Chapter 30 - 26

Davos couldn't believe what he was seeing..

Stannis was dead.. By the hands of none other than Edwyn Baratheon who, perhaps, had an even better claim to the Iron Throne than Stannis.

"Kinslayer!" Davos shouted.

"How could you?! He was your Uncle by blood!"

Edwyn stared in his eyes and said, "Aye.. Stannis was my uncle.. But, so was Renly."

Pointing at the puddle of blood at his feet, Edwyn looked around and said to the horrified men, "Stannis was ruthless and uncaring enough to get his brother killed by the use of black magic. Do any of you think he cared for anyone else? No! If he had to.. he'd have sacrificed each and everyone of you, even his own daughter, to his lord of light if it meant that he'll win a battle."

Looking back at Davos, Edwyn said, "You knew that his was a lost cause. You may still believe that he should've been the king but deep down, you know that he was unworthy."

Davos said in a strained voice, "He was my king.. a good king."

"A deranged king led astray by a fanatical priestess."

Once again he looked around and said, "You are free to go. But, if anyone believes in a better, safer and prosperous future, follow me. I am the eldest son of Robert Baratheon. I will create an empire unlike any other. Follow me and become a part of history in making."

All the Baratheon man stayed out of loyalty to the house or out of hope. But the sellswords left as they saw no future in my vision.

Davos took the longest to decide. The man whom he believed in, who helped him redeem and made him the hand of the king from a petty smuggler, that man had been killed in a a horrible way. And the one who killed him was asking Davos to abandon his loyalty.

Davos' decision was made.

"I cannot follow the man who killed Stannis."

Edeyn shook his head in disappointment and said, "I admire your loyalty to Stannis. You are free to go wherever you want to. But, remember that I won't hesitate to slay you if one day you join hands with my enemy."

"And who is your enemy?"

Davos' question was not answered in words but seeing Edwyn's smirk sent a teeth rattling chill down Davos's spine. He quickly made his way back and went to search for Siereen.

Meanwhile, Edwyn looked back at Jon and Mance's flabbergasted faces and asked them to gather all the free folk. They were being given a free passage through the wall.

"Princess Shireen!" Davos shouted and looked around, frantic and anxious for her safety.

Shireen came running out of a room followed by Gilly.

"Ah.. Princess Shireen! We need to go, now!"

"But..!"

"Davos Seaworth! Where are you trying to take my sister?"

Edwyn's voice stopped Davos' breath. The unforgiving fear of death weighed down on his shoulders. He felt suffocated by the mere presence of Edwyn. A man callus enough to murder his own uncle would not care for the life of a disfigured sister. He wanted to get away and take Shireen with him as quickly as possible. But, unable to breathe properly, he lost his grip on Shireen's wrist and she freed herself.

"Ed!" Shireen exclaimed in excitement and bolted towards him to hug him tightly.

Edwyn smiled and got down on his knees to hug the incoming arrow with love. He loved Shireen dearly as she reminded him of Himawari. But, Shireen was always kept away from him. Also, he was finally capable of curing her disfigurement. The time couldn't be better. With Stannis no more, Edwyn could freely look after her.

"How's my little fawn?" Edwyn whispered lovingly.

"I'm good! How long have you been here?"

Edwyn smiled and stroked her disfigured cheek.

"I came here last night accompanied by Arya Stark. There's a brother here who is actually the son of Eddard Stark. I brought Arya here so that she could meet him."

Unaware of what was happening, Shireen said, "I don't think you should touch my face. I'm ugly."

Edwyn wiped away her tears and said, "You are the prettiest little fawn in the whole world. Why do you think you are ugly?"

"I-I'm disfigured."

Edwyn nodded towards Arya who brought a piece of mirror and gave it to Shireen.

"I don't see any disfigurement."

Shireen was shocked beyond measure upon seeing her clear, unblemished face for the first time. For her entire life, she was hated by her mother and pitied by all else. Now, she was no longer ugly.

Shireen stared at Edwyn's smiling countance in astonishment and asked, "H-How?"

"Your brother is capable of unexplicable things. One of them being able to heal his dear sister."

Shireen gasped with emotion and hugged Edwyn tightly. As she cried into his shoulder, he stroked her hair lovingly.

Everyone who saw the miracle happen were left thunderstruck. Afraid and dazzled, they all thought of Edwyn as a God walking among them. Although, he was anything but.

(NAGOT)

Shireen took her father's death hard. Edwyn told her exactly how he died without any lies mixed in and she understood why he killed her father.

Selyse and Melisandre, meanwhile, were imprisoned at Edwyn's behest.

The night's watch did not have enough resources to sustain the Baratheon army. So, Edwyn showed another feat of his magic and pulled out crates upon crates of food and fresh water out of thin air.

Everyone had simply accepted that he was godly.

As things normalized and the free folk settled down south of the wall, Jon and a few others decided to go north to avenge the murder of Jeor Mormont and Edwyn payed a long awaited visit to Melisandre's cell.

"I hope you are finding the cold hard floor comfortable."

Edwyn could see that she wanted him to burst up in flames.

"The enemy of the lord of light. You will be punished for this. My lord will see to it."

Edwyn chuckled and said, "Your lord is dead, crazy old hag!"

"No.. My lord is eternal. He sees you through my eyes. He tells me of your miserable past through the flames. You may be powerful, but, you cannot fathom the strength of my lord!"

Edwyn ground his teeth and grabbed Melisandre from her throat.

"He is dead! I killed him with my own hands!"

And then.. he saw something in her eyes.

A ginormous entity stared back at him through the eyes of its slave. He could feel the vileness and corruption eating at his skin.

It was too similar to what he had felt back in Essos.

The embodiment of corruption had replaced R'hllor. A primodial being far stronger than the gods had ever seen was raised from the depths of hell by desperate acolytes of R'hllor.

Sealed many millenia ago by the combined efforts of the gods, he had risen again to fulfill his destiny.

To fill the world with corruption and madness.

Records of his existance had long been lost but somehow, Edwyn knew his name.

'Is he the reason why I was brought here?'

Staring back at Edwyn with murder and mayhem filled eyes was none other than 'The Lord of Corruption', Kzarka. (Not original. Check paragraph comments to see what Kzarka looks like.)

(NAGOT)

A/N: So.. A different enemy for Edwyn. Seeing that he is super over powered, I thought there should be someone who would put up a challenge for him. Kzarka is a world boss from the game 'Black Desert Online' and 'Black Desert Mobile'. So, not original.