The fat merchant who had just been waxing eloquent about the glory of the Seven abruptly fell silent.
Every trace of color drained from his face. He stood frozen, as though all the bones had been pulled from his body.
The stink of urine drifted from behind him. Some of those so-called "representatives" had already wet themselves in terror.
The entire Throne Room fell deathly silent.
Only the One-Eyed General wore a smile of utter cruelty and excitement. He licked his cracked lips.
He had waited far too long for this moment!
Davos Seaworth looked at the expressionless man on the throne, his heart sinking.
He had been wrong.
Terribly wrong!
He had thought Stannis had executed his own soldiers because his conscience had stirred, because he still cared about "justice" and "the law."
Only now did he understand that it had been no awakening at all!
It had merely been a cold-blooded king applying the most effective repair when he discovered that his tools were slipping out of his control!
Now, he found these insatiably greedy commoners more troublesome than his army.
So he intended to use a more thorough method of "repair"!
"Your Grace!"
Davos lunged forward a step, his voice hoarse with emotion!
"You cannot do this! They are your subjects! Not livestock you can slaughter at will!"
"If you give this order, you truly will become a butcher! A tyrant!"
He tried to appeal to the last shred of reason in the man before him.
But Stannis merely turned his head slowly. His eyes held no emotion, as still as a dead sea without a ripple.
"Davos."
"I am the king."
"I am purifying my kingdom, uprooting the poisonous weeds that feed upon its flesh."
His voice was soft.
"As for you..."
Stannis looked at Davos's