Arya spent the next several days at Gendry's side, but he seemed to know as much as she did that the Dustin's had made things harder for them. They sent Tisa away, which started the rumors that she was with child, and they didn't want to deal with a bastard which just made Gendry shrink even further into himself. Arya tried to tell as many people who would listen that it wasn't true, but they all seemed to think she was some stupid girl that couldn't see the truth that was right in front of her. Sansa seemed to be having the same problems with Theon, who was refusing to leave his room for days at a time. Gendry would leave the room, but he would shut himself up in the forge and wouldn't even open the door for anyone that wasn't Arya.

"We should have killed them," Sansa said one night as they were eating in Jon's private solar. Bran and Meera were there, but Gendry and Theon had both decided that they would rather take their meals alone. "We should have let Ghost and Nymeria tear them apart."

"It wouldn't have made a difference," Bran said. "If you had killed them and it got out that the Dustin's were the ones who told you about the so-called affairs, it would have been seen as us trying to silence people who told us what we didn't want to hear. Spilling blood wouldn't have helped anyone."

"Doesn't mean I didn't want to do it," Arya said, and Jon looked a little sad as he looked at her. "I didn't fight this long and this hard to be with that man only for some no-name House to try and take him away from me."

"He's not going anywhere," Jon said. "And neither is Theon. Besides, I'm sure the alliance with the Free Folk is going to be the form of gossip for who knows how long. People are not going to be happy that I'm doing this, so maybe that will be enough to distract them."

"At least the Free Folk won't be put off by any of these stupid rumors," Sansa snapped. "If the Dustin's had compromised these negotiations, I might have had Bran ask Rhaegal if he wanted some food."

"He's not in the mood to eat any people but appreciates you asking," Bran said, and there was no possible way to tell if he was joking or not. Meera was smiling to herself like she knew something the rest of them didn't, which usually didn't bode well for the rest of them.

"We went and saw Rhaegal a few days ago," Meera said when they were all staring at her. "We wanted to make sure that no one was bothering him and that he was getting enough food. He seems to be doing well and got weirdly protective around me, so apparently, dragons can sense when a human is with child."

"Oh, great, Nymeria is already two minutes away from ripping out throats, and now we have a hyper-protective dragon, got any other good news for me?" Jon deadpanned, and for some reason, that was the thing that broke the tension in the room. Arya smiled and laughed for the first time in days as they all talked about what would happen if Rhaegal started acting like Nymeria and Ghost when it came to protecting the baby. Meera was further along now, and the small baby bump was lovely to see. The slightly stupid expression Bran would get when he would see the bump was also one of the few things that brought Arya joy regularly. By the time they all decided that letting Rhaegal out and about to protect the new pup was probably not the best idea, everyone was in a much better mood.

"Do we know when we know when Val is going to be here?" Sansa asked, and Jon nodded.

"Yeah, a few days, and I have to say I'm a little nervous. I didn't think I'd ever be in a position like this, where my own hand in marriage is something valuable. I thought I was going to freeze to death, alone on the wall," Jon said, and he sighed. "We're going to have to figure out a way to make this deal appealing to the Free Folk. They have some customs that other people aren't going to understand, and I don't know how well she's going to take to the idea of being a Queen."

"You know these people, Jon, you lived among them," Arya said. "If anyone can figure out how to make this work, it's you. You know what they'll want and what they won't want. It's all a matter of finding the right things to say, and you're good at this. There isn't anyone else better equipped to broker a true alliance between the North and the Free Folk than you." Jon opened his mouth to say something when Meera suddenly gasped, and everyone turned to look at her.

"Are you okay?" Bran asked, sounding more panicked than Arya had ever heard him.

"Yes," Meera whispered. "It's just, the baby kicked, and that was the first time I ever felt it. It just took me by surprise." They all took turns placing their hands over Meera's stomach as she held onto Bran's hand and tried not to cry. There were a lot of bad things going on but they weren't all bad. Arya needed this reminder. In a few days, they would begin the meetings with the Free Folk to form an alliance and that kind of power would help keep Gendry and Theon safe.

