Chapter 227 The Broken Negotiation

As one of the strongest castles in Westeros, Storm's End is located in the heart of the storm, on the west coast of the Narrow Sea.

It is said that the thickest part of the castle wall is eighty feet, consisting of two layers of rock and an interlayer of sand and gravel, which is indestructible.

The wall surface is smooth and curved, and the stones are packed so tightly that even a breath of wind cannot enter.

Looking from a distance, Storm's End is like a huge fist that goes straight into the sky, defying any incoming enemies.

Legend has it that this castle is the masterpiece of Brandon Stark, the "builder" who built the Great Wall and the towering tower. Since its completion, it has never been captured.

The last of the Storm Kings, Algila Durrandon the "Proud", foolishly abandoned the defenses of Storm's End during the War of Conquest, and mustered his armies to fight against the Targaryen armies and dragons in the open, It failed miserably.

After the war of conquest, Aegon Targaryen granted Storm's End to his illegitimate brother Orys Baratheon. Since then, Storm's End has become the family castle of the Baratheon family. .

After the War of the Reavers, Robert Baratheon sat on the Iron Throne and entrusted Storm's End to his younger brother Renly Baratheon, but unfortunately he died in Sunspear.

The vacant title of Duke of Storm's End was canonized by King Tommen, who is now sitting on the Iron Throne, to Edric Baratheon, the illegitimate son of the former king Robert.

"Edric Storm!" Stannis Baratheon corrected his subordinates, "What qualifications does a false king on the Iron Throne have to legalize an illegitimate child?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." The messenger said kindly, "Edric Storm agrees to meet with you in the afternoon. The location is on the cliff east of Storm's End. At that time, the two parties are only allowed to bring a maximum of ten followers."

"Can."

After the messenger left, Stannis turned to look at the people behind him and asked:

"Has anyone from the nobles of the Stormlands responded to my call?"

There was a silence.

Stannis began to grind his teeth.

After a long while, "Onion Knight" Davos said:

"Your Majesty, the nobles of the Stormlands are not unwilling to support you, but their army is trapped in Dorne. If you can persuade Prince Doran to let them go, they will definitely be willing to send troops to support your cause."

"There's no need to give them an excuse!" said Stannis forcefully. "There are only twenty thousand men trapped in the Stormlands of Dorne, and that leaves them with no soldiers to send? They just won't fight for me. It just so happened that the Iron Throne supported an illegitimate son to take the position of Duke of Storm's End, so they have even more excuses.

"Actually, there is still the threat of the Reach army." Davos said again, "Even if the Lords of the Stormlands still have a little force, they will stay in the castle to guard against the Reach people."

"The Reach!" Stannis said through gritted teeth, turning his gaze to his father-in-law, "Alister, didn't you promise that Reach would support me? What kind of support is this?"

Earl of Bright Water City Alister Florent was also a little embarrassed when he heard the words.

Just the day before yesterday, they received news that the Duke of Mace had ordered the army of the Reach to march on Storm's End. Although the people of Reach claimed that they were helping Stannis solve an illegitimate son who had stolen the Duke of Storm's End, anyone with a discerning eye knew that They just want to take advantage of this opportunity to plot Stormland.

Earl Alister, after hearing his son talk about the scene of turning a deer into a horse at the Highgarden Hunting Party, originally thought that the Tyrell family would definitely support their son-in-law Stannis to ascend the Iron Throne, so he rushed here with an army Dragonstone Island, ready to seize the opportunity, but who knows, the next ambiguous statement of the Tyrell family and the march with ulterior motives made him dumbfounded.

Now he has come to realize that his grandson, who is engaged to Rose Gaoting, obviously has other thoughts.

But at this time, the Florens family had no way out.

Earl Alister's daughters are all married to Stannis, and he himself went to Dragonstone Island in advance to defeat him, and was awarded the position of Hand of the King by the king. Of course he will not, and it is impossible for him to receive such courtesy. Double-minded again.

"Your Majesty." Earl Alister said with a measured tone, "As long as we let that illegitimate son in Storm's End give up his unrealistic delusions, the Tyrell family will have no excuse to continue marching into the Stormlands."

"Do you think that kid will voluntarily give up the position of Duke of Storm's End?"

"As long as you promise to treat him well, I believe Edric Storm will recognize the reality."

"hope so."

Hearing this, Davos suddenly suggested:

"Your Majesty, if you promise that as long as Edric is willing to serve you, you can legalize his identity and even grant him Storm's End, then he has no reason to fight against you."

"Impossible!" Stannis flatly refused, "A dirty **** wants to inherit Storm's End?"

Davos sighed, no more persuasion.

He knew that his lord loathed Edric Storm, the illegitimate child, conceived in Stannis's marriage bed on the day Robert Baratheon married Dilina Florent illegitimate evil.

