Chapter 46: Healed

Within the main meeting hall of Dragonstone, Stannis stood alone with various reports of movements from both his brothers sides, he knew he was in the worst position out of the two.

Although he was older than Renly, that was part of the issue, Renly was unwed and young, while he was already married, so he didn't have as good bargaining power as Renly did. Many knew Renly was young enough to be influenced by others, so if he became king, those that followed him could wield more power than if Stannis took over as king.

He had the biggest navy, so he wasn't at too much of a disadvantage, he had over 150 ships since he had full control over the Royal Fleet. His disadvantage was food for his troops. Although he did have plenty of food currently, he had learned his lesson from Robert's Rebellion, he stockpiled food within Dragonstone the moment he took it over, since Dragonstone had no means to feed itself.

Those resources were dwindling however, he had a whole fleet to feed. He had been blockading Essos based ships from entering the bay, keeping them from Kings Landing, and confiscated any food they had on board their ships.

He knew not to touch any Westerosi based ships, that would've just made it harder for him to take the throne for himself.

'That Dornish ship will probably be attacked not long after it docks, especially with how things are looking in Kings Landing. I can use this to my advantage, if I have a few ships sail to the port to reinforce the people, I can possibly get the people on my side. It's too bad I can't use Shireen as a bargaining chip, no one will want to marry her, and even if they did she would be mistreated or even killed once they gained power.' Stannis thought to himself as he studied the large map of the kingdom.

As he mused his options, a loud and rapid banging on the door startled him out of his thoughts, causing a frown to form on his face. He had stated he didn't want to be disturbed as he was planning his own strategy for the throne.

"Enter. This better be important." Stannis shouted at the door.

Quickly the door was opened and a guard ran in with a letter in his hand, his face showing a restless and nervous expression.

"My Lord, two things, a letter has arrived from Kings Landing. Also there has been word that the Targaryen loyalists known as Aiden showed up on the island, it is said that he flew down from the sky and he killed the Red Priestess, turned her into bones and flew off, the guards are searching the island but so far no sign of him has been found." The guard stated as he knelt on the ground respectfully and held out the letter that had arrived from Kings Landing.

"Flew? That is impossible, even I would've seen him fly here on his dragon, if the reports are to be believed, his dragon is even larger than Balerion, there is no way for him to not be seen by more people." Stannis said sternly as he took the letter from the guard and begain to open it.

Upon opening the letter Stannis began to read it.

"To Lord Stannis Baratheon, Lord of Dragonstone, I know we have not always seen eye to eye or been on the best of terms, however do know that I have and always will have, the kingdoms best interest at the forefront of my decisions. I had hoped your brother would've made this kingdom a much better place than the Mad King, and although the people aren't burned alive daily, they suffer even more thru starvation and instability. I no longer believe King Robert is the best to lead us into the future, nor his offspring. I have written this letter to inform you of something that you need to know, Joffrey and his siblings are not your brothers true-born children. They are bastards. I have known about this for some time, but have kept this knowledge close to my heart due to knowing the chaos that would befall the realm. I tell you this now, because the realm is already in chaos, Robert is facing two wars currently and he is not making wise choices as of late. Since this morning Myrcella and Tommen have gone missing, and King Robert has imprisoned Queen Cersei, he believes she has hidden the two to not allow Myrcella to be wed to the Martells, but I fear that this is a ploy. I do believe a third party to be involved. I request your aid in stopping this war caused by your brother before he turns the whole realm into a battleground. I fear he will have the Queen killed, especially now that he knows Lyanna Stark is still alive, which will turn the Lannisters against the throne as well. The people need a strong king, I hope you will be what the realm needs so we can focus on repairing the relationships with the other realms to keep the Targaryen threat at bay. I am here to serve, should you need my aid, you can pass a message to my little birds at the dock of Kings Landing and I shall assist any way I can. Varys."

Stannis read the letter and couldn't believe what he read, a rare smile broke out across his face at this added information. He had a feeling that the three children weren't truly Baratheons, it was well known Baratheon genes were prevalent, but none of the children shared any likeness to Robert or any Baratheon for that matter.

Stannis truly didn't like Varys, he felt the man was a scheming cunt who had no loyalty to the throne, he had switched sides to Robert very easily after the Rebellion, and unlike Grand Maester Pycelle who was part of the Citadel who were neutral and served whoever held the crown, Varys was not the same.

Little did he know he wasn't the only one to receive this letter, Varys had sent one to Renly as well. Renly was the main one Varys wanted to take the throne, his goal was to have Robert and Stannis wage war with each other and hope one or both died, or their forces weakened enough for Renly to have a shot.

Stannis was a stern and stubborn man, although he was a good military strategist, especially on the sea, he wasn't Kingly material. To be successful as a king, you had to be able to make concessions at times, know when to bend and when to be stern, which was something Stannis was not good at.

Renly was more likeable, he was also not as strict or stubborn, though his only fault was that he was rumored to enjoy the company of other men, which was not something that was looked favorably on in this time period. It was actually frowned upon everywhere except in Dorne.

As Stannis thought on his next moves a scream resounded through the castle, Stannis recognized the voice as the maid who brought his daughters food to her in her room.

Stannis rushed out of the hall and raced towards Shireens room, his heart pounded in worry, he loved his daughter very much, although she would most likely never wed, thus ending his own line of Baratheon, he still cared deeply for her, blaming himself for her situation.

Upon reaching the room he saw the woman staring into Shireens open door as she shivered in fright. Following her eyes he became stunned at what he saw.

There, sitting on the side of a bed, a cute toddler, sat with a smile that beemed from ear to ear. This girl looked exactly like his daughter, however it couldn't be since this girl had no scar.

