Gendry remembered fighting against the guards and trying to get away because he couldn't let this happen. He was thinking of Harrenhal and how terrible it was to be a slave there basically and how he couldn't go back to that way of life again. The guards twisted his arms painfully behind his back until Gendry had to stop fighting or risk a broken arm. He knew he couldn't save himself and his siblings with a broken arm, so he went limp instead and forced the guards to carry his entire weight just to be petty. There was only one large cell, and Gendry was glad that he was close to his siblings because he didn't want to think about what would happen if they were separated now. It seemed that Mya and Bella both seemed to be thinking about exactly what would happen to them.
"Women slaves are taken advantage of," Bella whispered. "They rape the women, they use our bodies as they see fit, that's what he is condemning us to in the name of Dany?"
"I won't let this happen," Edric snapped, and he banged his hand against the bars of their cell. "I demand to talk to Daario immediately. I'm a fucking Lord, and you can't ignore me like this!" Edric kept hitting the bars until Gendry saw a flash of red, and he stopped his little brother from breaking his own hand. Mya was holding Bella, who was so curled into herself she looked like she was trying to cease to exist.
"Edric, you need to stop before you hurt yourself," Gendry said softly, but Edric was trembling either from fear or from anger.
"I swore to look after my family, and I'm failing," he whispered, and Gendry pulled his little brother into a tight hug. Gendry knew that he wasn't the only one who saw what slavery was or had an experience with it. A half a year into his time on Lyse, someone grabbed Edric, and for a week, he was held as a slave until Andrew Estermont broke him out. He wasn't ever sold, but he knew the horrors that were waiting for him from the slaves that he was with. If Edric had nightmares about anything, it was about that. Gendry held him until Edric stopped shaking, and Gendry sat down next to Mya as they held each other.
While Edric slept the next morning, Gendry walked up to one of the guards. He hoped that he could secure a meeting with Daario, and maybe they could explain that this all had to be a misunderstanding. That there was no possible way that Daenerys would ever condone this or want him to do this, and setting them free was the best thing they could do.
"Ser, I'd like a meeting with Lord Daario," Gendry asked. He shifted his body by hunching his shoulders and making himself look a little smaller. He averted his eyes and remembered how he had to keep his head down like Harrenhal to stay alive. The only way he was going to get a meeting was to look like he wasn't a threat. The guard looked at Gendry and rolled his eyes.
"Fine, I'll go ask him, but you keep that brother of yours under control," the guard said, and Gendry all but bowed to the man.
"Yes, ser." Gendry paced around the cell and was glad that everyone seemed to be sleeping still, but Bella was the next one who woke up. She managed to wiggle her way out of Mya's arms and walked over to Gendry. Bella looked up when the guard walked in, and her body language changed as well. Bella walked like the Lady of a Great House that she was now, but the woman standing next to him was the Bella he met at the Peach. The one who didn't know how to ask for things that she wanted in Winterfell what felt like a lifetime ago. Mya blinked awake as well, but Gendry managed to shake his head, so she didn't move.
"All right, Lord Daario says that he'll meet with you," the guard said.
"Please ser," Bella said. "Please, I want to come with my brother to meet the Lord. Please, I don't want to be separated from him." Gendry was about to argue, but the guard shrugged as he opened the door to the cell and slapped irons on Bella's wrists. Gendry glanced over his shoulder at Mya, whose eyes were wide with fear.
"Stay here, and don't let Edric lose his mind. We'll be back; I promise," he said.
"I'm holding you to that promise, Gendry Stark," Mya replied. The irons went on Gendry's wrists as well, and they were dragged out of the cell and to the room where Daario was waiting for them. He looked a little amused to see that Gendry wasn't alone.
"My guards told me one of you wanted to talk to me but not two," he said.
"My Lord, please, listen to what we have to say," Gendry said, and the smile on Daario's face began to fade slowly. "Queen Daenerys has adopted us as her kin. She calls us her cousins. I've known her since the Long Night against the Others in the North, and even her dragons allow us to approach them. You have to believe that she wouldn't want you to do this to us because she loves us. If she thinks we're dead right now, I can assure you that she's mourning us."
"You're wrong," Daario snapped. "The Baratheon's took everything from her, and she would never forgive the kin of that man. She told me what he did to her mother and her family, and the fact that you would suggest that she would ever forgive you shows the lies you're trying to tell me to save yourselves."
