Davos Seaworth

Davos Seaworth, the former smuggler raised to lordship and knighthood, serves as King Stannis Baratheon's Hand in A Dance with Dragons, a role that thrusts him into the heart of the northern war. His journey in this volume is one of survival, betrayal, and a desperate gambit to secure an alliance that could turn the tide for his king. From the storm-tossed seas to the shadowy halls of White Harbor, Davos must navigate a web of lies, loyalty, and the brutal realities of a realm at war, ultimately finding himself entrusted with a mission that could restore a lost heir to the north.

Shipwreck and the Lord of Sweetsister

Davos's journey begins in disaster. He is separated from the remnants of Stannis's fleet during a savage storm, a tempest that scatters the ships and drowns many of his king's hopes. He washes ashore on Sweetsister, one of the Three Sisters, where he is captured by Lord Godric Borrell. Borrell, a webbed-fingered lord with a pirate's past, recognizes Davos from his shortened fingers, the mark of his punishment for smuggling. Over a meal of sister's stew, Borrell reveals devastating news: Tywin Lannister is dead, murdered by his dwarf son, and the Freys have made a pact with Lord Wyman Manderly of White Harbor, sealing it with a marriage. This alliance, if true, would mean Stannis has lost his best hope for a northern ally. Borrell, however, is a pragmatist. He recalls how his own father aided Eddard Stark during Robert's Rebellion, sending him on his way with the words, "If you lose, you were never here." He offers Davos the same courtesy, providing him with passage to White Harbor.

The Merman's Court and a Feigned Death

Davos smuggles himself into White Harbor aboard the Merry Midwife, a humble cog. He finds the city fortified and wary, with the Lionstar, a Frey warship, in the harbor. In the Merman's Court, he is brought before Lord Wyman Manderly, a man of immense girth and cunning. The hall is filled with Freys, and the atmosphere is hostile. Davos pleads Stannis's cause, but Manderly, fearing for his captive son Wylis, publicly denounces him as a traitor and orders his head and hands cut off. Davos is thrown into the Wolf's Den, a grim prison, where he awaits his execution. He writes farewell letters to his wife and surviving sons, believing his end is near. However, this is a mummer's farce. Lord Manderly, in secret, reveals the truth: he had a criminal executed in Davos's place, his head tarred and mounted on a spike to fool the Freys. Manderly's son Wylis has been returned, and the Lord of White Harbor is now free to act. He reveals that the Freys murdered his son Wendel at the Red Wedding, and that he has been biding his time, waiting for the moment to strike.

The Price of Allegiance: A Smuggler's Quest

Manderly offers Stannis his allegiance, but at a price. He does not need a king; he needs a smuggler. He reveals that Theon Greyjoy's mute squire, Wex, survived the fall of Winterfell and has been hiding in a tree. Wex witnessed the truth: the two boys killed were not Bran and Rickon Stark, but the miller's sons. The real Stark boys escaped. Wex followed two of the survivors, a woman and a boy, and knows where they went. Manderly's price is for Davos to smuggle back Ned Stark's son, the true heir to Winterfell. The boy is on Skagos, the isle of unicorns and cannibals, a place so dangerous that even the Blind Bastard feared to land. Davos, a man who has lost his luck and his fingerbones, accepts the mission. He is a King's Hand, not an ape in velvet, and he will not turn back. The fate of the north, and of Stannis's cause, now rests on a smuggler's ability to find a lost prince.