DISCLAIMER: Still be here, ownin' nun. Rights to GRRM and HBO
Ayo people, hope you liked the last update, that was a fun chapter to write. Has anyone here ever burned charcoal? I used to do it with my brothers, its kinda fun. Anyhoo, I haven't got much to say, but I do have a question: how is everyone feeling about S8 E3 when Arya kills the Night King? Sorry if that was a spoiler for everyone, but it was aaages ago now. Personally, I LOVE it, I think it's really cool and well set up, but I'm guessing there are people who didn't like it.
So the last chapter rose a couple of questions, which I'll just quickly answer:
1) Arya lost her cool majorly when Nymeria was being attacked, which was extremely weird, as Arya rarely loses her chill in that way- unless she's angry- and the reason she did was because she was still kind of connected to Nymeria- she went crazy because she was feeling the wolfs emotions on top of her own.
2) The thing about Arya being hungry- yes, that was because she was sensing Nym's hunger unknowingly.
3) Yes, Nymeria has been the one that has been kinda spooking up the horses- like when Arya and Gendry were fighting and Arya got distracted by the horses freaking out. I'm glad you all caught it :)
Of course, any other questions let me know, feel free to drop a review, other than that... over and out xoxo
Warm wind whipped Arya's face as the wolf flew through the tall trees, bending and curving around trees, leaping over streams. Arya wrapped her hands in Nymeria's thick grey fur and bent low over her neck, her hair whipping out behind her like a banner. In the distance she could still hear the commotion of camp, but she didn't look back.
Nymeria's gigantic feet pounded the earth mercilessly, her great muscles contracting and springing powerfully as she ran. Arya had missed this, her connection to the wolf. She couldn't understand what had happened. She had had one of her wolf dreams, something that hadn't happened for a long while, and it worried her.
In the long years that she had been apart from Nymeria Arya had been having the dreams; at the time she had not understood them, but when they had reunited and gone beyond the Wall Arya had learned from the Free Folk that she was a Warg. That her connection to Nymeria allowed her to flit in and out of the wolfs conscience. Nymeria wasn't the only animal that Arya could Warg into; in Braavos she had been able to do the same with the cats, though she never knew how she did it, or why- she just did.
Upon her and Nymeria reuniting, Arya found that her wolf dreams stopped, so why was she having them again now? Arya shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. That fear she had felt when she woke... had that been hers, or Nymeria's? She hadn't felt such uncontrollable fear in so long, it couldn't have been hers. But then, why had she phased into Nymeria like that? Arya tried to remember if she had ever phased like that before, but she couldn't.
It had been so strange... Arya didn't know if she had warged into Nymeria deliberately or not. All she had wanted was to stop anyone from hurting the wolf, perhaps she had done it without thinking? Yes, that had to be it; she had woken from her dream, still half phased into Nymeria- that was why it had been so confusing. She had been both herself and Nymeria. Arya wondered if that had ever happened to Jon; she would have to ask the next time she saw him.
Arya didn't know how long she had been running with Nymeria when the wolf began to slow breathing heavily. A group of deer ran past, but the she wolf payed them no mind. Arya slid off of Nymeria's back, her bare feet landing silently on the forest floor. She padded around to the wolfs face, and leant her forehead against Nymeria's own much larger one.
What was happening to her? Arya didn't understand, and it frightened her. All those years, she had been alone, with no one there but her grief, but now... feelings inside of her that she had long ago forsaken were reawakening, and Arya didn't understand them. Ever since Gendry had kissed her, and she had kissed him back, Arya had been confused.
Arya didn't want marriage and love, or any of those things, so why was it that when Gendry had kissed her, she had allowed it- and worse, kissed him back? Arya had dismissed it as done in the heat of the moment, but now she wasn't so sure. She had come to realise that she enjoyed Gendry's company, and when they had been ignoring each other, despite being angry at him, she had missed him as well.
This was NOT part of the plan.
