Winter's Promise

3rd Month of 299 A.C. King's Landing

Lord Renly Baratheon

They had succeeded in taking King's Landing, with their superior numbers, the Lannister men within King's Landing had never stood a chance. Renly can still remember the smell and sound of a thousand bodies pushing against one another crashing in the throng of armour and arrows and steel. It was a memory he never wanted to relieve but a memory that he knew he'd have to relieve again and again, until such time as he was either dead, or he could get it out of his head. Renly had never truly understood the fascination with war that his brother had, the sound of the wounded and the dying was one he knew would haunt him forever, but they had managed to take the city and his nephew, King Durran had been crowned King. Joffrey was dead, slain during the battle, Stannis was alive, and had been pardoned for his treason, his brother displaying some sense that Renly had not thought he'd had, and then there was Cersei and her other two children, Cersei had escaped with them and they were somewhere, where Renly did not know, but he knew they could not get far, that they would not get far, not with Randyll Tarly hunting them.

The small council had gathered to meet and discuss the most pressing issues facing the King and the Kingdom at present, and as Renly looked around at the room, he noted that there were some who could not truly be trusted. Pycelle was dead, executed after the battle, Baelish was in the Vale it seemed, and Renly knew that the man was likely going to try and work with the Lannisters once more. Then there was Stannis, who was well Stannis, then Mace Tyrell who was serving as master of laws, Lord Grandison had replaced Varys as master of whispers, the eunuch had disappeared when King's Landing had fallen. There was no Grand Maester, with Gormon making his way slowly, Barristan Selmy had fled with Cersei and her brats. All in all, there were some interesting members on the council. With Renly chief among them as hand. The King was in attendance as he always was, he would make a good King, perhaps even a great one, and Renly was proud of him. Deciding that he'd had enough of the sentimentality, Renly clears his throat and brings the meeting to order. "Thank you all for coming, with Your Grace's pleasure, I would bring this meeting into session." He looks at his nephew who merely nods his head in agreement, his nephew is not one for many words, and that suits him just fine. "Thank you Your Grace. Now it has been nearly two moons since King's Landing fell, in that time a lot of work has been done to improve the city, and to repair the damages that the battle took on it. Lord Rowan, tell me how goes the rebuilding?"

Lord Rowan had been placed in charge of rebuilding the walls of the city, for Renly did not trust Mace, and he did not trust any of the other lords to do the job properly. Rowan, an old man, who knows his duty takes a moment before responding and then he speaks. "It is going well my lord. We have more than enough money to rebuild the walls that suffered greater damage during the fighting. As such, we should see most of the gates and their walls rebuilt and stronger by the end of the moon."

Renly is surprised by this, he had not thought that it would happen so quickly, Rowan truly is quite efficient. "Thank you very much my lord, and congratulations on getting the job done so quickly. I must say that I had thought it would take much longer than it seems to be taking, for things to get done. If I might ask, how is it that you have gotten the work done so quickly?"

A strange look crosses Rowan's face then, and Renly finds himself wondering at that, he remembers hearing some rumours about the man long ago, but he does not know what to make of them, never has, and so he waits for the man to respond. When Rowan does eventually respond, his voice is calm and measured. "The men who are working on rebuilding the walls are doing so with much incentive. They know that if they do not get the walls built quickly and with skill then they shall be saying goodbye to more than just their livelihoods next time the war comes here."

"So you have been threatening them?" The King asks, his voice harsh.

Renly looks at his nephew, and then at Lord Rowan, and sees how the man seems abashed by this, his nephew has the same sort of presence that Robert had once, before the Lannisters got their claws into him. "I have merely done what I think is right Your Grace. Forgive me if that is not your wish."

His nephew looks uncertain of how to respond then, and after sometime eventually says. "No, no, it is not an issue at all. I was merely surprised that is all. Continue my lord."

Renly hides a smile behind his wine cup, his nephew is doing well, very well indeed. Rowan speaks once more. "We have enough resources brought from the camps as well as from the Kingswood to help solidify some of the things that have been causing issues within the city from before the fighting. And furthermore, there is more incentive amongst the workers as well. We are on track to get this job done before the moon ends."

"As long as the walls hold, that is all that matters." Renly says.

"They will hold my lord; I am sure of it." Rowan replies confidently.

"And how can you be sure of that? Strong structures do not take a moon to build they take time. Lots of time." Stannis responds.

