An hour till sunup, my volunteers should be in place right now, and I was trying to explain to little Renly what was going on. It wasn't going very well.“ButI want you to stay here! With me!”I wasn't sure when the little bugger wormed his way into my affections. Perhaps it was because he reminded me of my own little brother. Or else it was simply because he's so gods be damned adorable. Either way; the clingy little bastard didn't seem inclined to let go of my leg.I put a hand on his tiny shoulders, braced him, and said, “Hey, little man. You need to toughen up a little, alright? Your big brother is just going out for little fun! I'll be right back!”I didn't let him reply and simply bulldozed onward, “I need you to be strong, Renly. Stay with Maester Cressen andhim as you would me. Do you understand, little man?”Renly's face scrunched up adorably when he replied, “I'm not little!”I let out a loud laugh, picked him up, and crushed the boy to my chest. I let him struggle for a little bit after which I slowly released him.“Put your hand to mine, little brother.”Still frowned he did just that and I said, “Look at that! Three hundred of your tiny little hands fit in mine! That makes you little, right?”Renly snorted before replying, “Nu-uh! You're doing it wrong! My hand isyour hand!”I mussed up his hair when I responded to that, “So does that makes you aman then?”All I got in response was a firm nod from the lad. I smiled as widely as I could and told him, “If you're a big man, Renly, you have to act like one. Stay with Maester Cressen andto him. Understood?”This time his nod was a less firm. I bent down to plant a mushy kiss on his forehead and sent him off running. I slowly followed him as I needed to speak Cressen myself.“Please reconsider this, my Lord. I do not believe the risks outweigh the benefits and we can ill afford to lose you. These men all rallied around yourself...in your absence Storms End falls!”I never quite got Cressen on board with my plans. The man had droned on endlessly on the blemish upon my honor that would follow me around. When that didn't work he moved on to forecasting doom and disaster.I wasn't having any of it. Ithat sitting tight was the easy, and likely more reasonable, play but that didn't matter much to me. Unlike from what I recalled from my readings Mace Tyrelloffered us any free food. Since I lacked Stannis' rather rigid view of personal honor I would have had no issue accepting it. The concern that people would 'oh gasp'about my heinous kidnapping doesn't particularly mean very to much me, either.“There are risks, Maester. They will alwaysrisks. Instead of trying to talk me out of this, Cressen, attempt to advise me and bring success closer!”Cressen took a deep sigh but eventually came up with, “Very well, would you talk me through the ambush one more time, my Lord?”I did just that. I told him of the fourteen men hiding, under layers of mud and moss in the shrubberies, and their role in playing a distraction. One of those men would lob a crossbow shot at me, hopefully well over my head, after which I could claim the parley was void. I spoke of the thirty odd men I'd have at my back with hidden crossbows. I explained how the ballistae on top of the gates would be able to deter any reinforcements when we made our move. I finally ended it with my gambit to catch the Fat Flower in a net and drag him into the castle.“I'm still worried, my Lord.”I was about to interject when Cressen firmly continued, “Not about the details. I have little doubt you wouldn't be able to surprise the Lord Tyrell, my boy. I do not believe you understand the damage you would do to your brother's cause, let alone your personal reputation, if you go through with this. Breaking a parley hasn't been done-.”I interrupted him, “Since the Dance of the Dragons, I'm well aware. I just need an air of confusion, Cressen, to be able to get away with it.”The aged Maester frowned but responded, “But that wouldn't convince them you didn't break parley, my Lord!”I shook my head, “No, that isn't the point. One of the rear guards will yell out 'after the shot goes offand once the hidden men hear that they'll charge at the Tyrell guards. I'll close in with Mace Tyrell and yell loudlybroke the parley, after which we'll drag him inside. The big crossbows on top of the gate will dissuade anyone.”Cressen attempted to speak up again but I halted him with a raised hand.“Mace Tyrell has attempted to speak to me twice now. I've simply ignored the first two tries. Last week he called for me again and now I finally responded. Theythink I've set this up but I'm not adding these little touches for their benefit. It's for the realm at large.”Cressen frowned, causing his eyebrows to become one wriggled mass of hair, and said, “Do you believe that will suffice? An obvious plot such as that?”What is it with this incessant worry about honor? It doesn'tanything for you and it's not as if there aren't Lords out there who've done worse. I don'ta sterling reputation. Not when LordTywin is a respected member of the nobility. If people whine too much I'll stick to the fiction I was heinously attacked.