying to convince himself.
"His Majesty Stannis has more sense of responsibility than the Dragon Queen. This task should have been hers to complete."
By the end, the Onion Knight's tone carried obvious resentment, as though his king were taking the blame on behalf of the Dragon Queen.
In the past, Tyrion might have agreed and joked about it with a grin. But now, hearing Davos's words felt especially harsh to his ears.
"When it comes to responsibility, I doubt there is anyone in the world who can compare with the Dragon Queen. To free the slaves, she stood alone against the entire world.
Leaving aside everything else, the allied soldiers killed in the Battle of Meereen alone outnumber the civilians of Qohor and the Dreadfort several times over.
To save the world from the Long Night, she now trains diligently every moment of every day, simply because she has taken on the responsibility of fighting the Cold God."
"The Cold God! That is a true god, the father of the Night King!" Tyrion shouted excitedly by the end.
"The Cold God has the Lord of Light to deal with him." The Onion Knight looked uncertain, and there was even doubt in his tone.
"The Lord of Light already walked away from the job," Tyrion mocked.
Davos frowned. "Matters between gods are beyond my understanding, so I cannot express an opinion. I did not come here today to discuss the secrets of true gods."
He turned his gaze toward Jon.
"Will you say it, or should I?"
"Say what?" Sansa's eyes scanned their faces with vigilance. "Jon, Rickon is still in Winterfell. Why are you here?"
"Bran has returned to Winterfell. With him there, Rickon is safe," Jon first reassured his sister before saying with a complicated expression, "The Iron Bank has suspended its support for Stannis, yet King's Landing still hasn't been taken."
Tyrion's heart stirred.
"Is it only the gold that has been suspended, or also the supply of food and materials?" he asked.
"Everything has stopped," Davos sighed. "After learning about the process and outcome of the Battle of Winterfell, the Iron Bank immediately changed its stance and clearly told us that with the Long Night approaching, they cannot allow living supplies to flow outward anymore."
"So you have set your sights on me?" The veins on the back of Sansa's hand throbbed. Her fingers almost tore the bedsheet apart, and a string of cold flames seemed to burn in her eyes.
Davos's old face flushed slightly. Embarrassed, he said, "Once King's Landing is taken, His Majesty Stannis will compensate you."
"What can he gain from King's Landing besides five hundred thousand starving refugees?" Sansa sneered.
Hearing this, Davos's aged face immediately filled with pain and helplessness.
"Not just five hundred thousand. Large numbers of refugees from the Riverlands and the Crownlands have poured into King's Landing. Now even the streets and the bases of the city walls are packed with the tents of starving people.
And with the sky so dim, even the wyvern legion does not dare to use firebombs on a large scale to attack the city.
As the Hand of the King, managing the realm for the king should have been my duty. But now I don't even dare to take King's Landing. I don't know how I would feed those people."
By the end, the Onion Knight's eyes had reddened, and his voice carried a hint of choking emotion.
Sansa sighed, her attitude toward the old man softening somewhat.
"I do have a batch of grain stored on Tarth Island, but the Vale has far more grain. Why must you come to me?"
"We are not only seeking you. A shipment of grain is already being loaded at Gulltown," Davos said.
"Transporting grain from Tarth Island to King's Landing is not any closer than from Gulltown," Sansa replied.
"The Vale alone cannot sustain King's Landing. Besides, whether you are willing to provide grain to His Majesty Stannis is also a matter of attitude.
Lady Sansa, the commotion you caused at Storm's End and on Tarth Island was not small. When I say this, do you understand?" Davos's eyes were deep as he looked slowly at the pregnant woman lying in bed.
Sansa's hands resting on the quilt clenched tighter.
"If I refuse, will Stannis have his two-headed monster burn me to death?"
Davos shook his head and said bitterly, "You are different from Roose Bolton and the others. His Majesty Stannis would not kill without reason.
You may refuse, but you must leave Westeros with the Golden Company. Do not forget that according to the previous agreement, you… you all have already been sentenced to exile."
"I feel ashamed for you," Sansa sneered repeatedly. "I have not violated our previous agreement in the slightest. But do you still remember the promise you made to me?"
"If Aegon had not exposed his identity…"
After saying that single line of explanation, Davos could say no more.
The mockery in the woman's eyes was like blades, slicing through the armor of lies he had constructed and stabbing deep into the heart that was constantly suffering.
He suddenly missed the resolute young man who had once chopped off four joints from his left hand and then said, "Merit cannot offset crime. A crime must be punished."
Back then, he had been so young, so brave, so upright.
And that year now felt so distant.
"Lady Sansa, I can swear to the Mother. Toward you, I truly harbor absolute goodwill."
A sigh made the lines carved by time on his face appear even deeper.
Before Sansa could say anything else, Tyrion stepped forward and leaned close to her ear.
"Don't handle this matter yourself. I will deal with it."
"You?" Sansa glanced sideways at him and said indifferently, "In what capacity will you act on my behalf?"
"Aegon's Hand of the King in name only. Before he died, he did not revoke my position, did he?" Tyrion said with a bitter smile.
Sansa lowered her eyes, hiding the triumphant joy within them. Her hands, which had been gripping the quilt tightly, also relaxed.
"I'm tired. You can go outside and discuss it."
Jon looked awkwardly back and forth between the dwarf and his sister, as if he wanted to speak but hesitated.
