The winds of winter were ending, and from the long winter, she hoped, would bring a long summer. She felt a connection beginning with Nymeria, she felt that it had always been there, but the closer she got to Westeros, the faster her heart beat and the connection strengthened. She had felt this way before Riverrun, before the Red Wedding. She was so close, that she was afraid it might be ripped away. She was close, close to Jon, to Winterfell and to the North. She could feel it. White Harbor loomed on the horizon and her heart skipped a beat. She wondered what happened to her companions. The stumbling Hot Pie and the stupid bull, Gendry. They had been her only friends for a long time after she escaped King's Landing. They had watched each other's back, in a way they were a family. Maybe, if they had survived, she would find them and apologize for leaving. 'No' she thought 'It should be Gendry apologising to me. He pushed me away, he joined the Brotherhood and left me' The thought disturbed her. She tried to shake it off, to become No One but it didn't work. Sometimes as she slept, images of Gendry hammering away at a bit of steel, shirtless, crept into her dreams. His large muscles clenching and tensing as he worked. She woke hot and flustered, sweating profusely. The crew thought she was having nightmares, but it was the exact opposite. 'Why?' she thought 'Gendry didn't want her, he left her' she wasn't even sure she liked him.
They arrived in White Harbor four days after she had set sail from Braavos, around the Sisters they went and into the busy harbor. She paid the captain generously; she had no need for gold. She wandered the docks looking for a ship that could take her up the White Knife into Cerwyn.
"And you can take me?" she asked "All the way to Cerwyn?"
"Aye, I could" said the man "for the right amount" he gave her a sly grin "An hour with you, pretty lady and I'd take you wherever you wanted to go"
"Really?" she asked. She withdrew needle from its scabbard and tapped it lazily on her arm "I think you best take the gold I give you, and I'll let you live"
The man reddened "I am sorry, if I have caused offense, be forgiving me miss. A poor joke, that is all"
"You're forgiven" she said, she was in a hurry to leave.
"Please, come aboard" he said with a greasy tone to his voice.
The ship was nought but a small fishing ship. With a small sail and a pair of oars. A boy no older than ten and three operated the oars while the man tended to the sail.
"Down the Knife" he told the boy. The boy nodded and began to row.
'Finally' she thought 'Home'.
The path along the King's Road wasn't too bad. Occasionally an outlaw band would attempt to sneak amongst their ranks and scurry away with gold, jewels, armour and weapons. But the men knew each other too well to be fooled by an outsider.
"Ser Gendry" said a voice
It was Lem. He rode up and fell into an easy trot beside Gendry, matching their paces. His horse whinnied nervously.
"Lem, please. It's just Gendry. I will have none of this Ser business" Gendry replied, not unkindly.
"Well then, Gendry. I just have a question"
"Go ahead, ask" said Gendry
"Why are we going to do this? I mean, surely the Nights Watch and the men of Winterfell are more than capable of disposing of a few Wights, aren't they?"
Gendry smiled, Lem wasn't the brightest man in the Seven Kingdoms "And how do you suppose the Nights Watch and Winterfell will be able to fight the Wights, without these" he unsheathed his Dragon Glass sword. "We are to take these swords north, and give the 40 sworn brothers brand new swords. It is the Queen's wish"
Lem nodded "But Gendry, are you sure all of these men are up to it? You brought your squire, Jed, and he is no more than four and ten."
"And how old were you when you killed your first man Lem? He is ready, trust me. After all, it's been me that has trained him. He is a spirited fighter"
"That may be so, but spirit does not win fights, skill does" Lem turned and rode back along the column to ride along with Anguy. Gendry thought on what Lem had said.
'How many of these men would die before the north is free from wights and the Others'. Hopefully, none would die. He had already lost the one person whom he could trust completely. He let her go, and he had never forgiven himself for not finding her, for forcing her away in the first place. Gendry thought about something Arya had said to him a long, long time ago.
"I've killed a man" she said
"Aye, I know, I've seen you do it. But in a real battle…you're just too small and skinny. You wouldn't stand a chance against a knight in mail" he replied
"Well, if I'm stronger than you and if I'm faster than you, then I can kill you. And at the end of the day, that's all that matters" she said boastfully
"But you're not stronger than me Arya. I don't want you to fight anymore. Promise me, it's my job to protect you" he pleaded
"We protect each other, that's what family does" she spat and stormed off.
