You won't even believe all that has been going on in my life... The time to update went out the window. But it came back! At least for now. But today I woke up with some new reviews asking me to pelase update, which was really nice, so I said, I will do it! Even if I don't sleep because of it! Which I didn't by the way, it's 6:30 am and I have a flight to catch in the afternoon and I am gonna look like a freaking zombie in the plane... Which is good, because then I will fall asleep and not suffer through the flight. I HATE planes!

Anyways, I was going to try to post a reaaaaaaaaally long chapter... But if I did that I would ave to update in a few days, or maybe a week. And I didn't want that, so I cut the chapter in half. I will try to write the next chapter during my flight if I don't fall asleep, because I am very inspired! Yay!

Enjoy it, and please please please review! I love to know what you think of it! And the next chapter is gonna be FULL of surprises. Ye be warned.

"Are there any news?" Gendry asked when Jaqen H'ghar entered the tent.

The Faceless Man shook his head, and Gendry sighed heavily. The battle had been over hours ago, the Freys had been defeated, their army was destroyed and so were the Twins. The bridge between them still stood unharmed and it was safe to cross from one side to the other, but the two castles that used to stand at each side of it had been reduced to charred piles of broken stone and black, smoking ashes. The survivors, the women and children that Gendry had commanded his men to spare, were being sent to the capital escorted by a group of soldiers. The Queen should decide their fate when she came back from her travels. Gendry guessed that most of the older boys would be sent to join the Night's Watch so that they would forget about avenging their House and reclaiming what used to be theirs. The youngest boys and babes would remain with their mothers, just as the girls, and Gendry had no idea of what would become of them, but he knew that whatever Daenerys decided to do would be the right choice. At least those women and children still had their lives, which was more than could be said of their husbands and brothers and fathers and oldest sons. They had all perished because of the poor decision that their House had made, because of the stupidity of their Lord. Gendry had been fair. He had given them a chance, and they had thrown it away.

He had gotten back his son Robb thanks to Jaquen's ability to disguise himself and enter the castle, but they still hadn't found Arya. Despite Lord Edwyn's insistence that Arya was very far away, Gendry wasn't sure if he should believe that man's words. He was afraid that Arya had been trapped in some other secret cell of the castle and that she had died during the attack, but after a long search it was confirmed that Arya wasn't there, dead or alive, so Lord Edwyn had been telling the truth. Robb could be a witness, but he had been taken away to safety, and he was too young to remember exactly what happened or to give them a clue that could help them. Gendry didn't want to give up, he was sure that his wife had to be somewhere… but where?!

"We interrogated the survivors before they were taken away," Sandor Clegane said. He hadn't been able to arrive to the battle in time before it began, because he had had to travel a very long way in very short notice. Howver, he did come with several thousand men, and they would be needed if the time came to fight the Freys again. Only half their army had been at the Twins, and the other half was nowehere to be found. Gendry sensed that they would have to fight to get Arya back, and Sandor and his men would help him.; Gendry appreaciated his support. He knew that, even though Sandor and Arya's relationship hadn't started on good terms year ago, both of them had grown to care very much for each other. Besides, Sandor loved his wife Sansa more than anything, and Arya was Sansa's beloved sister, so damn him if he wasn't going to do everything in his power to get the youngest Stark sister back home! "None of them know shit."

"We must send ravens to every lord and lady in Westeros," Gendry said then. They had gathered around a small table that they had put in the tent they were in. The storm outside wasn't so strong as before, but it was still raining. On the table there was a map of the Seven Kingdoms, and they were all examining it. It had gotten a bit wet because of the rain and their soaked clothes and hair, but it wasn't ruined. "If any of tem have seen the Frey army then that would be a clue as to where they are keeping her…"

"Maybe they have friends that are protecting them, we can't trust anyone to tell us the truth if they have in fact seen the Freys."

"Who would want to hide them and risk suffering the Queen's wrath?"

"Anyone who is as stupid as Lord Frey was," Sandor grunted. Gendry had told him was Lord Edwyn had asked of him in return for giving Arya back, and the man had been shocked and disgusted. "Asking for the Stormlands and the North… Seven buggering hells, he was a fucking idiot."

"He was an idiot, but he has my wife and I want her back," Gendry muttered between his teeth. He had to stop himself from punching the map on the table out of frustration. He had looked at the map about a hundred times, trying to find where the Freys could be hiding with Arya, but he had no clue of where to start. "You don't think the Lannisters…"

"No. In the past I would have thought so too, but now? No," Sandor shook his head, and Gendry believed him.

"Then who?!"

"I don't know! Maybe no one is helping them!"