Gendry woke up before dawn on the day that Val from the Free Folk was supposed to arrive. He was up before dawn almost every day and had been since the rumor about him being unfaithful began to spread. Gendry just wanted to keep his head down and hope that maybe the Northers would forget or move on from this. At his worst moments, he thought a child might calm them down, but that wasn't possible for them.

Arya shifted in their bed as Gendry got ready for his day and sat up to watch him get ready. She had done all she could to try and convince people that he wasn't his father, and he never slept with anyone besides her, but it wasn't working. The whispers continued along with the whispers that he was a bastard, that he didn't belong, that it was his fault the princess was still without child, it was all his fault. It was a burden he tried to bear with as much grace as he could Gendry was still a human being, and sometimes he buckled under the weight.

He knew that this was one of those times that he was buckling under that weight.

"You know you don't need to hide in the forge all day," Arya said. "The Free Folk won't care about these rumors, and even if they did, none of them care about you sleeping around on some princess they've never heard of."

"Tormund would very much care and will probably want to separate my head from my neck," Gendry replied as he sat at the end of their bed to lace up his boots. Arya moved behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She was still warm from their bed, and no one should smell that good this early in the morning. Gendry wanted to turn around and take her to bed, but the chambermaids were already giving him dirty looks. The last thing he needed was to provide them with another reason.

"And Tormund knows you. Anyone who knows you knows that it isn't true and couldn't ever be true," Arya said as she kissed his neck softly. Gendry leaned back into her arms a little and closed his eyes. He wanted just to carry on the way he had always been, but it felt like too much. It felt like he wouldn't ever belong here, not really, no matter how times Jon or Sansa or Bran or Arya told him that he did. He was wrapped up in the game of thrones now, in politics, and Gendry might not have been raised a noble but he knows that perception is extremely important when it comes to the noble families. That's why they keep their secrets bottled up behind high walls and in higher towers.

"I need to get going," Gendry said as he moved away from her. Arya frowned, and he was a weak man that couldn't say no to her even if he wanted to. Gendry leaned forward and kissed Arya gently on the lips, but Arya, as usual, had her own plans. She immediately deepened the kiss and slid her tongue into his mouth. He was getting distracted, and if Arya managed to get his clothes off, Gendry knew that he wouldn't leave this room until mid-afternoon. It took a lot of his self-control to pull away from her. "You're a tempting thing, but I need to get going. I'll see you later." He could feel Arya watching him as he hurried out of the room and nearly ran into one of the chambermaids.

It was the way she paled when she saw it was him that got to Gendry the most. The chambermaids and the kitchen girls were afraid to be alone around him now because they thought he was some raper that was going to take everything from them. It turned his stomach that they thought that way about him, and Gendry quickly averted his eyes and nearly ran to his forge. No one came in there now, no one dropped off food, he was alone, and Gendry didn't mind it as he started to do some more research on how he could melt the Valyrian Steel that Mott gave him.

Gendry heard more than he saw the Free Folk arrive. They were loud, and they always seemed to be enjoying life way more than the rest of them did. It was something he admired about them, and Gendry wasn't surprised when the door of the forge was thrown open, and Tormund strolled in. He was grinning and didn't look like he wanted to skin Gendry alive for the rumor, but Gendry wasn't entirely sure one way or another.

"My favorite blacksmith! I see you're still proving that nobles aren't completely worthless and can pull their own weight. Good for you!" Tormund said, and he slapped Gendry on the back hard enough that it hurt a little. "Do you still swing that warhammer like a devil?"

"When I need to," Gendry replied, which was true. "I can only assume you're here because you want me to do some repairs on your weapons and not because you wanted to see me." Tormund laughed as he produced his weapons, and Gendry began to look them over. He didn't know how long these negotiations were going to take, but he should have enough time to fix them all.

"Some towns people are saying some rather terrible things about you, lad," Tormund said, and he sounded so much like Davos at that moment that Gendry thought he had been transported to Storm's End. "I don't believe it, but it's out there."

