I own nothing, obviously.

Yara Greyjoy stood in her chainmail with a grim expression as she watched the Greenlander's fleet either tied to the docks of Lordsport or anchored near shore. She could already see hundreds of the soldiers debarking, The banners that she saw included some from the Reach, the North and the Stormlands. With the crowned stag, the gray wolf and red grapes being most prominent.

She knew that they had to be here because of the fleet her father had been building but she had been surprised that they had found out. Not to mention how quickly they had sent a force. Her father and uncle had thought the Baratheon and Redwyne fleets had been headed to the Westerlands for payments or something along those lines.

So when a longship had nearly collided with the pier in their haste to tell them a massive fleet was heading for the Iron Islands. They scrambled to hide the evidence of their efforts to rebuild their forces as well as send word to their various shipyards and the major houses to let them know what was happening.

Despite their early warning the fleet had arrived before they could figure out what to do with the ships still drydocked. They had also tried to gather has many men as they could to try and make a show of force.

The end result of their efforts was 600 men armed and armored, however the sight of the greenlanders coming ashore made their attempts appear underwhelming.

"How many do you reckon there are?"

"Too many for us to handle. Tell Cromm to have the crew make for the ship and not be obvious about it."

Dale left to do as she said leaving her with her thoughts. Which were not forming a very likeable image.

Robb marched with his men up the road to Pyke and from what he saw, he could see why the Iron born reaved. Their home was as inviting as a slab of granite, the people even less so. From the moment they arrived they had received nothing but glares and whispered threats. Though he could understand why, it had been less than two decades since Robert had invaded the islands. previously

Lord Botley had meet them at the pier and tried to use some half thought out argument that they were committing an illegal action by having their ships in their waters. Davos shot that down immediately by presenting them their orders from the king as well as the warrant for Balon Greyjoy and his brother. The man was then escorted to his keep and put under guard as it was searched for any leads to the location of the fleet.

Pyke was only a short march from the town but since they had spent the better part of the day coming ashore and securing lordsport they had decided to stay in the town until they were ready and rested. So after two days of rest they had set out to confront the Greyjoys.

It was midday when they arrived, Robb had the men form ranks out of bow range so as to have a display of force. Then sent a messenger to the gate to read out the warrant and request for Balon and Victorian to surrender themselves. Unsurprisingly they refused.

"Well'" Davos spoke up. "That went as well as expected."

"It was worth a try," replied Lord Redwyne, "At least now we can say that we gave them a fair chance to surrender. Any actions from this point on were forced by their hand."

"Be that as it may, it still leaves us with the task at hand." Robb turned to Lord Davos "By your leave Lord Davos?'

Davos nodded to him, "Aye, do what must be done. We will get patrols setup and start looking for the shipyards."

He and Lord Redwyne turned back and began the walk back to Lordsport while Robb called the rest of the lords and captains to him and began to organize the siege.

Stannis read over the weekly report that Ser Locke had sent to him for review. He was admittedly impressed by the improvements the new commander had made in the short time he had held the post. The guards were given regular training, he had removed the corrupt members whenever he found them, and he had supported Stannis in the implementation of written reports. A difficult task since a large number of guards didn't know how to read, but it was one they, as well as Lord Tarly, agreed would pay off in the long run. Stannis planned to reform the courts and the first step in that was getting testimonies recorded, evidence cataloged and ensuring cases were tried by facts, not hearsay.

He also had reports from Lord Rogers who was making head way in establishing his network of information. Which was now firmly established in the city, the Crownlands and had been making progress in to some of the major towns of the neighboring kingdoms.

He had begun to review Allard Seaworth's report on a new ship concept he and his family had been working on when a knock drew his attention. He bid them enter and Ser Sebastion opened the door and announced his daughter. She entered and despite her recent traumatic event she still maintained the proper courtesies. Greeting her father, who had stood to greet her, with a bow.

Since she had arrived in the city Shireen and been withdrawn from everyone. Her father had tried to talk with her as often as he could, but he was able to admit that comforting her was not his strong suit.

"Good afternoon father, I hope I didn't come at a bad time."

"You haven't, I was just looking over a new ship design."

"A new one? Is it for the fleet?"

Stannis saw a familiar light of curiosity begin to show in her eyes and beckoned her to be seated as he picked up the design to show her. He knew that discussing history, ships or even laws were reliable ways of helping her not think about her late her mother. The topics were also ones that he was well versed in, so the two of them could easily talk about them in length. He was silently proud when she demonstrated her ability to hold conversations on topics most nobles twice her age could barely wrap their heads around.

"It is, but Allard Seaworth claims it could easily be converted to a merchant vessel."

"Allard designed it? I didn't know he was a shipwright."

"Not officially, but I have learned over the years that the Seaworth family is full of hidden talents."

They spent the next hour going over the plans and debated the benefits of having it built as well as the cost of construction and maintenance of it.

They were forced to stop their discussion when Argilac came and told them that they had a band of men who had been fighting in the Riverlands under Lord Eddard Stark's orders and had several things that required his attention.

The three went to the throne room to meet them and Stannis recognized the two men at the front of the group as they feel to one knee.

One was Lord Dondarrion, his clothes showing how rough the past few months had been. The other was Thoros of Myr, his hair in his usual top knot and an easy smile on his face. The rest of the men seemed to be a mix of knights and regular men, their ages ranging from those older than him down do a what looked to be a boy younger than 16.

Stannis did a double take at one of the men who he recognized from the time Lord Arryn took him to the street of steel. He lhen addressed the group and bid them rise.