"Gendry is the one who made the crown that sits on her head," Bella said. "She named him a Stark in honor of his marriage so he wouldn't be a bastard anymore. She named me a Baratheon so my brother and sister could bring honor to our family name again. We attended her wedding, the King."
"Silence!" Daario yelled as he stomped over and loomed over both of them. "Your lies will gain you nothing, and I refuse to listen to anything more you have to say. You will be sold into slavery because killing you would be too kind. I took your blood and your hair so I can present them to her to show that her enemies are truly gone. You have nowhere you could go. No ship will take you from these ports and my men are patrolling the west. Even if you managed to get away from the places you'll be sent you have no way of getting back to Westeros. My army has seen to that." Gendry was about to say something more when Bella burst into tears and began to sob at the feet of this man. He jerked back a step as if he didn't expect her to do that.
"Please, allow me to serve you, my Lord, please allow me to stay here, and I will do whatever you command. Please spare me," she said between her cries, which was odd because Bella wasn't asking for Daario to spare all of them but just her. Daario blinked and turned to the guards. "Take him down to the cells but keep her here for a moment."
"Wait, no-" but Gendry didn't get another word in as one of the guards punched him in the stomach. He didn't like the idea of leaving Bella alone with that man, but he couldn't do anything. They brought him back to the cell where Edric was practically growling, and Mya suddenly paled.
"Where is she?" Mya asked.
"He asked to keep her behind," Gendry said as he grit his teeth. Edric looked like he was about to start yelling when Bella was led down the stairs and put into the cell with them. The guards left them alone, and the withdrawn woman stood taller, and Gendry noticed that her eyes weren't red, and there wasn't any evidence that she had actually cried. He was about to ask her what she did when Bella shook her head ever so slightly. Gendry glanced at Mya and Edric, but none of them said anything. They settled into their cell and waited.
Over the course of the next three days, Daario called Bella and only Bella out of the cell to talk to him, and she went every single time. Gendry didn't believe in many of the gods, but he prayed to every single one that Bella wasn't using her body to give Daario what he wanted. The thought of his sister having to do that turned his stomach, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. When he asked to try and go with her, the guards said that Daario asked for her and her alone. Bella still played the meek woman with the shaking lower lip who looked a moment away from crying, but Gendry knew that his sister was very good at showing people, and specifically men, what they wanted to see.
On the third day, more guards than usual came down, and irons were clapped on all of their wrists. They were taken through the massive structure to a large room where everyone but Bella's irons were strapped to the floor. It forced them all to kneel while Bella remained standing. Daario emerged from another room off to the side, and Gendry could see from his vantage point that it was a bedroom. He also watched as Bella's entire posture changed, and he remembered seeing her this way when she was still working at the Peach. He wanted to ask her what she was doing and that she didn't need to do anything rash, but she was the one standing next to him, and she subtly kicked him. Gendry didn't want to remain quiet, but he knew that he needed to trust his sister. He glanced at Mya, who was pale and looked like she wanted to be sick, and Edric, who looked like he was about a minute away from breaking his own hands to get free.
"My Lord, lovely to see you again," Bella said with a deep bow. Daario grinned and turned to the rest of the guards in the room.
"Are they all shackled?" he asked.
"Yes, m'lord," one of the guards replied. Daario gestured for the key, and he walked over to Bella to undo her shackles. He glanced down at the rest of them and smiled.
"Guards, they are secure, but I want to keep them close. They are going in separate directions today, after all," Daario explained as he clipped the keys to his belt. He looked Bella over and smiled again. "Well, most of them are going in separate directions. Let's give us all some alone time." The guards looked a little insecure, but they walked out of the room and closed the door. Edric bared his teeth as Daario began to lead Bella to the bedroom by the hand. She let herself be led but also held out a hand that seemed to indicate that they needed to wait. Daario closed the door, and the room went silent.
"We need to do something," Edric said between his teeth.
"Something is going on," Mya replied as she watched the door. That didn't seem to placate Edric at all as he began to test the chains. They were strong, and there was no way they were getting away, Gendry could already tell, so he kept an eye on that door and hoped that Bella knew what she was doing. It was quiet, and he didn't know what he would do if he heard anything that sounded like sex. He hated the idea of his sister needing to do that again, and he hated himself even more if he stood by and let it happen. The minutes passed, and the door suddenly opened as Bella rushed out in men's clothing and the keys in her hand.
"Bella, what the fuck?" Edric said.