Gendry had watched her go "Family" he said to himself, he had never had a family. And Arya was as close as anything he would ever get to a proper family.
If at the end of the day Jed could be stronger and faster than another man, then he could kill him. Gendry decided that Jed was in for a rude awakening tomorrow. Tomorrow he would train Jed, not just with swords, but he would teach him how to fight, he was determined that Jed lived through this.
Gendry awoke as the sun rose; he stepped out of his tent and was met by a beautiful orange mixed with pink shooting along the horizon. They had set up camp by the Crossroads Inn. He was offered, most graciously a room, but Gendry insisted that he sleep outside with his men. Some of his men chose the warm Inn and Gendry couldn't blame them. The further north they went, the colder it got.
He kicked at a bundle of furs in the tent to the left of his.
Jed opened his eyes sleepily and lunged for a dagger that he kept by his side at all times. He grabbed it and made to swipe but as soon as he saw Gendry he went pale and dropped the dagger.
"I'm sorry Ser, forgive me. I just thought" he stammered
"That's enough" he said firmly, he hated being called Ser. He was no better than these men. "Come Jed. It's about time we get you into shape" Jed got up lazily and followed him. "Me and you are going to run to the Red Fork and back"
"But…Ser. It's early morning Ser"
"I'll hear no excuses, start running" he said kicking Jed in the arse to get him going. They both jogged slowly for five minutes until they reached the Red Fork. Jed was red faced and puffing whereas Gendry hadn't even started to sweat. 'He needs stamina, if he is to fight, not only does he need strength, he needs to last' Gendry set a faster pace back towards the Inn. As soon as they reached the outlying tents of the camp Jed keeled over and threw up. Gendry patted him on the back "Good lad. Tomorrow, we jog in mail and armour" He grinned at the look of horror on Jed's face. Gendry roused the men and they set off. They made good time. Every morning they would run in their mail, and every night they would practise with swords, not wooden practise swords. Gendry needed Jed to be strong so he gave him one of steel. After three nights Jed complained that he could no longer feel his arms and they neared Greywater watch, where he was hoping to find Howland Reed. That night was exactly the same. Gendry and Jed went away from the crowd of men into an opening to begin.
"Must we do this tonight?" he asked, pain clear on his face
"Yes, we must" said Gendry as he raised his sword.
Jed lifted his sword and a memory came back to Gendry
"You should stand sideways. A smaller target"
"Stand sideways Jed" he said
"Why?"
"You're a smaller target if you stand sideways". Jed did so, grumbling.
They were both clad in mail. Jed needed to feel what it is like fighting with the weight of your armour. The boy was growing stronger. Gendry had made his own armour. It was black, as his hair, with a gold helm. Over his heart was painted a wolf, a she-wolf. Jed had wanted nothing fancy for his; it was armour of silver steel. From top to bottom Jed gleamed in the moonlight.
"Don your helmet Jed" Gendry advised
"But I can't see properly out of it" he complained
"Yes, that may be true, but that is the only thing protecting you from an arrow or a week man's swing. Now, don your helmet" Gendry pointed his sword threateningly at Jed.
"Aye" he said, begrudgingly donning his helmet.
Jed swung a ferocious swing. Gendry lazily parried it and this left Jed wide open, he slapped Jed's chest with the side of his sword.
"You leave yourself open when you swing like that. It's not all about power" he remembered tiny little Arya "It's about speed, precision. I could see that swing coming a good ten seconds before your sword came at me. So, don't arch it as much, unless of course, your opponent is staggering and you need to break their guard"
Jed nodded. After that his swings where quicker, calculated. 'He's getting better' Gendry thought. 'But he's not good enough'.
Suddenly men were surrounding them. Gendry had not noticed them; he had been too distracted by Jed and his sword. They were at least two feet shorter than him and their skin had a faint green tinge.
"What is your business here?" said a stooping old man.