"Lord Dondarrion, welcome back to King's Landing. My Uncle has told me you had been fighting the Lannisters in the Riverlands from the onset of the conflict. For your dedication to following the late Lord Eddard Stark's you have my thanks and the hospitality of the Red Keep. I will also see that you are all paid for your services."

"Thank you your grace, I can attest that all the men with me have carried out the orders we were given honorably. Yet that was not the only reason why we came to see you. We have someone among us who I believe you should meet."

He turned and indicated the smallest of their group.

"Your grace, I present Lady Arya Stark of Winterfell."

"Lady Stark, your family will be thrilled to hear you are alive. Unfortunately they have all left already."

"Robb was here? What about Sansa? Is she alright? I heard rumors but I didn't know what to believe. Some said that the Lannisters set the river on fire and they had a dragon. Did they leave recently? How far do you think they've"

A nudge from man next to her halted her questions and she remembered whom she was addressing.

"I mean, when did they leave your grace?"

Stannis could hear his uncle stifle a laugh at the young woman's behavior while he spotted a small smile on Shireen's face.

"They left roughly two months ago. Your sister and mother have should almost be back at Winterfell while your brother is at the Iron Islands already."

"Why is he there?"

"He is there to take care of an issue for the crown. I will explain it at dinner, you, Lord Dondarrion and Thoros will be joining us." her turned to Shireen, "Show Lady Stark to a room so she can get clean and get some new clothes as well."

"Of course father," she smiled at Arya "Please follow me." After a quick glance at Gendry she followed and they exited the hall.

Stannis had the rest of the men lead away, either to the barracks or one of the spare rooms. But had the boy, Gendry he recalled, stay until it was just Argilac, Gendry and himself. The boy was doing a good job of hiding it but Stannis could see he was nervous.

"Where were you headed?"

Gendry looked confused at the question. "Your grace?"

"You had a good apprenticeship on the street of steel and showed the talent to become an expert smith. What made you want to leave the city? And what was your destination?"

"I didn't want to leave your grace. Master Motto said he didn't want me as his apprentice anymore, he suggested that I try going to the Reach to find work. Before I could decide I met a member of the Night's watch at a tavern and after talking with him I decided to go to the wall."

"Do you still intend to?"

Gendry thought before answering, "No your grace, I would prefer to stay in the south."

Stannis turned to Argilac, "Is there any positions opened in the keep?"

"There isn't a forge in the Keep itself but I know there is a forge that is available on the street of steel. The owner was killed in the fighting and his apprentices weren't trained enough to keep it open."

"Very well, see to the purchase of it tomorrow as well as any tools that he may need."

"Your grace?"

The pair turned to look at the now confused younger man.

"Why are you helping me?"

"Have you not heard the expression 'don't look a gift horse in the mouth' before?" replied Argilac raising an eyebrow.

"Yes mi lord, but I feel like I'm missing something. Like why the Lannisters were looking for me? Why did Master Motto sack me? Who paid my apprentice fees? Why would you buy me a forge? It doesn't make any sense to me."

Argilac placed a hand on the lad's shoulder and looked him in the eye. "Did your mother ever tell you about your father?"

"No mi lord, she died when I was young."

"Your father was Robert Baratheon."

They could see the blood drain from his face at the revelation.

"He is...was my father? But how could you be sure?"

"You are a mirror image of your father at your age for one. You also have the dark ring in your left iris that Robert and all of us have, even Princess Shireen. That's why we are helping you, because you are family."

Gendry was struck silent and was clearly trying to figure out what to say. Argila took pity on his great nephew and had a servant lead him to a room so he could recover from his shock and get cleaned up. Once the boy was lead away Argilac asked Stannis to come to his office and Stannis followed his uncle to the hand of the tower. When they arrived he turned to Argilac.

"What is it uncle? Is this about Gendry?"

"Not only him, I have a letter that Lord Dondarrion had happened across in the Riverlands. One that was addressed to Lord Tywin from Lord Frey."

"What did it say?"

"In it Lord Frey had accepted to send supplies to Lannister forces in exchange to having his lands untouched and mentioned something about a bigger agreement. But it wasn't clear what the agreement was."

"Did the messenger confess to the origin of the letter?"

"They said the man admitted to coming from the Twins and that Lord Frey had written the message. He is no longer alive however, he was killed when he tried to escape."

Stannis sat down then responded "We have enough evidence for warrant regardless. We can send word to the Tully's that Lord Frey is to be brought to the capital on accusation of treason."

Argilac poured two glasses of wine and handed one to his nephew. "That will most likely not work, Walder Frey will say he is too hold to leave the Twins and say the accusations are unfounded."

Stannis scowled, "You think he would openly deny a royal order?"

"Absolutely, Walder is old enough to consider almost all of Westeros younglings. To him the rest of us are obnoxious youths who don't respect their elders. His heir, however, is more grounded in reality."

"What are you suggesting?"

"Tell Edmund Tully that Walder Frey is to be brought to the Capital, if he refuses it shall be taken as an admittance of guilt and the whole of house Frey will be attainted as a whole."

"Forcing his family into a corner where the only choice to save their position is to hand over Waler."

Argilac raised his glass "Precisely."

"Very well, have the letter drawn up and I will sign it tomorrow."

"Excellent, I shall get right to it. I will see you at dinner once I've finished it. Now about Gendry, I think it would behoove us to look into you was manipulating his life."

"You think someone was trying to use him in the game?"

"I do, to what end eludes me and I don't like being kept in the dark."

"Very well, Work with Lord Rodgers and find out what you can."

"Thank you your grace. I won't keep you any longer, I will see you at dinner."

Stannis got up and left Argilac to his work as he considered what someone could gain via Gendry.

Thank you for taking the time to read the story and I especially appreciate the reviews that some of you have taken the time to write.