Part Twelve

It was clear by the dead silence in the room that no one really knew how they were supposed to react to this situation. Arya didn't know what to say to the woman who took away her entire family and ruined her life. Gendry clearly didn't know how to react to the woman who wanted him to die and considered him some sort of threat. Cersei didn't seem to know how to start this conversation either because she just stared at the two of them with barely contained rage. Somewhere in the back of her mind Arya realized that she should have bowed or addressed Cersei like the Queen she apparently was now but the words just got stuck.

It seemed that the guards had some sort of idea about because they kicked the back of Gendry's legs and forced him to the ground. Arya was about to say something when they did the same to her and she hit the stone floor of the Red Keep's throne room. Cersei smirked when Arya failed to hide her wince of pain. She decided that there was no way this conversation was going to be pleasant so there was no point in trying.

"What happened to the King?" Arya asked.

"Tommen has joined his brother and sister in the arms of the Gods," Cersei replied but there was something about her voice that made every hair stand on end. Cersei looked guilty and Tommen was not a bad person. He didn't deserve whatever his mother did to him. However, it seemed that Arya wasn't going to get the chance to bring it up because Cersei stood. "We assumed you were dead for many years, Arya Stark. If you were wise you should have stayed that way."

"I didn't exactly run around announcing it to all of Westeros," Arya snapped.

"No, but you stayed in Westeros. You ran around the lands and attacked my men. You stole supplies from me. You remained a constant thorn in my side for many years. If you wanted to stay hidden that was not the way to do it." Cersei folded her hands in front of her and walked down the stairs. "What did you think you were doing?"

"I was thinking that my father was an honorable man that you helped kill. I was thinking that my mother and brother didn't deserve to get slaughtered at the Twins," Arya said and Cersei smiled.

"You wanted revenge but you were just a little girl with a little sword. You couldn't get to me so you thought you would annoy me to death with your little attacks?" Cersei shook her head and laughed a little to herself. "None of this surprises me from the girl who tried to have her wolf kill my son. You could have jumped on a ship and sailed to the free cities. No one was looking for you, Arya Stark, you could have run away and no one would have spoken your name again. Instead, you chose revenge and now you're here."

"The people were suffering-"

"Do not lie to me and act like you did all of this for the sake of the people. You did all of this for revenge and nothing more." Cersei looked at Gendry for the first time and there was an odd expression on her face. "And the fact that you did it with one of my husbands escaped bastards is just fascinating." Unlike Arya, Gendry did not seem keen to speak back to the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and instead kept his eyes down. Arya didn't blame him; they both knew that he was on much thinner ice than she was.

What Arya was not expecting was Cersei walking down the steps for the throne so she could look down at Gendry. She put a finger beneath his chin and forced him to look up at her.

"You look so much like him," Cersei whispered. "Robert was so beautiful when I first thought he was mine and you are his mirror image. I've been told you even fight with a war hammer as he did. You look like his ghost come back to haunt me for all of my many terrible deeds."

"Get your hands off of him!" Arya yelled as Cersei cupped Gendry's cheek and ran her thumb along his cheekbone. If Arya didn't know better she would think that there was lust in the way that Cersei was looking at him.

"Does it bother you? To have a woman look at your husband and call him beautiful?" Cersei asked without looking away from Gendry's face. "He has the face of a former king and there is not a person alive who could deny that. There is a reason the Stormlanders would look at you two oddly; they knew who he is. Tell me, Gendry, do you believe you are Robert reborn?"

"I think that you don't really care what I think, Your Grace," Gendry said as he looked Cersei directly in the eye.

"Ah, some of that Baratheon fury. I see it though the fact that your wife seems to be angrier than you is extremely amusing to me," Cersei replied as she continued to touch caress Gendry's face like a lover would.

"I am barely controlling my rage, Your Grace because I have nothing to gain and everything to lose by lashing out at you right now." Gendry narrowed his eyes but didn't move away from Cersei as she touched him. Cersei smirked and dug her long nails into Gendry's cheek. She scratched four long, bloody lines into his skin and neither of them broke eye contact for even a moment.

"Oh dear boy you are fascinating," Cersei said as she watched the blood from her scratches slowly drip onto the floor of the Red Keep. "It's such a shame you need to die." Cersei looked back at Arya and smiled. "I'm sure your bastard brother and your ruined sister won't care if we send you back after a failed marriage. You Stark's are so obsessed with your family; I can only imagine what I can convince the King in the North to do in exchange for your life. Perhaps he will even bend the knee."