Arya wasn't stupid; she knew that an innocent kiss or two didn't equate to love, and neither did not despising his presence, but it felt wrong. She was Arya Stark of Winterfell, the wild wolf girl of the North, trained assassin and defender of the Free Folk. She wasn't supposed to... to... to what? Arya chewed her lip and tightened her grip on Nymeria's fur. Wasn't supposed to have feelings? That seemed absurd. Everyone had feelings, and if Arya had learned one thing over the years it was that no matter who someone was, they had feelings just like the next person, criminals, lords and peasants alike.
It was just that Arya hadn't experienced any of the good ones for a long time.
Was that why she was so confused? She wondered. After everything that has happened to me, what if something has gone wrong inside of me? All of the things I've seen, all of the things I've done... was that why happiness felt so foreign to her? Like she couldn't trust it? Like anything good was just some trick? Arya considered it.
When she had trained in the House of Black and White, Arya had tried to destroy every part of her that made her human. Maybe she had destroyed more than she had realised. She wondered what Gendry would ever say if he found out. His reaction to her killing the attacker, and calling it mercy- he had been disapproving, and Arya recognised that part of her was the faceless assassin. What the guild had tried to brainwash her with- death is a gift. What had the Hound taught her, even before Braavos? Death was mercy. Even before then her father had always said that the man who passes the sentence should swing the sword, that death to people who deserved it was duty.
But Gendry had been so disapproving of it. Gods know why, Arya thought, he grew up the same as I did. But then, she supposed, that wasn't entirely true. Actually, now she thought about it, she knew very little about his life after the Hound took her. He had worked for Jon towards the end of the war, and travelled North, but that was almost all that she really knew. Well that, and that he had been with the Red Woman. Just like that, jealousy flared through Arya's stomach, spreading through her whole body. It hit her suddenly, but before she could muddle it through, Nymeria jerked her head up, ears twitching.
Arya made to put her hand on her sword, but her hand fell through empty air. She cursed; she hadn't brought it. Nymeria pulled back a lip and started growling, teeth bared.
Arya chewed her lip; how far was she from camp? She didn't know how long Nymeria had been running, but it was a long while. Arya looked to the sky to see where the moon was, but the tree canopy was dense and she could only see glimpses of inky sky. It was as dark now as it had been when she left- or was it? Arya had no idea. The camp had been near some village by Raventree Hall, just off the Kings Road, and she had ridden Nymeria westwards from there. That told her little though, she could be anywhere between the Kings Road and Riverrun, and that was only if Nymeria had gone in a straight line, which Arya strongly suspected she hadn't.
Arya could try riding back to camp, but that could mean accidentally running into whatever was making Nymeria tense- but staying where she was was too dangerous. Arya trained her eyes on where Nymeria was looking, but she couldn't see anything... Nymeria lowered her head and snarled again.
Arya closed her eyes and inhaled, pushing her conscience into Nymeria. Suddenly she could feel the earth under four large paws, and the light breeze ruffling her fur. She twitched her ears, and... there. Ahead of them, faint voices, horses swishing their tails. She lifted her black nose and inhaled the air; humans. She strained harder to hear, to listen. The voices were growing louder- they were moving towards them.
Arya pulled herself viciously from Nymeria's conscience, with a gasp. There couldn't have been more than ten, but with no weapon the odds were unfeasible. Arya struggled to think who could be out at night, west of the Kings Road; perhaps patrolmen from Riverrun? It didn't seem likely. Clansmen? A shiver ran down her back. Clansmen were dangerous- vicious and unrestrained they were almost wildling-like, but less civilized. She did not want to be caught alone and weaponless by them. But what if it wasn't clansmen? Arya felt her curiosity peak- she knew the sensible thing was to jump on Nymeria's back and ride out of there, back to camp, wherever it was, but who were these men?
Her stomach plummeted.
The men she had seen at the Crossroads Inn. When she had been an owl. Who were they?
Perhaps... she doubted it, but what if they were ironmen spies? Supporters of the Frey boy? They could be tailing the company; Gendry had sent most of his scouts northward, the east would be easier to follow undetected. Arya swung herself onto Nymeria's back. She had to find out who they were; besides, Nymeria could go as fast as any horse, and if there was any kind of altercation she would be able to keep her own. Arya urged her to trot silently towards the noise, growing close enough now that she could hear their voices in the wind, though not what they were saying.
