Things were better now, without her around. Gendry was no longer forced to watch as men, women and some kids that couldn't have been older than ten and one were put to the sword or hanged. One day the men had found a particularly large woman accompanied by a young squire. Gendry had saved this woman's life, well he save her from a rather savage mauling. When they arrived, Lady Stoneheart ordered them hanged. She didn't believe the woman's explanations and the large woman had refused to kill the Kingslayer.
As she hung she shouted something inaudible, and Lady Stoneheart's eyes opened wide. And then she hastily ordered the men to cut her and her squire loose.
"What did you say?" she rasped. It was hard for her to speak owing to the slash across her throat.
"I said…" Brienne had begun but she had been cut off. Gendry impaled Lady Stoneheart with his lance. It went straight through her heart. She let out an "oh" of surprise and then she died.
The men of the Brotherhood Without Banners stared at him. This wasn't supposed to happen for a while. He and Harwin had been speaking about it for weeks, almost a full moons turn. It was supposed to look like an accident. It was to happen so neither Gendry nor Harwin could take any of the blame for the death of Lady Stoneheart, the woman Beric Dondarrion had given his life for. They stared in awe, he didn't know what made him do it. He was tired, tired of killing. Some of the men they killed deserved to die slower deaths than they had received. But other, others were innocent of any wrong doing, they simply happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Gendry was a man now, almost seven and ten and he had grown up, and out. He was bulkier than he had ever been. He could probably outmatch any man in the Seven Kingdoms in an arm wrestle; maybe the Mountain would have been a good challenge. But even his strength would not save him, there were too many men.
Harwin gripped his shoulder tightly "Would any man here object to this act that Ser Gendry has performed?"
Silence. Gendry could feel all the men watching him. "We are the Brotherhood Without Banners. We no longer serve Lady Stoneheart in her quest for vengeance. I say we should return to our old ways, were we had a purpose. We were not murderers of men, women and children; we were honourable men who served the one true king Roberts Baratheon faithfully. Would any man second my movement?"
There was silence still.
Then came a voice "Aye, I would" It was Lem. "I once fought for freedom, and for those who were too weak to fight for themselves. I had a purpose, something that made me wake up in the morning, something that allowed me to sleep with a smile on my face. I want to have a purpose again"
The next was Anguy "I second Lem"
Shouts of "My sword is yours" "For Robert" and "Aye" arose. The men of the Brotherhood now had a purpose. But they had no leader.
Lem knelt before Gendry and Harwin; during the commotion they had formed a circle around Gendry, Harwin, Lady Stoneheart's corpse and Brienne.
"Here stands the only man I would follow into battle" he looked up "I say that you, Harwin, you lead us as you always have"
Shouts of "Harwin" arose from the crowd.
Lem knelt before Harwin and withdrew his sword placing it across his knee "My sword and my life are yours Harwin. I will follow you into battle, I would die protecting you"
"Rise, Lem" said Harwin "If you would have me, I would gladly lead you. But if you do have me, remember this, I would not be your leader, I would be your brother and we would be respected once again. Not mercenaries. We are brothers, all of us, I would watch your back, and you mine. I would gladly give my life fighting with you. I cannot think of a better way to die, than with my brothers" He pumped his fists in the air and the men shouted and screamed their approval.
"Harwin" they chanted.
The Brotherhood prospered with Harwin leading them, their numbers continued to grow as Lannister numbers continued to fall at their hands. 2 years passed, 2 good years. The Dragon Queen had swept across Westeros, with Fire and Blood she came. Apparently the Brotherhood had quite a reputation for when she reached them hiding out in Hollow Hill she had not come with an army. She came with a mere twenty guards and one of her dragons. The dragon was the most terrifying thing Gendry had ever seen, and Daenerys, the Dragon Queen, was the most enticing thing he had ever seen. She praised them for their work and offered them a place in her 'new world'. Harwin spoke with his men, and they all agreed to serve Daenerys. They pledged their swords to her, and in return she gave them gleaming armour, good, strong steel and she gave Gendry a proper forge. Not like the one he had in King's Landing. This forge was one of royal standards. So now, two years after Lady Stoneheart had died Gendry stood in his forge, shirtless. Hammering away at steel, sharpening the edges and quickly shoving it into the pail of water to cool. The light reflected dimly off the steel, it was somewhat blackened from the burning coals, but after a quick polish it gleamed. Daenerys entered the forge.
"Ser Gendry" she said
He turned "Your Grace" he knelt and bowed his head
"Arise, Ser" Gendry rose "Is the sword I requested ready?"
"Almost, Your Grace, a good polishing and she will be done" he said, not meeting her eyes. He always felt nervous around her.
"May I see?" it wasn't an order, it was a request.
"Of course" he lifted the sword he had just been hammering at and offered it to the Queen.
