Arya wasn't exactly sure what happened next. She knew she was standing in the middle of the courtyard in Winterfell. She knew that Marya Seaworth nearly fell over, and Val had to help her into the castle while Jon put Davos' arm over his shoulder and helped him into the castle. There was a ringing in her ear that wouldn't go away, and she could hear people talking to her, but she wasn't able to process any of the words. Arya blinked, and her senses came rushing back. Sansa was asking if she was all right, and there was something about that question that made her livid.
"No, of course, I'm not alright," Arya snapped. "I just found out that the husband I've been mourning might not be dead, but no one knows what happened to him. What part of me could possibly be alright?"
"Everyone in Storm's End thinks that Gendry and his siblings are dead. I didn't talk to anyone who said that they thought he was alive, and there wasn't a single rumor."
"Then, you missed something, obviously." Arya knew on some level that she was being unreasonable, but she didn't care right now. There was a glimmer of hope that Gendry could be out there somewhere and in need of help, and that was what she needed to get rid of this gaping wound in her chest. She had a goal, and that meant finding out exactly what Connington and his ilk knew, but she also needed a way to get into the Stormlands without anyone seeing her or knowing that she left. Sansa reached forward and touched her shoulder, but Arya shook her sister off and ran out into the godswood. That was the only place she could sit down and think about everything that she knew.
Arya knew that Storm's End was where she needed to go, but Connington knew her face. Even if she was in disguise, there was a chance that she could reveal something, and the treaty would be broken. There was a chance that his death could be linked back to her somehow since she was the one that was known for wanting revenge, and the only reason Gendry was in the south was because of Connington's part in the trial. She needed time to talk to Davos, but she also needed to figure out a way to get to the Stormlands undercover.
She thought about Yara's offer, but if Yara was found out, that could mean war with the Iron Isles. There was another Greyjoy that might be up to helping Arya get to the Stormlands, and that was Asha. She made the offer about sailing, and maybe this was a way to get around the treaty. The water was neutral as far as borders were concerned. If she said she was on a ship, they couldn't argue with her, and maybe her and Asha could figure out a way to switch ships and sneak down to Storm's End. Arya had no idea what she would do when she got to Storm's End, but right now, that wasn't the issue. The issue was getting there in the first place, which meant that she had a raven to send.
Nymeria followed her through Winterfell, and Arya ignored anyone that tried to talk to her. She pulled out a piece of paper and requested that Asha write back to her as soon as possible and to come to Winterfell if she was able to. It was the only idea that she had, and the only person she could think of that could get her in and out of Shipbreaker Bay without anyone even knowing she was there in the first place. Arya sent out the raven and quickly left the room before anyone knew that she had ever sent a letter in the first place. She would deal with her family when it was time to leave. Right now, the less they knew, the better.
Jon and Val were coming down the stairs when Arya saw them. They were both a little pale, and Jon looked uncomfortable. He nodded to Val, who turned and walked away as Jon approached her.
"Can we talk?" he asked softly. Arya nodded, and they ducked into a small room. "Arya, I don't want you to get false hope. We don't know if Gendry survived that attack, and I'm worried that you're going to hope for something that isn't true, and it's going to hit you all over again."
"I always thought I'd know," Arya replied, and Jon blinked like he didn't understand what she meant. "I always thought I'd know if he was dead and I didn't. I know now why I didn't feel it; it's because he's not dead, Jon."
"Arya, you-"
"I will not hear another option," Arya interrupted. "He is alive, and I will find him." She didn't want to hear what Jon had to say next and walked out of the room, her blood burning with purpose for the first time in a long time.
Arya wasn't waiting outside Ser Davos' room first thing in the morning, but it was pretty close. The door opened, and Marya took one look at her, and her entire face crumpled. Arya couldn't remember the last time someone who was a mother held her like this, but she let the hug happen and muttered her thanks. Marya kissed her forehead and walked down the hall.
"Come in, Arya, I know you're out there," Davos said. Arya wasn't sure what she was supposed to say right now as Davos looked her over. "I appreciate your restraint in waiting for the sun to rise."
