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Chapter Text

"the boy's condition has stabilized, Princess, "said Maester Pylos

Maester Pylos had just entered the library, knowing Shireen would be there like she usually is. Relief and weariness creep into Maester Pylos's voice, looking at her with a smile on his young face. The new Maester of Dragon Stone dresses in simple grey closes with chains around his neck.

He carried some books in his left hand and walked around the library, placing them in their original place.

"I am glad, Maester, "Shireen replied, giving a smile of her own; she still remembered when she found a body washed up on Dragon Stone beach. His body was bleeding all over, making her think that he was already dead. But she still tries to breathe life into him, and after some time, he spills the water in his lungs, proving that there is still life in him.

Shuffling in her chair, Shireen bent down and put a book on a small table beside her. The book itself is quite heavy, so she needs to be careful when putting it down. Still wearing her sleeping clothes, Shireen has been reading for about four hours since morning. It's not like I have anything else to do; if Septa Barre was there, she would be studying with her. Rubbing her eyes, Shireen thought about the event that transpired yesterday.

"Quite a lot of wound though; it's like he was slashed with a small knife all over his body, "whispered Maester Pylos; he fidgets, hiding his discomfort, remembering the boy's condition when being treated. After putting some books in their place, Maester Pylos takes out some other books and shit down across me. "The slash isn't deep enough to threaten his life, so the culprit didn't manage to give a deathly blow before the boy fell to the sea. That was normal to get from a swordfight, but his burn is unique. "

After saying that, Maester Pylos stood up, opened the library windows, and let more light and fresh air into the room; he seemed lost in his thoughts and just stood there in front of the window. Shireen picked up the implication. So he was in a fight, a cruel thing for a boy that young; he looked about 6 years older than her, yet the scar all over his body was proof that he had a difficult life; even with greyscale, she had better luck than most, something that she is grateful for.

"For that, we have to be wary of him, "she said after sometime.” We don't know where his allegiance is or who he is fighting. "She felt bad about that, but it couldn't be helped; they are currently at war, with her father on his way to Storm End facing Uncle Renly. Sooner or later, some spy or enemy bannerman will come to Dragon Stone.

"I agree, Princess, "Reply Maester Pylos, bowing his head.

"Still, it was a good thing he is finally stabilized, "and she really felt so. "Let me see the book you bought, Maester. "Shireeen stood up and walked over to Maester Pylos's table; there, she saw some books most didn't keep her attention, but one book, "How Sickness Transmitted from Human to Human by Maester Humid, "she muttered, "I thought you had read this book already Maester? "

"I have, Princess, "Maester Pylos said, taking a seat. " But repetition is good every now and then. "He shuffled around his chair until he found a comfortable position, his eyes wandering around the room, raising one of them. "Pathface is not around. I take it ?"

"He accompanied me for several hours, but he became restless and started running around the room, and before I knew it, he was running out of the room to the courtyard “, flipping paper to paper, looking for the last point she had read in the past. A huff escaped her mouth. It had been quite long. Did I forget what I had been reading? "I don't have the energy to chase him this time. "

With some force in her step, Shireen came back to her chair with an empty hand and flung herself to it. Maester Pylos looked concerned at that.

It's been a week since Stannis sailed to Storm End, looking for an answer to Uncle's action. Things were looking bad for her father. The combined power of Dragon Stone, the bannerman, and the sellsword that had been gathering was about 6.500 men strong, and there was not enough number to take on the war against the other four declared false kings. Stannis seems confident in their ability to take King Landing from its garrison, and Shireen would believe her father in that, but defending from the Lannister army that would come shortly after would be a disaster.

I hope Father and Uncle Renly come to a peaceful solution. Love would be a strong word to describe her feelings for Uncle Renly, but the first time she met him, Uncle Renly was funny and always brought her presents. Beyond that, Shireen didn't want her father to be a kinslayer. He rarely smiles, and killing Uncle Renly won't make him sleep any better at night.

