The trip back to Winterfell was thankfully uneventful which is what Arya wanted more than anything. They slowly made their way North and no one bothered them. She slept with Gendry at her side and enjoyed every second of it. She got the chance to have a long conversation with Jon. They stopped at the Crossroads Inn and saw Hot Pie. He hugged the two of them so tightly that Arya thought he was going to break a rib. Jon offered him a place at Winterfell and he said he would think about it. He looked settled though, good, and Arya wasn't about to take away stability from someone who found it.
When they walked through the gates of her home Arya had to watch as Jon told Sansa and Brienne what happened to Jaime and Sandor. The two of them stood tall and tried to look strong but Arya could tell that something was breaking within both of them. Theon reached over and took Sansa's hand into his and he let her crush his fingers as she tried to hold on. Arya didn't quite understand what Sandor was to Sansa but she knew they were important to each other. She pulled her sister aside and told her what he said as they were sailing away. Arya told Brienne that Jaime apologized for breaking his promise. She hated seeing the hurt in their eyes but there wasn't anything she could do about it. Death didn't spare anyone in war, even men that were looking to be better like Jaime and Sandor, and now it was time to keep living.
It was hard, at first, because Arya couldn't get the war out of her head. She kept waking up from nightmares thinking that Cersei wasn't dead or that Danaerys decided that the North needed to be put in its place or that the dead were going to rise again. She woke up with the taste of blood in her mouth as she dreamed about the corpses of her loved ones. She dreamed that Jon and Gendry were dead in the Red Keep instead of just hurt. She dreamed that Jaime went back to Cersei and betrayed them. She dreamed Danaerys lost control and burned all of King's Landing to the ground. The nightmares wouldn't stop and no matter how hard she tried nothing stopped them.
"I thought it would be different," she said to Gendry one night after she woke up screaming again and he was holding her. "We're at peace, the North is free, my family is home and safe, so why can't I sleep?"
"You think you're the only one with nightmares?" Gendry asked. "I dream that Cersei catches me and puts my head on a pike. Or Melisandre managed to buy me from the Brotherhood and burns me alive. We all have nightmares. Listen." Arya frowned and listened to the rest of the castle until she realized that she heard someone else scream out in terror. It sounded like Sansa and moments later it was followed by a voice that sounded like Theon.
"How did you know?" she asked.
"You fall back asleep after your nightmares; I don't," Gendry said. "It's been a month since we returned to Winterfell and I guess I'm feeling anxious. I can't remember the last time I was in one place without something hanging over my shoulder. We have time to relax and I guess I don't know how to."
"Me neither," Arya confessed and they held each other a little tighter. "You have a family now and eventually we're going to have to plan for Bran and Meera's wedding."
"We could have another wedding," Gendry suggested. "Have all of our family there instead of Beric and Thoros and doing it out of spite for Cersei." He paused and Arya could tell that he wanted to talk about something else but didn't quite know how to bring it up. "Is having another wedding something you'd like to do?"
"Of course," Arya replied without hesitation. "I'm sure Sansa would relish a chance to get me into a dress."
"And I'd like family there," Gendry said. He shifted so the two of them were looking at each other and he looked so unsure. "I've been thinking about family. Melisandre and the maid in the Red Keep Alsy both said that I could have more half-siblings out there somewhere. We always talked about making the North a safe place for Baratheon's."
"You want to go out and try to find them? You want to go find your siblings?" Arya asked.
"Yeah, I think I do," Gendry said. "I think I want us to go find them, bring them back, so we can have all of our family here when we renew our wedding vows."
"That sounds perfect," Arya whispered and smiled as the two of them kissed.
The problem that they were running into was that they had no idea where to even start a search like this but it turned out that the right person to ask was Sansa.
"When Baelish took me to the Vale there was a woman that guided us along the mountain trail," Sansa explained. "I remember that she was a Stone and I was currently posing as a bastard as well. I didn't realize it at the time but she looked a lot like you Gendry. She had black hair and very blue eyes."
"You think she could be one of my half-siblings?" Gendry asked.
"Your father and ours fostered at the Eyrie," Arya said. "She would be your older sister without a doubt and maybe the oldest of any of Robert's children but the timeline more or less makes sense."
"Her name was Mya," Sansa said. "And she was very kind to me which I remember was a surprise since there were so many people that weren't kind to me back then."
