Thank you to everyone who has read this so far. A few more reviews would be lovely, let me know what you like and what you don't. Positive and negative feedback is welcomed.
I still own nothing.
Gendry thought he knew what it was to be busy. But for the last fortnight the forge hadn't stopped.
They had finally worked out the perfect combination of Dragonglass and steel, and as a result every smith and apprentice had been working pretty much non-stop to create weapons of every type and size.
Despite being a Lord, Gendry felt it was only right to do his fair share and so had been putting in twelve hour shifts, making swords, daggers, axes and arrowheads.
Jon was due to arrive back at Dragonstone at any time, and he wanted to have something tangible to show him.
He owed a lot to Jon Snow, King of the North. He remembered their first meeting, just after Davos had 'rescued' him from King's Landing. Davos had advised him to keep his name and the name of his father to himself. But he hadn't been able to do it. They'd become close after that.
Gendry had never had a brother before, bur in Jon he'd finally felt like he did. Maybe it'd had something to do with Jon having been Arya's favourite brother, and being close to Jon had Gendry feeling like he was honouring Arya's memory. She had wanted him once to go north and serve a different brother. A different king. He hoped Arya would be pleased with him now.
"Lord Baratheon?" a voice came from behind him, a voice he'd come to know very well.
"My Queen," he replied, turning to look at her.
"I thought you'd like to know, a rider arrived about a half hour ago. Jon Snow will arrive by sunset."
"Thank you, Your Grace, for telling me. I look forward to seeing him again."
"Gendry?" Daenerys said quietly, "I wish to ask you something quite personal and I wish you to answer me honestly."
"O…kay."
"Why wont you ever lie with me?"
Gendry was stunned by the question. "I do lie with you."
"No. No you don't. You share your bed with me, but I must come to you, you never come to me. You give me pleasure, immense pleasure, with your hands and your mouth. But you never take your pleasure with me. Why?"
Gendry closed his eyes to think. He had to make sure that he explained this right, in a way that the Queen would understand and accept.
"My Queen," he said with a sigh. "Daenerys. I grew up as a bastard apprentice in King's Landing. I never thought I'd ever find love, ever have a family. Until I was sold to the Night's Watch.
"I'd been with a couple of girls before then, I didn't love either of them. Hadn't known what love was." He looked up at Daenerys, who had a face full of emotion.
"There was a girl travelling with us. She'd been disguised as a boy. It took me a few weeks to realise what she was, none of the others did though. I took it upon myself to look out for her, she was a child after all.
"I fell in love with her. I didn't realise that that was was it was, not at the time. It was only after we were separated that I could put a name to what I had been feeling."
"So? What has all this got to do with me and the fact that you wont lie with me?" Daenerys asked.
"I have only been with one girl since King's Landing, and that was while I was in Braavos. There had been something familiar about her, though I didn't actually know her that well. And I cried out another's name at the moment of pleasure. I swore to myself after that, that I would never be with someone I didn't love. And as much as I love you, My Queen, I don't love you."
He looked at her with a face full of regret.
"This girl must be an exceptional human being. Who is she and where is she now? Why aren't you with her?" Daenerys asked.
Gendry looked down at the floor. "I believe she is dead. I heard stories for a while after we were parted, but nothing since. As for who she was, I'm sorry, but that is something I will never tell."
"As Queen I could command you to tell me the name of the girl who stole your heart," Daenerys said, with a hint of mirth.
"You could try," he answered her. "But, no matter what you did, her name will remain unspoken."
"You are a good man, Gendry Baratheon. Honest and loyal. Any lady would be lucky to call herself the Lady of Storm's End. Just promise me that you wont close yourself off to the idea of loving again. You deserve to be happy," Daenerys told him.
"Now, go get cleaned up. Jon should be here soon, and I know he'll want to see you."
Taking her hand, Gendry kissed the back of it. "Thank you, Your Grace."
As he walked out of the forge Daenerys sighed, whoever that girl had been she had been lucky to have been loved like that.
More than a few hours later, Gendry walked into the Great Hall to find Jon and Davos had already arrived.
"Gendry!" Jon called, rising from his chair at the High Table and striding across the room to envelope him in a hug. "How are you, my brother?" Jon asked.
"All the better for seeing you," Gendry replied. "How are things at Winterfell?"
"Hectic," Jon said. "I've left Sansa in charge. At the moment she's gathering everyone in the north to Winterfell, with every scrap of food they have in preparation for the upcoming battle. We stand more of a chance if everyone is the same place, and Winterfell has to be the best place. What's happening with the weapons?"
"We worked it out about a half moon back, and since then the forge hasn't stopped. We're doing okay, but could do with a lot more smiths. They're currently working 18 hour days but it's not enough. It takes longer to forge with Dragonglass than it does with normal steel."
"I'm sure you're all doing your best. When we finally get to Winterfell it should make things a bit easier for you. Our forge is almost three times the size and we've already called for all the smiths and apprentices to gather there. I think it's almost four times the number that you have here."
"I'm sorry to interrupt, Your Grace, My Lord," said a male servant.
"What is it?" Jon asked.
"A raven just arrived for you from Winterfell."
"Thank you," Jon said, taking the scroll and breaking the seal.
"I'll leave you to read in peace," Gendry said.
"Don't be stupid. I very much doubt there is anything personal contained." Jon replied.
Gendry stood and watched as Jon's eyes followed the words on the parchment. He could see by the look on his face that Jon had received some astonishing news.
"Jon? What is it?"
"By the Gods, I thought he was dead," Jon said quietly.
"Who, Jon? Who did you think was dead?"
"Bran. My brother Brandon. Sansa writes that he appeared back at Winterfell a fortnight ago. He claims that he is the Three Eyed Raven."
"What on earth is the Three Eyed Raven?" Gendry asked.
"Old Nan used to tell us stories when we were children. The Three Eyed Raven is supposed to hold the memories of every person who has ever lived. He's supposed to be able to use animals and people to see what is happening now."
Jon shook his head, as if he couldn't believe what he was reading. "Sansa says that Bran has seen the Night King making his way towards the wall. If this is true, we'll be lucky to have six moons before he reaches Winterfell."
"Do you believe it?" Gendry asked, unsure if he believed what he was hearing.
"Sansa wouldn't make something like this up, it's too important. No, if Sansa believes it then I have act upon it. How quickly can we close down the forge and have everyone ready to leave?"
"Three days. I can have it done in three days," Gendry answered.
"Then please, get it done. I'll speak to the queen immediately, we'll have to mine right up until the moment we leave. We have no time to waste. I'm sorry, my friend, that we haven't been able to talk longer. Perhaps we can catch up on the journey north."
And with that, Jon turned and walked away towards the queen. Gendry took a few deep breaths, trying to get his head around what he had just heard and then made his way down to the forge. They had a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it. One thing was certain though, in three days he was going to be heading to Winterfell.
At last.
