Gendry followed her directions out of the hall's door and into the alley on his right. He followed along for some time before he heard the faint ring of steel on steel. The sound reminded him of his second knight-hood.
Gendry knelt before The Dragon Queen in the safety of Harrenhal's walls.
"But, Your Grace, I have already been knighted by Ser Beric" Gendry protested
"Yes, no doubt you have. But, Gendry. You are worthy of a far better title than 'Hollow Hill'. From hence forth you shall be known as Ser Gendry of Harrenhal" she said looking down on him with a slim sword in her hand. The sword reflected the bright moonlight and Gendry could not look at it for fear of blindness. He closed his eyes and bowed his head. She touched his right shoulder with the sword, then his left. The steel sung softly as it tapped his armour. "Arise Ser Gendry of Harrenhal, arise, go forth and conquer"
Gendry found the forges easily enough. He told the master of the forge that Lady Cerwyn had told him to bring his armour.
The man looked at him "If you got the gold I can fix it up well enough"
"No" he said "I'll pay you the gold, but I trust no man to make or mend my armour"
"Yes, wise words boy. That'll be four silvers"
Gendry gave him the money and he went into the forge, picked an anvil and set his armour over a low fire. It needed to be hot so he could hammer the dents back in to place, but not too hot as too melt the steel, it had to be just right. He took off all of his armour. It would be a long night, he realised that it was not only his breastplate and his helm that had been dented, but his leg guards and arm guards had some minor dents. He took off the shirt he wore under his armour. It was easier that way, it got very hot in a forge and he didn't want to ruin his shirt. He had only brought three with him.
Gendry hammered and hammered into the night. The sound of his hammer clashing against the armour split the night and whispered, in the sound of silence.
He had been there for most of the night. He didn't even hear her coming. Only a slight clearing of the throat alerted him to her presence.
He turned to find the girl that he was to escort to Winterfell.
"Ser, Lady Cerwyn asked if I could come find you, the feast has begun" she said, averting her eyes
"Aye, thankyou. Something wrong girl?" he asked
"That wolf, on your armour, what does it mean? Are you from the North?" she asked
"No, exactly the opposite. I was born and raised in the south" he said, she raised her eyebrows questioningly. Her beauty struck him; she looked almost perfect with that innocent expression. He gulped, that was he doing? "The wolf" she nodded "It's someone I used to know, someone I lost"
"Loss is a part of life, you would do better scrubbing that wolf off and starting new" she said "Lady Cerwyn expects you at dinner" she walked off. No common girl had ever spoken to him like that.
Arya watched him walk exit the doors to the hall and down the alley, it was a strange feeling. She knew this man, she couldn't place him. Her memory was not what it once was ever since she joined the Faceless Men. Lady Cerwyn stood at the doorway watching "He went down to the forge didn't he?" she asked
"Aye" Arya replied
"Well, I didn't mean he should go now, to the forge, the feast is being repaired" she said "Girl. Would you be so kind as to get him, I would very much rather him well fed for his trip" she looked somewhat grim
"But he's just going to Winterfell" she said, she had heard them talking "He's just going to deliver some dragon glass swords"
Lady Cerwyn shook her head and a tear leaked out of her eye "Oh, if only he was. The Dragon Queen has sent him to meet with Lord Commander Snow and dispose of the remaining Wights in Westeros"
"Wights" Arya said, more to herself than to Lady Cerwyn "I thought the Nights Watch had forced the Wights and the Others back, defeated them"
Lady Cerwyn shook her head again "No, my sweet summer child no. Many still roam the land. They do nothing but to kill. And he'll go out there, and he'll die" the Lady ran from the room sobbing
"Women" Arya said to herself. Some of them were so feeble. But she could understand what Lady Cerwyn was afraid of, a small group of scraggly looking men off to fight the greatest threat the realm had ever seen.
She decided that she'd do as the Lady bid. She went to find the knight. She found him easily enough; he was the only smith still hammering away at a stubborn bit of armour. She told him that the Lady wanted him to attend the feast.
She tried her hardest not to look at the muscles that lined his chest and abs but she couldn't help sneaking peaks when the smith wasn't watching. Eventually she left back towards the hall, when she opened the door she was greeted by a familiar sight. It had been a while since she had seen a proper feast. Men laughed raucously and food was thrown over tables. It brought a smile to her lips. One of the Cerwyn men had a harp and was singing a slow mournful song.