"Beautiful" she said, taking the sword in her hands. "This is fine work Gendry" she cleared her throat "I know I shouldn't ask this of you"
He interrupted "Ask it, and it is yours Your Grace"
She smiled "You have given so much to the cause, you went north with me, you took this castle, without your help Harrenhal could have taken weeks to fall, but we managed it in less than five hours. And furthermore, you came further north with me, to the wall and you fought alongside my men, you bled alongside my men. The Others have been driven back, this Winter is nearly at an end. But" she said "There have been reports of wights roaming the north."
"Surely this would be a task for Jon" Gendry said "I am merely a low-born smith"
"A low-born smith who I have seen cave a man's head in with that hammer of yours. If you choose to go, I would send you to Winterfell, where Jon will meet you, you would travel with a company of men, no more than 30 to Winterfell. And Jon would bring a further 40 sworn brothers with him. And if you choose to go, you will roam the north seeking wights and you will kill every last one of them."
"If it is her Grace's wish, then I shall do it" Gendry said, standing tall and proud.
"You'll need this" she clapped her hand and three man wheeled carts into the forge, the carts held swords. Gendry recognised the swords immediately; they were made of Dragon Glass.
"Thankyou, Your Grace" Gendry said.
"Before you go I wish you to mend these swords, I have heard that Dragon Glass is difficult to work with, but I am more than certain you are up to the task"
"Yes, Your Grace" Gendry bowed
"I expect these swords to be mended and fit for battle in two moons" she said. She turned and walked out of the forge.
'Well' thought Gendry 'I had better get started then'
Day and night he hammered away, Daenerys was right, the Dragon Glass was difficult, it seemed to defy his every attempt to sharpen the edges. But, as promised, two moons later all of the swords had been mended and were fit for battle.
Gendry had chosen his thirty men. Anguy and Lem were his first choices, the others were men he had fought with at the Wall and at Harrenhal. Harwin had died. The memory came back sudden and unbidden.
Gendry swiped with his Dragon Glass sword at the Other. It dodged, almost lazily. 'Damn swords' he thought. He had always been better with his hammer. The Other pressed the attack, Gendry barely keeping up, swords clanged and Gendry was just able to parry a blow that would have separated his left hand from his arm. Gendry swung and the Other parried with an extreme amount of force, Gendry dropped his sword as his wrist jarred painfully. The other kicked him in the chest and Gendry fell back into the soft snow. It raised its sword, Gendry prepared himself for the blow but it never came, instead a sword rang above him. Harwin had put his sword over Gendry and deflected the Others blow. The Other roared, it was the most bone-chilling sound he had ever heard. Gendry scrambled for his sword and when he looked up he saw an unarmed Harwin staggering back. The other gripped Harwin's hair and slashed at his neck. Harwin's head came clean off. Gendry roared, and a mortal man would have run for his life at the sight but the Other didn't seem to view Gendry as a threat. Its first mistake. Gendry swung down on the hand that still held Harwin's head. The Other screamed and evaporated.
Gendry was ripped back to the present by the sound of a horn. It was time to go. He led the men out of the safety of Harrenhal's gates and down the King's Road towards Winterfell and possibly, towards death. Gendry made a note to stop at Greywater Watch. He made a promise to Jon.
"Talk to Howland Reed for me, please Gendry, I need to know what happened in the tower the day Lyanna died" Jon had said
Jon held out his hand, Gendry took it and then brought Jon into a fierce embrace. "Of course. We are brothers Jon; we have fought and shed blood together. We may not be connected by blood, but have no doubt, we are brothers. I will call upon Howland Reed when I get the chance" Gendry had left after that. That was the last time he saw Jon. He was eager to see him again. But there was a flaw in his plan, no man had ever found Greywater Watch without the Crannogmen taking them there, Gendry hoped they would be hospitable. Jon was the only true friend he had in this world, with Arya dead, he had no one else. It was not her body they found when they stormed Winterfell. The Bolton bastard died early in the battle and upon his death his men lost heart. They found the intruder pretending to be Arya in a bedchamber. Her throat had been slit ear to ear. But it was not her; Gendry knew it as soon as her saw her.
Across the Narrow Sea a small girl that had a striking resemblance to Lyanna Stark payed a captain of a merchant ship to take her to Westeros. She told the captain that she had unfinished business with a certain Hound. She paid him to take her to White Harbour, where she would visit the port and hire another ship to take her down the White Knife.
The wind blew the girls short hair around as she stared across the endless expanse of shimmering water. Arya had heard tales of the Dragon Queen conquering Westeros, in fact, the Dragon Queen had wiped every name off her list except one. Arya was not particularly pleased about that. She looked forward to looking into Queen Cersei's eyes as she bled out, slowly. The Kindly Man had trained her, given her the tools and the means to kill. But she had never thought about what would happen after she crossed the Hound's name off her list. She supposed she would return to Winterfell, word was that Bran, Rickon, Jon and Sansa had survived, she would like to see them again, especially Jon.