The slope was steep, and Arya rode Nymeria around to the side so that she might come up behind the group, where she would hopefully be more likely to go undetected, as the wind was blowing eastwards and the horses would spook if they caught Nymeria's scent coming straight towards them.
It took some time before Arya was certain they had passed them far enough to turn around and come up behind them, but eventually Arya could see the orange glow of a single fire; they had stopped to make camp. She silently slid off Nymeria and walked closer, her bare feet making no noise on the ground. She crouched low as she came up to a shrub, peering through to see the camp.
They were only twenty feet away from her, and she could see them clearly enough; six men, dressed in leather and wool. Northerners then, she thought. Southroners wore lighter fabrics. Two had their backs to her, so she couldn't see their faces, but one had black hair pulled back by a leather thong, and the other was bald, his head gleaming in the light of the fire. One man sat, emptying his boots, and Arya could see a long thin scar across his left cheek. One stood up and tossed another log carelessly onto the fire, causing it to gutter out and then relight itself. The other two looked younger, one as beardless and smooth cheeked as a green boy, and the other with a smattering of spots across his forehead. Arya leaned in to hear what they had to say.
"The others were supposed to be here weeks ago," the bald one said, his voice deep. "That's all I'm saying."
The one with his boot in his hands huffed. "Look, they likely just got held up or summat' there ain't no cause to panic," he snipped, clearly more concerned with cleaning his boot. "They're probably on their way to us now, Lord Frey said they would only be there a couple of nights."
Arya breathed in sharply. Lord Frey? Was that Elmar? So they were supporters of Elmar... where had they been staying? Arya didn't understand, Elmar was supposed to have been at Cape Kraken, last she knew, what sense did it make to send men out to the west of the company? True, there were fewer scouts waiting to report, but they were so far out west that they couldn't be spying on the host.
"They left Cape of Eagles almost a full moons turn ago, and its a weeks riding from there to the Twins," the bald man insisted. "They should have got here at least a week ago, I'm tellin' you, summat's gone wrong." He waggled a finger at the one with the boots. Arya narrowed her eyes; the Twins? Were her attackers a part of this group? If they had been iron men... but that didn't fit. The one she had questioned said they had been paid; if they were loyal to Frey then why would he pay them, and why would the man not have known anything? It didn't make any sense. He said some boy had told them to wait there... but what if he had been lying? He had nothing left to lose, he must have known he was going to die. But he had been begging... Arya shook her head, confused.
The green boy was talking but Arya couldn't hear, so she pressed closer, leaning towards them a little. "Maybe," he said, wiggling what looked to Arya like a hat, "maybe they ditched. They weren't one o' us, they could'a taken the gold and legged it, wi'out doing the job."
The man with his hair in a leather thong leaned forwards. "It's possible, I suppose, but all they had to do was wait there and see if she turned up; if they got her, they were to take her to Cape o' Eagles, but we know they ain't done that."
"How?" Asked the green boy, wiggling his finger about in his ear.
"Because we're bloody well followin' them, ent we?" Snapped the thong man. "So if they ent got her, she either never turned up to the Twins like his lordship said, or they couldn't capture her, in which case they should be on their way to us." Arya crept forwards just a little, straining to hear every word he said and wincing as she knelt on a sharp rock. "There ent no point in thinking about it too hard, either they turn up or they don't. We ent got no power over tha'." He stood up abruptly and stretched. "I'm gonna go take a piss." He stepped past the boot man and strode off into the dark.
"Whether he's got the right of it or not," the bald one said again, "we cannea be sure everything 'as gone to plan, asides, you know what he's like, he-"
Suddenly there was a crack of a twig behind her, and Arya span around, reaching for her sword, only to remember she didn't have it. The man with his hair in a thong reached forward and grabbed her by the arm, yanking her close. Arya hissed and made to pull away, but he swung his fist into her temple, and she fell to the ground as her vision went spotty.
