text | un: stormsend

[bruxisms]

GREETINGS. I AM STANNIS BARATHEON, ONCE RIGHTFUL KING OF WESTEROS, AND LORD OF DRAGONSTONE AND STORM'S END, THOUGH OLD TITLES MATTER LITTLE HERE.

I HAVE TWO QUESTIONS FOR ALL "REFUGEES".

[ is he using capslock because he believes that is the proper way to type? because he accidentally got his phone stuck on it? because he just wants to? the true reason will likely be lost to time, and none will ever know. ]

HAVE ANY OF YOU EXPERIENCED AN ODD OCCURRENCE WHERE YOU MEET SOMEONE THAT YOU ARE ACQUAINTED WITH, AND THEY RECALL EVENTS FAR DIFFERENTLY THAN YOU? NOT MERELY A LAPSE IN THEIR MEMORY, BUT ENTIRELY DIFFERENT EVENTS, SUCH AS A MAN STILL BEING ALIVE WHEN YOU KNOW HIM TO BE DEAD, OR HEARING THAT YOU MARCHED YOUR WIFE AND CHILD INTO BATTLE WHEN YOU KNOW THAT WOULD BE UTTER FOLLY AND RECALL LEAVING THEM SAFELY UNDER GUARD?

[ he still cannot believe that anyone would do that, least of all a man who seems to share his name, personality, and so many of his memories, yet is very much not him. ]

I WOULD KNOW IF THERE ARE OTHERS WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED SIMILAR THINGS WITH THOSE THEY KNOW. AS THOUGH THERE WERE TWO VERSIONS OF YOUR WORLD. ONE THAT SOME OF YOU RECALL, AND ONE THAT OTHERS DO.

AND EVEN IF YOU DO NOT, I WOULD ALSO HEAR OF WHAT YOU KNOW OF DRAGONS FROM YOUR OWN WORLD. AS A MEMBER OF THE SIMWE INSTITUTE, ONE OF MY TASKS IS TO STUDYING THEM, AND I WOULD HEAR WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY.

YOU HAVE MY THANKS, AND DO NOT WASTE MY TIME.

Comments

[tactly]

That is... surprising. Not what I had expected, though if it was not you I do not know who else it could have been. That Loras retaliated is not a surprise, though to say Lady Stark could have been involved is. From what I had heard and seen of her, she was a woman of honour, much like her husband. It seems difficult to believe that she would do something so underhanded.

( indeed, although margaery's meeting with the woman had been brief, she had always held a respect for the lady stark. to go from the south to the harsh colds of winterfell, to stand by her husband despite his having a bastard with another, and the strength she held her with - it was something to admire.

it's here that margaery hesitates though. the story of what happened to the young girl was terrible, worse than many things margaery had seen and heard of battlefields and war. as much as she wasn't fond of stannis, it seemed cruel.

but then again, perhaps leaving him hanging in this way, unknowing, was even worse. at least he could be content with the knowledge that it was not he who committed the act. another version of him perhaps, but apparently they were two very different men, and that should mean something. )

From what I was told, you burnt her alive, Lord Stannis. A sacrifice for some god, under the suggestion of a priestess so that you would be victorious in battle.

text - video

[bruxisms]

I WOULD HAVE TO AGREE. A MORE LIKELY TALE IS THAT SHE WITNESSED SOMETHING, AND FLED LEST SUSPICION FELL ON HER. REGARDLESS, IT WAS NOT A DEATH I TOOK PLEASURE HEARING ABOUT.

[ but when the second message comes, he is silent for some time. he cannot type at this point, for he is filled with cold fury. instead, he hits a few different buttons once, twice, before the video feed finally shows up. an astute viewer might notice that this Stannis is balding a little more, with deep blue eyes filled with rage. ]

You lie.

[ the other Stannis Baratheon was not him. he had killed his brother (yet had he not in his own way, as well, and marched his wife and daughter into battle. he had not left the Lady Melisandre at the Wall, nor had he gathered the Northern Clans. Asha (or Yara) Greyjoy was not his prisoner, and he did not have Arya Stark. he had not been camped out around Winterfell, laying out a plan.

but still...

he cannot believe this. he would not believe this. ]

text - video

[tactly]

( margaery leaves the text at that, taking what he says with a grain of salt. if there's anything she has learnt it is that people will shaft the blame to others best they can, especially if it is to appear better than the monster they truly are. as much as she knows nothing of stannis and his supposedly different world, the differences couldn't be so great that renly wouldn't befall the same fate through his brother, claims of mourning or otherwise.

people lie. margaery lies. it's better to trust no one.

still, she follows suit and switches to video, eyeing the man on the other end up and down. she didn't know stannis baratheon very well, but she had seen his face enough to know differences when she saw it. )

I speak what I know to be the truth. The murder of a young girl is not something I would attempt to fool you with, especially your own daughter. ( margaery knows this is a terrible thing to hear, and some terrible part of her hopes it hurts him. stannis had always seemed unfeeling, but she hoped now to let him wallow in the hurt he had caused her brother with the murder of renly. )

Men deserted you afterwards, and word spread. It is not a lie.

[bruxisms]

[ his rage does little to subside, even as he looks his onetime good-sister in the face. she is much older than she ought to be, but perhaps that was, again the nature of their Westeros. he clenches his jaw, slowly working his teeth from side to side, as as he tries to make sense of what she has said. ]

Jon Snow did not tell me of this.

[ though he had not asked what had happened to Shireen. nor the other Stannis Baratheon, for that matter. perhaps he had thought to spare his feelings. at any rate, he would speak to him at greater length. ]

If what you say is true...

[ he had once contemplated sacrificing Edric Storm, though was spared from that decision by Davos. the thought of what might have happened had he done so and nothing came to pass had made him ill, even though the boy had been nothing but a reminder of Robert's disdain for him. his men had begged him to sacrifice Asha Greyjoy, but he had only told them to pray harder. no, the only men he had committed to burn were those that were to die for treason, such as the man who would have sold his daughter to the Lannisters.

his daughter...

to think... a man with his name... with his memories, who in another world was him... ]

...I hope that he answered for his crimes. His Lady Melisandre as well.

[ for he knew that his Melisandre would never suggest such a thing. he had to believe it.

if it were true... ]

Whatever else you may think of me, I am not that man.

[ he had to believe it. what other similarities they may have, he had to believe he would never harm his daughter. ]