"Robb didn't bend the knee to save Sansa, what makes you think Jon won't just declare war on you to get me back?" Arya snapped.

"There are far fewer Stark's in the world now than there were all of those years ago," Cersei said as she looked Arya over with contempt. "Guards, I would say these two prisoners have shown some terrible manners during this meeting, would you agree?"

"Yes, Your Grace," the men holding their arms agreed.

"Their rudeness after my son showed them such generosity is quite sickening. Please escort them to the black cells and remind them both that they are only alive because the crown has graciously allowed them to continue to breathe. For now at least." Cersei locked eyes with Gendry and smirked. She nodded to the guards and they were both roughly yanked to their feet. Arya wanted to fight back more than anything, she wanted to scream at this evil woman more than anything in the world. Arya wanted to make her bleed but there was nothing she could do.

That didn't stop Arya from struggling as the guards dragged her and Gendry back toward the black cells. The first time one of the guards backhanded her Arya tasted blood and Gendry screamed at them for hitting a lady. The guards shoved them both into a cell but the four men closed the door behind them and smirked.

"The Queen told us that you two care about each other and that it would be in our best interests if we took advantage of that," one of the guards said. "She didn't want to risk one of us putting a bastard in the girl though so we're not allowed to touch her that way. That doesn't mean there aren't other ways to make her hurt."

"Lay a hand on either of us and I'll make your death as slow and painful as possible," Gendry warned and Arya could hear the promise of violence in his voice but the guards laughed as they drew their clubs.

"Let's see how much the lady loves you if we knock out all of your teeth, bastard."

They both fought with everything they had but Arya knew they were going to lose. The guards had clubs, they had fists, and it didn't take long for a well-placed blow to knock all of the air out of her lungs. As she struggled to breathe she watched them knock Gendry to the ground as blood began to run from a wound on his temple.

"Time to watch bastard," one of the guards said. They forced Gendry to his knees as they began to hit her with the clubs. Arya swore she felt her own ribs break and she did her best to curl into as small of a ball as possible and protect her own head. Her body took the beating and by the time it stopped everything hurt. She could barely open her eyes or see clearly. Vaguely, Arya could hear Gendry screaming at them, telling them that they clearly lacked honor if they were going to beat a woman like that, and Arya watched from the ground as they knocked Gendry to the ground with the clubs. They kept hitting him until he was bloody and still on the ground and Arya was unsure whether he was alive or dead.

The guards laughed as they left and loudly locked the door behind them. They warned her that there was more coming for the disrespect they showed the queen. Arya pulled herself across the ground until she was next to Gendry's bloody body. She touched his neck and was relieved to feel a steady pulse. He was alive but badly hurt. Arya could barely see straight and knew that she shouldn't sleep with a head wound but the darkness was pulling her under. She took Gendry's limp hand into her own and was unable to fight it anymore.

As she fell unconscious Arya thanked the gods that they were both still alive but could not ignore the traitorous voice in the back of her head that said: "for now".

It takes Arya a moment to realize that someone is saying her name and trying to wake her up. The world seems a little too loud and too bright and she really just wants to sleep but the last thing she remembered was Gendry's blood soaking into the stones of the Black Cells. Arya forced her eyes open and looked up to see her husband looking down at her with a worried expression. She could see dried blood on the side of his head and throughout his black hair and he was holding himself oddly like something hurt.

"Thank the gods you're awake," he whispered. "I thought they had beaten you to death."

"I'm too valuable to kill or bruise permanently," Arya replied. Her throat was dry and she ached for water but she assumed that they weren't about to get any of that anytime soon. Gendry's hands were shaking but he helped her sit up nevertheless and stayed nearby to keep her steady. "I thought they had killed you when I passed out."

"I'm not sure what they did," Gendry said softly as he frowned. "When I woke up I couldn't remember where I was or who you were. It took nearly an hour for me to remember everything and even then I kept losing my thoughts. It was like I couldn't hang onto them and they would float away." He laughed bitterly. "You always called me stupid; maybe I've taken one too many blows to the head and now I really am."

"You're not stupid and you never have been," Arya replied. She reached forward and touched the large lump on the side of his head and she could feel the dried blood in his hair. Arya could see the bruises peeking out from his clothes and the way he was holding himself betrayed the broken ribs he was likely sporting yet again. Arya supposed she should have considered herself lucky that they hadn't pierced his lungs and he bled to death while they were both unconscious.