"I knew I heard something," he said, grabbing a fist full of her hair and towing her towards the others. "Aye, it looks like we 'ave a little rat," he shouted, grabbing their attention. The men stood up as he threw her to the ground. Arya pushed herself back up but his hand was in her hair again and he wrenched her up. Arya hissed and her hands flew to his, trying to relieve the pressure there.
Stupid, stupid, stupid! She should have just gone back to camp when Nymeria first heard them. Nymeria! But where was she? If she could just-
"I said, who are you?!" The man shouted, giving her hair a sharp yank. "Tell me, or I'll slit your throat!" He yanked a knife out of his belt and pressed it against her bare throat, the steel cold on her skin. When Arya didn't answer he pressed it closer and when she felt a sharp sting she knew he had cut her. She felt a single drop of blood run down to her shirt.
"Whether I tell you or not you'll still slit my throat!" She hissed, scratching at his hand. He pressed the knife closer and she felt another drop of blood bead there. "I'm just a camp follower!" She spat out, thinking quickly. "I'm from the Palisade Village, that's all!" The knife relaxed a little and she breathed out in relief.
"A camp follower?" He asked, clearly not convinced. "If you're a camp follower, then what are you doing here? Someone sent you to spy on us?!" He yanked her hair sharply.
"No!" She said, making her voice sound more like a girl from the Vale. "I was looking for my lover, truly! He came out this way and bid me follow him, please believe me!" She let a tear slide down her cheek and dry sobbed.
He hesitated and pulled her by her hair, and Arya tried to feel Nymeria's conscience. If she could just phase into her to come closer... he jerked her head back. "For a Palisade Villager, you look awful like a Northerner to me," he snapped, peering down at her. "In fact, you look awful like a girl we're looking for..." Arya saw something dawn in his expression and knew she had to do something.
She jerked her head back sharply into his gut and he groaned, loosening his hold on her hair just enough for Arya to spin around, stretching out one leg. She swung it around and kicked his legs out from underneath him. With a grunt he fell over onto his back, and Arya wasted no time in grabbing his knife. She darted forward and slit his throat quickly. He gurgled and coughed up blood, as it gushed out, hot and black.
Arya jumped up and span away just in time to avoid the bald man's sword. Thinking quickly, Arya hurled the knife at his chest, where it stuck deep. He cursed and fell to his knees, dropping the sword. Arya grabbed it and stuck it through his throat, before bringing it up to stop the green boys blade. She bent over backwards as he took a swing at her, and as she came back up sliced at the spotted boys stomach, he screamed in pain and stumbled back, but Arya ignored him. She twisted the sword and disarmed the green boy with ease.
She grabbed him and pulled him in front of her, placing the blade at his throat. "Take another step and he dies!" She hissed, as the other two men approached. They paused, and Arya felt Nymeria's presence. She hissed. "I'm going to back away now, and you'll stay here unless you want me to kill him," she said savagely, pricking his throat to make her point. "Now, you can go back to your master, and tell him that I'm coming for him next!" When neither man made to follow her, Arya walked backwards through the trees.
The man in her arms whimpered, but Arya ignored him and the stench coming from his trousers, focusing on feeling Nymeria's presence. She could feel her now, not too far away... then the two men were back, clearly having decided she was more important than their fellow man. She cursed, and dragged him back faster, feeling desperately for Nymeria; if she wasn't there in moments, Arya would find herself fighting the others. The blow to her head had left her dizzy, and she didn't fancy her odds if she carried on. The three others grew closer, shouting curses at her, but she could feel Nymeria now, only yards away.
With a shout, Arya cut the boys throat, ignoring how his blood drenched her shirt, hot and thick. Almost there... she growled as she shoved his body away from her, and turned, running towards where she knew Nymeria would be. She heard footsteps behind her, but she could see her wolf now, five yards, four. Something whistled through the air and Arya ducked just in time for a knife to sail through the air where her ear had been seconds prior.
