AN: Five new reviews? AWESOME! Enjoy!
After Gendry had bathed, he dressed in come clothing a servant brought him. When he appeared in the garment, Jon swallowed hard and cleared his throat. "Those were my brother Rob's clothes."
"Ah," Gendry said. "Thank you for the use of them. I don't own anything fit for a place like this."
"Fits you nice. Keep it. I'll have more brought to your room." He cleared his throat again. "How did you meet my sister?"
"That's a long story," Gendry said, trying to hold very still as the keep's barber shaved his face and neck with a straightblade. The king's eyes prompted him to proceed. "It was right after King Robert Baratheon died. We were both headed North to The Wall, actually. I was going to take The Black. She was disguised as a boy named 'Arry, and she was hoping to make it to you."
"You've been together all this time? Since she was a little girl?" Jon's eyes were piercing.
"We were just friends then. We looked out for each other, but then we met up with the Brothers Without Banners and we heard your mother and brother were close. I stayed with the Brotherhood as their smith, and she went in search of your family. Things didn't go as planned for either of us. The so-called Brothers sold me out and Arya…I should let her tell that part of the story." The shave was complete. They finished tidying and proceeded toward the hall.
Jon teased, "You need my baby sister's permission?"
"Need my permission for what?"
The men looked up at Arya and Sansa descending the stairs. Sansa's hair was a complicated arrangement of buns and curls, and she wore a violet dress that set off her pale skin and red hair nicely.
Sansa had given Arya her favorite blue dress, knowing the color had been her favorite as a girl, and it would bring out the blue flecks in her gray eyes. She'd hemmed it a tad shorter that was fashionable, anticipating that her tomboy sister would not be used to hems around her toes, let alone a train. She'd also laced the bodice a bit loosely so Arya wouldn't feel too constricted. She'd arranged silky white scarf around the edges of the bodice so that Arya's neck and collar bones would be highlighted nicely without exposing so much bosom that Arya would feel self-conscious. Sansa had secured the fabric with a direwolf brooch that made Arya smile so broadly that Sansa assured her she could keep it.
Sansa had not been able to convince Arya to let them take hot tongs to her hair in order to make ringlets, so Sansa and Mara had settled for a soft, pretty braid draping over Arya's left shoulder. They had slathered her with creams and beauty treatments that felt nice but also made Arya sigh at the wasted time.
"I need you to help me if they're really going to understand where you've been, and how we met again," Gendry said.
Arya reached the bottom of the stairs. He touched her face, which was stunning. She played with his hair, which for once was pushed back out of his eyes.
"Damn," she said. "They made you more handsome. You were too pretty for me before."
"I don't think so. Have you seen yourself?"
"Ha! You can barely see me through all this…" she gestured from the top of her head to her feet, which were in pretty-but-useless kidskin slippers "stuff. Oh, it's pretty, though, Sansa," she quickly amended, not wanting to seem ungrateful for her sister's considerable efforts. "You made me look like a real lady."
Sansa rolled her eyes. "You ARE a real lady, Arya. Now, we must hurry. There's something we must take care of before supper."
"Aye. I was thinking the same," Jon said, leading them to a private chamber. "Are you a good and honorable man?" Jon asked Gendry.
"I try to be."
"Are you good to my sister?"
"Yes," Gendry said. Jon looked at Arya, and she nodded.
"Will you protect, honor and serve the North while you live?"
Gendry realized this was not a conversation but an oath. "I will."
"Good," Jon said, as though that settled the matter. He clapped a hand on his brother-in-law's shoulder. "Then I name you Sir…"
"Wait!" Arya exclaimed. "We didn't tell you who he is, yet!"
"I thought he was a blacksmith!" Jon said, bewildered.
"He is," Sansa said, "But according to Arya, he is also the bastard son and only living heir of Robert Baratheon. He does not wish to take the Iron Throne or his family's keep at Storm's End. He merely wishes to be married to our sister and to make official the long-held trust between our families."
"Is this true?" Jon asked.
"It is," Gendry replied.
"I swear it," Arya added.
"Is there anyone who can bear witness to the fact that you are Robert Baratheon's heir?"
Gendry laughed bitterly. "Only two people that I can think of: The Red Woman and Ser Davos Seaworth. She used my 'king's blood' to work spells. She'd have killed me if he hadn't set me free."
"Ser Davos Seaworth has pledged himself to my service" Jon said and called for a squire to fetch Ser Davos.
"The man who saved Gendry is here?" Arya asked.
He soon appeared before them, proclaiming, "I have heard of your good fortune, King, in the return of your sister!" He smiled at Arya, then noticed the man by her side. "By The Gods, you lived!" he exclaimed. "When I put you in that rowboat, I wasn't sure you'd make it to shore, especially when you said you couldn't swim!"
"So you know this man?" Jon asked. "He is Robert Baratheon's son? You would swear it?"
"Aye. The Red Woman believed it so. She said King's blood made powerful magic, and that she had worked spells with his blood."
Jon nodded. "Stay, then, and serve as witness as I grant him his title. Gendry Baratheon, will you protect, honor and serve the North while you live?"
"I swear by the Old Gods and the New, I will."
"I name you Ser Gendry of House Baratheon," Jon said.
"Now you say your house's words, 'Ours is the fury.'" Sansa prompted.
"Ours is the fury," Gendry dutifully repeated. "And I pledge my fealty to John Stark, King in the North."
There were handshakes and hugs all around. Jon quietly said to his brother-in-law, "If you prove trustworthy, you and Arya will be lord and lady of a holdfast."
"Thank you, Majesty. I think Arya would be good at running a holdfast."
"And you?"
"I'm good for your sister." He looked in Jon's eyes and could see why men had trusted him enough to make him King of the North. He did not seem to crave power. He mostly just seemed to care. He clearly adored Arya. "Before we married, she…" He couldn't find the words to finish the statement, but Jon nodded.
"She's had some hard times, I'm sure. We all did. I'm glad she has you, now, to protect her from danger."
The king did not understand that his sister was the danger, but this was not the time.
"I've heard many stories of your bravery and mischief," Ser Bravos mused to Arya, "but I hadn't heard you were such a beauty.
Arya had liked Ser Davos right off, so she tried very hard not to roll her eyes at the complement. Gendry whispered in her ear, "I still like your real face best," which made Arya smile so bright that she was stunning as they entered the great hall for the feast.
AN: Reviews are appreciated. Thanks!