"I have enough of reading, Maester, "Shireen stood up and started walking to the library door. "If anyone searching for me, I will be in the garden, resting for a bit. "With that, she closed the door and made her way.

On the door, Ser Burry followed behind her as she made her way down the castle corridor. Dragon Stone was currently defended by eighth knights and three hundred and fifty men of arm; at any time, one of them would follow Shireen and her mother around. Ser Burry was a quiet man, preferring silent rather than useless chatting. A long time ago, Shireen tried to approach him and chat, but seeing she was just bothering him, Shireen just gave up.

Dragonstone didn't have a big garden; the island had little space, and every good soil should be used to farm edible plants, or so Father said.

The garden overlooking the sea was quite small but well looked after; it was her favorite place in Dragonstone. After taking a deep breath, she sat down below a big tree in the middle of the garden.

Surprisingly, sleep came easily to Shireen. Latterly, she didn't dream about being eaten alive by the stone dragon of Dragon Stone. Still, strangely, she didn't remember dreaming at all, a good price as long as it got rid of the nightmare when Shireen woke up. She sat on the edge of her bed, going to the window. To her surprise, Shireen saw some ships docking on the beach of Dragon Stone; all the ships had been damaged to varying degrees, making her heart skip a beat. It's too soon for Father and Uncle Renly's negotiation to conclude; I hope Father is okay. Shireen heart keeps beating faster with anxiety. She runs to her closet to make herself presentable.

Shireen chose a simple close and went out of her room, "Ser Burry, is father coming back already?, "but no one responded; she found out that no one was guarding her door. When she fell asleep, Ser Burry was guarding her.

Seeing no one in the corridor, Shireen came to her room, took one of the torches placed on the wall, and ran carefully to the Map Room. Along the corridor, she saw some servants and knights, but none of them dared look at her and just went about doing their duty. So she kept running until she saw a large gathering of men in front of the throne room. One of the soldiers noticed Shireen's presence. He parted the crowd and made way for me to go inside.

Many soldiers stand ready in the room, overlooking Mother arguing with Ser Davos.

"What do you mean you get separated, Smuggler?" Selise screamed, her hand rising, ready to strike Ser Davos. "You were in charge of the main ship in my husband's army; how did you get separated?" her chest rose and fell quickly if every word was said with everything that she got.

Ser Davos ducks his head. "King Stannis tasked me to look upon our rear when we got near Storm End; he is afraid of getting ambushed from behind, "he explained, pointing at the map. "For a moment, things proceeded as we expected; from the report we got from Ser Axel, Renly was making his way to King landing, and with him, most of Storm End garrison. But the report was false. When our ship entered the ship breaker bay, we found Renly's army ready atop the clive ready to face us." he then took a deep breath. "then he rained stone upon us. From the king's signal, he wanted us to storm the beach, that likely was our only option
seeing shortly after the Redwine ship closing upon us from behind with Stormy wind in their favor "he stops then.

Everyone in the room was silent, listening to Ser Davos's explanation, holding their breath
"then what happens, ser ?" Selise screamed, shoving him to the wall

"When the first soldier set foot on Storm End beach, something exploded—a green explosion. Renly used wildfire; from where he got them, I have no idea. After that, chaos spread among our ranks, and everybody knew that we had lost the fight. Ser Penhose rallied some ships, and we escorted King Stannis's Ship out. Little did we know that King Stannis was not on the ship anymore."

SLAP

Selise slapped Ser Davor and started to cry. "Get out, "she screamed.” Get out now, every one of you, get out. "She kept on screaming, a sob escaping her; when everyone had left the hall, Shelise kneeled to hug her daughter.
“ It's okay, Shireen, believe in your father; he is our savior, "she whispered to her. "it's gonna be alright. "

"Yes, Mother, no one can defeat Father, "Shireen replied, trying to convince herself and Selise. They spent the night hugging each other in front of the fireplace.

Chapter Text

“Princess Shireen, your bath is ready,” said a maid from the other side of the door.