"I am on my way to Winterfell, to deliver them dragon glass swords" said Gendry
"Aye? And how do I know you speak the truth?" asked the old man
"My name is Ser Gendry of Harrenhal, I would not lie" he said
"Ah" whispered the old man "Jon sent a raven warning me of your arrival"
"We have much to discuss, Ser Gendry of Harrenhal, come" he beckoned him over.
Suddenly he realised who this man was, it was Howland Reed himself.
"Jed, go back to the camp, Lord Reed and I must speak, alone" Jed bowed and jogged back to the camp.
Howland Reed didn't seem surprised that Gendry had guessed who he was.
"I take it that you know why Jon asked me to talk to you" Gendry said
His face darkened "Yes, sadly I do. He wishes to know of the horrible business that went down in the Tower of Joy. And, I believe it is time that he knows. You must pass this message to Jon."
"I will" said Gendry.
"The battle was all but over" He began "We made it out of the Trident and we travelled south towards Dorne, making our way to the Tower of Joy. Outside the tower we found three of the Kingsguard, Ser Oswall Whent, Ser Arthur Dayne and Ser Gerold Hightower. The finest knights in the kingdom they were, and we, a bunch of rebels. Martyn Cassel was the first to go. He barely had time to lift his sword before the Sword of the Morning was upon him. He was so fast, the greatest swordsman I have ever seen. It took three to cut down big Ser Gerold. Gerold took two of them with him. It was just myself, Lord Stark, Ethan Glover and Theo Wull who remained. Lord Stark and I engaged Ser Arthur, while Ser Oswall cut down Glover and Wull but not before Glover shoved his dagger into Ser Oswall's leg. Ser Arthur came at us with lightning speed, Lord Stark fell and as Ser Arthur went to deliver the final blow I stabbed him in the back. The only one left was brave Ser Oswall. He faced us and Lord Stark had him finished in less than ten seconds. Gods, we were young then and strong." He looked closed to tears. "When we opened the doors we saw her, Lyanna, she was lying there, as beautiful as ever and…"
A whistling sound cut Lord Reed's words off, and his breathing. An arrow burst through his throat and Gendry's fine black armour was coated in droplets of blood.
"Lord Reed" Gendry screamed "Help, someone help" his Crannogmen rushed to him, but it was too late. Blood oozed out of his throat as the dying Lord gasped for breath.
He grabbed Gendry's arm "Jon" he rasped. His body shuddered and he went limp.
He remembered brave little Howland Reed from the Wall. He fought with grace and ferocity. You would have never thought him capable of fighting, a small man. But he was good, very good. Gendry remembered watching him cut down Others from horseback and Thoros riding alongside him, with his sword of fire.
Gendry felt tears threatening to come. Jon loved this man, and Gendry saw why. He was a brave little Lord, even until the end, he had tried to tell Gendry something, tried to finish the story with his last breath.
Gendry still held the limp Lord. The archer who had shot emerged from the bushes into the clearing along with at least five and twenty men. 'Outlaws' Gendry thought. He had no time to rouse his men from their slumber in the camp. All he had was a group of Crannogmen with him. He hoped Jed had told some of the men, and he hoped that they would come looking for him.
He donned his golden helm as the first brave outlaw rushed at him, brandishing a rusty, blunt sword. Gendry swatted the sword away and stuck his leg out, the man tripped and fell sprawling behind Gendry. Gendry turned and saw one of the Crannogmen plunging a three tonged spear into the man's neck. He nodded at Gendry and the brave little Crannogmen followed him as more men rushed at him.
Not a single Crannogmen died, they fought with as much skill and grace as he had seen Lord Reed fight with. They took no prisoners.
The only Outlaw left was the archer who had slain the lord "You are a brave man Ser Gendry of Harrenhal, if you have need of us, ask it" He extended his arm and Gendry took it.
"Aye, and if you ever have any need of me, ask it" he replied as they shook hands. Gendry looked at the archer who was knelt before them "What are you going to do with him?"
"He will die, slowly" said the Crannogman "We will take him back to Greywater Watch"
"I hope he screams" said Gendry and he turned his back on them and strolled to the camp. He removed his helm and felt anger rise from the pit of his stomach. 'Could he save no one?