Tyrion gave Davos a look, and the group left Sansa's bedroom together.
In the living room, beside the warm fireplace, three men opened a bottle of red wine and discussed terms while drinking.
"Lord Seaworth, even a king has no right to seize the property of his vassals, correct?" Tyrion said.
"It is not seizure, but borrowing. After we take King's Landing, the valuables can be used as repayment," Davos emphasized.
Tyrion waved his hand and laughed. "Ser, I assure you that if you capture King's Landing, you will not find a single copper coin in the Red Keep.
However, in my sister's bedside cabinet, you might find a stack of IOUs placed together with toilet paper."
"We will not spare the Reach or Casterly Rock either. His Majesty Stannis is the king of the Seven Kingdoms, not merely the king of King's Landing," Davos said meaningfully.
"Ser, have you forgotten what time it is now? Or perhaps you did not participate in the Battle of Winterfell and have no concept of a million wights?" Tyrion shifted his gaze to Jon. "I heard Winterfell has been sealed within a two-thousand-meter-high mountain of ice. Is it magnificent? Is it beautiful?"
Jon shrugged and cooperated with the dwarf in tacit understanding. "Very beautiful and very magnificent. The Dragon Queen even called it the tenth wonder of the world."
"Ser Davos should go see it," Tyrion turned his eyes back to him. "That was merely the result of a single forbidden spell from the Cold God. The Cold God cannot possibly cast such a spell only once."
Davos remained silent.
"The Seven Kingdoms are in grave danger and humanity is on the brink of extinction, yet you still think about fighting among yourselves? After burning Casterly Rock and Highgarden, what then? Abandon the more than one million people of the Westerlands and the Reach? All for a single iron chair?" Tyrion questioned repeatedly.
Davos hesitated. "If you would consider the greater good and cooperate—"
"They will not cooperate!" Tyrion interrupted the Onion Knight decisively. "First, Euron and Cersei will not consider the greater good. Second, your king has no right to demand that they do."
Davos' expression darkened slightly, and he said calmly, "Then can we still talk?"
"Talk? Of course we should talk. Are we not bargaining right now?" Tyrion said with a smile.
"What is your price?" Davos asked.
"King's Landing has no money. Even if it did, it would already have been taken across the Narrow Sea to buy grain. And besides, we do not need money." Tyrion leaned forward toward Davos and lowered his voice. "I will not play games with you. I do not particularly like Stannis.
But if he continues to remain strong and even eventually ends the Long Night, pledging loyalty to him would be the best choice available under the circumstances.
On behalf of Sansa, I can agree to provide you with at least one hundred thousand tons of grain, but you must give that orphaned widow and her child an equal return."
"What return?" Davos' expression improved slightly, having accomplished the purpose of this trip.
"A ducal title," Tyrion said slowly and clearly.
"The dukedom of Harrenhal previously promised to Aegon's son still stands," Davos replied immediately.
"No. I mean the kind of duke among the Seven Great Dukes," Tyrion said in a deep voice.
"Y-you are insane?" Davos widened his eyes.
Jon could not help but let out a low exclamation as well.
"House Tyrell of Highgarden and House Arryn of the Vale have both lost their heirs," Tyrion reminded him.
Davos frowned. "Robert Arryn has been ill for a long time, but he still has an heir. Highgarden still has Margaery Tyrell locked in the Maidenvault. She should still be alive.
The Reach only recognizes the bloodline of Garth Greenhand, and the Vale also has the 'Lords Declarant' defending the sovereignty of House Arryn. It will be difficult."
"There is no rush on this matter. We state our demand, and you can go back and discuss it slowly with Stannis. If anything comes up, find me at Dragonstone. Do not come to Tarth again to disturb a pregnant woman waiting to give birth," the dwarf said.
"What is your relationship with Lady Sansa now?" Davos could not help asking.
"Can a widow not remarry? We were husband and wife before," Tyrion said with a smile.
As soon as Davos left, Jon grabbed the dwarf and questioned him. "What do you mean by that? Do you intend to remarry Sansa?"
Tyrion shook his head with a bitter smile. "Do you not know Sansa's thoughts? She wants the Iron Throne, and I will continue to serve as Aegon's Hand of the King.
If we directly told Stannis: 'Hello, I am Queen Sansa's Hand, and we are implementing a plan called "Do not claim the throne, wait for you to die."'
What do you think he would think? What do you think he would do?"
"Do not claim the throne, wait for you to die," Jon murmured softly, a thoughtful look appearing on his face.
Afterward, when they returned to the bedroom, Tyrion recounted the entire conversation to Sansa in detail, leaving out nothing, including the final remark about "rekindling old ties."
"If Stannis can firmly secure the Iron Throne, exchanging grain for a kingdom is worthwhile no matter how you calculate it.
If he cannot sit on the Iron Throne and is ultimately defeated, whether he lives or dies, we will not lose much either."
"No loss? Do you know what one hundred thousand tons of grain means now that the Long Night has arrived?" Sansa said angrily.
"Spending money to buy peace. If your power is not enough to protect the wealth you possess, you should at least understand that principle."
A flash of sharp light passed through Tyrion's eyes as he said with great confidence, "Besides, even if Stannis ultimately fails and cannot fulfill his promise of a kingdom, that batch of grain will not be wasted."
Finally, he hesitated and asked, "You are still young. Have you ever thought about marrying again?"
(End of Chapter)
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