The sight of water seemed endless. He had lost of count of how many times the sun had set since he got on the ship. He didn't know what to expect or to fear anymore on this long and winding journey.
He watched the shores of King's Landing come and pass. "I thought you were taking me to King's Landing," he said to the Red Woman.
She replied, "No, I'm taking you to the one true king, Lord Stannis Baratheon, your late father's brother. We're headed to Dragonstone."
He had never heard of the place, but all he could do was sit and wait.
He felt the slight change in the ship's direction and looked out and saw them approaching the shore.
"We have arrived", said the Red Woman.
He stared at the looming dark structure atop a steep hill. He saw and heard the cries of the multiple seagulls as they flew past and around what he assumed was the castle of Dragonstone. It's appearance was far from that of the Red Keep, it somehow felt like a bad omen. He shook off the thought as he finally felt solid ground under his feet. He spotted multiple steps leading up to the castle, and followed the Red Woman's lead. The steps seemed endless and the higher they got, the stronger and colder the winds were. He looked down and saw the distant shoreline, with waves rolling and receding, and the jagged stones at the bottom. He wondered if what lay below him was more frightening than what lays ahead. He shuddered at the thought and kept climbing the steps.
Finally, they reached the end and was led through the gates of the castle. He was led through winding hallways made of stone and cold to the touch. It somehow felt unforgiving. Within these walls he could barely hear the sounds of the outside. They stopped for a second in front of a door, the Red Woman led the way and walked in without knocking. Inside he saw a room with a giant table in the middle, there were piles of parchment, and figurines that looked like ships and lions arranged in a definite way. He turned his attention to the person inside the room, it was a man. He appeared fit and his posture was rigid. He would have looked young beneath the wrinkles that graced his face and the stub of a beard forming on his face. He tried to read the expression on his face, but there were no emotions showing.
This is probably Stannis Baratheon, but why would he need me here?, he thought but dared not ask.
Gendry was surprised when the manwalked straight for him and grabbed his face in one hand. His uncle turned his face from side to side, examining every detail.
He heard his uncle's deep voice say, "Half Robert, half lowborn", like a diagnosis of some sort.
He was unsure of how to respond but thankfully the Red Woman talked and he was dismissed promptly with her orders. As he was exiting the room, the red woman half-whispered into his ear "I'll come visit you soon." Maybe she'll tell me why i'm needed here later, he thought as he followed again down more hallways until they arrived at what he assumed is his chambers. The door opened and the light from a fire creeped out and he could barely believe his eyes. Inside was a bedroom larger than he had ever seen. The room was larger than any inn's, there was a nearby hearth for a bed was large and clean. He hesitated before nearing it, unsure if it was really his. He touched the beddings and dared to sit, and he felt it was so soft. He wondered if all highborns had rooms like these, and if they knew how lucky they were.
His musings were interrupted when two maids later entered his room informing him a bath was ready, and they placed new clothes atop his bed. They bowed out and left him, but he couldn't shake the feeling of disbelief.
He stepped into the bath and relaxed for what was probably the first time of his life. The feeling of the hot water was relaxing and he had never felt so clean before.
He began to think back to their conversation on the ship. He was the bastard of the former King, the King's blood ran through him. The idea still felt strange in his mind.
He remembered seeing the king once, he was as wide as he was loud, though of course he would never say that out loud.
But, why would those red cloaks be looking for him?
He's just a bastard, the King had never acknowledged him so he still had no last name.
The questions continued to flip over and over inside his head but no answers were in sight.
Although, it was strange, that two people who claimed to be the Hand of the King, would talk to him. He tried to think back to their conversations but it wasn't long and wasn't much.
He continued to churn the ideas around, feeling so close to grasping the answer but never quite getting there. When he brought his senses back to the present, he noticed that the bath was no longer warm. He took that as a sign that he had bathed for too long. He dried off and put on the clothes they had given him. The feeling of a good bath and warm clean clothes lulled his wariness away. He remembered the Red Woman saying she would visit soon, so he decided to stand by the fire for now to wait.
He didn't have to wait too long, until the red woman came.
He heard her footsteps approaching and then her voice when she said "have you ever seen anything like it?".
He admittedly told her "I've never seen anything like any of this. Not in my life." He still felt like he didn't belong here, in these extravagant quarters. They may be his, but it wasn't really.
The red woman brought up her past again. He enjoyed talking to someone with a familiar background, someone who understood him. She brought up her memory of the questionable soup of her childhood. He laughingly recalled the memory of those damned bowls of brown.
He still stood by the fire as she moved towards the bottle of liquor on the table, she poured the red liquid into a glass and offered it to him.
The caution that started to escape him, slid back into him with the offer. He started to feel wary once again, and she sensed it, "You think i'm trying to poison you?" she asked.
He felt it inappropriate to say yes outright, so he opted for silence.
She then drank from the wine she poured, he waited awhile and nothing happened, so he reached out to receive the glass of wine. He took a sip of the red liquid, unsure of what to expect, it tasted a bit sour but sweet and warm as it traveled down his throat. It had a fruity flavor, though he couldn't be sure. All he knew was that it was good. "That's really good", he said and he meant it.
She urged him to drink more, but a voice deep in his head told him, Don't.
"You still don't trust think this is all a mistake and that you'll have to pay somehow for every bite you take," she said. It was the truth. Something felt off, being treated so well felt wrong.