"No one is helping them," Jaqen said then, and both Gendry and Sandor looked at him. They had detected a lot of confidence in the Faceless Man's voice. Sandor hadn't reacted very well when he had seen the man there at his arrival; he hadn't particularly liked him in the past. Gendry knew that the only reason why Clegane hadn't tried punching the man in the face was more because he was thankful that he had rescued Robb than because of common sense. Still, he knew that Sandor didn't fully trust Jaqen.

"How could you possibly know?" Sandor asked in a rather harsh tone. Gendry was wondering the same thing, but he waited for Jaqen to answer.

"They wouldn't have hired sellswords and split their own army in two. If they had formed an alliance with another House to kidnap Arya, one of the most powerful women in the Seven Kingdoms, it must have been an alliance made with a very powerful House. No one else would dare facing the wrath of House Baratheon, House Stark, House Targaryen, House Tully and House Clegane together if not. House Stark has seats in the North and in the Vale, have you any idea how big of an army there would be once they join forces between them? Not to mention once they join the armies of the other Houses... You can be sure that no puny lord is going to dare going to war against that, and if House Frey was allied to someone very powerful they would have had their entire army here to defend them."

"But maybe some lords do dare to face us all together," Gendry said after listening to the man. "Lord Frey thought that we would agree to his blackmailing, that we would give him all of our lands in exchange for Arya. Maybe those other lords believed it too and agreed to help him and they have her!"

"No, but he is right," Sandor said then, agreeing with Jaqen, much to the surprise of everyone, even the Faceless Man himself. "The Freys wouldn't have split their own army in two if they had help. That was only going to give them away, and it made them weaker. Why do it if they had help?"

"Well, either way, it doesn't matter now does it?" Gendry asked bitterly, clutching the sides of the small table in front of him and burying his fingernails so deep in the wood that he was hurting himself. He didn't care. He could feel his entire body trembling with anger. He wanted to let it all out but he couldn't, not right there and not right then. "With an alliance or without it, they still have Arya, and we still don't know where she is. They thought we would give them the Stormlands and the North in exchange for her, but I didn't agree to that and now what? She could be anywhere and we have no fucking clue where to even start looking!"

He wanted to scream. He wanted to bring back to life all the Freys that he had killed so that he could kill them once again, and then kill them some more. He wanted to beat something, anything, to let out that anger that was burning him, consuming him. He wanted to find Arya and hold her and tell her that everything would be all right. But he couldn't, and he felt so fucking helpless!

Sandor and Jaqen remained calm, and they eyed him warily, aware that he might explore in a fit of rage at any moment. Sandor understood that feeling better than anyone else. He had felt the same once, when he was separated from Sansa years ago and sent far away from her, when he didn't know where she was or how she was. He had felt like that, of maybe even worse, when he had mistakenly thought that Sansa had died in a fire. And he felt like that when he tried searching for his son but couldn't find him anywhere. That was why he understood better than anyone how Gendry was feeling when he couldn't find his wife.

Jaqen also understood him, in a slightly different way. He had never been in the situation that Gendry was at the moment before, but he also wanted to find Arya more than anything else in the world, and he wouldn't stop until he succeeded. That was why it was him who spoke, instead of Sandor.

"I know who might be able to help."

"Who?"

"The Red Woman."

There was complete silence inside the tent after those words left the Faceless Man's mouth. Both Gendry and Sandor stared at him dumbfounded. He stared back at them with a blank expression, as if he didn't know why they were so shocked. He shrugged and broke the silence.

"What? She helped us before, when we asked her to discover who took Arya. She led us here," he explained.

Gendry knew that. He had hated having to go to that woman for help. Of all the people in the world, he had precisely needed her, the woman that he hadn't wanted to lay eye on ever again… He had taken her with him to the Twins in case they needed her again, in case her visions in the fire were wrong and the Freys proved to be innocent. But Melissandre had been right in the end, and the Freys were guilty for the kidnapping of his wife and child. He had wished that he wouldn't have to speak to the Red Witch again after that, that he could sent her back to the capital and lock her in the black cells beneath the Red keep forever, but luck wasn't on his side. They had found Robb, but not Arya, and they didn't have the slightest idea where to start looking for her.

"She won't help us," Sandor grunted.

"She will," Jaqen assured him. There was so much confidence in his voice and in jis expression… He was always like that. The man's confidence used to irritate Gendry, but in moments like those he welcomed that attitude. He needed it, if he was to believe that everything would be all right in the end.

Gendry wasn't happy about that new turn of events, but he couldn't lose the best chance that he had at finding his wife as quickly as possible just because he hated the woman whose help he needed badly. Though he didn't want to, he agreed, and Jaqen left the tent to give the order to the soldiers to take Melissadre to the tent. A few minutes later she arrived there, escorted by three soldiers. She looked much better than she had when they saw her in the black cells beneath the Red Keep. Gone were the rags and the dirt. She wasn't dressed in the red dress that she always wore when she was by Stannis Baratheon's side during the War of the Five Kings, but she was dressed in decent and clean clothing, and her hair was no longer dry and broken. It wasn't soft and silky like a lady's, but it looked healthier than it did before. Her days outside of the black cells had returned some color to her face, and it favored her. But Gendry didn't focus on those details. He focused instead on the fire that shone bright in the woman's dangerous eyes. He needed that fire. That fire could find Arya.