"He wanted to sleep with me," Bella said as she began to unlock all of their chains quickly. "And men who want sex are stupid. So when he wasn't looking, I got my hands on his belt, and I strangled that asshole." Gendry shifted, and he could see the half-dressed body of Daario on the bed, and he was very much, not moving.
"Did he touch you?" Gendry asked softly as Bella unlocked his chains. She hesitated and looked into his eyes.
"He never got a piece of clothing off of me, but he did kiss me, but I can handle it," she replied and went back to work. Gendry took that dismissal for what it was, and they all began to work quickly. They all needed different clothes, and Daario had enough that they were able to take. It didn't all fit, but it was enough. Bella tied her long hair up into a knot and hid it beneath a cloth while Mya pulled her own back. There were a few swords in the room and a single dagger that Gendry gave to Mya. Edric found four packs, and they stole as many valuables, food, and water that they could carry.
"We need to get home, but Daario said we can't go west," Edric said.
"Let's focus on getting out of here first. We head east and then head back west once we lose the guards." Gendry replied. Once they had all they could carry, Gendry carefully opened up the door, and he and Edric slit the throats of the two guards. They began to creep through the massive castle killing guards in dark corners as they went and locking maids in rooms where they couldn't get help. Gendry had blood on his hands by the time they managed to reach the stables. They stole three horses with Edric, Mya, and Gendry all getting on one and Bella riding behind Gendry on the other. The guards were moving around in a way that seemed to suggest that someone had found Daario or the bodies and the time to play it safe was over. They kicked their horses and took off through the city.
The streets were narrowing and winding, and Gendry was sure he was going to fall over before they made it anywhere safe. Now the guards knew something was going on as arrows began to fall around them. Bella was hanging onto Gendry so tight he thought she was going to break one of his ribs, but he ignored it. He needed to focus on getting them out of the city. A cry of pain broke his focus, and he glanced over his shoulder. Edric had taken an arrow to the calf, and he broke the arrow off and kept riding. There wasn't time to worry about any wounds. The gates to the city came into view, and Gendry pushed the horse to ride faster. It wasn't good for the animal, but if the gates closed, they would be captured and executed. They passed through the gates of the city and into the desert beyond Meereen just as someone yelled to close the gates. There was still no time; Gendry turned his horse east, and they continued to ride hard with Daario's men not far behind them.
Daenerys and Quentyn stayed another two days before they climbed on the back of Drogon and flew back to the south. They got word that Sansa and Theon were on their way home after only a day Storm's End, which was strange. Arya thought they would want to spend more time with Davos, and it set her on edge. She remained on edge until Sansa and Theon both climbed out and were safely back in Winterfell ten days after Daenerys and Quentyn had left. Sansa embraced Arya tightly, and Arya didn't understand why Sansa was holding her so tightly.
"We need to talk in private," Sansa said, and they all made their way up to Jon's solar. Meera and Bran joined them as Jojana was down for a nap, and Sansa actually locked the door before she finally sat down. She was carrying stress, and she was carrying it very badly.
"Sansa, what's wrong?" Jon asked.
"Davos wasn't at Storm's End when we got there," Sansa said, and everyone in the room froze. That didn't make any sense; the notices all said that Davos was the Lord of Storm's End, and even Daenerys seemed to think that was the case when she visited, but now Arya was hearing that wasn't the case. It made something cold settle in her stomach.
"What do you mean?" Val asked carefully.
"I mean we got there and Ser Davos and his wife were gone and there was a new Lord running Storm's End. A man named Connington," Sansa said, and now Arya knew that something was wrong. She couldn't find the words to express the fear and anger that was settling into her gut, but Sansa continued. "There was a will signed and written by Edric that named Connington as the Lord of Storm's End if something should happen to him, Mya, and Bella."
"That isn't possible," Arya snapped, and everyone in the room turned to look at her. "Edric would never name Connington as his heir. He was one of the ones that accused Gendry and me of overstepping and got us separated. There is no possible way that Edric would give up Storm's End to anyone but Ser Davos and certainly not someone who tried to get Gendry hanged."
"It looked real enough that no one seemed to dispute it," Theon said.
"Daenerys was just here ten days ago," Jon said carefully. "She wanted to talk to Arya personally. I feel like she would have told us if something like this happened. This change must have happened when she was flying North to see us."
"That isn't a coincidence," Bran said, and Arya was inclined to agree with her brother. She was shaking as the worst possible scenarios all flew through her head. It was bad enough that Gendry and everyone else was dead now; there was a chance that Davos was missing as well? Arya wanted to get on a horse and ride to Storm's End as fast as she could and hold a dagger to the throat of this Connington until he admitted what exactly was going on.