"So I guess we're going to the Vale then," Gendry said with a shrug but Jon looked like he just ate a lemon.
"I'm not sure this is the best idea," he said. "We have a treaty with Danaerys and she might not like the idea that we're gathering other Baratheon's. It could be seen as a threat."
"Danaerys also wants family," Arya said. "And she has referred to you and Gendry as family before. I'd like to think that she'd be open to this. Anyway, we don't need to tell her we're doing anything until we have a better idea of how she'll react."
"They're out there Jon," Gendry whispered. "And you know as much as I do that their lives haven't been easy because they're bastards. I'm in a position to help them so that's what I'm going to do."
"All right but don't tell anyone what we're doing. Not yet anyway," Jon said. "When I go down to King's Landing later this month I'll float the idea that there could be more Baratheon's out here and I'll see how she reacts."
Arya didn't see the point in waiting long so the next day they gathered their things and were on their way to the Vale. They were on two horses with their weapons for bandits and the bare amounts of things they would need for camping. Jon wanted to send them with guards or even Brienne but both Arya and Gendry insisted that they didn't need anything like that. They would be fine with what they had and they knew how to move in the wild without someone watching out for them. It took nearly a month to get to the base of the Eyrie and Arya began to ask around about a girl named Mya.
It didn't take long and the woman they found took Arya by surprise. She was just as tall as Gendry and while she wasn't nearly as strong physically as he was it was apparent that she wasn't weak either. Her black hair was twisted up in a messy black braid and she was tending to some mules nearby. When they approached she looked up and Arya knew those blue eyes better than anyone. It was almost eerie how similar Mya and Gendry looked.
"I know who you are," Mya said as she stared at Gendry. He climbed off his horse and slowly approached her. It was apparent that she didn't trust him and Gendry his hands where she could see them.
"So do I," Gendry said. "My name is Ser Gendry Stark but I was known as Gendry Waters for a time. I was born in King's Landing in the shadow of the Red Keep."
"Mya Stone," she replied and they made no move to close the distance between them. They stayed a few steps apart from each other. "I remember him. He came to see me a few times."
"I only saw him when he rode through the city and even then I had no idea that he was my father," Gendry said. "I was told by multiple people that there was a chance there were more of us out there and I wanted to find you."
"Why?" Mya asked and she narrowed her eyes.
"My wife," Gendry gestured to Arya, "is Arya Stark of Winterfell. We want to offer you somewhere safe to go in the North. You can do as you please but you'll have a warm bed to sleep in, plenty of food, and a roof over your head." Gendry paused as he stood before Mya and Arya could see how nervous he was. "You're family, Mya, and I'd like to get the chance to know you." She eyed him as if she didn't quite believe what she was hearing and judging from what Arya knew about how bastards were treated she wasn't surprised that Mya didn't believe them.
"And if I don't want to stay?" Mya asked.
"You can come and go as you please," Arya said. "My brother, the King, will make sure that you have anything you need and if that means leaving then you can leave." Mya looked between the two of them for a long time and then nodded slowly.
"Okay, I'll stop by for a time but I'm not promising to stay," she said. There was a stubborn set to her jaw that Arya knew all too well and she smiled as Mya went back to her small home to gather her things.
Mya came with them back to Winterfell and settled in fairly well. She didn't seem to mind the cold much and she remembered Sansa. The two weren't exactly friends but it was nice to see a familiar face. Gendry seemed torn between wanting to go out to find more of his siblings or spending time getting to know Mya. Arya decided that it was best to split the difference. The truth was they had no idea where to go next and that meant they needed to do a little research. Gendry got to spend some time with Mya and the two of them began to bond a little.
Mya was sharp and was once betrothed to knight from a house of the Vale. She told them that she gave her maidenhead to this man but then he was forced to marry a different girl. She hadn't been close to anyone since and Arya didn't blame her. She was just as stubborn as Gendry was and the two of them had some rather spectacular fights those first few days. Arya spent a lot of time with Sansa reminiscing about what it was like when they used to fight like that. Gendry and Mya weren't children though and they settled down after a few days. It was apparent that Mya was taking to the idea of being a big sister to Gendry and they began to get along.
"I could look for you," Bran said after a week of being unable to find another lead on Gendry's siblings. "I'm not as powerful as I used to be but I still have some visions. Perhaps I could point you in the right direction."
