The Stormlands, Bronzegate.
Inside the hall of House Buckler's Main Keep, the atmosphere was heavy.
Stannis sat in the seat of honor, his expression grim.
The surviving lords of the Stormlands sat below him, anxiety and unease mingling on their faces.
Three days earlier, they had received a plea for aid from Storm's End and another letter, a declaration from someone calling himself Aegon Targaryen VI.
The two letters had instantly sent enormous waves through the army.
"Prince Rhaegar's eldest son? Aegon? Didn't the Mountain smash him to death when King's Landing fell?"
Sebastian Ellor, Earl of Haystack Hall, was the first to question it. "We just burned one Viserys who called himself a true dragon, and now another has appeared? Why are the Targaryen whelps like weeds in a field, impossible to burn away?"
Mary Mertyns, Countess of Mistwood, was comparatively calm. "The letter says that Varys, that Spider, switched the babies. But Varys is dead now, and the dead cannot testify. Who can prove whether this Aegon is genuine?"
Earl Wheldon of Rain House frowned. "Jon Connington, who once served as Hand of the King to Aerys II, claims to vouch for his identity..."
What he left unsaid was that the moment Jon Connington appeared, the knight from Griffin's Roost in Stannis's army had been imprisoned.
They all feared that House Connington of Griffin's Roost would conspire with Jon Connington, coordinating their efforts from within and without.
"Genuine or not, my lords, the age of the Targaryens is over. The rightful king of the Iron Throne is His Grace Stannis. We lords of the Stormlands owe our allegiance to House Baratheon!"
Brus Buckler, the newly appointed Earl of Bronzegate, hurriedly interrupted Earl Wheldon.
With nearly all the male members of House Buckler having perished in King's Landing, he