Gendry spent the next month of his life trying not to be useless to his siblings. Despite how much Eldric and Mya and Bella kept telling him that he didn't need to do anything, there was no possible way that he could sit idle for however long this whole thing was going to last. So Gendry did his best to stay busy. The easiest thing he could do was throw around his title as a Knight and just follow whichever of his siblings needed a guard at any given time to make sure that they didn't get hurt. None of them really needed it, but that didn't stop Gendry from strapping his hammer to his back and bullying his way into guard's rotations when he could.
He followed Bella around Storm's End as she tended to the people and made sure that everyone had everything that they needed. At first, he tried to remain stoic, but Bella was one of those people that knew how to break down all of his walls. She seemed more comfortable around him than any other guard, and Gendry was surprised the first time he really laughed as they helped the local blacksmith fix his forge. Gendry didn't know how he was supposed to react to laughing, and it almost felt like a betrayal of Arya to smile and even laugh a little. He was supposed to be miserable, yet he did feel like he had a purpose even if it was following his siblings around and helping when he could.
Gendry rode out with Edric to one of the Lesser Houses, and the two of them stood side by side with giant smiles on their faces as the Lord tried to excuse why his coffers weren't adding up properly. Edric copied the numbers and said that he was going to take them to Bella because if there was anyone who could find the mistake in the math, it would be her. Then Edric promised that they would be back once they figured out what was going on. The Lord, Gendry couldn't even remember which one, confessed that he'd been paying off mistresses to vanish, and Edric set up a payment plan so he could pay back every coin out of his own money and then gave some of his hands to the closest house.
Mya didn't leave Storm's End very often, but Gendry often found himself following her around so he could help her run the entire castle. As he watched her work, Gendry was glad that Mya seemed to have found her place in keeping order among the chaos that both Bella and Edric seemed to bring to every single interaction they had. Mya was the one who would keep Edric from losing his mind when he got annoyed with partitioners, and she even smoothed over a Lord who was unhappy with a ruling with nothing more than her calm demeanor. Whenever her and Davos' wife would team up, there would be hell to pay when it came to taking care of themselves.
Gendry spent more time with Davos, and through Davos, he learned more about his Uncle and the cousin he never got the chance to meet. They were given statues in the crypts of Storm's End, and Davos was instrumental in making sure that the statues were accurate. Gendry remembered the first time he saw a sketch of Shireen Baratheon, and he spent a long time staring at it. He didn't know what to think about this cousin that he never got the chance to meet or the Uncle that wanted to burn him alive. He didn't feel any connection to these people or this name, and the more he learned about it, the less he wanted anything to do with it.
When Gendry wasn't following his siblings around, he took the forge and took all of his feelings out on steel. He thought, after the circus of the trial, that no one would come to him for commissions again. Instead, after the first week, the requests started to come in. Gendry took the letters to his siblings and asked them what he was supposed to do with these.
"If you want to make them, you can make them," Edric said as he looked over the scroll. "But if you don't, then you don't have to. I'm not going to order you to or anything. Just make sure you charge them this time."
"Don't just charge them," Bella said, and she smirked. "You should overcharge them. That way, they can all see what happens when they insult not only House Stark but House Baratheon as well. I think charging anyone who asks some sort of fee would show that you're hardly giving away favors. You're a tradesman, Gendry, so charge people for your trade."
"I haven't been much of a tradesman for a long time," Gendry said, and he couldn't remember the last time he made something for the sole purpose of selling it. All of the things he made recently were gifts or weapons for war. He didn't usually charge anyone for his creations anymore.
"You're the best blacksmith in Westeros," Mya said. "You told us that your master was the best, and you've surpassed him. So make your prices match that." So that was exactly what Gendry did. He took to his forge, and he made every single person, save for his family and Davos and his wife, pay for any piece they asked of him. If someone came in and just asked for a repair, he would charge them, and he wouldn't make it cheap. The nobles of the Stormlands flocked to him as they asked for beautiful jewelry and deadly weapons, and Gendry just smiled at every single one that tried to get him to lower his price. One Lord from the Westerlands legitimately stood in front of Gendry, looked him dead in the eye, and offered the hand of his daughter in exchange for a sword and shield. Gendry doubled the price and then refused to lower it again. The Lord paid even as he mumbled about selfish bastards.
That was an adorable thing to hear from a Lord since Gendry took every single coin he earned and put it into fixing things for the smallfolk. He used the money to help the local blacksmith get some better tools; he gave the money to anyone who needed it for something that they couldn't afford, and then he went right back to overcharging the nobles. He wasn't endearing himself to anyone, Gendry knew that much, but he also knew what these people said about him and his siblings. Gendry didn't care what they thought of him, but the moment he heard rumblings about Bella or Mya being ruined or Edric being an asshole that had no right to turn away such beautiful brides, Gendry nearly lost his mind. He would not let these people talk badly about his family while praising his work in the same breath. He didn't feel bad anytime he overcharged them, and they paid anyway.