"You needed your rest," Arya argued as she sat down at the table with Davos. "How certain are you that he's alive?"
"Would I bet my life on it? Probably not, but there are too many things that don't add up for me. The way Connington acted when he showed up to Storm's End like he'd been preparing for that day. After hearing what he did to you and Gendry and what he said to Edric, Mya, and Bella on their way home was evidence enough to me that Edric wouldn't ever leave Storm's End to him. Even if Edric didn't leave it to me, I know he wouldn't leave it to him," Davos explained. "Then, there was the state of the bodies." Arya sucked in a breath but nodded for him to continue. "They were torn apart. Their faces and bodies were cut and bruised and bloodied and bloated with terrible poison that was making the skin rot off even after their heartbeats stopped. The bodies looked like they matched, and there was even soot on the one that was supposed to be Gendry, but something was odd.
"The maester rushed me out of the room and said that it wasn't safe," Davos continued. "He asked me for scars and birthmarks to confirm that the bodies were who we thought they were and then closed the door. He'd been at Storm's End since Renly was a boy, and I've known him for many years. I always assumed he was loyal to House Baratheon. He was the one who confirmed that it was the Baratheon's but told me that touching them was too dangerous. After Daenerys arrived and saw them, the maester put them in coffins without telling me he was doing so. So I only got to see the bodies three times."
"You think the maester of Storm's End was in on it in some way?" Arya asked as a plan began to form in her mind.
"He was the one who confirmed the bodies, and I stupidly believed him. By the time I realized that things just weren't adding up, Connington was the new Lord of Storm's End, and I didn't know what he would do to me. I heard him say privately that the matter of the Baratheon murders was solved, and it was old sellswords hired by the Lannister's that he caught on the way to Storm's End. It was too convenient, and I knew I wasn't safe, so I left. We avoided ships so no one saw us come to the North because I knew you Stark's would keep me safe," Davos said, and he sighed heavily. "I don't know what happened to them or if they are alive right now, but I am fairly certain the bodies in the crypts of Storm's End are not the Baratheon's."
"Thank you, Davos, for telling me everything," Arya replied. She pushed herself to her feet and walked out of the room but paused at the doorway. "You didn't fail them. I know you think that you did, but you didn't. There is more going on here than I think we realize, and I truly don't know what you could have done to prevent this."
"I appreciate the sentiment, lass, even if I don't believe it," Davos said softly. Arya walked out of the room and went to wait for a raven from Asha. She knew who she needed to talk to now, and it wasn't going to be Connington.
Ten days after she sent the raven, Arya got a message from Asha. She already loved this idea and was on her way to Winterfell and would be there within the next two weeks. Now she just needed to convince her family that she wasn't about to start a war, but Arya wasn't sure how well that was going to work without Asha backing her up. So Arya threw herself into helping the blacksmith they found that was willing to help with Rhaegal, a bright young man just out of his apprenticeship named Edd, who smiled brightly and looked both terrified and eager at the idea of helping a dragon fly again. His eagerness in the forge reminded Arya far too much of a young Gendry who was just excited about the concept of making things. The contraption was complicated, and Edd wasn't near as talented as Gendry, but they were making progress.
Asha arrived five days later, looking all too pleased with herself and smiling when the Stark guards clearly had no idea who she was. Arya walked out to greet her, and her smile fell a little. Asha didn't appear to the type of hug which Arya was thankful for and instead put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Asha?" Theon said from behind them as he walked up. "Not that it isn't lovely to see you, but what exactly are you doing here?"
"I asked her to come," Arya said, and she gestured for them to follow her into the Great Hall where Jon, Val, and Sansa all were. They looked just as surprised to see Asha as Theon was though Jon faked it a little better.
"King Jon, this is my cousin, Lady Asha Greyjoy," Theon said.
"Lady Asha, it's lovely to finally meet you, but I'm afraid we didn't know you were coming. Is there a reason you're so far away from home?" Jon asked.