There are even rumors that Stannis has been unable to give birth to male offspring because his marriage bed was defiled by his brother.

How could Stannis let go of such humiliation.

The afternoon was approaching, and Stannis, wearing a red gold crown, rode to the negotiation site.

Soon, a group of people also drove slowly from the direction of Storm's End.

The man at the head wore a green velvet jacket and a satin cloak trimmed with pine bark, looking handsome and polished.

When the two sides got closer, Stannis also saw clearly his brother's illegitimate son. He had the black hair of the Baratheon family and the protruding ears of the Florens family. He had a strong body, but his face was slightly green.

"Edric." Stannis greeted him, and he didn't call him a duke, but fortunately he didn't call him by his illegitimate son's surname either.

"Uncle." Edric's greeting was equally concise.

The uncle and nephew then stared at each other in silence, and the atmosphere became awkward.

Finally, Count Alister Florent behind Stannis coughed lightly and said with a smile:

"Edric, don't you say hello to your grand-uncle?"

Edric is the child of Robert Baratheon and Di Lina, the niece of Count Alister Florent, so the two parties do have such a blood relationship.

But the young Duke of Storm's End turned his head to look at Earl Alister, and said indifferently:

"So you are Lord Alister. This is probably the first time we have met. I really didn't recognize you."

Indeed, Earl Alister certainly wouldn't pay much attention to his niece's illegitimate children, even if they were the king's illegitimate children. After all, King Robert had too many illegitimate children.

Before, he only knew that such a child existed, but he never cared about it.

"Edric." Earl Alister tried to calm down, "His Majesty Stannis came this time with kindness and forgiveness, as long as you give up resistance and let Storm's End go, His Majesty can accept all of this. None of that happened."

Edric snorted softly and asked, "And then? I continue to be an illegitimate child that everyone despises?"

Earl Alister glanced at the king and said:

"Your Majesty can give you the surname of the Baratheon family, and even give you a fief."

"Fiefdom? Storm's End?"

"Don't even think about it!" Stannis flatly refused.

Edric shrugged: "Uncle, you are really stingy. No wonder no one wants to fight for you."

These words hit Stannis sorely, his face instantly became extremely gloomy, he gritted his teeth and growled:

"Boy! Do you know that your death is approaching? The Riverbend army has already marched towards Stormcastle. Do you think anyone else can save you besides me?"

"I have Storm's End, and I don't need you to save me." Edric said lightly, "During the Reaver's War, it was also the armies of the Reach who besieged Storm's End and failed to take it down for a whole year. Uncle , you were in the city at the time, you don't know how strong this castle is, right?

Besides, learning your lesson from last time, this time I have stored food for three years. I want to see if the Hewan army can besieged here for three years! "

Stannis began to grind his teeth again, which was a sign of his extreme anger.

But he really has nothing to do with a illegitimate son who doesn't want to eat.

In desperation, Stannis looked at Ser Cortnay Penrose behind Edric, and said:

"Sir Cortanay, are you willing to mess around with this illegitimate child?"

Ser Cortnay did not answer, but pointed to the banner behind Stannis, and asked:

"Lord Stannis, have you changed your coat of arms?"

The banner in the hands of the standard bearer on Stannis' side is indeed a bit strange. It draws a fiery red heart surrounded by a circle of orange flames. The crowned stag mark is still there, but it has shrunk a lot. in the heart.

"This is the flaming red heart, the banner of R'hllor, the Lord of Light." Soros, the red-robed monk, explained.

"What kind of **** Lord of Light." Ser Cortnay spat, and said disdainfully, "Stannis, you change your beliefs as casually as I change my boots, and you are kind enough to call me foolish?"

"Enough!" Stannis jerked his longsword out.

Under the pale sunlight, the blade of the sword shone with strange light, red for a while, yellow for a while, and then turned into a blazing white light for a while. Even the surrounding air sensed the heat scattered by the blade, and the light changed accordingly.

The horses of the crowd neighed in fright.

Stannis raised his glowing long sword, pointed at his illegitimate nephew, and growled:

"I'm warning you for the last time, Edric Storm! I don't want to stain the 'Lightbringer' with the blood of my loved ones, but if you persist in your obsession, even if you bear the curse of kinslayer, I will kill you!"

Edric sneered:

"Uncle, do you know why the nobles of the Stormlands are willing to die for my father and fight for Uncle Renly, but they are unwilling to send a single soldier to support you? It is because of your harshness and ungratefulness! You can't change this For one thing, you'll never sit on the Iron Throne."

After speaking, the **** duke turned his horse and headed towards Storm's End.

Leaving Stannis holding up the long sword that shone with strange light, but could only slash the air angrily.

(end of this chapter)