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

10: Let me try

Gendry was just a bastard. But bastards could rise too. Jon Snow had also been just a bastard but he had convinced men to follow him anyway. Gendry remembered how convincing Jon Snow had sounded while speaking to his armies. He needed to emulate that. He needed to be Jon Snow now.

"That's true. I am not my father, I am not my uncle. I never even knew them. I am just a bastard. But I'm all you got. You need a Baratheon, and I'm the only Baratheon you got. For years you've been trying to take that castle with no avail. I can take it for you without as much as a fight. No more men need to die. No more men need to spend years away from their families. If you just let me try."

Suddenly the words were coming to him easily. It was like the ghost of Robert Baratheon had taken hold of him. Or maybe it was the ghost of Renly Baratheon, who had been more eloquent than his older brother. It wasn't words that were rehearsed, it was words coming directly from his heart.

"Since you tell me you don't know where I'm from I will tell you. I am from King's Landing. I grew up an orphan on the streets of the city. I had nothing. Absolutely nothing. No parents, no last name, no home. Do you know what that's like Lord Penrose?"

Gendry stared Lord Penrose right in the eyes as he continued. No hesitation, no fear, no turning back. His voice grew louder.

"You say I wouldn't die to take that castle. How do you know what I would or wouldn't die for? All I've ever wanted in this world is a home, somewhere to belong. I would happily sacrifice my life for the chance to get that. And that castle is that. It's the chance for a man who never had anything to have something. To be someone. To matter. I am just a bastard but I am still my father's son. And just like him, I will never ever quit. I will get that castle, or I will die trying."

Lord Penrose backed up slightly.

"You talk yourself up well boy. Maybe you have the same storm in you as your father and uncle. But you still need to prove your worth."

Gendry was still staring right at him. The resemblance to his father was so clear now. The fire in his eyes, the fury of House Baratheon.

"I am no boy. I am Lord Baratheon" he said. "And I will never be able to prove myself if you don't give me a chance."

As he said that another man stepped out of the audience. He was old, very tall, and had a grey beard.

"I welcome you here, Lord Baratheon," he said and nodded in Gendry's direction. "I'm Lord Selwyn of Tarth. I believe you've met my daughter up North."

The Lord of Tarth then turned to Lord Penrose. He put his hand on his shoulder in what looked like an attempt to calm him down.

"Lord Penrose, Cortnay. My friend. Why don't we let the boy try?"

Gendry wished that these men would stop calling him a boy. He hadn't been a boy in a long time. Boys had parents or other guardians who took care of them. But he wasn't about to protest again as the Lord of Tarth seemed to be on his side.

"Don't you want to go home?" the Lord of Tarth continued, still talking to Lord Penrose. "Because I do. I want to end this damn siege. And if he can end it, let him try. If he succeeds we will be back where we started, with a Baratheon at Storm's End. Then we can all go home."

"He's not a Baratheon though," Lord Penrose protested. "He's a bastard. The Dragon Queen's legitimization doesn't mean anything here."

"Unless you plan to dig his father out of the ground that's the only legitimization he can get. And we will all follow the Dragon Queen soon enough, you know that. What's the harm in letting him try? She will place him there anyway soon enough."

Lord Penrose looked defeated. All the other lords looked about ready to go home, to abandon the damn siege that had taken years of their lives. They would never have surrendered the castle to the Lannisters. But now suddenly another solution had presented itself. A solution where they didn't have to surrender, but still could go home.

"And what happens after that?" Lord Penrose tried in one last attempt. "He knows nothing about ruling."

Gendry realized this was an opportunity for him to garner som trust from the man.

"That's true. I don't know anything about being a lord. I will need help. So it would be my honor if you stayed here and became my advisor, Lord Penrose. Because you seem to know that castle better than anyone."

Lord Penrose nodded. He had no more arguments to make.

"If the other lords agree I will too. I will let you try Lord Baratheon. Anyone else opposing this?"

Lord Penrose looked around at the other lords. No one spoke up. No one opposed. He sighed. Now he had to concede.

"It seems like you will get your chance Lord Baratheon," he said as he started walking away. "Just know that if you get that castle that's when your troubles begin. When you have to rule. I will help you. But I will also watch you. And if you fail that castle might just slip out of your hands."

There was a hopeful glint in Lord Penrose's eye as he said that. He wanted Gendry to fail.

Gendry remained on that stage for a few more moments. He exhaled. His hands had stopped shaking. He was no longer nauseous. Maybe he was starting to get used to being a lord.