"I asked her to come," Arya said, and everyone looked at her. "I need some time away from all of this to clear my head, so I can figure out what I'm going to do next to find my husband and his siblings. I can't do that here, and Lady Asha offered to take me out to sea whenever I want. Right now, this is what I want."
"I thought you couldn't leave the North or we would be at war," Val said carefully as she glanced at Sansa and Jon because she didn't seem entirely sure that was the case. "You know we cannot risk going to war."
"The seas are neutral territory, Your Graces," Asha said. "We'll be flying under Greyjoy colors, and no one will even know that she's aboard. As long as she doesn't step foot off of the boat, nothing will happen."
"Jon," Arya said softly. "I need to do this, please." Jon probably knew that she was lying. In fact, there was a decent chance that everyone in this room knew that she was lying. However, Jon also likely realized that this was the safest way for Arya to leave the North without causing too much attention. She needed answers, and they all knew they could only hold her back so long before she lost her patience and went south to Storm's End.
"Lord Connington," Sansa said carefully. "Ser Davos, and now you think he has something to do with this. I want you to swear to me on our parent's lives that you won't touch him, Arya. I need you to swear it to me, and to everyone in this room, you will not confront or hurt that man in any capacity."
"I won't hurt Lord Connington, I won't speak to Lord Connington, he won't ever know I left the North. I swear this on our parent's lives," Arya replied, which wasn't a lie. She didn't plan on seeing Connington and as much as she wanted to put Needle through his eye, now wasn't the time. She had another target, and it was one that Sansa didn't ask her not to harm. Sansa seemed to relax a little and nodded to Jon.
"Please look after my sister, Lady Asha, she means the world to all of us," Jon said, and while he was telling Asha that it was Arya, he was looking at. She knew why he was doing this; it was a reminder that no matter what, she had family in the North that loved and cared about her. That was true, and Arya knew how much they loved her, and she loved them back, but a member of the pack was missing, and she intended to fix that.
They left the next morning Asha started leading them west, but Arya steered them southeast toward White Harbor and began to explain her plan. She needed to get into Storm's End, and no one could know that she was ever near there. They would sail south a little but not too far and meet up with a smaller ship that Asha would send a raven to meet them in the middle of nowhere. Asha and Arya would switch ships while Asha's ship would continue to fly the Greyjoy colors proudly, and the crew would port to talk about the princess on board. All the while, Asha and Arya would be heading to Storm's End under no colors. That night, Arya would disguise herself and go into the castle to talk to the maester who probably knew something. They would leave that night, meet up with the original ship, and go back to Winterfell.
"You really thought all of this through, didn't you little wolf," Asha said as they continued riding. "It's a good plan, and I quite like it."
"You could be executed for this. If you don't want to help me get into Storm's End, I can go by myself," Arya replied.
"Your husband was a good man. If he's still alive and I can help him, then that's what I'm going to do," Asha said.
It took them three long weeks to get to Storm's End, but by the time the castle appeared in the distance, Arya felt a little sick. She was dressed as a boy, as was Asha, and she would be waiting with the ship to leave as soon as possible. They docked in the middle of the afternoon, and Arya helped unload the cargo as she eyed the castle carefully. The rest of the crew and Asha took off into the nearby taverns as Arya began to make her way inside.
She loved Storm's End, but one of the things she did when they were visiting was learning how to get in and out of the castle without being detected. It was something she did for every major castle that she went to because, after King's Landing, one never knew when you needed to get out of a castle in a hurry. Connington apparently thought he was safe because there weren't a lot of guards around the castle, and the ones she did see looked very upset. They didn't want to be serving this man; she could tell, and Arya grit her teeth as she tried not to think about the injustice of all of this.
The maester was an old man, asleep in his bed, and the moonlight coming in through the doors gave Arya enough light that she didn't need to light a candle. She put Needle to this man's throat and waited for him to wake up. His eyes blinked slowly, and he gasped in panic.
"One wrong move and I cut you open," Arya threatened as she made sure she was hidden in shadow, and her voice was low.