“It doesn't matter, Cressen. I'm working on the assumption my brother, and his Vale- and Northmen, will be able to win the day for us. When they do, or even if they don't, nothing we do here matters.”A deep sigh preceded his inevitable surrender, “Very well, my Lord.”The next few hours passed by far too soon and before I knew it I'd found myself riding up to the gates. We passed the inner gates and the lot of us were waiting for the outer gates to open up. A heavy feeling settled in my stomach and I almost felt like throwing up. I still had access to most of Stannis' skills, as proven by the fact I managed to get on the horse, but clearly I didn't benefit from his inner reserves of courage. Only the heavy cloaks covered up the fact that I was shaking. I obsessively checked for the crossbow laying over my lap and the rope secured to my net.When the gates finally opened I cleared my throat twice to make sure my voice wouldn't catch in my throat.“Nobody makes a move until the first bolt is in the air. Wait until I have the Fat Flower tied up and unleash your own bolts in a single volley. You know what to do afterward.”I didn't wait to listen to their loud assent and made my way through the gate. It took every ounce of restraint I had to not scan the area too obviously. As we got closer to the staging ground for the parley I kept an eye out for my volunteers. I didn't see any of them.That was good, right?Within moments Mace, he even looked like he did on the television, appeared at the head of fifty odd men. He wasn'tfat as he'd be a few years from now but he certainly was chubby. Not that it took away, but in fact only enhanced, from his image as the opulent Reachlord casually dominating the Stormlands. If I really was Stannis I'd be grinding my teeth at the sight. The Fat Flower made his way to the staging ground, thankfully completely oblivious to my trap, and closed in on me with a tremendous smile lighting up his face.Despite my most fondest wish the Fat Flower didn't leave all his guards behind. Three spectacularly armored men accompanied him only meters behind him. This might prove tricky.“Young Lord Stannis of Storms End! You've held up admirably under the strain, young man.”I restrained the temptation to trade banter with him. Instead I simply charged right ahead into business.“You came here to discuss something, Lord Mace. What do you want?”I spoke up even louder at the end of my question signaling it was time.“Are you truly so eager to head back to your empty castle, Lord Stannis? Would you not care for some refreshments? I can have my men deliver them right here to us.”Oh, the smug cunt. And what happened to my men? Why didn't anything happen yet?Perhaps this was an opportunity for me. Would he send one of his men away if I accepted? Or was I only inviting more scrutiny upon me?I had to take the chanceI raised a singular eyebrow and said, “Oh, I doubt your fare is much better than mine, Lord Mace.”He scoffed,and replied, “Very bold of you, young man, but you don't need to pretend.”I forced down the rising bile and plastered a neutral smile on my face.“Very well, Lord Mace.”“Excellent, Gaston! Go tell the men to bring out the delicacies.”One of the large men accompanying Mace nodded and turned his horse around. Just after he got moving the 'attack' on my life finally happened. I could vaguely make out a dark shape moving in the bushes, on the side of the road, and a stray bolt came barreling overhead. Behind me the men knew that to be their signal.I rounded on Mace, “Oh, you traitorous cunt!”He spluttered, behind me I could hear my men yell 'but I didn't wait for his response. I raced forward, withdrew the crossbow on my lap, and loosed it on the flank of one the guards horse. The creature reared back, Mace attempted to retreat, but my forward momentum was good enough to catch up to him.I threw the net and whooped with pleasure when it connected with the Fat Flower. Mace tried to shake it off but his every move only served to entangle him further.“What is this-.”I urged the horse to turn around, briefly sent up a prayer of thanks to Stannis' excellent horsemanship, and heard the Fat Flower's wining be cut off by my rapid retreat. I braved a quick look backwards and let outloud whoop of laughter as I saw the entangled man being dragged forcibly behind me. The final guard however was right on my tail andHe just cut through the rope!I turned around as fast as I could, raised my sword, and charged into the lonely man. My heart was beating so fast and loud I was worried it was going to explode out of my chest. Still, I had no intention of crossing swords with him. Our horses charged into each other and I threw myself clear of my horse. The heavily armored Reachmen didn't fair as well I did and while I managed to roll to my feet quickly he landed flat on his ass.I ventured a look over the brawl, courtesy of my hidden volunteers, and judged that they might keep the reinforcements away from me for at least a few more seconds. I steeled my resolve, sprinted over to Mace, and when I reached him smashed the man's head with the butt of my sword. He didn't pass out but he did look dizzy enough to stop resisting. With my offhand I grabbed Mace' right arm, twisted it behind his back, and pulled him up to his feet by hooking my sword arm around his neck.“You won't get away with-.”“Piss off, you tried tome during a parley!”Quickly withdrawing my arm from under his chin, and replacing it with bare steel, was enough to shut him up. With some mild effort I managed to turn around, walking backwards with Mace in front of us, and slowly made my way to the castle. My crossbowmen had formed up around me, the unfortunate Reachman that was slow to get to his feet got a bolt to the face, and the rest flew off to help the volunteers.It didn't matter much. They were all cut down rapidly.I looked behind me and saw I still had thirty or so meters to go and the Fat Flowers guards were barreling down us.Where were the god damned ballistae?