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WARNING: CHAPTER CROSSES OVER AND CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM MY OTHER GOT FIC, "HOWLING"
SHE hadn't spoke to a maester in a long time. Maia wondered if her pregnancy was going well; if her own child was well. She wished she wasn't such a coward. Maybe if she hadn't been, she'd have the courage to tell Jon. Secretly, she told him every night, while he was asleep and she was awake in her guilt. She'd brush her hands across his cheeks, forgetting her anger, and tell him that she was with his child. She'd tell him that they would love the child as if it were true-born; as if it weren't a bastard; as if the inevitable war against the undead didn't exist. She'd tell him all of this.
But Maia Sanders was a coward. She was a charismatic, yet stubborn young woman, who was too scared to tell her own bastard lover that he would soon have one of his own. She was a leader with no courage. She wished she could be like him.
She hadn't exactly agreed to letting him go on the raid up North, but it wasn't like he'd listen. Maia's worry about the raid didn't matter, because even she knew that it must be done. She just wished that this raid wouldn't end in his death, before his own child was born.
Maia waited along the shores of Dragonstone, beside Tyrion, Daenerys, and her Dothraki guards. Even Davos was going with Jon, but he was to stay at Eastwatch because he was, as he said before, "Not a soldier." Maia was the only person out of their group staying behind, and Jon made sure she would. He knew she could fight for herself; he knew she had excellent aim with an arrow, but she had never seen the army of the dead before, and he never wanted her to.
Gendry first walked over to Daenerys, whispering to her, "Ser Davos told me of your newest allies." He withdrew a scroll from his pockets. "He mentioned one of them to be the crew of the Hydra, who asked to take on one of Cersei's captains for you."
"You are correct," Daenerys muttered back as he handed her the scroll.
"Can I – can I ask you to send a raven to Penny – I mean, Captain Sparr?" He asked. "I assume the Hydra is on it's way to King's Landing."
Daenerys bowed her head, passing the letter off to Missandei. "Of course, Ser Gendry. I will make it a priority."
Gendry nodded his head quickly and walked away. Davos approached Maia as Gendry and Jorah readied their boat. He shook her shoulder quickly. "Do not fret, Lady Maia." He said. "I'll make sure he gets back in one piece."
"I'll hold you to your word, Ser Davos." She laid her hand on his right shoulder with a smile. "Thank you, for everything that you have done and will do for Jon Snow. I appreciate it fully."
Davos brought her into his embrace, almost thinking of Maia Sanders like his own daughter. She was the daughter he'd never have, like Shireen, but she was still here. "And when I come back," he continued, leaning away, "you are to make sure to tell me more of how handsome I am in your world."