"I know," Gendry said. "Will it affect how Val sees us?"

"No, I told her you're a good lad, and she trusts my judgment of people though she might try to get a free weapon out of you," Tormund said, and Gendry laughed to himself.

"I can handle that," he said.

Jon was standing with Sansa, Arya, Bran, and Meera when the Free Folk arrived. Theon was still in his rooms and refusing to come out because he thought that his presence would only make them look weak. Gendry was shutting himself up in the forge for hours at a time and would barely come in for meals. Jon was worried about both of them and his sisters, but he also couldn't focus on them right now. There were more important things to do, like trying to arrange his own marriage, which was still so weird to think about.

Tormund walked out in front of everyone and greeted him like the friends they were. Jon knew that Tormund wouldn't ever bow the way he was supposed to, and a man that fought alongside his family in the long night didn't need to bow as far as Jon was concerned.

"Little Wolf, where's that husband of yours? I have some weapons that need fixing," Tormund said after he was done greeting all of them like he hadn't seen them in months when he had just seen them a fortnight ago. Jon watched as Arya smiled tightly and did her best not to let anyone see just how much all of this was bothering her; Jon was so proud of the strength of his sisters.

"In the forge, and I'm sure he'd be glad to see you," Arya said with the implication that Gendry could do with the friendly face. A woman dressed in furs with honey blonde braided hair and pale blue eyes climbed off of her horse and stood before Jon.

"You must be Jon Snow," she said, and several people who weren't Jon's family started making noises about someone using his bastard name, but Jon didn't mind. If she was saying his bastard name, then she must know about him from Tormund.

"And you must be Val," Jon said, and he offered a hand to shake instead of bowing to her. Val eyed the hand but eventually took it. "I thought the two of us could have this conversation privately if you're amenable to that."

"I won't be giving up my weapons," Val said as she gestured to the daggers on her belt.

"Then we'll be on equal footing," Jon said with his hand on Longclaw. Val turned to the other Free Folk and nodded to them. "Oh, and no stealing anyone. I'm afraid we can't have any of that while you're visiting." Val blinked like she was surprised that he knew about that, but she nodded.

"Very well, no stealing of any men or women," Val announced as she looked back at the men. They all looked at her like they respected her as a leader which was impressive for a woman. Jon knew not to underestimate women, he knew too many strong ones that could kill him to underestimate women, but Jon also knew how hard it was for women to attain that level of respect. Jon nodded, and the two of them walked through Winterfell to his private solar where they could talk. This wasn't usually how things like this were done, but he also thought that making a public spectacle of this wouldn't end well. Jon offered Val a seat, took off his crown, and sat down as well.

"So Tormund tells me the King of the North wants to have a conversation with me," Val begins. "And I'm about to tell him to fuck off, but then he starts talking about the King is Jon Snow and who Jon Snow is. You are the man that slew the Night King, the man that let us pass through the Wall, the man that is letting us settle in the North if we should desire to, and I decided to give you a chance to speak. So, speak."

"And I'm glad to have the Free Folk on Northern lands, but that is something we need to talk about. There are a lot of lesser Houses that still think of you as Wildlings coming to pillage and kill them. I'm concerned that there will be conflicts," Jon said.

"There already have been," she replied and sat up a little straighter as she leaned forward in her chair. "You have an idea then?"

"I do."

"So spit it out."

"I need you to promise that you won't say "no" right away first," Jon said, and Val narrowed her eyes.

"I will listen to what you have to say, Jon Snow," Val said.

"The North sees your people as invaders when you aren't. You're just another member of our world looking to find your place in it," Jon explained as he took a deep breath and prayed that he didn't mess this up. "However, I will have a hard time protecting your people without an Alliance and not just an Alliance in writing or in words. We need to bring the Free Folk into the North formally, so if someone attacked you, it would be attacking their own people. The best way to integrate the Free Folk into the North for everyone's safety would be a marriage alliance. A marriage alliance to someone in very high standing that could declare that all of you are Northerns now and no one could argue. Someone like me getting married to someone like you." Val stared at him without even blinking for what felt like a very long time, but Jon didn't look away.

