Seeing the direwolf, Arya had never been so happy. "Where in seven hells?" She said, smiling. "Nymeria!" She shouted.
The direwolf started to run towards her and leaped, knocking Arya down to the ground. Gendry reached out for his axe, preparing to strike but stop when he saw Arya laughed as the direwolf licked her cheeks.
Arya sat up. "Gods, where have you been?" She said as she stroke the direwolf's head. "I missed you, girl."
She stood and saw other wolves behind Nymeria, hundreds of them. She turned back to her direwolf. "You've made friends, I see."
The wolves gathered and started to surround them.
"Arya," Gendry called, clutching his axe tighter.
Nymeria barked once and the wolves put down their heads and whimpered softly, wagging their tails.
The wolves approached Arya and she smiled, patting their heads with her hands. Suddenly, she didn't believe what people had been saying about the wolf pack. They will seem deadly at first, but once you befriend them, they will protect you.
"So, this is the Wolf pack I've been hearing about?" Arya said, looking pointedly at Gendry. "They don't look that vicious to me."
"You don't know that." Gendry said, walking towards her. But Nymeria growled at him which made him halt.
"Nymeria," Arya called sternly. "He's my friend." She turned to him. "Hold out your hand."
Gendry's eyes widened. "What?" He shrieked.
Arya sighed in annoyance, approached him and pulled out his left arm, holding it by his wrist, and held his hand out for Nymeria.
When he realized what she was doing, Gendry yelped and pulled free from her grip. "What are you doing?" He demanded.
"Don't worry," Arya assured. "It's how she makes friends. Trust me, she's not going to chew off your fingers."
Gendry hesitated, then held out his hand for the direwolf.
Nymeria sniffed Gendry's knuckles and nuzzled it.
"Nymeria," Arya said. "This is Gendry."
Nymeria then wagged her tail and rubbed her head on Gendry's palms, which made him smile and he began caressing Nymeria's pelt.
Arya smiled, raising an eyebrow. "See? She likes you already." She said.
. . .
They decided to just stop for the night. Not in an Inn but just not far from where Nymeria had found them. Partly because staying in an Inn would raise awareness that another Stark is in the Riverlands, the very region in Westeros where her mother and brother were murdered with their bannermen; and because the wolves provide great help and security. And she was very glad that they found the wolf pack.
Gendry had tied their horses to a nearby tree and gathered wood for the fire. And surprisingly, the wolves did too. A couple of wolves disappeared into the night and came back with wooden branches between their teeth and piled them together to make the fire.
As night fell, Arya and Gendry sat by the fire to keep warm. Nymeria rested her head on Arya's lap and the direwolf let her stroke her hide. The other wolves huddled around the fire.
After moments of silence, Gendry spoke up. "You asked why the gold cloaks were looking for me." He said.
"I'd understand if you didn't want to tell me." Arya said, staring at the fire. "It's fine."
"No, I wanted to tell you," Gendry admitted. "I just don't know how. The people who knew were more surprised than I was when they found out.
Arya frowned at him and waited.
Gendry took a deep breath. "I'm a bastard." He said.
Arya didn't look surprised. "I know." She shrugged. "Your last name is Waters. That means you're a bastard from the Crownlands."
Gendry hesitated, then continued. "The bastard of Robert of the House Baratheon." He blurted out.
Arya stared at him with wide eyes. Seven hells. "You're King Robert's son?" She said in awe. "You're highborn…and a prince—" She faltered.
"I'm a bastard." Gendry insisted.
"A royal bastard." She corrected. "I should be calling you my Lord or—"
"Stop it." He scoffed. "I have no claim to whatever my father had left behind and I don't want any part of it either."
"My brother Jon is a bastard." Arya brought up. "Now, he's King in the North."
"That's different." Gendry said. "Your father raised him alongside his lawful children. And he was legitimized." He picked up his axe and started polishing it.
"Just because you don't have the name, doesn't mean you don't have the blood." She reminded him. "You're his son. Nothing can change that."
"Just promise me you won't tell anyone." He urged.
She shrugged. "Why not?"
Gendry sighed. "I can't have people pushing me to the front lines just because I'm Robert Baratheon's son. I just wanted to live in peace, away from wars." He put down his axe. "It's one of the reasons why I wanted to leave the Brotherhood. Lord Beric seemed to be doing all that."
Arya frowned. "I thought Ned Dayne was his squire."
"Edric Dayne is the heir to Starfall in Dorne." Gendry explained. "He can't stay with the Brotherhood." He scooted closer to her. "Arya, please, no one can know." He pleaded.
Arya smiled at him and nodded. "I trusted you with my secret once, you can trust me with yours, my Lord."
Gendry knitted his eyebrows at her, clearly he was annoyed and offended at the same time.
Arya laughed at his expression. "See? Now, you understand what it feels like being called something that doesn't sound right."
He sighed in annoyance. "Even if it doesn't sound right, my Lady, I'd still be calling you that." Gendry said. "Because you don't like being called princess."
"I'll make you an agreement," Arya proposed. "You stop calling me 'my lady', and I'll stop calling you 'my lord'. How's that?" She asked.
Gendry made a face. "What am I supposed to call you in front of your brother and your sister?"
"Arya." She said. "Not my lady, not princess, just Arya."
"That doesn't sound proper." He complained.
"I don't care if it doesn't." She insisted.
Gendry stared in the flames and thought it through, then he turned to her. "Alright." He said. "You got yourself a deal."
Arya gave him a sideways smile. She held out her hand for a shake. Gendry took it and shook her hand as a part of their pact.
Arya gently patted Nymeria's head and the direwolf stood. "Now that it's settled." She said then snatched a piece of wood from the fire and stood.
"Where are you going?" Gendry asked.
"I'm going to look for more wood for the fire." She said, gesturing Nymeria to come with her.
Gendry clasped his axe as he stood. "At least let me come with you, you don't know what's out there." He said.
"There's nothing to worry about." Arya assured. "The wolves are our friends, they'll protect us. You stay here. And besides, Nymeria's coming with me. We'll be back."
At that point, they had a staring contest. But apparently, she had won because Gendry sighed and sat back down. "Just be careful."
Arya went out deeper in the woods with the torch in her hand. Nymeria and three other wolves followed after her.
. . .
Arya walked through the woods with the torch held out to light her way, Nymeria and her other wolf companions helped by occasionally handing wooden branches to her.
As Arya walked farther, she heard animals whining in the distance. She trotted towards the sound and found a fenced barn and shack in the middle of an open field. She figured the farmer who resided there was breeding either horses, mules, goats or all three in stock or to sell for the winter.
She was about to turn back with a handful of wood on her right arm, and holding the torch with her other hand, when Nymeria and the other wolves growled.
"Nymeria?" She turned to the direwolf. "What is it now?" She asked.
Her wolf companions barked facing the little farm. She followed the wolves' gaze.
A middle-aged man was standing by the fence with a torch in hand staring in their direction. She held the torch out to get a better look, which also illuminated her face.
That's when the man's eyes widened and jaws dropped in horror, like he had seen a ghost.
"Heel." Arya told the wolves and they stopped barking.
The man dropped his torch onto the snow and ran back to his home, like his life depended on it.
As Arya walked back to Gendry and the rest of the wolf pack, she thought about the man in the farm. She understood very well why the man ran. People didn't leave their homes after dark, especially in the Riverlands, where wolves were roaming. The man has seen her, a young girl with wolves, wandering in the woods at night. If she was in his shoes, she'd run that fast too.
But Arya figured that that encounter will probably be another exaggerated tale she will hear about when they travel farther north.