We stopped along the road, some days have come and gone and now we were taking a break from the traveling. I still had no clue as to how long we had until we would reach the Wall, but front he looks of it, it would be a very long time. Leagues, of certain, but it didn't matter since I was seeing King's Landing farther and farther away behind us and freedom in front of us.
Brennon, acting like my father, never let me out of his sight. It was fine by me, since the men that were part of our caravan weren't really the kind of guys I would like to be stuck for more than a minute. Yoren warned me, some of then were in fact rapist and murderers, going to the Wall as punishment. But it was better to know that Arya was safe with us as well, safe enough since she was going to be watched by Yoren. As soon as we could when we had our first pit stop, we both met up with one another and looked at each other fully for the first time. Her hair was beyond short, and she did in fact look like a young boy, wearing a tunic and breeches with boots. It didn't fit her, but it had to since she had to escape. For me, on the other hand, I had shorter hair with bangs now, wearing a very simple dress with a cloak. It wasn't a drastic change as it was with Arya, but it was a change none the less. All she had from King's Landing was Needle, in which she still kept it close to her and never let it out of her sight.
"At least we're safe." She said in a reassuring tone, having me nod my head. We were safe, safe away from the Lannisters, and their plot against the Star family. But I saw the dimness in her eyes, since she was somewhat of a witness to the death of her father. She must of been hurting, in so much pain and anger that it would boil over sometime soon. I worried for her, since she was so young and for that to happen to her, it was too much. A part of me wanted to shelter her, but then again we had to play the parts that were given.
I watched out of the corner of my eye, seeing Gendry with Arya and two other boys by the stream. Arya was washing dishes and pans as Gendry was filling a bucket. I didn't know what they were talking about, but I looked back at the shirt Brennon gave me, having me mend it for him to keep my mind and fingers occupied. But of course, when I was sitting by myself, I would hear murmurs around me from the other people involved with the caravan. They were talking about me, wanting to know who I was and why a highborn would be with them.
"A highborn with such beauty shouldn't be with a bunch of desperate men." One men said under his breath to me as he walked over, trying to scare me as I worked on the shirt. I scoffed at him, seeing him eye me from the corner of his eye.
"A man shouldn't talk like that to a highborn, or else he'll loose his cock." I replied aloud, as if it was nothing. He looked at me, stopping in his spot as I eyed him. Now, I was terrified at that moment, since I was afraid of being alone with them. But I also know that I won't be seen as some petrified woman, taking out the dagger that I had against my hip in the holder and stabbed it on the tree trunk next to me in such a force, he looked and immediately walked off, having me glare at him and back to my shirt that was in my lap.
I heard horses coming through the camp, all of us stopping what we were doing and saw several Gold Cloaks coming along a small bridge and stopping in front of Yoren, having me shoot up and away from my spot, towards the horse Brennon and I had and hid behind it as Yoren was speaking to the head Gold Cloak.
"We're looking for a man named Gendry." He said aloud, having me freeze in my spot after that heard that name being called out. Looking over slightly, I saw Yoren eyeing the men, not moving from his stance and then the Gold Cloak riding off, having the stiff conversation be over. But it didn't feel like it, since the rest of the caravan was now occupied with looking at both Gednry and Arya with suspicious looks. Even I did as well, thinking that they wanted either Arya or myself. But Gendry? What did they want with him.
"Milday." I heard behind me, having me whirled around from the sudden noise and see Brennon there.
"Brennon….I mean father." I said aloud, knowing that I had to play along with the cover. He look rathe flustered where he was as I saw Yoren looking at the rest of the caravan, his eyes were back to being hard and filled with authority.
"Back to work, all of you." He said aloud, having me see all of the caravan workers go back to work and then my eyes went to Arya and Gendry, whom reluctantly did the same.
"I thought they wanted me." I said under my breath, looking back to Breenon.
"As did I, either you or Arya." he added to the conversation, "But so far so good. I don't think they know about the both of you."
"Brennon." I said, under my breath so that we would only hear it, "I need to be able to defend myself."
"What do you mean?" He asked me aloud, a raised eyebrow was evident.
"I need to learn how to fight." I explained to him, seeing him look at me with confusion and with shock in his face, "It's not that I don't trust you…..because I do. But what if you're not with me when something does happen. I want to know that I can keep myself out of danger." He eyed me from his spot, seeing that I was telling the truth. To me, I had no need of being a defenseless young woman. I wanted to be able to be strong enough to defend myself in case something or someone wanted to harm me. I had no wanted to being a true lady, not really. So, learning how to use a dagger or even how to punch was better than nothing at all.
"Perhaps while we travel, whenever we have down time, I can find a weapon for you to learn and master." He explained, having me smile so widely at him but see his seriousness on his face. He pointed his finger at me, having me go into silence.
"But when I say we stop with the lesson, we do so without any argument, and do you as I say, understand?" he asked me aloud, having me nod my head in a fast vigorous manner.
"Yes father." I replied with a smirk, seeing him eye me when I used his code name. He walked off with a small smile on his face, having me see that our friendship was still useful in dire times. I smiled, knowing that I won the argument and that I was going to be able to have a weapon. A girl like me shouldn't be so giddy about it, let alone a Lady. Then again, I was fooling everyone by saying that I was a Lady, even though I was a lowborn. So it was appropriate. I sat back down on the same stump I was on before, getting back to work on the shirt and trying to contain my excitement.
