The Stag and The Frog - (GendryxMeera GOT fanfic) Part 1: Alone

6: His father's son

Lord Reed gestured at him to sit down at the table in the middle of the hall. Meera left the room as they sat down.

"I'll make sure you'll get some dry clothes soon. But first I want to know more about you. You say you are Robert's bastard, but you use his last name?"

"I was legitimized by Queen Daenerys."

"The Targaryen queen? She legitimized the son of her enemy?"

"She did. She wanted to show that she is kind and good, even towards her enemies."

"And is she? Is she kind and good?"

Gendry hesitated before he answered the question. He was loyal to the queen. After all she had given him his title and the name of his father. But he could not lie to his man, the friend of his father. He could not withhold the truth about the threat that was upon this man's lands and people.

"She is forceful, she is fierce, she is ruthless. But no, she is not kind and good."

Howland looked surprised at this answer. Or maybe at Gendry's honesty.

"So why do you fight for her?"

"I don't. I fight for myself, for house Baratheon."

"So what are you doing here if it's not in her name?"

"I'm here to save you and your people, to save my father's armies. She will burn you all with dragon fire. So the Northern armies will be able to pass without a battle. I asked her to give me a chance to solve it another way so that no one had to burn. To let me reclaim my father's armies instead of them being annihilated. To give the people here a chance to live."

Howland looked to ponder this for a moment. It was a lot to take in. The cruelty of the Dragon Queen's plan. She was supposed to be an ally of the Reeds.

"So did you reclaim them? Did they agree to follow you?"

"They did. Or rather they agreed to follow my father. They are still loyal to him. I'm not a great leader, but he was. I'm not him, but I look like him. And that was enough for them. That's apparently how great my father's legacy is, that a whole army agrees to turn their coats and follow a bastard just because he reminds them of him. I'm just a pale shadow of my father, but apparently that is enough."

Howland nodded. He had himself seen the resemblance to Robert Baratheon.

"You do look like your father. But I think you inherited more than that from him. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here. You're brave just like him. And I think those men saw that too, they didn't just see your face. They saw the Baratheon spirit, they saw the fury that was lost."

"They did agree to follow me. But I can't lead them out of this place without help. And that's why I'm here. I need you and your people to agree to let us leave without a fight. To give us safe passage through your lands."

"I don't really have a choice, do I? I don't want my people to burn. I don't want my daughter to burn. She's all I got. Of course I will let you leave. And I will send Meera with you to show you the best route."

"Thank you, Lord Reed. And can you maybe tell her to avoid the sinkholes this time?

Howland sighed and looked around the room before he spoke, like was trying to ensure that Meera had really left and wasn't listening.

"No one's ever been able to tell my daughter what to do...but she should know to trust you now and not take you on any detours."

"I would appreciate that."

Suddenly Howland looked very serious. Like there was something that he has just thought of, something that was troubling him.

."But can I ask you a favor in return Lord Baratheon? For the safe passage through these lands."

"Of course, but I'm not sure what I can do."

"You will be able to do more than you think. And I need you to promise to protect me if the Dragon Queen comes for me. To stand by me just like your father did. I am worried... worried about what will happen to us after you have left and her armies have passed by. When she has won this war. Because she obviously doesn't care about us. She wanted to burn us."

Gendry was confused. Why would Lord Reed need protection from the Dragon Queen?

"She hasn't even met you, why would she come for you?"

"Because I fought against her father. It seems she trusts you and Jon Snow despite your fathers fighting against her father. But you weren't there. You are not your father. You didn't stand on that battlefield. I did. I stood there with my weapons drawn against King Aerys. And she might not be able to forgive that. If she is who you say she is she won't be. So if she comes for me I ask you to protect me if you can, and if you can't protect me then please protect my daughter. Promise me that Gendry Baratheon."

Gendry had never had the power to protect anyone. He had, of course, tried to protect Arya the best he could when they traveled together. But he had to admit that she had protected him more than he had protected her. To actually have the power to protect anyone from the wrath of a queen... It wasn't in his realm of possibilities. But he knew he could not deny it to this man who had stood at his father's side. He didn't know what he could do but he would do whatever he could to save Howland Reed.

So he put out his hand on the table in front of him, palm down, and swore to protect his father's friend.

"I promise. I will protect you and your daughter if it comes to that. I swear on the name of my father to stand by you as you stood by him."

Howland looked at Gendry for a moment. Maybe he was trying to gauge the honesty in his promise. Maybe he was seeing a ghost. Then he put his hand on top of Gendry's.

"Thank you, Lord Baratheon. I believe you like I always believed your father. And I can't help but see him when I look at you."

"I would never betray my word... But I know I can never be my father, I can never compare to him."

Howland patted Gendry's hand and gave him a slight smile as he replied. Like it amused him how much he idolized his father. Because Robert wasn't some unattainable man above all men to Howland, he was just a man who had been his friend.

"I will tell you this, as your father's friend, that Robert doesn't deserve all the praise you give him. I loved him dearly but he was not perfect. He made mistakes, many of them. He became king, but that is no measure of his greatness as a man. So please don't doubt your greatness as a lord, or a man, based on him. You will make mistakes, but so did he."

As he said that Howland got up from the table. Maybe he had noticed that Gendry's lips were starting to turn blue from the cold of his wet clothes sticking to his body. Or he maybe had felt the coldness of his hand. Gendry could barely feel his fingers anymore. Or maybe he had seen that the poor guy had started to shiver. Regardless of what Howland had noticed it was quite obvious that Gendry was fucking freezing. The blanket he had wrapped around him didn't warm him much anymore. But he hadn't wanted to tell Lord Reed how cold he was because he didn't want him to think he was weak.

"I think it's time to get you into some dry clothes. You must be freezing still. And you're probably hungry too."

Gendry just nodded in reply. The cold was starting to make it hard for him to speak.

"I will have one of the maids warm some water for you and put out some dry clothes. Then you can join us for dinner. I will tell you all about your father. About the Robert I knew. He was not a perfect man, but he was a good man. One of the best men I've ever known."