"Just be careful not to get lost," Arya warned. Bran waved her off and spent a good portion of the afternoon in the godswood. He came back looking a little pale but did have something to tell them.
"Check the Riverlands and follow the war," Bran said like that explained anything at all. When Arya gestured for him to continue he shrugged and rolled himself out of the room. Arya sighed as Mya joined them in this search.
"The war," Mya said. "Gendry, you were born after the Rebellion so that was after Robert became king. I was born before the Rebellion while he was in the Eyrie. Maybe we're looking for someone between the two of us."
"Maybe the "war" is the rebellion," Arya said. "And we need to follow Robert's troop movements in the Riverlands during the rebellion."
"Seems like as good of a place to start," Gendry said as the three of them began to look over historical maps. Wolken came in and helped them make sure that they were tracking everything correctly and eventually they had the troop movements that were logged in the rebellion. Arya pointed to a place that sounded all too familiar.
"The Peach?" Gendry said. "Didn't the Brotherhood talk about that place? It's a brothel, isn't it?"
"Robert did love his whores if the rumors I heard were to be believed," Mya said. "It wouldn't surprise me if he left a babe in a brothel." Arya noticed how neither Mya nor Gendry referred to Robert as their father and it set her teeth on edge. She couldn't imagine never knowing her father; then she remembered how drunk Robert always was and how he acted when he was in Winterfell and she thought that maybe, on some level, they were better off never knowing him.
Mya stayed behind as Arya and Gendry packed their things and set off into the Riverlands. They made sure to try and avoid anyone who might tell Edmure that they were around but they did make one stop while on the way. Mina and Prycella were both still alive and being healers. They hugged them both tightly and told them how happy they were to see that they were still alive. They smiled at Gendry's new title and were surprised to find out who they were. Arya knew that two old women couldn't make the trip to Winterfell but she told them that they would be welcome nevertheless. Mina and Prycella thanked them and sent them on their way toward The Peach with promises to think about it. Arya thought about writing to Edmure and seeing if maybe there was a place in Riverrun for the sisters.
The Peach was a small brothel just off of the road and Arya could hear that they were fairly busy. She didn't know how Gendry would react to his sister being in a place like this and his face gave nothing away. They walked in the doors and sat down at a small table as they waited. A few women came up to them but Gendry brushed them all off. They heard stories about a woman that worked here named Bella and that she would brag to some men that King Robert was her father. It seemed they had the right place.
It took a few hours but eventually, the right woman walked up to them. Mya was right; she was a little older than Gendry and she had long black hair that curled down to her midback. She was a little shorter than Mya and Gendry but her eyes were the thing that Arya recognized. She smiled as she walked up to them.
"Hey there, I'm Bella and-" whatever Bella was about to say she stopped the second she saw Gendry. The two of them stared at each other like they didn't know what to do with the other one. Arya supposed meeting a half-sibling for the first time in a brothel was probably a little awkward. "You look like me."
"I know," Gendry said and Arya could see that this was going to be different from Mya because Bella knew how men could be.
"Bella," Arya said. "We would like to talk to you alone for a little while. I'm going to give you some coin and I'm going to be there too. We can leave the door open if that will make you more comfortable because all we're going to do it talk. I know men that probably told you that before but this is my husband and considering how alike you two look I think you know that the idea of you and him together is not something we'd like to pursue." Arya pulled out a few coins and offered them to Bella who stared at her for a long moment. She seemed to pull herself together, nodded, and gestured for them both to follow her. They went upstairs to a room with a ratty bed and not much else and Arya made sure to leave the door half-open.
"My mum told me that King Robert was my father because she was his favorite during the rebellion," Bella said as she sat down on the wood floor. Gendry kept his distance which Arya was grateful for. "I guess I should have thought there would be more of us I just didn't think one would walk in the door."
"My name is Ser Gendry Stark now but I was a Waters born in King's Landing after the rebellion," Gendry said.
"And I'm Arya Stark. It's nice to meet you, Bella," Arya said and Bella stared at Arya and then turned to Gendry.
"How did you manage to marry a princess?" she blurted and then immediately looked a little embarrassed that she said that out loud but Gendry smiled and shook his head.
"I ask myself that every day," he said and Bella seemed to relax for the first time. "My wife being a princess is part of the reason I'm here. I want to make you an offer. There is plenty of room in Winterfell and my good brother has offered his home to any of my half-siblings that want to come and stay there."