Renly looks at his brother then, well glares at him more like, but before he or Rowan can say anything, the King speaks. "Lord Stannis, it would do you good to remember that you are here by my good graces, not anyone else's. If Lord Rowan believes the walls will hold, then they shall hold."

Stannis lowers his head then, though there is anger writ clear across his face. "Of course Your Grace."

Renly once more finds himself hiding a smile behind his wine cup, he watches as the King speaks once more. "So the walls are looking secure. What of our treasury? The false King took much from here before his death, as did my father, how are we to repay what we owe?"

Renly lowers his cup of wine and speaks in answer to this query. "Lord Tyrell has generously agreed to pay some of what is owed from Highgarden's coffers Your Grace, without expectations of repayment, furthermore, from what was confiscated from the Lannister manors within King's Landing and in the crownlands as a whole from the past few weeks, we have enough to lessen the debt by at least eighty percent."

Renly feels something akin to pride flow through him when he sees just how surprised the King is at that. He had spent some time looking through the books for the treasury, and had seen just how disparate the finances were, the Lannister woman had never seriously thought about repaying off the loans, and Robert had never cared, and now within a moon of being in King's Landing the debt had been significantly reduced. "Well, that is most fabulous news my lord. And I thank you Lord Tyrell for your generosity, it shall not be forgotten."

"It was nothing Your Grace, I was merely doing my duty to the crown." Tyrell replies, his voice showing his pride, though Renly had to twist his arm to agree to such a thing in the first place.

Stannis speaks then, his voice showing none of the anger Renly can tell he feels. "Whilst this is all well and good Your Grace, there is still the issue of the war that continues to rage in the riverlands and the Westerlands. And with Cersei Lannister and her children roaming around somewhere, and the presence of the Targaryen pretender still there, then things must be dealt with securely."

"Cersei will be found soon enough. Lord Tarly has five hundred men with him, she will not get far. As for the Targaryen boy, well he has dealt with Tywin Lannister for us, and now we must know how to deal with his dragons, and for that we have the Hightowers." Renly points out.

His brother stares at him, his eyes hard and cold. "The Hightowers never brought down the dragons during the dance, that was the Targaryens themselves. It takes a lot of luck to bring down a dragon, let alone three. How pray tell would you suggest we do that?"

Renly stares back at his brother, and keeping his voice level responds. "The same way the Dornish did, and the same way those pirates who brought down Jacaerys Velaryon did during the dance, we use scorpion bolts. And we aim at the rider, kill the rider, the dragon becomes useless."

Lord Grandison speaks then. "My lords, Your Grace, whilst Lord Renly's suggestion is an interesting one, one does have to note that the Targaryen pretender does not have two extra riders, he has three dragons, of which one he rides I believe. I do not know if he controls all three, or just the one he rides, and that is something we must find out before we make any sort of plans."

"Then find out what happens there. That is your duty is it not Grandison?" Stannis asks sharply.

Grandison stiffens at Stannis's words, and Renly sighs internally, not for the first time, he finds himself wondering why he asked for Stannis to be kept alive. "It takes time to rebuild a network when it has been shattered. The eunuch took many of his helpers with him when he fled. As such I am having to coax the ones who remain back into active service, whilst also finding new ones to replace those who left. If you wish to do what it is I do, then do so. Otherwise be quiet and let me do my work, Stannis."

Renly bursts out laughing then, gods the absurdity of all of this, it seems far too funny to really be happening, but he knows it is, and that's what makes it all the funnier. Once he has calmed down, he looks at both men and says. "My lords please, there is no need for either one of you to argue with the other. We will do what we can to make sure everything is secure. Though Stannis, if you have any suggestions I would be more than happy to hear them."

His brother glares at him, and Renly snorts, his brother never has been very good at accepting rejection, or when someone had proved him wrong. Still, Stannis does give him a response. "One must tempt the pretender out into the field and have him surrounded. Cut him off from his dragons and we shall have him."

"And how, pray tell would you suggest we do that?" Renly asks. "I do not think the boy would be foolish enough to engage in combat on horse when his dragons are supposedly rideable now."

His brother looks at him as if he is a fool, as he so often did when Renly was a child, and that is a thought that really angers, he is really starting to regret not having Stannis killed when he had the chance. "The Targaryen boy has managed to get a fleet somehow, dragons do not fight well on water, we draw him toward the water, and then kill him there. Or we use someone he trusts and break him that way."

Renly thinks on this a moment and then smiles. "And I think I know, exactly how to go about doing that. Well done Stannis, you might have come up with a smart idea for once."