"Joffrey is a liar." I heard from my spot, looking up and seeing Gendry and Arya talk to each other in such a manner, it seemed like they were siblings bickering over each other with a simple conversation. I and no clue that the two of them were friends, let alone getting close to one another. Did Gendry even know about Arya, or was he fooled like everyone else? Seeing Gendry outside of Flea Bottom was still new for me, but I had to wonder why he didn't want to stay there in the first place. He must of been in trouble, since now the Gold Cloaks wanted him. It was made even more curious as to why they wanted him. I heard something in front of me, someone walking by. I looked up, seeing Arya walk by in a huff, almost worked up for some reason. Before I could even call her out, seeing her walk away in almost a gallop, I heard footsteps coming towards me and I looked. Gendry was coming towards me. I froze in my spot, looking down at the shirt I was wearing. He could still be under the belief that I was another Lady traveling with a bunch of Bastards and lowborns.
"I know it's you…Nora." He said in a small tone, only for us to hear, having me freeze in my mending of the shirt and looked up at him. I saw that he was looking right at me, the look gave me chills as he eyed me .
"How did you know?" I asked him aloud in a shaky tone.
"You think shortening your hair would do the trick?" he asked me aloud in curiosity, pointing to my hair that was framing my face. He got me there, since he must of been smart enough to see that I was Nora, and not a Lady.
"The same with Arya, putting her in boy's clothing and cutting her hair didn't hide the fact that she was a girl." he explained, my eyes going wide.
"How did you know about her?" I asked him in a worried tone. He shook his head, seeing the shock in my eyes and the fear that was creeping up one. If he knew, then who else would know for certain?
"I'm not going to say a word." he explained to me, having me freeze my movements and pause from going into a panic, "I promised her I wouldn't. She told me who she was and where she was going, I didn't need to know any more."
"And yet you seem content with who she is." I said to him in a cautious manner.
"It's not my place to question a Lady." He replied in a shrug, having me cock my head to the side.
"You didn't happen to call her Milday did you?" I asked him aloud, seeing him look from my over to his right, my left, seeing Arya still steaming as she was working on another rest of pans near one of the carts. I grinned from ear to ear.
"Don't worry, she almost murdered me when I used that on her for the first time." I said to him in reassurance, having him look back at me with a softer look on his face.
"You knew her?" He asked me aloud.
"It's a long story." I merely replied.
"But since you're a Lady now, I'll have to use that on you eh?" He asked me aloud, a bit of amusement was on his face and also in his tone. I sighed, thinking that it would going to be horrid of me to be called Milday all the time. It was going to be maddening.
"It's wasn't my choosing." I replied back to him, seeing him nod his head in return as I paused and placed the shirt on my lap, looking at him with curiosity in my eyes.
"Why did the Gold Cloaks want you?" I asked him in wonder, hunched over the shirt but looking up at him with fascination. He shrugged his shoulders once more.
"No idea, I didn't do anything wrong. Arya thought they were after me." He explained to me as he walked over to the horse, leaning against it and being on my right side, facing forward but tilting his head towards me.
"Or me." I replied, seeing him look down at me with a raised eyebrow of confusion.
"Why you?" He asked me aloud, having me watch as a couple of the men looked at the both of us as they walked by. This was bad, they were seeing a lowborn talk to a Lady and that had to of looked more awkward then before. As much as I wanted to talk to Gendry, this was looking terrible for the both of us.
"We shouldn't talk like this in the open." Gendry said aloud, seeing the look of hesitation on my face and the stares passing us by.
"I agree. Since people are seeing a Smithy and a Lady talk together, that could raise questions." I said in agreement.
"I'm not a Smithy, not anymore." I looked up at him as he said this, but he kept his eyes forward and one the men that were passing by, "I'm just a Bastard now, my master got rid of me which is why I'm here in the first place: I have no where else to go."
"And you assume I don't want to talk to you?" I asked him aloud, going back to mending the shirt I had in my hands, trying to look busy and not obviously awkward in front of the men.
"I doubt I'm worth your time." He replied in a low tone, having me draw out a thread harshly.
"I prefer your time over anyone else's here." I said in a hard low tone, having him look at me slightly as I worked away on the shirt. He was stubborn for trying to push me away in a sense. I may be the part of a Lady, but he knew what I was and for him to try and not see me as a friend, that left a dull pain in my chest. I needed a friend here, more than Brennon or Arya. They were still my friends, but I wanted another, someone my age whom I could talk to with no worry or care.
"You make it sound like you don't want to talk to me." I muttered to him aloud, almost having a hint of annoyance and anger in my tone. It sounded like it, since he was trying to show how different we were.
"I want to talk to you." He said aloud, having me pause from my work and almost loose my breath. He made it sound as if it was truly what he wanted, a genuine tone in his voice. I looked up at him from my spot, his face soften from before being hard and stubborn. I gazed my eyes back down to my lap, trying to hide the fact that I wanted to blush and be a complete girl in front of him. What in Seven Hells?
"Besides, I can only take so much of Hotpie and Arya before I snap." he replied, back in his gruff of a tone and I smirked, finished the shirt and folding it in my lap and placing my hands on top of the fixed shirt in a sigh of relief.
"Let's talk tonight then, after everyone's asleep." I explained to him, seeing him shift so he can slightly turn to stare at me as I stood up from my spot.
"Is that a good idea?" He asked under his breath, having me smirk as I held the gift to my chest.
"If you still want to talk to me and know why I am here, than we can meet tonight, or do you prefer to talk to Hotpie all night?" I asked him aloud, seeing him smirk as I walked past him towards Yoren and Brennon.
"Milday." he said, under his breath as I walked past him, a smile on my face. I forged a friendship with Gendry and it was something in this cruel part of my life that was utterly beautiful and positive. I felt better about my situation, only slightly as I was trying tog et back home. It didn't hurt that I was making a friend in the process.
A genuine friend.