After several hours in her mother's embrace, Shireen was escorted to her room by Sir Richard. Selise wanted Shireen to spend her day as usual until her husband was found. To ensure Shireen's safety, she was to be guarded by two knights at all times.

Currently, Shireen was overlooking the sea from her room. Even early in the morning, the weather at Dragonstone was quite stormy, so the morning sun hadn’t shown itself yet. The only light in Shireen's bedroom was a small candle on the edge of her room. The gloomy room and her gloomy mood made Shireen feel quite miserable.

“Okay,” she replied and lazily hopped from the window onto the floor. She took her book and made her way to the door. Outside, Arly was waiting with Ser William and Ser Humfrey. Wordlessly, the four of them made their way into the bathhouse behind the castle.

“Careful, Princess,” Ser William put his hand on Shireen's shoulder and stopped her from walking. “There’s a snake in your path.” Sure enough, there was a small snake three steps from her. Ser William approached the snake with his sword drawn, ready to kill it, but the agile reptile managed to escape into another room.
“Humfrey, please escort the princess to the bathroom. I don’t recognize the snake species, but seeing the shape of its head, it must be a poisonous one,” Ser William said, trying to open the room door. “I will follow you shortly after I take care of this little problem.” Seeing Ser Humfrey uncertain about his plan, he added, “Currently, only trusted knights and servants are authorized to enter this castle. So I’m certain this reptile is the biggest threat here. It will be okay.” With that, he continued to kick at the door.

Seeing William had a point, “Come on, Princess,” Ser Humfrey continued to escort Princess Shireen to take a bath.

All her life, she thought Dragonstone Hall was a quiet place where she and Patchface used to play in her free time. But now, the quietness was eerie and chilling, as if the hall itself was hostile to her. Shireen’s dream of being eaten by the stone dragon didn’t seem so far-fetched anymore.

“Arly, where’s Patchface?” Shireen questioned while getting closer to the said maid, afraid of her surroundings.

Arly ducked her head. “I don’t know, Princess. I don’t think I’ve seen Patchface since yesterday. If it soothes your mind, after you take a bath, I will ask other servants if they have seen him or look after him.”

“It’s okay, Arly. You shouldn’t trouble yourself with it. Everyone’s probably busy with their work. I’m sure Patchface is just playing around somewhere,” Shireen said. She didn’t want to trouble the castle servants to look after Patchface.

Taking a bath was an activity Shireen enjoyed. She did it more often than other ladies her age, if Maester Cressen were to be believed. “Ser Davos and his sons are looking for Father around Storm’s End with a small smuggling vessel. I hope they find him.” Shireen didn’t have a close relationship with her father. They rarely spent time together, seeing that Stannis was busy in King’s Landing, being the master of ships and helping Jon Arryn. But she treasured the time they had together when she asked all kinds of questions about the books she had read.

“Wow, the storm’s ending already?” Arly said, seeing the bright bathhouse illuminated by the morning sun.

“Hmm, you have a point, Arly. From Father’s stories, storms in Storm’s End can start and end quite abruptly,” Shireen said, looking around the bath, wondering if there were any other people there.

“This isn’t Storm’s End, though,” Arly replied.

“I will wait outside, Princess,” said Ser Humfrey when Shireen and Arly entered the bathhouse.

Inside, Arly helped Shireen wash herself. The two of them could hear another set of footsteps from outside.

“Have you killed that small snake already, Ser William?” asked Ser Humfrey, seeing Ser William approaching.

“No, the little thing just disappeared inside. I’ve flipped the room upside down, yet I can’t find it,” replied Ser William.

“You can’t be serious. That room didn’t have a window for it to get out from. Are you sure you kept an eye on the door the whole time?” Ser Humfrey questioned. Seeing Ser William nod, he continued, “Are you sure you searched the room’s furniture thoroughly?”

“I’m sure. Never mind that. I’ve asked two servants to comb the castle looking for the reptile,” Ser William replied, waving his hand. “Have you heard? Apparently, Renly has sent a raven to demand our surrender.” His expression turned grim, and with sword in hand, Ser William practiced a few swings.

