Every day in King's Landing was nearly the same for the common people of the city. While nobles played nuanced games within the high walls of the Red Keep, the average citizen of the capital tried to push off hunger for another day. Some did this by trading goods for other goods (or services), some were artisans, some were beggars.
Gendry Strongarm did this by working in a forge on the Street of Steel by day, and stealing by night.
He grew up having no family that he could remember, sans his Master in the forge and the gang of street urchins that took him in, seeing him as one of them. They were all orphans, and while not all of them had a steady apprenticeship like him, they all stuck together throughout the years. They had taught him how to start a fire (good for warmth and distractions), how to scale a building (good for breaking in through upstairs windows), and how to sew (good for mending fabrics and making simple disguises). In return, he made small, concealable weapons for each member for protection and brought scraps of food when he could.
There were always new members joining and familiar faces leaving the group, whether it be because of death or running off to try their luck somewhere new. It was usually the Stranger that took the street kids, by murder or starvation or cold or disease.
The last de-facto leader had been around for five months, but he had recently joined the trainee ranks of the city's Goldcloaks in an effort to earn some coin. Time would tell if he would survive to join as a fully fledged guard.
This now left the "Stabbington twins" in charge. Preston and Sam had gained their nickname from their favored method of attack, and often did Gendry regret being the one who gave them the wickedly sharp knives they favored.
The two were only slightly older than him, which he knew would become an issue. They didn't want any threats to their newfound control, and Gendry had begun to sleep with a knife under his pillow.
The moment he had been dreading had finally come though. The twins had gathered all the street kids together to announce that they would be going to the North to steal something so precious, they would never go hungry again. And of course, that Gendry would be the lucky one to go with them, because who wouldn't want Gendry "Strongarm" as their side in case of trouble?
Gendry had no desire to go to Winterfell to steal the lost princess' crown. Sure, he had regularly snatched rare and valuable jewelry from the wealthy merchants and nobles of King's Landing, but that was here, in his home. For this, he would have to travel to the bloody North. He'd never even left the city?
But he couldn't escape the trap the Stabbington brothers had laid. If he didn't go, another would knife him in the back to take his place. He couldn't avoid that fate. If he did go, there was a chance he could double cross them and escape…
And as long as he ended up somewhere with a forge, he could make a future for himself.
Besides, the crown of the lost "Northern princess" was said to be a metallic work of art. Not that she really was a royal, but once King Robert Baratheon had called her that at the remembrance ceremony where he had gifted the crown to her parents, the nickname had stuck. If he could manage, he'd like to see it.
And so Gendry made his quick decision. He grinned at Preston and Sam, and agreed to go with them. They'd leave the next day, so now he just had to survive the night. He could worry about the twins once they were on their way north.