"That thought had crossed my mind, yeah", he admitted.
"There are no mistakes. Not for us," she said, as she felt out to touch his face.
"I'm a mistake. I'm only here because my father grabbed my mother instead of the girl next to her in the tavern," he said, partly to remind himself of the fact. The Red Woman went on about the Lord of Light and his plan. As far as he knew, his Gods never told him of their plans. It's strange, then he suddenly became aware of how close she was now to him. He felt the warmth of her breath, and her voice seemed even more enchanting in the dimly lit room. He felt the slightest touch of her lips as they grazed by his cheek. And now, her hands undoing the clothes he had on and those damn soft lips were on him as he felt the chill from his shirt coming off.
"This doesn't seem very religious," he said. He didn't know what to do, his senses seemed a bit fogged, and it took everything out of him to stay standing. He felt a warmness creeping in his stomach, settling down South. It felt good, he never had a woman undress him, he felt the coolness of her skin touch his and he shivered. Her hands were soft and the way she was touching him teasingly made all sense fly out of his head.
He couldn't understand what she was saying, though he tried. It took great effort to try to grasp the words out of her lips, when all he could do was look into her eyes. Her hands left his body and went to her clothes, and then he saw her unrobe before him. He had never lain with another woman before, and the sight of her naked, seemingly glowing by the candlelight distracted him. Yet, he dared not touch her without her permission, though he wanted to.
"-swallow the dawn-stop it—you and I-inside you-with me", he could only hear snippets of what she said.
His mind went blank and he let the red woman take his hand and lead him to the bed. Before any sense could sneak in, he found themselves kissing. Her lips were soft and plump, and he felt her hands again on his body. He hesitated, he didn't know what to do, so he decided to hold her hips as he was leaned down on the bed. He could feel himself erect, and her hand grazed over it while undoing his pants.
He closed his eyes and felt her straddle him, and then he felt it. He was inside her, tight and wet, he automatically moved his hips wanting more, to go deeper and faster. He closed his eyes and moaned, he never knew it would feel so good to be inside a woman. He moved faster and faster, against the sweet tightness, and he couldn't take it anymore as he felt his release.
He felt for her body as she rode him, finally having the courage to touch her breasts and feel her soft skin. He felt her bringing his hands up and securing it to the bed.
"What are you doing?" he asked, wondering. "You have to trust me," she said, as she kissed his lips, and kissed a path down, and down, then stopped. He felt his feet being bound and opened his eyes.
Suddenly aware, that something wasn't right.
Her back was turned and he saw she held a box in her hand. Then he caught the glimpse of something black, and all arousal he had disappeared in a flash as fear took over him.
"Get it away, get it off me," he felt himself panic.
He saw her, without hesitation, place the leech on his chest. He felt helpless, bound and nearly naked, and feared for his life. The pain of the leech's bite was sharp, he continued to try his best to struggle but realized it was no good.
"Don't fight, don't fight. They won't take much," she said nonchalantly.
They, he thought, there's more. He saw her add another leech to his body.
"Why are you doing this?" , he thought he at least deserved to know.
"I told you there's power in the blood of kings. And you have so much blood," she said matter of factly. There was no feeling in her eyes, no shame at all. They wanted my blood, and my blood alone, he thought.
He then saw her about to place another leech but further South then he would want.
"No, no, no, no! Not there. Not there!", he screamed, because his voice is all he could control. He knew his words would all be in vain, as he felt a great amount of pain, as the leech latched onto his penis. All memory of the pleasure he had minutes ago were gone.
He heard the door open, but didn't see who came in at first. The pain was all he could concentrate on.
"You can blame Ser Davos. He didn't believe in the power of king's blood. He wanted a demonstration."
Ser Davos? , he thought, the name didn't seem familiar to him.
He then looked to the door and saw two figures, both male, one was his uncle and the other was older and plumper. Both of them though had grave expressions on their faces.
"Please. Please, Your Grace. My lord!", he begged. But all the begging fell on deaf ears. Mercy was all he wanted. He should have known the moment he arrived here that mercy is something he wouldn't get.
He watched as the Red Woman walked back to him, a pang of fear spread throughout his body.
What if more leeches would be placed? Then he saw her pluck of the leeches one by one, and hissed at the pain. The leeches didn't want to leave his body willingly, grasping onto his skin as anchor. He was blinded by the pain from the last leech.
He turned his head and saw the Red Woman and Stannis Baratheon by the fire. Each leech was offered to his uncle, and one by one they were thrown in the fire, each paired with a name they called usurpers.
He realized in shame his initial thought upon being here was right, of course it was too good to be true.
He was tired and ashamed. He didn't know who or how but his hands and feet were unbound, his shirt was placed back on and faintly remember the Red Woman saying, "take him to the dungeons."
As he sat down on the cold floor of the dungeon with the feel of the steel bars against his back, he thought to himself, this is where I have always belonged. This is all my life is worth, forever some highlord's prisoner. He let the darkness settle in to his very bones, inviting sleep to come, it would be a welcome escape from his thoughts of his life and what was sure to be his demise in this cold unforgiving place.
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I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. I promise that very soon I'll row away from the storyline of the series, almost there. Haha, row away? get it? No? You'll see. ;) I apologize to anyone who was looking for any romance right away, I'll get there slowly. :)
Anyways, if you've reached this far, i hope you stop by and leave a comment or review :)