"You wouldn't have to work if you didn't want to," Arya said. "The North is cold but Winterfell is warm and there is plenty of good food and people would welcome you. We already found your older sister and she is back at Winterfell right now. We want you to come back with us."
"You want me to come with you?" Bella asked. "But...I'm a whore. Wouldn't you be ashamed to be seen with me?"
"And I was a blacksmith before King Jon knighted me and Mya used to guide mules up to the Eyrie in the Vale," Gendry said with a shrug. "And if you come with us you don't have to be a whore anymore. You can just be Bella and whoever she wants to be."
"Whoever I want to be?" Bella asked in a soft voice and Arya could see tears in those familiar blue eyes. For a woman like Bella, the idea of having control and choice in her life was not something she had ever considered.
"Even if you hate it and want to leave we'll make sure you don't have to come back here," Gendry said firmly. "You're my big sister, that much is apparent, and I take care of my family." That was enough to break down Bella's walls. She threw her arms around Gendry and hugged him as she cried into his shoulder. Arya got up to leave the two siblings alone so she could find the madame of the brothel and see what needed to be done so Bella could leave.
Bella settled into Winterfell a little easier than Mya did. There were a few things that she had problems adjusting such as when she needed something she just had to ask. When they returned and people who weren't family asked where they found Bella Gendry replied without hesitation that they found her in the Riverlands and never once mentioned the Peach. Bella looked like she couldn't believe that she was in a place where no one knew she was a whore and the ones that did didn't judge her for it.
Bella and Mya got along right away and Arya had a good time watching the two of them adjust to their new life. The first time the two of them got into nice dresses that Sansa made for them Arya thought they looked like princesses. They both also loved being older sisters to Gendry and it made Arya laugh to watch the two of them gang up on him. It reminded her of when Robb, Jon, and Theon would gang up against her. It made her miss Robb more than ever but she wasn't about to ruin Gendry's enjoyment of having older siblings by bringing back bad memories.
It seemed that older siblings were coming to visit regardless since they got a raven saying that Yara wanted to come and see Theon. She hadn't been by since Theon decided to stay in Winterfell. At the moment, Jon was still trying to decide how to get justice for what Theon did to the North while also honoring the fact that he suffered under Ramsey and nearly lost his life against the dead. Theon smiled when he heard that Yara was coming and seemed excited to introduce one part of his family to the other.
Yara walked into Winterfell a moon later with her head held high and looking like the Queen she was. She looked unhappy at Theon's leg but when Theon smiled as he introduced Sansa and Yara seemed to soften. She sat near Arya, Gendry, Mya, and Bella at the feast that night and watched Theon very carefully dance with Sansa.
"I don't think I've ever seen him so happy," Yara said. "I originally came here to tell him that he's a prince and to get off of his ass and back to the Iron Isles but I don't think I can do that. I don't think that's my right."
"He wants to stay," Arya said as she glanced over at Gendry and his sisters. They all knew there were more siblings out there but they didn't have any idea how to find them.
"So, you're out on a bastard hunt?" Yara asked which got the attention of Gendry, Mya, and Bella. They looked up with the same expression on their faces and looked so alike at that moment that Arya had to cough to hide her laugh.
"We want our half-siblings to have somewhere safe to go," Gendry said. "There have to be others out there somewhere and we want to find them. We just don't know where to go look." Yara seemed to think on it for a moment as she watched Theon and Sansa stumble through their dance on the leg that Gendry made for him.
"You made my brother his leg so he can still talk," Yara said and Gendry looked up as he nodded slowly. "You made sure it was comfortable and that gave him his movement back so he could do something like this and dance with his lady. I owe you for that-"
"-you don't owe me-"
"-so I will tell you about the rumor I heard from other sailors," Yara continued like Gendry hadn't said a word. "I heard about a boat that sailed out of Shipwrecker Bay which is just a fucking insane thing to do. That bay doesn't have that name for no reason. Rumor has it that a boy was on it and he was running from something. The boy, they said, had black hair and blue eyes and looked like the former king at the time."
"You think someone smuggled one of our brothers out of Westeros?" Mya asked and Yara nodded as she smirked at Mya.
"It looks like that might be the case. The rumors said that boat was heading toward Lys so there is a chance your little brother just got sold into slavery but if you were looking for bastards that look like you three lovely beings then Lys might be the place to look."