“No, I haven’t. But it’s about time, really. The Redwyne fleet should already be on their way here. Even with our loss at Storm’s End, King Stannis’ fleet could still threaten his blockade from behind,” replied Ser Humfrey, while tossing a stone in the air. “Don’t think Queen Selise would be receptive to it, though. Me neither.”

“If she wants the best future for Princess Shireen, she should consider negotiation,” said Ser William, shrugging his shoulders. “We don’t have the numbers to begin with, and without King Stannis, our cause doesn’t really have a future. Between surrendering or fleeing to Essos, the princess has a better chance with Renly. She being the only heir he currently has doesn’t hurt either.”

“Renly usurped his nephew and brother without a second thought—”

“Fake nephew,” interrupted Ser William.

“He didn’t know that when he declared himself, did he?” Ser Humfrey glared. “A guy like that, if we were to fight under his banner, we might as well throw our honor away.”

“Queen Selise and Princess Shireen aren’t spoiled for choice anyway. Between Greyjoy, Lannister, Lord Renly, and Essos, the safest choice is Lord Renly. Greyjoy is laughable. Joffrey may as well cut all of our heads off when he has the chance, and exile is unlikely to bring the princess back,” said Ser William with a smile on his face.

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it, though.”

“Our likes and dislikes don’t factor into any of this, good Ser. As knights, we only mean to serve,” Ser William said, his smile brightening. “Hello there, Princess. Will you go meet Maester Cressen next?” he said, noticing Shireen’s arrival with Arly at her side.

“No,” Shireen said, shaking her head. “I want to visit the boy I saved a while ago. He should be in the castle cell right now,” she said while walking toward the castle with Ser William, Ser Humfrey, and Arly in tow. “I want to know firsthand what happened to him.” She nodded her head. “By the way, Ser William, Ser Humfrey, I don’t think Mother will appreciate you two discussing our surrender when we don’t know my father’s fate yet.”

“Yes, Princess,” the two knights replied.

On the way to the underground cell, Shireen couldn’t help but ponder what her and her mother’s fate would be if they could find her father safely. She thought Ser William was right in his assessment that surrendering to Uncle Renly would be the safest choice.

Dragonstone didn’t have a big cell to house prisoners. When Shireen entered the room, there were about six cells inside. The Targaryen dragonlords didn’t really need big cells, seeing that their land in the early years of their exile was quite small. By the time they conquered the Seven Kingdoms, they had King's Landing. Then again, Targaryens didn’t seem to be the sort of people to let their enemies live long.

Inside one of the cells, resided a boy who looked like he was sleeping against the cell wall. Ser Humfrey hit the cell bars to wake him up. Slowly, the boy opened his eyes. Lazily, he took in the four of his visitors, and for a moment, Shireen thought something passed in his eyes. ‘Maybe I imagined it. This place is quite dark, after all.’ He tilted his head to the side as if asking what his guests had come for.

“Hello there,” Shireen began tentatively, waving her hand. “My name’s Shireen Baratheon. We found you stranded on our beach and bleeding all over. Are you feeling okay now?” she asked, eager to get an answer. Yet after several moments, the boy didn’t say anything. “Of course, Maester Pylos has checked on you. I just want to know how you feel currently?” Another silence.

Seeing the boy keeping silent for a long time, Ser Humfrey started to get irritated. He hit the cell a few times and said, “The princess is asking you a question. Answer her, boy!” He nearly shouted by the end. The boy only lazily shifted his eyes to Ser Humfrey, looking between him and Ser William. Then his eyes settled on Shireen.

After a moment, “I’m fine,” he replied.

“That’s great,” Shireen said, smiling brightly. The boy narrowed his eyes at that. “And Ser Humfrey, no need to scare him. I’m sure he’s just tired after recovering from his injury,” she frowned a little. “Now, I don’t really like throwing an injured person inside a cell, but our current condition isn’t optimal.” Then her smile returned. “Can I have your name?”

“Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke,” the boy replied.

“Now Sasuke, we found you with a lot of injuries. How did you get them?” Shireen narrowed her eyes.

“A fight against pirates. I was able to survive with a log and some rations floating,” Sasuke answered shortly.

“What was the name of this pirate?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he said.

“What kind of ship were you on, and what were you doing there?” Shireen tilted her head.

“A spice merchant ship. I did rough work there.”

“And as a simple worker, you were able to survive a pirate attack? That’s kind of hard to believe,” she said.

“I can fight.”

Silence sat between the two of them. Seeing the boy wasn’t a talkative person, and Shireen didn’t have anything else to ask, nor did she consider the conversation fun, she said, “Alright, I believe you. But with our current condition, we couldn’t risk a stranger loose in the castle. You will stay here for a while longer. Someone will come to give you food and further questioning,” she said with a smile.

“Okay,” the boy replied, then closed his eyes.

With that, Shireen took her leave and started walking to the library to talk to Maester Cressen.

“The audacity of that boy,” Ser Humfrey mumbled, seething. “After the princess saved him and gave him shelter.”

“Hush,” said Arly. “The princess is okay with that.”

“Well, she shouldn’t be,” he said with a huff.

Shortly, the four of them arrived at the library. When Shireen entered, she didn’t see Maester Pylos nor Maester Cressen. The library was quiet and tidy, with no evidence that anyone had entered the place since Shireen left yesterday.

“I will prepare your breakfast, Princess,” said Arly, excusing herself.

“We will wait outside, Princess. If you need anything, just call us in,” Ser William nodded to Ser Humfrey and made his way outside.

Used to being left by herself, Shireen picked up a book and started reading in her favorite chair at the center of the library. After reading and flipping through several books, Shireen felt herself unable to focus. Even when she spent her day normally, the weight of their current situation still pressed on her: the uncertainty, the possibility.

Shireen stood up from her chair to stretch, trying to forget all of her worries. But her effort was for naught. So, Shireen just sat back in her chair and closed her eyes to wait for one of the maesters, ready to begin their study.

She dozed off, and the last thing she saw was a hawk flying across Dragonstone’s sky.

“Princess,” someone shook her body. “Wake up, Princess.” It sounded like Maester Cressen had come to the library.

“Hello, Maester,” Shireen trailed off, opening her eyes, still sleepy from her nap. “Where have you been?”

“Queen Selise has asked me and several other men to advise on certain information,” Maester Cressen replied, taking a seat across from her, picking up one of the books that she had taken from the library shelf and starting to read it.

“About Uncle Renly’s demand for surrender, I take it?” Shireen asked. Seeing Maester Cressen raise his eyebrow, she continued, “I overheard Ser William and Ser Humfrey talking about it.” She smiled at that.

“Yes, Princess. We were discussing Lord Renly later,” he replied, seeing Shireen’s questioning stare. “It was decided to wait for news about your father first, or the arrival of the Redwyne fleet, whichever comes first.”

“Okay,” said Shireen. When she was about to say something else, the door opened, and Arly entered with several food trays for her breakfast.

“Excuse me, Princess,” she nodded toward Shireen. “Maester Cressen,” she said with a smile, “your breakfast is ready.”

“Thank you, Arly,” Shireen started taking small bites from the food that was served.

“About Patchface, Princess,” started Arly after seeing Shireen eating her food. “He was found in a cave sleeping by one of the servants. From what I heard, when the servant woke him up, he woke up confused and scared,” she said slowly. “But surprisingly coherent.” She looked up at Shireen and saw the princess looking confused. “I didn’t believe it at first, so while I waited for your food, I came to Maester Pylos' room to see his condition. There he was, talking like a normal person.”

“Princess, you should finish your breakfast first,” said Maester Cressen when he saw Shireen standing up. “After you finish, we shall visit the lad.”

“Okay,” Shireen said, sulking.