Robert rode alongside his son Tommen on the blood-stained riverbank. In their plate breastplates, untouched by the grime of battle, others might have mistaken them for brothers, were it not for the father's heavy beard, twisted grey with rings. Lannisters came with them, and later, when they arrived in King's Landing, Jon Snow was surprised to recognize Ser Stafford Lannister in one of the chainmail riders who first met them in the woods of the southern border. Upon seeing the King in the town square, Jon Snow felt both a deep and visceral anger at him for taking his father to war at Tywin's command. But sanity prevailed. After Robert and his son dismounted, and the knights shook their weapons in cheers for the king, a short, thin, dark-skinned man emerged from the ring of warriors gathered for King Baratheon's arrival. His robe of panther skin, the countless animal bones tied around his neck, the thickly carved wooden staff with southern characters on which he leaned, immediately told him that he came from Pentos. The man's figure and gait were familiar to Jon Snow. He had seen him before the battle, at the edge of the forest, beating his drum there.
- 'I found this with them, mighty king,' he said, bowing low to Robert.
In his hand, Jon Snow saw a coin on a thick leather strap.
- What does it mean?" asked Robert, without taking it in his hand.
- 'After Casta of the Outlands gave the order to attack,' he continued, 'and sent the whole army down the hill, I searched his tent. The two traitorous Starks have made a pact with the Martells, my king. Everything they have done against the realm and you is treason! They tricked you into fighting wildlings, foolishly dividing the army. They have caused the destruction of your army in the trap of the forest.
The man's bloodshot, tired eyes sat deep in their sockets, now watching Robert with some hope.
- Here you are, Prince. Take it.
- Is this the mark?" asked Tommen, in a distrustful tone, taking the skull-shaped coin hanging from the leather strap from the man's hand.
Jon Snow had seen money like this before, but it seemed even larger than the ones traders from the southern frontier used to pay with in Doran Martell's camp. It was undoubtedly a Volantis coin.
- What do you have to say for yourself, Jon Snow?" asked Robert. "Were you paid in gold by the Martells, or were you motivated by another purpose?
The man bowed his head slightly, and Jon Snow noticed that he seemed to be gripping the carved stick in his hand more tightly.
- Mighty King Robert, the traitors are silent in this plot. I have brought it to you, for you must know that only Doran Martell's confidants receive such a thing!
Robert's face remained impassive.
- How do I know you really found it in the tent of Casta and Jon Snow?
- He's a traitor!" the man shouted in a trembling voice as he pointed at Jon Snow.
- "I never served Doran Martell," he said measuredly, and took a step back.
Robert stopped in front of him. His voice was deep and calm.
- 'Fear not, Jon Snow, your payment for your loyalty to me will not be lost. And now I say to you," Robert continued calmly, "that you will pay for your treachery.
The man did not answer, only tiny drops of sweat appeared on his forehead.
- 'Tommen,' he ordered his son, 'escort this man to my tent. If he resists, put a rope around his neck and tie him to a horse. After the council meeting, I will decide what punishment he will receive for betraying the king.
- Punishment? Tommen was shocked. Father...
Robert glared at his son. They looked into each other's eyes for a few moments. Then Tommen tapped his chest with his fist and nodded. Before the traitor could do anything, Robert grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him to the ground.
- 'This man has betrayed the King,' Robert said dryly and simply. 'The reward and punishment for traitors is death, whichever side they are on.
The captured man, stripped of his badges of dignity, with dried bloodstains on his face, in the white robes of the condemned, now looked like any condemned man who knows he is going to die. Robert's bodyguards had him tightly surrounded, not that he had any chance of escape. Those who go to their deaths are always dressed in this snow-white, spotlessly clean robe, according to the ancient Baratheon custom: they are offered as sacrifices to the gods of earth and sky. Robert himself stepped onto the place of execution, fenced off by spears stuck in the ground. He donned a horned fur robe with long sleeves over his plate cloak, which fluttered down like wings as he raised the royal sword in a ceremonial gesture, palms out, and chanted his words in a drawling voice:
- 'Robert Baratheon, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, in the name of the gods and the ancients, has this day judged the guilty!
The man lifted his face, then immediately covered it, as if blinded by a beam of light that broke through the clouds. The men looked at each other.
- King Robert, who is called gracious by his people, who are loyal to him, his ancestors and his descendants by blood-bound treaty, has decided to show great mercy!
Jon Snow dared to move his head just enough to catch the gaze of Casta, who stood to his right. King Robert has pardoned? Could this be possible? There was a muffled murmur in the ring of warriors around the makeshift place of execution.
- Silence!" cracked Tommen, whom Robert had in the meantime appointed bodyguard commander. - My father wishes to speak!
- You traitor!" continued Robert, "You have broken your oath of loyalty to the King and sought to lead the Starks and Lannisters in my charge to their destruction with power bought with Martell money. The King's enemy, Khal Drogo, has promised you alliance and support, but in return for your rebellion you will have nothing but a rope around your neck! Hear the King's words! Lose your tongue, so that words of treachery and lies may not leave your cursed throat! Lose your head, too, so that the evil spirit within it may leave this world forever! And after your death, let your skull be crushed! This is the judgment!
There was another murmur among the assembled warriors, but the voices died away when Tommen raised his hand. The man looked up at the sky, his eyes moist with moisture.
- "Something you wish to say, traitor?" asked Tommen with icy vulgarity in his voice.
The man stepped forward. As if under a spell, he woke up and spread his hands. His broken fingers hung limply on his right hand.
- "I did not betray the king!" he cried in a hoarse, almost demented voice. - Have mercy! I stood by him all the time. Casta of the Outlands and Jon Snow, they are the traitors!
Not a word was heard from the crowd gathered for the execution.
- So the traitor has spoken!" said Tommen, and grabbed the man's shoulder. - Now let the gods speak for him!
There was a crack of bone as Tommen kicked his knee with his thick boots, and the man groaned in pain. Robert's bodyguards dragged him from the ground as Tommen grabbed the remnants of his braid with his right hand and stretched his neck. The man was no longer struggling. Robert stepped forward and raised the double-edged, broad-bladed sword high. He stood there for a few moments with his legs bowed, pointing the tip of the sword at the sky, the skin of his shaven face almost red in the rainbow light of the setting sun.
- Let this be a warning as to the reward of one who betrays the name of Baratheon! Long live King Robert, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms!
Jon Snow saw again the perfectly precise movement of Robert, standing on the top of the shrine, dodging with the swiftness of a snake and striking the bull's heart. The disintegrating drops of blood splattered on Tywin's statue, which had been set in the ground only yesterday, as if it were the rain of salvation falling on the earth that had dried up in the month of fires. Jon Snow looked into the staring, demented eyes of the head spinning three times on the ground. The head rolled to Robert's boot and paused, but all the time it was staring at Jon Snow.