"The Free Folk will bow to no King," Val said lowly. "And I am certainly no Queen."

"I don't know how long I can keep people attacking your settlements, and if we went to war, I would have to back the Houses that I have an Alliance with and not the Free Folk," Jon said. "I'm not asking any of you to bow to anyone. I have lived among you; I don't want to change the way you live, you won't have to adapt Westeros customs. What I need is a strong alliance with someone in the Free Folk and an agreement that if I needed your help with a war, you would come to my aide."

"You are assuming that we wouldn't already come to your aide?" Val snapped, but she seemed to be coming back to herself. She took a deep breath and released it slowly. "I've seen the way Kings and Queens treat their children, and should I ever have a child, I won't see it locked into the societal constraints of being a prince or princess."

"I have considered that and, if I may present a solution?" Jon asked, and she nodded slowly like she couldn't believe that Jon would think that far in advance. "Tormund must have told you I'm what they call a bastard here. I'm not a trueborn son of the last Lord of this house. I do have a younger brother who is, and he is a younger brother who is married and expecting a child. I would offer you this compromise for any children we might have in the future; I name Bran's son or daughter as my heir. They will be of proper Stark blood for the North, which will make the lesser Lords happy. As for our children, well, they would still have to be in a position of power to cement the continuation of our Alliance beyond our reign. So, instead, we offer them the post of Kingsguard or Queensguard. Instead of being locked into the constraints of being a prince or princess, they would be a warrior like you and like me." Val stood up and began to pace in her solar with her arms crossed tightly across her chest. Jon knew what he was going through because he felt it too.

"I would make a terrible Queen," Val said softly.

"You care about your people, and you want what's best for them. Those are the qualities of a good ruler and ones that I want to embody as well," Jon said, and Val turned to look at him. Jon stood up and walked toward her, but he put his hands up in surrender. "I want those qualities too, which is why I want to keep the Free Folk safe. I lost one of yours during the attack on Castle Black. I loved her very much, and I miss her every pain. That pain I went through, I don't want it for anyone else, but Val my gut tells me if we keep this up, we're going to go to war, and I don't want to go war with you. I don't want to lose any more people."

"I don't want to lose anyone else either," Val said. "We lost too many to the Others. What of the people beyond the Wall?"

"Our borders are open both to the north and the south," Jon replied. "There will be guards stationed there as there are now, but people can come and go as they pleased. I assure you; I don't want to make the Free Folk be anything other than what you are, and that includes you." Val's head jerked up as she stared at him. "You're a Free Woman, and I don't want to do anything to make you think we're not equals. So that's how we would rule the North; as equals. I wouldn't make you bow to me as long as you don't make me bow to you."

"Southern men don't share power with their wives," Val whispered.

"Maybe it's time for that to change. That's why my sister Sansa is my Hand to the King and why my other sister Arya is one of our greatest warriors. There is a Queen that I trust and believe in ruling the south as we speak. I assure you, I do not think women should bow to men, and I wouldn't ask that of you," Jon said. Val looked back at the fireplace and chewed on her lower lip.

"You truly think there would be war if we don't do this?" she asked, and he nodded. "I suppose I would have to stay in this place as well to rule as your Queen. Would we have to share a bed?"

"Tradition dictates that we consummate our marriage on our wedding night, and we do need to have children at some point, but I wouldn't ever force you," Jon said. "And if we never come to love each other, I'm hoping that we could at least be partners and confidants in each other."

"You want to be friends with your wife?" Val asked, but she was smiling.

"I would very much like to be friends with my wife," Jon replied. She studied him for a moment like she was trying to gauge whether or not he was telling the truth. Eventually, Val released a breath and turned to stand before him.

"Congratulations Jon Snow; you managed to convince a Free Woman to steal herself," Val said, and, just like that, Jon found himself standing before his betrothed.