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

16: An amazing woman

The draw bridge of the castle was lowered and she walked in. The guards probably figured that a woman accompanied by two young boys couldn't be much danger to them. They obviously didn't know Marya Seaworth.

Marya Seaworth was an amazing woman. She was stern, pragmatic and unbreakable. She was never scared. No matter what happened she remained standing. Despite her oldest son, Mathos, dying in the battle of Blackwater. Despite her husband being a coward who hadn't dared to come home since. She had heard that he was in the North, fighting for Jon Snow. Upon hearing that news she had sighed and gone on with her day. He would come back to her eventually, he always did.

Her hair was greying but somehow she still looked young. She wore it in a braid that was rolled up into a bun at the back of her head. She was tall and unashamed of it. Taller than her husband, and it didn't bother her one bit. It was practical being tall, she could reach everything she needed without having to ask a man to help her.

She was the mother of four boys. Mathos, Devan, Stannis, and Steffon. She had wished for girls. Because boys died in war.

"I've come to see my son Devan Seaworth," she called out to one of the guards. "I know he's here, could you please fetch him for me."

The guard obliged, obviously spooked by her demanding tone.

As she stood there waiting she looked around the castle. She had never been to Storm's End before. It was the most masculine castle she had ever seen. Giant grey stone walls and a high tower in the middle of the courtyard, reaching up to the sky. Like the man who had built, it was compensating for something. There were no frills or flairs, no female touch to it. No flowers on the castle walls, no carpets on the stairs, no curtains in the windows. Just grey drab stone walls.

Then she saw her son coming down the stairs of the tower. He looked like he hadn't brushed his hair for days and his shirt wasn't buttoned correctly. Marya wondered why she had ever let him out of her sight, he obviously wasn't capable of taking care of himself. He was accompanied by another young man. She figured it must be the new lord of the castle because he had the traits of a Baratheon. Black hair and blue eyes with a fire burning behind them. Marya had met enough Baratheons to know how they looked like. But at the same time, he looked like he didn't quite belong. He did seem to have managed to brush his hair and button his shirt properly though.

Her son flinched as he saw her. To suddenly see his mother standing there was a terrifying sight to him. Marya Seaworth had that effect on people.

She walked up to Devan as he entered the courtyard. She embraced him. Lulling him into a false sense of security.

"My son, I'm glad to see you," she said as she held him in her arms.

"Mother, what are you doing here?" he replied, with fear in his voice.

His fear was warranted as Marya slapped him on the cheek.

"You're just like your damn father. Traipsing around the kingdom without any thought of your family. There's a war coming and no one is safe... You couldn't send a raven inviting us here? Or at least tell us this is where you are. I had to hear it through rumors, that the castle was back under Baratheon rule and that my son is serving as an advisor for the new lord."

"Sorry, mother... we... we just got the castle back and we're still getting everything in order."

Devan looked like a petulant child as his mother kept disparaging him. All of his usual swagger and confidence was gone.

Marya decided to ignore her good-for-nothing son and instead focus her attention on the young man standing behind him. Who seemed to just now have realized that maybe he should introduce himself to her.

"Lady Seaworth, I'm Gendry Baratheon... Lord Gendry Baratheon, that is. And you are very welcome to stay here, I got too many rooms left over anyway."

She gave him a warm embrace. A motherly embrace of the kind that he had been missing his whole life. Marya could see that that's what he needed, of course she could. Because she was an amazing woman.

"Lord Baratheon, it's an honor to meet you," she said as she embraced him.

"It's an honor to meet you as well," he replied, "Your husband saved me once. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him."

"My husband is a coward but he's a good-hearted coward."

"Your husband is the best man I've ever met. He's the closest to a father I've ever had. Don't be too hard on him."

"I know my husband is good, and I will forgive him. But only when he comes back to me."

As she said that she let go of her embrace of the new lord and took a step back and looked at him. He reminded her of Mathos, her oldest son. They would have been about the same age if Mathos had still lived. Both were young men doing things that were just a little bit too hard for them. But they couldn't stop themselves, because they felt it was their duty to do these things.

Her two younger boys ran up to their older brother Devan. They hadn't seen him for many years. Not since he had left to join the siege at Storm's End.

The youngest boy, Steffon, climbed Devan like a tree and hung himself around his neck, refusing to let go. Steffon was a bundle of energy, never sitting still. There was not a tree or older brother, he wouldn't try to climb. Steffon wasn't scared of anything, not even war. He was convinced he was brave and fit enough to survive anything.

His older brother Stannis greeted Devan with a handshake after Devan had managed to wriggle one of his arms out from under Steffon. Stannis was small for his age, not much taller than Steffon, and still looked like a child. He had none of the swagger or attitude that Devan had. Stannis was serious and anxious. He was scared of a lot of things. Darkness, deep water, heights. And most of all he was scared of war. He had adored his older brother Mathos and war had taken Mathos from him.

As the family was reuniting Marya couldn't help but think of Mathos. That he should had been there too. Mathos had been the best of them. Of course, you always say that about the ones who die. But Mathos had always been everything he needed to be to everyone. He had been a caring older brother and a loyal son. His loyalty to his father is what got him killed. He had refused to let his father go off to war without him. And that's why he was now resting on the bottom of Blackwater Bay.

Marya soon set to work getting the castle in order, making sure all the rooms were cleaned out and that food was were cooked and dispensed at proper times. She hung curtains in the windows and put out carpets on the stairs. She made it a home. Gendry never asked her to do any of this, she just did it because that was who she was. Because, as you know by now, she was an amazing woman. Marya Seaworth was above all dedicated to two things in life, taking care of her boys and making sure things were done. And the new lord was now one of her boys.