Chapter 54

Stannis Baratheon seethed. Shireen stayed in King's Landing with Davos while he had to leave the capital to find his wayward nephew. What was it with Northern girls that drove Baratheon men crazy? Robert and now Gendry. It was utterly irresponsible of the boy. Eddard had given him the letter his nephew wrote. Stannis ground his teeth and commanded his forces to look for the boy. Davos and Lannister advised against sending a fleet to Essos. Stannis and Eddard decided to fine comb the Riverlands, the Eyrie and the Westerlands in case they had decided to leave for Lannisport. Davos was convinced Gendry and his young paramour had left Westeros and were in their way to the Free Cities. "Why then are you advising me to not send our fleet to Braavos?" Stannis inquired once they were in private.

"M'lord, the prince does not wish to be found. He does not have it in him to rule. Gendry was correct. You are what the realm needs."

"Foolishness." Stannis frowned and convinced himself that the Stark and Lannister did not comb the lands as finely as they should have.

A fortnight later they were without results. He was in Tommen Stark's modest war room with Eddard and Lannister. The old lion ate his dinner peacefully; Stannis distrusted the man's calm demeanor. Stark frowned and commanded more of his son's men to continue the search.

Stannis opted to not eat anything as had Eddard. He heard the Northerman distribute the Riverlands men when Lannister spoke. "It is useless to keep looking for them."

Eddard stopped his commands. "They will be found." The man said with conviction.

"They will but not now. If Arya is as bull headed as is her mother they will not be found until she wants to be found." Lannister continued.

"Do not insult Cersei." Stark growled.

Tywin's eyes narrowed, "You gave her too much freedom. You and Cersei allowed her too many liberties; lessons in sword fighting, horse ridding, archery. Cersei should have known better than to raise that girl like a boy. She is wild, as wild as Cersei would have been had I given into her desires to fight like a man." He replied.

Stannis agreed with Lannister for once. That wolfling girl corrupted his boy. Gendry would have never fled had it not been for the influence that girl had on him. She bewitched the boy.

Stark did not take those comments kindly, "you will not speak of my daughter in that manner." He rose.

Tommen Stark glanced at his father and grandfather, "Father, grandfather is correct in one thing. It is useless to keep searching." Stark glared at him.

"They are not in the Riverlands, or the Westerlands. It would have been impossible for them to reach West without us knowing. The Eyrie is too far and hostile. Robb and uncle Tyrion have searched as well; their men report nothing." The boy said with a calming voice.

"We'll go North of the Neck." Stark continued. Lannister laughed, "They are not in the North. They are East, they sailed to the free cities and are out of our hold."

Stannis did not like the derisive tone the older man used, "I will command our forces to find them. Stark I am sure I count with your men."

"You do." Eddard Stark replied.

"Do I count with your forces Lord Lannister?" Stannis felt bile rise as he asked for the men. He did not like Lannisters. They were treacherous, greedy for ambition.

"No, you do not. It is a fool's errand what you plan. I have lost many men and resources in this war. I will not lose more because of a idiotic boy who lets himself be trapped by an equally imprudent girl." The man said.

Stannis ground his teeth and looked at the youngest Stark in the room. "I will not give you my men."

"Tommen." Eddard roared.

"They do not wish to rule. Gendry never did." He wanted Arya from the start and he got her. They are not coming back father, not to rule. Grandfather was unkind with his words but they are accurate. Arya cannot rule and neither can Gendry."

Stannis stood up and paced, "Westeros needs a king, a ruler. This war started to put my nephew on the throne, to reclaim his seat."

Lannister smirked, "Westeros has a ruler. Your nephew left the kingdom to you. By laws older than time, you are the rightful king of Westeros."

Tommen and Stark looked at him, "You Gendry's successor. The throne would have gone to you had Gendry perished when he left King's Landing you would have succeeded him." Tommen explained.

Stark poured some wine, "You have ruled since Catelyn's death. The lords of Westeros have seen your face more than they have Gendry's. You would have ruled as Gendry's Hand had he stayed. We know you would have ruled in his instead and now you will."

"And you will have a queen by your side." Tywin offered. "The realm needs a change, what better distraction than a wedding, the promise of a new era, a beautiful queen that will give you many princes and princesses."

Stannis frowned, "I have a child."

Tywin smirked once more, "a princess, a daughter, rather smart I am told but she will be someone else's wife in a few years. She will not rule. You need a queen."

"What do you propose then? Who would I marry? One of the traitor highborn ladies that plague court in King's Landing? One of the Frey girls, or perhaps a Tyrell, one of the sand snakes of Dorne or better yet your sweet child of a granddaughter." Stannis ground.

Eddard and Tommen frowned, "Why not? Joanna is not a child; she is almost ten and seven. Young Cassana is ten and six and married."

"Absolutely not." Stannis roared.

"Joanna will not be married to a man almost twice her age." Stark roared back.

Tommen laughed, "Grandfather surely you are jesting."

Tywin shook his head, "Why not? Your sister is of age, she is more beautiful than her mother, as beautiful as her grandmother. She will be loved by the masses."

Stannis raged at the man in front of him. "I will not bed a child."

Stark glared at him, as did the young Tommen Stark. "I will not let my daughter be wedded to someone who could be her father."

"He is not her father." Tommen spoke and looked at Tywin Lannister. "But Joanna cannot be his wife. She dreams of a knights and songs…"

The old lion scoffed, "You need a wife and I propose my beautiful granddaughter yet you scorn her. Very well my king. I shall need you to refund all of my investment in your war, lest you accept my granddaughter's hand."

Stannis growled. In practice Westeros was ruled by Baratheons but by paper and resources Westeros was controlled by the Lannisters. The crown owed more than it could pay. Tywin Lannister had funded Robert for years.

"You would have another war." Stannis replied, this was the same man that spoke of a new era seconds ago.

Eddard looked at the older man with disgust, "you forget once more that it is my daughter, my Joanna who you pretend to sell like a brood mare."

"How ungrateful can you be Eddard?" Tywin stood up and left.

"You have my terms your grace." The man said before leaving the rooms.

Stannis took a drink from his wine cup. "He is insane."

"He always was a greedy man. He has not changed, war and time have not made any impact on that man." Eddard growled and drank from his wine cup.

Once more Tommen spoke up, "He will wage war once more. All because you do not accept my sister's hand in marriage; thousands of lives lost because you refuse to take Joanna as your wife."

"He will take your sister as his wife. I give no consent. My daughter will go back North with me. We will go back to where we belong." Eddard said once more.

Stannis felt an impossible anger overcome his body. Tywin was in an advantageous position. His forces were not as depleted as his. The old Lion was an opportunist. He aligned himself with the winning party. It was dishonorable but so far the Lannisters had endured.

Eddard was an honorable man. Stannis thought of Shireen and how much she loved the Stark girl. He looked at the Starks who squabbled. He could see Westeros torn apart once more. Stark would fight Tywin, there would be civil war. Daenerys Targaryen was said to have birthed a dragon child, other informants spoke of her a three baby dragons. Dragons or not the Targaryen girl was said to be with child when Robert was alive, maybe she had given birth to a boy perhaps. The man could almost picture her arriving with forty thousand Dothraki savages at her back. Westeros needed to be strong; the Seven Kingdoms needed to be one. It was his duty to rule them in the absence of Gendry. He was the true King of Westeros.

"Lord Stark. I shall marry your daughter. She will be my queen."