"Yes, my lord?" she asked when she was standing before him. Gendry gave a sign to the soldiers to let them know that they could leave. Once they were gone he started speaking.

"I need your help," he told her. His distaste was obvious in his expression, but he held back his pride, just like he had done the last time. "Once more."

Melissandre arched an eyebrow. She looked amused. "Again?" her tone was moking, as it had been in the black cells. "I thought the debt was paid. I don't owe you my help anymore."

"I need your help," he insisted. For a lord it was humiliating to beg for help. For a humble bastard blacksmith it was humiliating as well, but when one was poor he had to beg for help quite a few times, and Gendry ad been very poor before he was a Baratheon. He had been a very proud bastard, yes, but even proud bastards knew when to bite their tongue and bend the knee. He wasn't that poor bastard anymore, but Arya was very much worth every humiliation that he had to go through. "We found Robb, but we couldn't find Arya. They have her, I know they do, but they don't have her here. Where is she?"

"I don't owe you my help," the Red Witch insisted, and Gendry's blood boiled in his veins. He only had so much patiente. So did Sandor Clegane, who put his hand on the handle of his sword.

"And I don't owe you my mercy, witch," the Hound spat, quite menacingly. However, Melissandre showed no fear. Being outside the black cells hadn't only returned some life to her appearance, but some fire to her spirit as well.

"Stop," Gendry hissed. "As much as I would love to put a sword through her myself, I still need her alive… What do you want, Melissandre?"

"I want to serve the lord of Light, nothing more," she said, quite calmly.

"How? You did so years ago by counseling Staniss, but now he is dead."

"The lord of Light will show me the way. He will let me know what I must do in the future. I have been away from his flame for so long that the path is still not clear, but soon it will appear before me, I know it."

"The path won't be very clear once you are back in the black cells."

"Then set me free."

"I can't do that, I am not the Queen," that was true, Gendry had no authority to free Melissandre. He had just been authorized by the Hand of the Queen to take her with him for as long as it took to find his family, and then he was to return her to the place she belonged to.

Melissandre was about to speak again, but Jaqen interrupted her. Just like he had done back in the black cells, he spoke to the woman in Valyrian. Neither Sandor nor Gendry could figure out what he was saying, but they were aware of how Melissandre listened to the man and slowly her expression changed. Was he convincing her? Was he threatening her? Was he bargaining with her? Gendry didn't care, as long as it made the woman agree to use her magic for their benefit. Melissandre didn't stay silent, she replied to the man in Valyrian as well. She wasn't calm like she had been back in King's Landing. She was arguing with Jaqen, and he replied to her, and by the sound of it it was being a heated argument. Gendry could not help but being very curious about that exchange of words. Jaqen looked… angry, and he sounded angry too. He was usually calm, or serious, or mocking, but it was rare to see him displaying strong emotions, let them be positive or negative. Now that he thought of it, Gendry realized that he had only seen Jaqen happy or very angry when he was with Arya or whenever the situation concerned her. It was… strange. He had always heard that when people became Faceless Men to serve the god of Death they shed their personality and became No One, they left all traces of their humanity behind. But in Jaqen's case it seemed as if somehow Arya had reminded him of what being alive used to be, and she had returned his humanity to him. Could that be even possible?

Finally, Jaqen and Melissandre ceased their argument after the Faceless Man spoke rather harshly. Melissandre even took a step back, surprising both Gendry and Sandor, who had no idea of what was going on. Now it was Jaqen the one that seemed to have fire in his gaze, not Melissandre. She looked down to her feet for a second, and when she raised her gaze again to look at Gendry she looked rather unnerved. Before he could question what was going on she spoke to him.

"I will need blood," she said. Gendry was surprised by her sudden agreement to cooperate, so he didn't react immediately. She glared at him, annoyed. "I will have to perform blood magic to track her, I will need her blood."

"You can track her?" Sandor asked, surprised. Then he looked irritated. "Then why didn't you bloody well say so before?!" Melissandre paid him no attention.

"I will need the blood of a family member, are any of her brothers here? Her sister? Lord Clegane doesn't count, he isn't her brother by blood."

"No, only her uncle Edmure is here, but he was gravely injured during battle, he is resting…"

"Fine, then, her son will do."