She reached out, straining, and grabbed Nymeria's fur, pulling herself up, the wolf never breaking in her stride. Arya's hand screamed in protest as she clung on, but Arya sighed in relief; by the time they tacked their horses, she would be long gone. Nymeria picked her way down the slope, twisting and turning through the trees, and Arya just hoped the wolf knew where to go, too exhausted to try and phase into her.
The men had been either Frey supporters or Iron men, but whoever they were they were her enemies, and Gendry's. The sooner she got back to camp the better, he had to know that they were being tailed on the east side. Arya's mind buzzed as she tried to recall everything that they had said. Who was going to meet them- someone from the Twins. They had to have been the group that attacked her, late because Arya and Gendry had killed them; she had known, just known, that they weren't just outlaws! It was too random, too coincidental for it to be outlaws, why hadn't she seen it? Arya cursed herself to hell and back for her stupidity- it mattered little that they were being tailed- everyone knew that they were headed for Storms End, but what if there had been some facet of information they picked up on?
Arya yelled in frustration- if only she had been able to hear more! There wasn't enough information to make any sort of guess at why they were there, or who had really been at the Twins, but it was enough to tell her that Euron and Elmar were planning something- she just didn't know what.
Oh, she was so stupid! She should have never followed them in the first place. She had left two, possibly three alive to go and tell whoever that she knew about them tailing the company. If they hadn't guessed who she was when they caught her, they would have to be truly stupid to not put it together after she jumped on the back of a giant wolf.
Arya held on tight as they ran through the dark, down the slope and out of the forest, to where the trees became more widely spaced and the ground more lush. She could hear the commotion of camp and urged Nymeria on across the expansive grassland. The darkness of night was waning, the sky still dark, but dawn was breaking. They came back into the woods where she had first run off into, and burst back into camp. Shouts of panic broke out as Arya rode the enormous Direwolf through the camp, but Arya ignored them, searching desperately for him. She had to tell him, as soon as possible what she had seen.
Then there he was, striding towards her, relief written across his face. Arya swung off of Nymeria and made to greet him, but Gendry had other ideas. Without stopping to break stride, Gendry reached out and took her face in his hands, lifting it up aggressively as his mouth crashed down on hers. Arya stumbled back from the shock, but he was a rock. Arya brought her hands up to his chest to steady herself, still dizzy from the blow to her temple earlier, but reeling from Gendry's desperate kiss.
He was forceful and kissed her with a desperation that stunned her, his hands hot on her face as he towered over her. Arya felt her eyes grow wide. His lips were hot and insistent, moving roughly against hers. His kiss was angry, rough, but his mouth was hot and soft, molding to Arya's in a way that was beginning to feel almost familiar, but completely strange. Arya gasped sharply, and pushed his chest, but if he felt it he gave no sign of it, and Arya shoved him again, harder this time.
He pulled back, half an inch, leaning his forehead against hers, and staring her in the eyes. "Don't you ever do that again," he said hoarsely, his hands still holding her face.
"Gendry," Arya said, trying to move away, "I'm fine, I promise, but its important-"
Gendry bent back down and kissed her again, taking her breath away. Arya nearly kissed him back, but pulled away with a gasp. "Gendry- not now- just listen to me!" She yanked her face out of his hands, her own clutching his forearms desperately. He stared down at her, watching her intently. "Gendry, you have to listen to me," she said breathlessly, but Gendry seemed to only just have noticed the blood all over her.
Gendry pulled away immediately, his eyes running up and down her body, first in fear, then in anger. He took her chin and lifted her face up to better look at her throat, where she knew there was a thin cut from the mans blade. "Arya, your throat-"
Arya clutched his arms tighter. "Gendry, please just listen to me!" He stopped fussing and Arya took the opportunity to speak, her words coming out quickly. "I saw a group of men, and I went to investigate who they were- they were Frey men, I think, maybe Iron men, I still don't know, but-"
Gendry grasped her shoulders and yanked her closer, his expression one of absolute fury. "You saw a group of strange men, and you followed them?" He shouted incredulously, shaking her. "Arya, are you completely stupid?" He shook her again, but Arya just shook her head.