Roslin had sent a raven asking if he could forge a new piece of jewelry for her. He had sent one back with his prices that were fair, considering Roslin had always been nice to him. She looked down on him a bit, Edmure did as well, but they were kind, and he knew that Edmure in particular just wanted the best for one of the only pieces of his sister left in this world. He got a response that she agreed to the payment, and he got to work. She wanted a ring and bracelet set with fish scales and a sapphire in the middle of the ring. It was going to be silver, and it was small work that helped keep him focused for days at a time. Gendry blamed that focus on the fact that he didn't hear someone walk into the forge until they spoke to him.
"I'm glad to see you are working," a voice said, and Gendry looked up to see Daenerys standing before him. Her hair looked a little windblown, so he could only assume that she must have just ridden in on a dragon, which probably frightened everyone.
"I need something to do," Gendry replied, and he turned back to his work to ignore her. He didn't know why she was here, and he didn't want to see her.
"I've heard about the blacksmith of Storm's End," Daenerys said, and Gendry continued to work without looking at her. "The man who charges nobles full price and then some but doesn't keep the money for himself."
"Are you spying on me and my kin, cousin?" Gendry asked, and when he looked up, he realized that Daenerys looked a little stricken.
"No, of course not, I trust all of you implicitly," she replied. "I just heard someone angry about it, and I thought it sounded like something you would do."
"If you trust us, then why are you here? Why are you checking to make sure I haven't run away?" he asked.
"I'm here to see how you're doing," Daenerys replied, and she sounded a little sad. For a moment, Gendry wanted to believe that she was really here because she cared about him. Deep down, Gendry knew that Daenerys cared about him and all of his siblings, but right now, he was too angry to see that. Right now, he was trapped and far away from the woman he loved, and he couldn't let that go.
"Forgive me, Dany, but your guilt about this entire situation doesn't do me any good," Gendry snapped, and Daenerys flinched a little. She didn't look away from him even as Gendry got to his feet and stepped closer to her. They were alone, her guards were outside, and he almost wanted to do something just to prove that her confidence in him was unfounded. That wouldn't help anyone, and he didn't want fire and blood raining down on Storm's End. "So I don't want your guilt or your empathy. If you come and see me again, it better be to tell me that I'm free to go home. Otherwise, we have nothing to say to each other. Not anymore, cousin."
"I understand," Daenerys said, and she stood up a little taller. "I won't be staying long. I needed to speak with Lord Davos about concerns I have with the sea, and then I will be on my way." She turned to leave but hesitated at the door. "Gendry, please be safe." Daenerys didn't give him a chance to reply to that; she walked out the door and let it slam behind him. Gendry's hands were shaking, and he didn't get any more work done for the rest of the day.
Arya was glad that House Dustin was the last of the Northern Houses that seemed to think her hand was available for marriage now that Gendry was trapped in the south. No one came looking to court her again, and no one sent another raven to Jon about it. Arya felt like this should have been something that made her happy. Instead, she was just annoyed that it happened at all. She always thought that coming home and the war ending would mean that she could be happy, and everything would be fine. Yet the world seemed to take pleasure in trying to take Gendry away from her. No matter what they did and no matter how hard they worked, it just wasn't as simple as being left alone.
Sometimes, when she was at her worst, Arya thought about how she should have taken Gendry and ran as soon as she knew the North was safe again. Jon was safe, Sansa was safe, Bran was safe, they were all safe, and then she needed to focus on herself. She remembered lying in Gendry's arms and feeling like she was still at war. Apparently, they were, but Arya didn't feel vindicated in that. There wasn't going to be any pleasure in telling anyone, "I told you so" because it wasn't going to get Gendry home anytime soon. She tried to send some raven to Storm's End, but she didn't get a response. Arya didn't think that people wouldn't let her talk to him at all. The fact that they were half a continent away was bad enough.
Sansa walked up to her three months after the sentencing, and she looked sad and worried. Arya was immediately on edge and wondered what could have happened to make her sister look so upset because Sansa rarely looked this upset about anything. "What happened?" Arya demanded, and she was ready to put a sword through someone if it meant keeping that terrible expression off of Sansa's face.
"I didn't want to upset you, but we can't wait any longer. Theon and I need to start planning for the wedding, but I didn't want to make things worse for you," Sansa said as she twisted her fingers together. Arya relaxed immediately as she realized that Sansa was just trying to look out for her.
"Sansa, I'm not going to turn into some crazy person at the mere sight of a wedding," Arya said as she took her sister's hands into hers.
"I know, but I didn't want to have the wedding without Gendry here. He's family and I wanted him here, but people are sending ravens for me wondering if the wedding is still happening, and Yara sent a message that the Iron Isles are getting antsy as well," Sansa replied, and she sighed heavily. "I thought we could wait until we came up with a way to bring him home, but it seems that waiting will just make things worse."
"Securing our alliance with Yara is a good thing," Arya said with a small smile. "If we ever need to break Gendry out of Storm's End, it would be good to have the Greyjoy's on our side to get out of Shipwrecker's Bay."