"When winter comes…
You'll hear no lions roar…
No stags grazing in the field…
No roses growing in the meadows…
No snakes in the sand…
The sun will cease to warm the land…
The krakens will freeze where they swim…
The flayed men will rot and wither…
No trouts swimming in the river and no falcons flying in the air…
Not even the dragons' breath will warm you in your halls…
And the Others will turn man to Wight…
Brace yourselves…Winter is coming…
And only the wolves will howl in the long night…"
The singing stopped, and so did all other sound. The hall was eerily quiet. Suddenly she heard a movement behind her. It was the knight who mended his own armour. He looked grim as did the men he brought. The Cerwyn men looked uncomfortable.
"Is that a song you like to jest over?" the knight asked, anger burning in his bright blue eyes
The anger there was horrifying. He raised his voice "IS IT? Men, good men died so you could all sit here in this hall and stuff your face with as much meat and ale as you can. The Others are nothing to joke about, or have you forgotten what defeating them cost us?" He stormed out of the all.
The knight's men sat in awkward silence. Arya quite liked the song, it was true. Winter had come and the Starks had held the north, as they always had. 'The wolves still howl' she thought.
A loud howl broke the silence in the hall. Arya's head snapped back to look through the opened door. 'That was stupid' she thought 'even if that wolf was Nymeria she would never make it in the castle walls'. But still, she could sense it, Nymeria was close.
Gendry left the hall, seething. It was unspeakable to sing about that, that which had cost him so much. Did Grenn, Harwin, Nott, Shanus, Perry and Dyllan die for no reason? They were good men, far better men than him. So why was he still alive? He answered his own question 'Because I had something to fight for. No, not something, someone' He shook his head, trying to rid the image of bodies, blood, blue eyes and cold, dead hands. They would not leave his head night or day, no matter what he tried. Nightmares plagued his sleep. He knew Jed was constantly woken by his screaming and thrashing but the boy said nothing. For once however Jed would not be woken easily, he had his own room well away from Gendry's. Gendry would still run Jed through his training, but maybe he'd take it easy on the kid tonight and tomorrow morning, he deserved a rest. Training with Jed proved to be a challenge, Gendry was forced to wield his blade left handed, his left hand was uncoordinated and wouldn't obey the simplest command. But still, he was improving. His appetite had gone and he walked up to his chambers.
He began donning his armour, he needed to keep strong, if he slacked off it might mean his death in the very near future. His arm was out of its sling but he was careful not to use it too much in training. He thought that if he exercised his arm, even a tiny bit, it would help. Gendry had just finished strapping his leg guards on when a small, tentative knock came.
"Who is it?" he asked, nocking an arrow to a cross bow that he kept in a travelling pack. He lifted the cross bow with his uninjured arm and aimed it at the door.
"It's me, Ser, the girl you're escorting to Winterfell" came a small voice. Gendry thought it strange that she didn't tell him her name, but Gendry couldn't talk. If the girl knew who he was and she was allied with the wrong people, that could mean bad business for Gendry.
"Aye come in" he said, not dropping the crossbow an inch. He had just been getting changed and had no time to put on a shirt. This girl had a habit of catching him shirtless. "What is it?" he said when she entered the room and closed the door. He tried not to let his mind wander, Seven hells she was beautiful.
"Just, I heard you speak of fighting the Others…" she started
He cut her off, of course she was like this, most girls were "Ah yes, you wish to congratulate me and offer me your maidenhead as penance for my heroism" he said with a snarl, most girls did this "The answer is no, I'll father no bastard"
She snapped "Shut up, that's not what I was going to say at all" The girl looked somewhat hurt
Gendry was slightly taken a back. The girl took a steady breath and continued "I was just wondering, if you happened to cross paths with a steward, Jon Snow"
Gendry was confused, why would she want to know about Jon? "Aye, I have. He's a good man Jon. And he's no longer a steward; he's Lord Commander Jon Snow now"
The girl was wide eyed "My father was right, even a bastard can rise high in the Nights Watch"
Gendry smirked "You're father is a wise man"
"Was" Arya corrected him
"I'm sorry" he said quickly "I meant no offense"
"And you gave none" she cut in "It happened a long time ago, in another city, another life" she looked sad and Gendry didn't know what to do. Girls on the verge of tears were not his specialty
"Who is Jon to you?" he asked
"Who is he to you?" she retorted
"Only the best and bravest man I have ever met. Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a four and ten year old boy that needs his arse kicked" He finished donning his armour. The girl stood there in silence, watching. As he walked past her he patted her shoulder "He's a good man, Jon is" and left her.