Devan Seaworth

Devan Seaworth is the fifthborn son of Davos Seaworth, the smuggler turned knight and Hand of the King, and his wife Marya. He serves as a squire to King Stannis Baratheon, a position that places him at the heart of the king's war council and his household. Yet Devan is also a pawn in the schemes of Lady Melisandre, who keeps him close at Castle Black while Stannis marches south, using him as a servant and a hostage to her own purposes. His story is one of filial duty, royal service, and the quiet cost of being a useful piece in a larger game.

Squire to the King

Devan is first seen at Castle Black, where he serves as Stannis's squire. He is a skinny lad of some twelve years, brown of hair and eye, clad in Baratheon gold and black with the flaming heart of a queen's man sewn above his own. When Jon Snow enters the King's Tower, Devan announces him, his voice trembling as the direwolf Ghost sniffs him up and down. Jon reassures the boy that the wolf will not hurt him, but Devan flinches at the sound of his voice, and Ghost bares his teeth. Jon commands the wolf away, and Devan looks pale as Ghost, his face damp with perspiration. Later, when Stannis commands food, Devan brings him boiled eggs and lemon water. The boy is present during the king's tense negotiations with Jon Snow, standing silent as Stannis threatens to behead the lord commander and lays Lightbringer on the map of the north.

Melisandre's Attendant

When Stannis marches south from Castle Black to take Deepwood Motte and confront the Boltons, he commands Devan to remain behind with Melisandre. The lad takes great pride in serving as a king's squire, and it wounds him to be excluded from the campaign. He has been picturing the prowess he would display at Deepwood Motte, riding into battle at the side of the king's knights. His exclusion seems a rebuke, a punishment for some failure on his part, or perhaps for some failure of his father. In truth, he is there because Melisandre asked for him. The four eldest sons of Davos Seaworth perished in the battle on the Blackwater, consumed by green fire. Devan is the fifthborn, and Melisandre judges him safer with her than at the king's side. Lord Davos would not thank her for it, no more than the boy himself, but she sees that his loyalty to Stannis cannot be doubted.

Devan serves Melisandre faithfully, fetching her water, feeding her fire, and attending to her needs. He is half in love with her, she knows; he fears her, wants her, and worships her. When she asks for a drink, he pours her a cup of water from the stone jug by the window and brings it to her. She thanks him and gives him a smile, which makes him blush. He tells her when it is almost dawn, and she sends him to find Rattleshirt, the wildling lord of bones, so she may speak with him. Devan obeys, and when he returns, he carries her half-forgotten breakfast on a tray, having waited for Hobb to pull the fresh loaves from the ovens so the bread is still hot. Melisandre tells him to leave it in her chambers, and the wildling will eat it, like as not.

The King's Son and the Smuggler's Son

Devan is the son of Davos Seaworth, the Onion Knight, who rose from Flea Bottom to become Stannis's Hand. His father has lost four sons in the king's service, and Devan is the fifth, serving as a squire to the king. Davos thinks of him often, wondering if he should have the right to cherish the two boys who still remain. When Davos is imprisoned in the Wolf's Den, he writes letters to his surviving sons, including Devan, telling him how proud he is to see his own son as a king's squire and reminding him that as the eldest it is his duty to protect his lady mother and his younger brothers. He tells Devan to tell His Grace that he did his best, and that he is sorry that he failed him. Devan is the thread that connects the smuggler father to the king he serves, a living reminder of the cost of loyalty and the hope that the next generation might survive the wars of their fathers.