The Stag and The Frog - (GendryxMeera, GOT Fanfic) Part 2: Together

40: One day

They got one day. One day of happiness and calm. One day of peace in the Stormlands. One day when no one was in peril.

That day the sun shone, even in the usually rain-soaked Stormlands. The birds sang chipper tones and the flowers bloomed in vibrant colors. No stormwinds blew, only a gentle breeze rustled the grass where Joreen crawled. Her parents sat beside her. They had decided to venture out to the woods outside the castle for the day, in an attempt to forget their troubles. They knew the current calm wouldn't last. They were in the eye of the storm and at any moment it would make landfall once again.

Meera put her hand on her husband's right palm and stroked his fingers. The rest of his arm was covered in a stiff leather casing that went up to his elbow.

"Can you feel that?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, I can feel it," he said with a sigh. "I can't bend it or lift it much, but I can feel it."

She interlaced her fingers with his. With some effort, he managed to bend his fingers around hers as well.

"At least you can hold my hand now," she said with a smile and squeezed his hand.

"I can," he replied. "But I can't do much else."

"It will get better."

"I hope so, because I need to be strong soon. When the king comes for us again. I know he will."

Meera leaned her head lightly on Gendry's shoulder. "He will," she sighed. " He won't give up. But we'll fight him."

"My forces are decimated after the wars. If the king attacks with all his men we'll have no chance. He'll crush us. He'll crush our daughter. I can't let him. I need to do something."

"Lord Arryn and Lord Lannister have sworn to be loyal to you in the past. Since the situation in Highgarden is resolved now you could ask for them to stand with you against the king. Lord Arryn still has sizeable armies."

"I can't ask that of them. They've both just became fathers as well. I can't ask them to walk away from their families to stand up for my family. Not against a king who has a dragon on his side."

"You should still ask them. Let them make their own decisions. They wouldn't just do it for our family. They would do it for their own families as well. To make sure this kingdom is safe for their children to grow up in."

As on cue, Joreen put some grass in her mouth and started chewing on it. "Jory, don't eat that!" Meera exclaimed and snatched her daughter up from the ground.

"Here," she said to her husband. "Hold this little wildling while I put down a blanket for her to roll on instead."

She put a flailing and drooling Joreen in her husband's lap and he used a rag to wipe off the little girl's mouth. As parents to a messy little girl, they had quickly learned to always carry around rags and towels to clean her up with.

"Goooooh," Joreen protested against her father's treatment of her.

"At least you get to roll around in the grass, Jory," Gendry said to his daughter while bouncing her in his lap. "I'm not sure I even saw grass before I left the orphanage. The septas kept us inside most of the time."

Meera gave her husband a horrified look. "I still don't think she should eat the grass though," she said and sat down beside them and patted her husband's hand again. "But I will certainly make sure she gets to be outside. She won't be a pampered little lady who is afraid of mud and grass stains."

"I don't think that is in any danger of happening with you as her mother," he said and smiled at his wife.

She smiled back. "Let me get that blanket so that you can put her down," she said and started getting up again.