"Can that power bring me victory?"
"Of course. Whether your brother or your nephew, they will both be enemies of the Lord of Light," the Red Priestess urged. "Once you have looked into the flames, you will see the truth."
"The truth. Hmph."
"Renly has proclaimed himself king, but his blood is of little importance. What I need more is the blood of others, Edric or Gendry. Their blood comes from a king, and king's blood means power, extraordinary power. If you give me Edric in the future, I will awaken more power."
"Enough. Leave me for now," Stannis told the Red Priestess. "Let me consider this alone."
"Yes."
When everyone had dispersed, Stannis looked at the position of Storm's End in the Round Table Hall.
"You have truly given me a difficult problem. What should I do? When you rebelled all those years ago, I chose family over honor, but today's choice is harder still. Family, honor, duty. You were a fool, a whoremonger, a drunkard, an egomaniac. A foolish marriage, a foolish will. You got yourself killed, and Arryn, and Stark. Yet I believe you wrote that will. What should I do? I will become a man who kills his brother and his nephew, yet the Red Priestess says I am a savior. How ridiculous."
Stannis sat in his seat and listened to the raging wind, but the vast sea could not drown out his troubled thoughts.
Chapter 221: Gods and mortals
The Red Priestess took her leave as commanded. The walls were bleak, and no one else remained. Only the lonely Stannis was left. Duke Baratheon sat alone in the Round Table Hall of Stone Drum Castle, listening to the howling sea and wind.
There has been little laughter in my life, Stannis thought. A cold undertone