"Thank you for that Queen Yara," Bella said with a smirk. "Whatever can we do to thank you for your help?"
"Oh, the three of you can just stay right where you are for the rest of the night," Yara said and Arya nearly choked on her wine as Gendry frowned. Yara smirked and Arya spent the rest of the night talking to Gendry about getting to Lys.
Despite being Queen of her own kingdom Yara recently agreed to be the Master of Ships for Danaerys at the last meeting. Jon had brought up that there might be more Baratheon bastards out there and it seemed like Danaerys wasn't going to burn any of them should they come out of the woodwork. Yara helped Gendry and Arya secure a ship that took them to the free city of Lys which was unlike anything she had ever seen before. While they were there to find Gendry's brother there was no telling how long that would take. For now, they had time to explore which was exactly what Arya wanted to do.
For the first week or so they just explored the city, asked around if anyone had seen someone who looked like Gendry and took in the sights. Arya had always wanted to see the free cities and this was a good way to explore them. She sent a raven to Jon on day seven to let him know that they were alive and okay. He didn't like having them so far away but Jon knew better than to try and stop her from doing what she wanted. They were wandering the market on day eight when Arya looked up and realized that Gendry was gone. It didn't take long to find him; he was in an alley and a man had him pinned to the wall with a dagger at his throat. Arya crept up on the man, pulling out her own dagger, and she could hear them talking.
"Why are you asking about boys that look like you?" the man demanded and he sounded like he was from Westeros. "He's a boy, he doesn't deserve to die for your wars."
"Remove the dagger from my neck and we can talk about this like gentlemen," Gendry warned.
"I'll remove nothing. I've worked for years to keep him safe and I'll not let some minions of Westeros come and kill him," the man snapped. Arya moved behind him and pressed her blade to his side right over his kidney.
"Let him go and I won't stab you right here and let you bleed out," she warned. The man glared at Gendry but removed the dagger and put his hands in the air.
"I'm not here to hurt him," Gendry said. "And I'm not a son of Stannis or Rely, I'm one of Robert's. Westeros is safe for us again and my wife, the woman who was about to gut you, is a princess of Winterfell. The North has offered refuge to my half-siblings and I want to give him somewhere safe to go. I'd like to meet him and offer him a new home." The man glared at Gendry but seemed to relax a little.
"He's a good kid," he said. "His name is Edric."
"I'm Gendry and Arya is standing behind you," Gendry said. The man later introduced himself as Andrew Estermont and said that he'd been guarding Edric since Cersei ordered all of the bastards killed. Edric knew who his father was, Andrew told them and sometimes would get gifts from him which baffled Arya. Robert seemed to barely care about his children he thought he had with Cersei let alone any of his bastards. Andrew led them through the city to a small apartment where a young man was there to greet them. His hair was longer than Gendry's and he looked more like Robert than even Gendry did. The two of them stared at each other for a moment as Edric didn't seem to trust them.
"You're my brother," Edric and Arya noted that he didn't carry himself the same way that Gendry or Mya or Bella did. He carried himself like a noble.
"Your older brother," Gendry said. "I'm Ser Gendry Stark and this is my wife Princess Arya Stark. I'm here to make you an offer of a new home. My good brother has opened Winterfell to our half-siblings as a safe place for us to live in Westeros. You can come to the North and live happily and live well. Two of our sisters are already there as well. King Jon was raised a bastard as well and he wouldn't allow anything to happen to you because of that."
"My family is your family," Arya said. "And we would be honored if you joined us at our house." Edric glanced at Andrew who nodded.
"I believe it's time to stop running and I would like to return to my home in the Stormlands. I will accompany you to Winterfell if you want to go," Andrew said. Edric glanced around the small apartment and nodded.
"Yes, I'd like to come North with you," he said. Gendry smiled and they were on a ship leaving Lys by the end of the next day. She sat back on the deck and watched as Gendry and Edric got to know each other and she thought about Bran and Rickon and the responsibility of being an older sibling. Gendry was already fiercely protective of the people he deemed worthy of his time; she could only imagine what he would do for a little brother. He looked up at her during a break in the conversation and his smile was so bright and blinding that she had to join them. Edric asked a lot of questions and they had a long journey back North. Arya settled in and began to fill Edric in on all he had missed in Westeros as they headed home.