Upon seeing her father, Shireen's eye's beemed with joy as she quickly got down and ran to her father.

"Papa! Papa! I beautiful?" Shireen shouted with joy as she ran to hug him.

Stannis couldn't believe what he was seeing, but her voice told him that this truly was his daughter. When Shireen lept at him, it even knocked him down due to him being in a shocked state, plus Shireen was so excited that she was normal looking, which meant she could make more friends.

"Shireen? Is..is that really you?" Stannis said as he hugged the girl as he sat on the ground, his eyes beginning to water as he pulled her back to get a look at her.

"Aye, papa, look look not ugly. Can play outside now." Shireen excitedly said as Stannis touched her face and didn't feel any of the scar or hardened skin.

"How? How did this happen?" Stannis stated as he heard the rush of more steps, knowing that this would be his wife. Before Shireen could answer, Selyse came running, and upon seeing her daughter froze in place for but a moment and gasped.

"Shireen?" Selyse asked as her voice cracked with emotion.

"Mama! Look look, I as beautiful as you now!" Shireen said as she ran over to her mother excitedly to show her.

"By the Gods! No Shireen, you are way more beautiful than I am. Oh my love, I am so happy, how? What happened my dear, please tell mother how this happened so that I can thank the gods properly." Selyse said as she hugged her daughter as she cried tears of joy.

"My new friend Superman!" Shireen said as she pulled out a cute drawing that she had done of Aiden and herself flying in the air. That flight had done so much for the little girl emotionally. She even came up with her own nickname for Aiden.

"Superman? Who is...." Selyse asked but was cut off by her husband who grabbed the drawing from her hands and studied the picture.

"Aiden Sand." Stannis said as he recognized the suit she had drawn from the S that was on his chest. "Did you see Aiden Shireen? When was this?" He asked.

"A little ago. He my friend, look he gave me this, he said we can play again. Mommy, Daddy can I play with the other kids now that I not ugly?" Shireen asked with a hopefully gaze.

"Oh honey, you were never ugly. You were my beautiful daughter. How did this Aiden do it? Did he hurt you?" Selyse asked as she looked at the bracelet on her daughter's wrist carefully.

Shaking her head no, Shireen answered, "No hurt, we friends. Flamey too. They my first friends. I want to make more, please go outside go play."

Stannis was trying to make sense of this information, now he had to rethink his previous thoughts.

"Take me to that house he was said to visit, I need to see for myself. Shireen, you must eat your dinner first, you can eat in the main hall with your mother. You don't need to stay within your room any longer, starting tomorrow you will be attending classes with the Maester then you can play outside, but only if you behave, understood?" Stannis stated as he ruffled her hair lovingly.

Shireen pouted a little, but hearing that tomorrow she would be able to play with others made her happy, so she accepted her fathers words and was excited to be able to eat with others rather than alone in her room as what she normally had to do.

She grabbed her mothers hand and began to cutely tug at her arm, "Hurry mama, eat together."

Selyse couldn't help but laugh, her heart was full of joy at seeing the changes in her daughter. She was no longer shut out emotionally, Shireen was now full of energy and hope unlike previously. Deep down she wanted to thank Aiden for what he had done for her daughter.

As they went to the dinner hall, Stannis and his guards made their way towards the house that Melisandre was staying. Upon arriving Stannis looked at the skeleton which was no longer whole, the bones were deteriorating since they were almost 400 years old.

"Warrior, give me strength, Croan give me wisdom, what is that brat's goal? Is he trying to have me bend the knee to the Targaryens? Why else would he heal my daughter and then kill a Red Priestess? Is he trying to force me into confronting the followers of the Lord of Light, or is he trying to tell me something else?" Stannis was full of questions, he was happy that his daughter was healed, but he feared what it would cost.

"I want everything we have on finding out who this woman was and her purpose for being on my island." Stannis ordered as he studies the bones.

He was hoping his wife would get more information during their meal together, nothing came for free, especially something this valuable. Deep down he was torn, now he had a bargaining chip, his daughter would definitely be a beautiful woman when she grew up. He now had a chance at the throne once again.

Inside the keep, Selyse did talk with her daughter at length, what Shireen told her was just too unbelievable, but the results couldn't be denied. Not only was her face healed, but it seemed as if she was a completely different child. She wasn't depressed or closed off like before, fearful of others and always hiding her left side of the face.

Shireen was like any normal five year old, albeit a little more mature due to the hardships she had suffered for as long as she remembered, she was bubbly and curious, polite and playful, she asked many if they would be her friend, and squealed in joy when they agreed.

"My little doe, why are you asking servants to be your friend? Just because they say that they are your friend doesn't mean it is true. You do know this right?" Selyse said as she watched her daughter eat slowly, as if to extend the time she was spending eating within the dinning hall.

"Aye, Superman said not everyone is good, but that doesn't mean I should treat them like bad people. Showing kindness to those that once treated you badly, and with a little hope, those that once were bad to you may become your closest friend and ally. They used to be mean to me, it hurt a lot, now they think I will be mean back, so I will show them that I am a good girl." Shireen said with a smile.

"Why do you call him Superman? Did Aiden tell you to call him that?" Selyse asked curiously.

Shireen shook her head, "No. I thought of it myself. He took me flying super high and fast, I got to see many cool things and pet a dragon, whale, and fishies. He was so nice and my first friend. I saw the S on his chest and thought thats what it stand for. He is super cool." She answered with a grin.

"Many say its for his last name Sand, do you mind if I see that bracelet he gave you?" Selyse commented.

"That's not his last name tho, its El, and sure, but I not take off. It was my first gift from a friend. Very special." Shireen said as she held out her wrist for her mother to look at the bracelet.