"No, Gendry just listen-" she pleaded, but he was too far gone.
"I keep telling you, over and over," he said loudly, his jaw clenched as he stared down at her in pure anger, "but you just don't listen! What were you thinking?!"
Arya tried to wrench herself from his grasp, but he held on tighter. "I was thinking that I could find something out!" She snapped, irritated that he just couldn't see. "Will you just listen-"
"No, you just listen!" He roared, beyond furious. "I trusted you! I let you go because I trusted you, just once, to not do something stupid! And what do you do?!" He shook her again, before taking her by one arm and dragging her past the men, who Arya had only just remembered to be watching. Gendry steered her through the camp, the men watching from the side lines as he towed her past.
His grip on her arm was becoming painful, and Arya squirmed, but he just yanked her closer, ignoring Arya's protesting. When they reached the edge of camp, where they had been sleeping earlier in the night, Gendry finally stopped, swinging her around in front of him. His blue eyes held unspeakable fury at her actions and his nostrils flared as exhaled sharply. "Talk," he said roughly.
Arya wrenched her arm from his grasp. "I know you're angry but just listen," she said, as calmly as she could. "Nymeria heard them, so I warged into her to see what she had heard. I took her up past them, and came up behind them to find out who they were. I still don't know exactly who they were, but it was clear they were following us- I'd seen a couple of them before, the night you found me in the woods at the Inn" she explained, the words spilling out of her mouth.
Gendry narrowed his eyes. "You saw them before and didn't say anything?" He hissed.
"Gendry!" She snapped, shaking him. "Pay attention! They mentioned Elmar Frey, and some people who were payed to go to the Twins to wait for me there. Apparently they were supposed to meet this group, but they never arrived- so they have to have been the men we killed, don't you see?" She stared up at him, but his face appeared to be carved from stone. "I think they must all be working under Elmar, and Elmar is working under Euron- they said something about the other group trying to either take a girl to Cape of Eagles or meeting up with them if they failed, and they said it was supposed the have been around the time we were there. It just proves that-"
"It proves nothing!" Gendry snapped, his fists clenched at his sides. Arya blinked, and opened her mouth to protest, but Gendry cut across her. "Do you really think I didn't know they were tailing us?" Arya felt her brow crease.
"What do you mean, you knew?" She asked, her eyes narrowing. "You knew, and you never told me?" He averted his eyes, and Arya felt a blush of anger cross her face. "Why did you keep it a secret- what, you thought I couldn't handle it or something?" She snapped, fuming that he was doing it again, treating her like a child!
"Of course I fucking knew!" Gendry exploded. "I've had scouts out since we left Winterfell, even more after the Twins! I wanted them to follow us, wanted to give Euron the impression that we knew nothing about him! All this proves is that I still can not trust you!" His hand shot out to her throat and Arya thought for a split second that he was going to strangle her, but his fingers instead ran gently over the cut there. "Look at yourself, Arya. How did this even happen?"
Arya held her breath and closed her eyes. "Look, its really nothing, there was just a little altercation, that's all-"
Gendry blinked. "You fought them?" He asked, disbelievingly. "Even after you knew who they were, you went in there and fought them?" He grabbed hold of her arms again, pulling her close and searching her over again. When he saw the blood drenching the black shirt she was wearing, he grabbed it, balling it up in his fist to pull her closer, while he snarled down at her. "You had better start explaining, Arya, and I want the truth this time!"
Arya swallowed. "It was nothing, one of them found me and there was a fight. It's not my blood, but I had to kill a couple of them before I escaped, you see, I'm-"
"I do see," Gendry snapped. "I see that you clearly can not be trusted to make rational decisions. I told you not to go sneaking off again, not to do anything rash, but you directly disobeyed me!" He lifted her chin again and looked at the cut. "How did you even get that, they must have had a blade to your throat for that kind of wound?" Arya hesitated a second too long and Gendry saw the truth in her eyes. He cursed and pulled away, turning around.
"We're supposed to be partners, Arya!" He snapped. "But how can we be partners when I can't trust you?"