"I have nothing," the maester begged, but Arya pressed the blade to his throat.
"The Baratheon's," Arya said. "You were the one who declared them dead, but it wasn't their bodies, was it. You lied to Ser Davos and Queen Daenerys about those bodies."
"I didn't, I swear, the bodies in the crypt-" Arya cut him off by cutting a shallow cut into his throat, and she stepped closer.
"Liar," she hissed. This was an old man that she was standing over, with tears in eyes, and he was looking at her like he was begging her for mercy, but her mercy was long gone. "Tell me what happened, or I start taking fingers and then toes and going from there."
"It wasn't them!" the maester cried out, and Arya waited. "You're right; I lied, I told them that it was the Baratheon bodies when it wasn't. They were stabbed, I stitched their wounds, and I gave them to someone mentioning Meereen and a man named Daario. I don't know what became of them after that, I swear, I swear by the Seven, that's all I know." Arya stood very still as she thought about what she was going to do. It wasn't much to go on, but Daenerys was once the Queen of Meereen, and if anyone knew anything about the city, it would be her. Gendry was stabbed, this man admitted that Gendry was stabbed, and he stitched their wounds and sent them off with unknown men.
Arya could not let that stand.
She removed the sword from his throat, and he breathed a sigh of relief, clearly thinking she intended to spare him. Instead, Arya picked up a pillow from the floor, walked over to the maester, and held it over his face. He thrashed against her, struggling for air, but Arya refused to move. He kept fighting until he went still beneath her, and even then, she waited. He was still for a long time before she pulled away and looked down at the old man she just killed. The cut on his throat was small and barely visible, no doubt they would think he died of old age, and she stared at him.
She felt nothing.
Arya snuck out of Storm's End with blood on her hands, a place, and a name.
Gendry and Bella's horse was the first to collapse, and after that, they doubled up again on Mya and Edric's but the Second Sons, the men that Daario commanded, stayed close behind them. Anytime over the next month that they tried to double back east or go to a port town, someone would attack them. They had no choice but to run for their lives as they continued east. The other two horses eventually collapsed, and they had no choice but to continue on foot. Gendry had removed the arrow from Edric's calf, but the wound was not healing well. They didn't have much to keep it clean, and they needed all the water they could to drink. Edric did his best to walk on it, but Gendry eventually had to carry his brother on his back, or they wouldn't get anywhere.
"What are we supposed to do?" Mya asked after Edric had fallen asleep with his head in her lap. She was running her fingers through his messy hair, and the bandage on his leg didn't look clean anymore.
"If we stop, they either kill us or enslave us," Bella replied as she tossed another piece of wood into their tiny fire. She had managed to get them supplies from a small town that all but threw her out when they got a look at her hair and eyes. They were okay, at least for now, but it wasn't going to last long. Gendry was so exhausted he felt like he could barely keep his eyes open, and the added weight of carrying a grown man on his back left his entire body feeling like he got the shit kicked out of him again by The Mountain.
"We need to get somewhere safe so we can figure out how we're getting home," Mya said. "We need somewhere to heal because he's starting to feel warm to me, and I'm worried his wound is going to fester if it isn't already." Gendry wanted to reassure his sisters that they were going to be okay, but he couldn't. He didn't know how to tell them that the only plan he had was to run until these men stopped trying to catch them and hope to find a settlement that wasn't loyal to Daario. The world was beginning to go dark around the edges, and Gendry didn't know if he was falling asleep or passing out. In the end, it didn't really matter, because he needed to get some rest.
He dreamed of wolves, of Winterfell, of being safe in a home where people loved him. He dreamed of a sharp smile and grey eyes that reminded him of the moon. He dreamed of being locked in dungeons and a woman digging her nails into his cheek while calling him beautiful. He dreamed of staring down a dragon and cold hands snapping his bones. He dreamed of holding the person that meant the most to him in his arms and prayed to gods he wasn't sure he believed in anymore that he could someday hold her again.
