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

5: She came out of nowhere

Meera watched the unknown man from the treetops, obscured by knotted branches decorated with hanging moss. She had watched him when he arrived at the camps. She had watched him when he spoke in front of the troops. And she watched him now when he walked through the swamp.

She wondered who the young man was. Judging from the reactions in the camp he was someone important. Even though he didn't look it. As he moved through the swamp he looked awkward and unsure.

And handsome. She couldn't deny that.

She kept watching the man as he got further into the swamp. She waited to make her move.

***

Gendry was lost. Every canal looked the same to him. Knee-high green water shaded by cypress trees, with water lilies and straw growing on the sides. It was wet, humid, and inhospitable. He tried not to think of the leeches who were probably circling his legs at this very moment. How could anyone want to live in these lands?

He needed to find the castle of Greywater Watch where Lord Reed resided. Because if the Baratheon armies tried to leave the encampment they would be unprotected and open for attacks. And the people of the swamp were relentless and unforgiving. Even if they saw that the armies were leaving they would keep attacking. They tolerated no intruders in their swamp. And they had their ways of changing the surroundings, through magic or other ways. They made people get lost in the swamp forever.

Therefore he needed to find Lord Reed and explain to him that they no longer fought on different sides. Maybe the lord of the swamp would let them leave then. So Gendry had been sent out into the swamp, together with a few soldiers, to try to find the castle and negotiate a deal.

They had walked in circles in the canals for hours, constantly coming back to the same places. The castle was nowhere to be found. As they started to grow tired Gendry suddenly realized he had gotten separated from the soldiers. He stood all alone in a canal and didn't know how to get back.

That's when he met her. Meera Reed. The woman who would become his wife one day.

She came out of nowhere, wielding a spear. Untamed curly hair and wild eyes full of defiance. He would go to war against a king for her one day.

Gendry put up his hands in a gesture of surrender as the woman pointed her spear at his chest.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I'm Gendry Baratheon," he answered.

Realizing he had forgotten his title he corrected himself. "Lord Gendry Baratheon," he said. "I'm here to declare the withdrawal of my armies from your lands. I want to negotiate a safe passage south."

She didn't lower her spear.

"There are no Baratheons," she said. "They're all dead. Their armies fight for Queen Cersei."

"There were no Baratheons, that's true," he replied. "But there are now. There's me. I'm the bastard son of Robert Baratheon. Legitimized by Queen Daenerys. And I've reclaimed my father's armies. They fight for me now."

"They invaded our lands."

"They did so on Queen Cersei's orders. They no longer obey her. They obey me. And I intend to march south with them to the Stormlands. To take back my father's castle."

She finally lowered her spear. Gendry put his hands down.

"I'm Lady Meera Reed," she said. "And my father, Lord Howland Reed, rule these lands. I will take you to him."

Her expression had softened slightly. She no longer looked like she wanted to kill him. Perhaps just maiming him would do.

"It's this way, follow me, Lord Baratheon," she said and gestured at him to follow her down the canal. He obliged.