Arya stepped closer. "You can trust me," she said, but he flew around, and rounded on her.
"You just proved that I can't!" He bellowed, and Arya saw that he was beyond reasoning. "You promised me- no more lying. But more than that, you promised, before you went, that you wouldn't do anything stupid! And what did you do? You followed after a group of strangers, and nearly got yourself killed, just to get information that I already had!" He breathed out heavily, his gaze just daring her to argue. She dared.
"Well what about you?" She spat, stepping closer to him. "I wouldn't have done it if you had trusted me with the information in the first place! Why can't you just believe me, that I can take care of myself?" She clenched her jaw tightly, her fists shaking with anger at her sides.
"I know that you can!" Gendry shouted back, his voice booming. "But I do not want to ever- ever- see you get hurt because I wasn't careful enough! Because I lost you once, and I won't lose you again!" He breathed out shakily, and Arya felt her eyes widen in surprise. In a calmer voice, Gendry then spoke again. "Arya, don't you see how much you mean to me?"
Arya swallowed, and her eyes widened. How could she possibly respond to that? He had just made it clear that he did not trust her, but then he said that? Arya looked down and then back up, at the anguish on his face. That face... how had it come to mean so much to her in just a matter of months? She was supposed to despise him, but she just couldn't.
Hesitantly, Arya placed her hand on his chest. Her touch surprised him, and Arya decided that was to be expected; how often did she voluntarily touch people? "Gendry, I understand- but I'm not a little girl who needs protecting," she tried to explain calmly. "I know that what I did today was foolish and hot headed and dangerous, but I made the decision to carry it through because I thought it was worth the risk. I made that decision, and you don't have to like it... but can't you accept it?" She watched his face carefully, noting the way his pupils expanded and his lips parted just slightly as he exhaled.
"Arya... how can I just accept you putting yourself in danger? Because I can't," he said hoarsely.
"Then can you accept that that's who I am?" Arya asked, half pleading. "That I'm never going to just be content to sit back and let you look after me?" Gendry covered her hand with his own and sighed
"I can accept that," he agreed, and Arya relaxed... but then his face hardened again, his lips pressed together and jaw clenched. "But I refuse to allow you to put yourself in danger again. From now on, you will stay with me at all times," he said sternly, slightly tightening his hold on her hand. "And if you even dare to sneak off again, I'll have you watched around the clock. Do you understand?" Arya felt her stomach sink. Why was it that every time they kissed, something happened to increase his possessiveness of her?
Arya bit her lip. "I won't sneak off, but only if you don't hide things from me," She said warily, having no intention to not sneak off if the occasion called.
Gendry heaved a sigh of relief, the tenseness in his shoulders visibly dissipating. "We seem to be making a lot of deals lately, milady," he said, taking her hand and allowing a small smile to dance across his mouth briefly.
Arya swallowed. Yes, and all of them are lies. "We do, milord, and here's another: If you call me milady again, I'll stab you while you're sleeping," she said sweetly, smiling up at him through the harsh words.
Gendry grinned, huffing out a laugh. "Deal," he agreed, before his face turned serious again. "Now, I'd like to try that kiss again, without the audience." His voice was deeper, though with a slight jesting tone to it. Arya felt her breath hitch as he took her face in his hands again, and slowly lowered his lips to hers.
As he did so, Arya saw something out of the corner of her eye and wrenched back with a gasp. Gendry tensed immediately. "What is it?" He asked, his hand flying to his sword. Arya narrowed her eyes and pushed his chest.
"You ass!" She said. "You let the charcoal stop burning?" The mound was cold behind her, not orange glow or smoke from the top, the air channels dark.
Gendry's eyes widened with disbelief at her. "Really?" He said, shaking her slightly, a small smile pulling at his lips. "That's what you're worried about?" She huffed, and Gendry shook his head before smiling, and pressing his lips to hers again.
Alright, I hope you liked it... yes? No? Hated it? Aggh I was so conflicted about this chapter! I hope it was acceptable lol. Any questions, feel free to ask! Over and Out xox