"So the will could be fake," Meera said, and everyone nodded. "Do we know what happened to Ser Davos?"
"Davos has lived through a lot of battles, and he knows when to run," Jon said. "He could have just left."
"Or he didn't leave, and this Connington did away with him," Arya snapped. "The fake will means he had something to do with Gendry and the others. We need to find a way to go talk to him. I want to talk to him and find out exactly what he knows. I want to look him in the eye and ask him why my husband is dead."
"Arya," Val said softly, and there was something about the tone of her voice that made Arya look up at her. "If you go south, you will damn us all to war. You can't push your way into Storm's End and start making demands. You will break the treaty, and we can't risk that." Arya slammed her fist on the table hard enough that Theon jumped, and a wine glass fell over.
"He took something from me, and I intend to take something back," Arya said.
"Arya, please, come with me," Sansa said as she pushed herself to her feet. Arya didn't know what was going on, but she followed Sansa out of the solar and into Sansa's room. The door was shut, and Arya was about to ask what was going on when Sansa threw her arms around her and hugged her again. "Come back to me, little sister."
"I'm right here; what are you talking about?" Arya asked because she was so confused as she stood in the middle of Sansa's room.
"I'm losing you," Sansa said, and she pulled away to frame Arya's face with her hands the way their mother used to when they were children. "I'm going to lose you to revenge. I almost lost you to the Frey's or the Cersei, but I can't lose you. Please, come back to me, don't get lost in vengeance the way you did when father died."
"Sansa, that man, he could have killed Gendry, he deserves it," Arya snapped, but Sansa pressed their foreheads together, and Arya realized that Sansa was crying. "Sansa, I can't-"
"If you go south, you'll die too," Sansa said, which made Arya pause. "If you're caught, they will execute you, and we'll all go to war. We have lost so much already; please don't let me lose you too. Please, I can't lose someone else. I can't." Arya didn't know what she was supposed to say to all of that, but her mind cleared a bit as Sansa's words began to sink in. They would put her to death if she did something to Connington. They would go to war, and countless people would die. There wouldn't be any other option.
Gendry and his siblings deserved justice, but she remembered her conversation with Sandor on the way to King's Landing when she wanted revenge on Cersei. She remembered how he talked about the reasons for killing and whether or not revenge could be justice. Arya remembered how she confused the two for so much of her life and how the moment she let Cersei die alone while she held Jaime's hand, so he didn't, was the turning point. She felt like she did in Harrenhal when all she could think about was repeating her list when her list was the only thing that mattered, but other things in her life mattered. She had a niece and Sansa and Jon and Meera and Val and Theon and people who needed her. Arya closed her eyes and pressed her lips together.
"I'll try," she whispered because that was all she could promise right now. Sansa nodded, and they held each other for a long time. There was a frantic knock at their door, and Jon stood before them.
"Davos and Marya just walked through the gates of Winterfell," he said. They all raced down the stairs of the tower to find Davos and his wife standing in the courtyard. They looked like they had barely eaten or slept in days.
"Ser Davos," Sansa said. "We just came from Storm's End, and we were so worried when you weren't there."
"I know, and I'm sorry, Your Grace," Davos said as he tried to bow but stopped when it looked like he was about to fall over. "I knew we wouldn't be safe if we stayed, and I didn't want to risk trying to run to King's Landing. I took one of my ships, and I've been sailing around vessels since Connington showed up after the will was found. I couldn't believe it myself, and while it looked real, something didn't sit right with me."
"I don't blame you," Jon said as he walked over to help Davos and Marya stand. "Edric would never leave Storm's End to anyone but you. I would have run as well. You two looked exhausted, so why don't you get some rest and we can talk more tomorrow."
"It wasn't just the will," Davos said, shaking his head. "The bodies, I didn't get a good look at them until the maester stepped in, and by the time I was able to look at them, they were so disfigured I could hardly recognize them, but they didn't sit right with me. When I mentioned that they didn't look quite right, the maester told me that was the poison, and at the time, I believed him. The will turning up and the way it did and Connington practically strolling into Storm's End like he knew it was supposed to happen just made me sure of it."
"Sure of what?" Arya asked.
"Arya, the last thing I want to do is give you false hope, but too many things aren't adding up for me, so I must tell you this," Davos said, and he paused for a moment. "I'm not entirely sure that Gendry and his siblings are dead."