Cersei didn't want Gendry to bleed to death in a cell in the dark and away from everyone. She would want him to die publicly the way she killed her father and the way she killed the former queen and everyone else in the Sept. Gendry's had to be some sort of statement to mean anything and Cersei knew how to use death to her advantage. The guards would be back and they would likely get beaten black and blue again but Arya knew he probably wasn't going to die here the same way she wasn't going to die here either.

For the rest of the day Arya tried to ignore the way she saw Gendry suffer from his head wound. When he lost his thoughts or stared off for long periods of time she let it happen. If he forgot something she did her best to gently remind him so he wouldn't get upset. She needed to keep him calm so he could heal to the best of his ability. They were both able to keep the small amount of food and water the guards brought them. There were more threats but Arya refused to even flinch at these men and she was proud when Gendry narrowed his eyes and refused to do the same.

The next day something changed. The guards dragged a few members of what look like the small folk into cells and left them there. If she listened carefully Arya could have sworn she could hear something within the city. The guards dropped off more food and water for them but seemed distracted and there weren't any threats. There was something else going on. Gendry was dozing against the wall. He seemed a little better today but he was still having a hard time from his head wound. The blood was still matted into his hair and on his skin and Arya wished she could wash it off. It was a constant reminder and she hated it.

It took three days for Arya to find out what exactly was going on. In the middle of the day all of the guards near the Black Cells heard a horn and raced out of the room. They were left completely unguarded for the first time since they got here. The cells were filling up with men, women, people who didn't look like they deserved to be in the Black Cells. This was going to be her only chance to ask what was going on without the guards listening in.

"Something is happening in the city," Arya said to the people in the cell closest to her. "What's going on?"

"Riots," one of the women said. "When she crowned herself we all knew that she was responsible for destroying the Sept and as followers of the Seven we won't stand for this. We are fighting back." Arya couldn't believe what she was hearing; she knew that there was a good chance that the people would not react well to the Sept being destroyed but she didn't think in a million years that there would be riots. She glanced over at Gendry was raised an eyebrow and smirked to himself.

"The people of King's Landing have a high tolerance for many things but this far from the first time they have fought back against the crown," he said. "The nobles think we don't care about the crown but we do when it impacts us and destroying the Sept impacts us in a big way. They won't stand for it."

"That could be good for us," Arya said in a soft voice. "If the city is in chaos and that chaos spills into the castle then we might have a chance of escaping." The guards chose that moment to storm back and began to fill up the Black Cells with countless people. It turned Arya's stomach to see just how many people they were packing into the cells and how many of them looked like they might die from injuries within the next day or so. No one was put into their cell though and Arya was a little thankful for that. She didn't want to think about dealing with other people while the guards wanted to bash their heads in.

The next day the guards were largely absent again and if she listened carefully Arya could hear the yells of people within King's Landing. The people could win in a riot against the crown but the number of lives that would be lost was too much for her to think about. She was finally feeling like herself again and sitting next to Gendry on the floor. She was dozing on his shoulder and they were holding hands when a guard walked up to them.

"Stand up," he ordered. Arya rolled her eyes but pushed herself to her feet and pulled a still very sore Gendry with her. "The Queen wants to see you." Arya took a step forward but the guard shook his head. "She wants to see the bastard."

"No," Arya said without thinking. "No, you can't take him." She was beginning to panic because she didn't think Cersei would do this right now. She thought she had more time to figure out a way to get them out of this keep but there was nothing. Gendry reached over and took her hand.

"I'll be fine," he whispered as he took a step forward but he was lying. She knew that he was lying to her to make her feel better.

"Don't you lie to me Gendry Waters," Arya warned. She didn't want possibly the last thing they said to each other to be a lie. She couldn't stand the thought that this might be the last time that she sees him. The guards took Gendry by the arms and dragged him out of the cell. The smallfolk in the other cells began to react as they asked the guards where he was being taken and if they were going there as well.

'No, you're not going to face what he has to face,' Arya thought as he vanished around a corner. She fell to her knees and prayed to any of the gods to spare his life.

Gendry wanted to look over his shoulder at Arya one more time before they left the Black Cells behind him but he couldn't. He didn't want to see the pure look of fear and sadness that would be there. He wanted to remember her like she was this morning as they sat together. How she smiled a little for him as they held hands in the cells. How she was helping him recover from the head wound he took a few days earlier and was endlessly patient whenever he forgot what he was talking about. Gendry wanted to remember the good times the two of them had and not everything that had happened in the cells.