"I'd like to send a raven to the south," Sansa said softly. "I'm going to commission Gendry to make the rings for us. There isn't anyone else I'd like to design my wedding rings. Perhaps if the commission comes through me, it will go through, and we can figure out why he isn't writing to you." Arya nodded and let Sansa pull her into a tight hug. They held each other for a long time as Arya tried not to think about how the last wedding she went to ended.
Despite her promise not to turn into a weeping maid about weddings, it turned out that Arya was not as good at keeping her promise as she thought. The planning of the wedding between the prince and the princess turned into the only thing that people around Winterfell could talk about, and no matter how hard she tried to escape it, people kept talking about it. She heard whispers about people wondering why Sansa would ask Gendry of all people to make the rings considered what happened, and it took all of Arya's self-control not to punch anyone. This whole thing was setting her teeth on edge, and she didn't know how to react to any of it. It was all too much, and Arya spent most of her time hiding in her room or playing with Jojana.
The little girl was acting more and more like a human being as her personality began to shine through. She was mischievous and seemed to want to get into everything that she could get her little hands on. Arya was quite enjoying being an aunt, and she spent as much time with the baby as she could. It kept her away from all of the wedding planning, which was enough for her.
"It's strange," Arya said as she bounced Jojana on her hip. Meera looked up from the book that she was reading at her.
"What is?" Meera asked.
"I never really liked kids that much, and I didn't really want them for years. I couldn't think of bringing a babe into a world with Cersei Lannister in it. She's gone, though, and I thought I would feel safer. I thought I'd be ready to go and find a babe that needed a home, but I'm not. I'm still not ready," Arya said. "But, I am ready to be the best possible aunt to this little girl, though."
"No knives until she turns ten," Meera said.
Sansa got a letter from Mya saying that Gendry would be making the rings, but he couldn't be the one to send the letters. Mya explained that people had shot down the ravens from Storm's End before, and she thought that seeing correspondence between Arya and Gendry would just make things worse somehow. Arya didn't agree with that at all, and she was so angry at the world yet again. All of the wedding stuff became too much, and she found herself sitting alone in the Godswood wondering how everything went so wrong. Of all the people to come out and talk to her, Theon was not the person he was expecting. He was dressed like he was going to travel, and there were two packs on his shoulder.
"What are you doing?" she asked because if Theon was running away from Sansa before their wedding, Arya might have to gut him.
"We both need a break, and Jon always talked about the quiet that came from standing on top of the Wall," Theon said, and he tossed one of the pack's over to her. "So, we're going to the Wall." Arya blinked and looked at the pack in her lap.
"What about the wedding?" she asked carefully.
"Sansa told me that she has it covered," Theon replied. "She also said that I look like I want to throw up because there are all of these extra people running around, and a break from all of them would probably be a good idea. I thought you might agree with that." There were a lot of people that Arya wanted to travel with, but Theon was never on that list. However, her main travel companion was far away, and Arya didn't have a lot of options. The idea of getting out of Winterfell and out into the quiet was too appealing. Arya pushed herself to her feet and nodded. Theon told her that he would finish tending to their horses while Arya got the last of her belongings. No one tried to stop them when they walked out of Winterfell and began to head to Eastwatch.
The wedding was a moon and a half away from happening, so they had plenty of time to make it to the old stronghold and back without any problems timewise. However, they both seemed to silently agree that the Wall was the destination, and that meant getting there quickly. A good portion of Eastwatch was destroyed when the dead broke through, but the last Arya heard there were a few people still there, and they would be welcome. It took the two of them ten days to reach the Wall and Eastwatch, which was even more massive than Arya ever imagined, and she couldn't quite believe what she was seeing. It was cold even though it was summer now, but the biting wind felt incredible.
They were indeed welcomed by a contingent of Free Folk and a few old Black Brothers that helped the two of them get to the top of the Wall. Arya stood on what felt like the top of the world with Theon Greyjoy of all people as they stared out into lands that neither of them had ever been to.
"I'm terrified that Sansa is going to wake up one day and realize she deserves so much better," Theon said, and Arya glanced at him. "Me and Gendry, we used to talk about it. We would talk about how we both thought that we didn't deserve Sansa or you all the time. He was the only one who got it, who understood what it was like to feel like the woman you loved was so far beyond your reach that you could only dream about touching her someday."
"Sansa loves you," Arya said carefully. "The same way that I love Gendry. I'm not saying it's going to be easy, you know that you saw what Gendry and I did and do to each other, but I want you to know that she loves you."
"I think some part of my shattered brain knows that, but I can't get my head around it," Theon said as he looked out across the world. "Sometimes, I want to get on one of Asha's ships and sail to the horizon without looking back. It seems easier even though I know it would make me a coward." Arya wanted to tell Theon that he wasn't a coward, that he was just experiencing the things that people in love experience, but as she looked out into those lands that she had felt a calling to as a child, she understood what he felt. Right now, she wanted to get on her horse and walk into the unexplored regions of the North without looking back because, at that moment, it seemed easier.