Gendry wasn't going to let that woman anywhere near his son, and much less let her take his blood. But as soon as she mentioned Robb, he had an idea. "Take my blood. Arya is carrying my child, you can track him using my blood. It runs through his veins…" Or her, he reminded himself. He did not know what the baby would be, a boy or a girl. He wanted to find Arya safe and sound, and he wanted her to have that baby, their baby, and then he could find out what it was and live a happy long life with them….

"Very well. Let's go to the fire." They all approached the torches that had been lit before, when they put up the tent after the battle. The flames burned gently on top of it, and Gendry held his open hand over them. Melissandre took a knife that Jaqen was handing over to him and she sliced Gendry's hand open without any warning or care. Gendry hissed in pain when the woman cut him, but he didn't take his hand away. The blood flowed from the wound and fell on the flames, which hissed and crackled. He took his hand away from the flames when Melissandre told him to, and he covered the wound with some cloth. He would take better care of it later, he didn't want it to get infected and keep him from being able to fight wherever they were heading. Melissandre started a soft chant in a language they did not know. If certainly wasn't the Common Tongue, and it didn't sound like Valyrian. It was probably some old tongue from the far ends of Essos, used for dark and dangerous spells unknown to the rest of the world. Gendry, Jaqen and Sandor stood beside her looking at the flames while Melissandre continued chanting, and the flames grew bigger and wilder, burning furiously all of a sudden. All three of them took a step back -Sandor took two steps away from the fire, fearful of it as he ever was- but Melissandre stayed put, looking at the flames with her eyes wide open while they spoke to her and gave her the answers that they desperately needed.

"I see a cave," she finally said after a while. "I see mountains. I see sand."

They were confused, until she said the following words. "I see a snake."

"Dorne," all three men said at once. They looked at each other with troubled expressions. They had taken Arya to Dorne? Were the Martells somehow involved in this? It was known that for a long time they had profoundly disliked House Stark, due to the events that led to Robert's Rebellion. They had never forgotten that prince Rhaegar Targaryen had humiliated his wife, princess Elia Martell, and chosen Lyanna Stark. Arya was the spitting image of Lyanna… Could it be? Could the Martells really be involved in that attack to House Baratheon and House Stark because of events that had happened decades ago, and that had nothing to do with either Arya or Gendry? Gendry wouldn't put it past them. The Houses of Westeros had the bad habit of keeping grudges for a long time. House Frey had just been an example of it, and so had House Baratheon and House Stark.

"Did you say she is in a cave?" Sandor then asked Melissandre. "As in a cell?" Maybe the Martells had a secret cell in Sunspear just like they Freys did in the Twins. Melissandre shook her head.

"No, it is a cave. I see mountains. I see the entrance of the cave. It is small, very small, hidden between the rocks."

"Then maybe the Martells aren't in on this, maybe the Freys have her somewhere else," Gendry said, hoping he was right. If the Martells were their enemy, then that situation was much worse than he had imagined in the beginning.

"They wouldn't risk losing the Queen's favor," Sandor grunted.

"They hate Jon," Gendry said then. It was true, the Martells had not taken kindly the news that Rhaegar had had a child with Lyanna after he left Elia for the Stark beauty. All of Westeros knew that. Arya was Jon's favorite sister.

"I still doubt they are involved… Why would the Freys have split their army then?"

That was true. It was what they had been speaking about earlier that night, before Melissandre was summoned to the tent. Gendry still had his doubts, but he decided not to speak more of them. They still needed more information. "Can you find out anything else?"

"I can try. My powers aren't what they used to be, but the lord of Light still listens to me. Bring me a map and give me more blood, my lord, and I might be able to deliver you straight to your beloved wife."

Gendry didn't waste a single second. They moved to the table, where they had left the map that they had been examining before, and when Melissandre told him to do it he dropped his blood on the map, staining it with the thick red liquid. Melissadre resumed her chant, louder than before, and she took the torch and touched the blood with its flame. The blood caught fire, something that Gendry had never seen happening before. The map didn't burn, though, and as the chant continued all the blood gathered in one single spot, and it slowly moved through the map all the way to Dorne and stopped over the Red Mountains. The fire suddenly extinguished itself and the blood disappeared, and all that was left on the map was a dark red spot where the blood had been before, marking the place they were looking for.

"They have her there," Melissandre said, pointing to the dark red spot, and they all fixed their eyes on it. The Red Muntains formed part of the boundary between the Stormlands and Dorne, but the red spot was placed in the part of the mountains that was near the Tourentine river.

"I've heard about those caves…" Sandor muttered while he stared at the dark red spot. "They are as hard to find as a needle in a haystack, and as deep beneath the ground as Hell's gates themselves. They are like labyrinths, many men have been lost forever inside them."

Gendry wasn't going to let that stop him. "I will find Arya, even if I have to tear Dorne apart with my own bare hands to do so."

Outside the tent, lightning struck. The storm had started again.