As they went through the Red Keep he could hear the riots in the city and they made him smile. Those were his people fighting back and he was so glad to hear it. Gendry hoped they tore this entire keep down brick by brick and melted down the Iron Throne into something useful. The guards weren't looking at him and their grips on his arms were hard enough to bruise but Gendry refused to show any sort of weakness. If it was Arya she was snarl and refuse to back down. He admired her so much for how brave she was and how hard she continued to fight for them.

Unlike the last time, they were in the throne room this time there were more people. Cersei still sat on the throne but this Jaime Lannister stood nearby and a man with black robes and a pin that said he was Hand of the Queen. Jaime stared at him Gendry and paled a little; Gendry could only assume it was once again his resemblance to his father that was throwing him off. At this point, Gendry was nearly used to it. The guards stopped before the throne and kicked the back of his knees so Gendry fell onto the floor.

"Like a ghost come back to haunt all of us," Cersei said as she looked down at him. "You were born here bastard weren't you."

"Yes," Gendry replied. One of the guards hit him in the back of the head with a gauntlet and Gendry briefly saw stars. He really didn't want any more head wounds.

"You should remember your courtesies," the guard warned. "You will address Her Grace with her title or we'll make it hurt more."

"Yes, Your Grace," Gendry said between his teeth. He could feel a little blood running down the back of his neck and soaking the collar of his shirt.

"Then you can hear what's going on out there," Cersei said.

"Yes, I can, and I've spoken to the other people in the Black Cells, Your Grace." Gendry looked up from the floor of the throne room and narrowed his eyes. "They aren't going to stop."

"And why do you think that?" the man in the black robes asked.

"I know those people and you won't be able to stop them, Your Grace. They've dealt with a lot over the years and you destroying the Sept was just a start," Gendry said. "My wife has told me that you also killed members of House Tyrell and the former Queen. The people liked her, I hear them talking about her in the Cells, and they are upset you took her from them."

"Your wife hasn't been around the nobility in years so what does she know," Cersei said as she narrowed her eyes. "I expected you to come here and beg me for your life yet you're simply being insolent. Do you want to die, bastard?"

"Would begging make any difference at all, Your Grace?" Gendry asked and Cersei smirked. "The smallfolk in the cells talk and they talk loudly. They don't forgive you for the bread riots or when you sent out guards to kill children for no reason that they could comprehend. You might take my head, Your Grace, but they are coming for yours too." One of the guards took Gendry by the hair and painfully tilted his head back.

"You better watch your mouth boy or we'll take that tongue of yours," he warned.

"Your life is forfeit," Cersei said as she stood up and walked down the stairs. Despite the painful angle, his head was at Gendry could still see Jaime Lannister staring at him. "But you're brave to come here and talk to me like this. You clearly don't care about your own life but I know you care about the life of Arya Stark. Perhaps I should punish her for your insolence." The threat against Arya was enough for Gendry to briefly fight against the guards which Cersei was clearly not expecting. She took a surprised step back which made Gendry happy for some reason. He was glad to see her surprised by him but Gendry froze when he felt a knife pressed against his ribs. "There is some of that Baratheon fury."

"Shall we kill him for you, Your Grace?" one of the guards asked.

"No, not yet," Cersei said. "We need to get the city under control first and then we'll show them and all of Westeros what happens when even one of the great houses stand against House Lannister."

"And the girl?" Jaime asked.

"We'll send her back to the North once her bastard brother kneels to the crown and not a moment before. If we need to send her back in pieces to make him understand just how serious we are we'll do that too," Cersei said as she looked Gendry over. She reached forward and touched the still healing scratches from her on his cheek. "Still beautiful," she whispered. "But you're not him and you couldn't hope to be."

"I wouldn't want to," Gendry snapped. Cersei nodded to the guards and they began to forcefully drag Gendry through the Keep again only this time Jaime Lannister followed. As soon as they were away from the throne room, Jaime, had them stop.

"I'll take him. You two go back to the city and help there," he said. The guards took a long piece of rope and tied it tightly around Gendry's hands as Jaime took him by the arm and lead him through the keep. "Talking to her like that was not wise."

"I'm dead either way," Gendry said and he didn't understand why Jaime Lannister was talking to him.

"Maybe but making her mad will make it more painful in the end," Jaime said as they entered the Black Cells. "And how much she hurts the Stark girl as well."

Gendry said nothing as Jaime walked him into the cell and pushed him into Arya's waiting arms. She freed his hands of the ropes and handed it back to Jaime through the bars. Jaime watched the two of them for a moment and left them alone. Arya held onto him tightly and Gendry enjoyed how she felt in his arms.