"Aero."

Aero awoke, if you could call it that, to a consuming darkness around her. She felt her body, naked, and it was solid. Her eyes were open, but she saw nothing. It startled her at first, but as she breathed, for she could feel her breath, a deep sense of contentment flowed through her. She had planned for this, after all. She had lived well and done what she could in the time that was allotted to her. There were a few regrets, but ultimately, she had made peace with them.

"Aero." A voice in the darkness called to Aero again.

"Hello?" she answered.

A mist shimmered in the black and she found that she could, in fact, see. The darkness was not all-consuming as she believed, but it still fell heavily around her. "Aero." The mist pulsed as a soft voice emanated from it. It was a voice Aero remembered but couldn't immediately place. Like a memory from another time. It felt so far away while also uncomfortably close at the same time.

"Yes. I'm Aero," she responded.

"You should not be here, young one," the voice told her.

"I died," Aero stated firmly. "Is this not the Inbetween Realm? Is this where my fate is decided?"

The mist, at first a glowing collection of particles, began to assemble together to form some thing. "This is the Void," it answered. "This is the empty space between worlds where the souls dare not venture lest the Void take them and they will be no more. How did you come here?"

"I died," she said again. "Didn't I?"

"No, darling girl. This is not where souls go when they die. You were sent here."

Aero could see the shimmering particles begin to make a pattern. It almost looked like the beginning of a pair of human legs. "The Valkyrie, then. A deal must have been struck when she saved the one I loved. I begged her to take my life and give it to him."

"But you are not dead," the voice reminded her.

"Then what am I?" The particles danced, circling and forming together quicker now. Legs and then a torso, arms, a woman's head with long flowing hair.

"You are a Blessed One." The shimmering woman stretched her arm forward and traced the whorls on Aero's skin and rested her hand on Aero's shoulder. More human than mist now, the strange woman still radiated light from her pale skin. "You have two hearts. Two souls. …Of a phoenix and a human. Fire and flesh made one."

"Then… What are you?" Aero asked hesitantly.

"I am called Freyja," the woman answered plainly. Aero's heart lurched at the sudden understanding. The Valkyrie. Aero stared at her in wonder. "It was I who heard your plea and it was I who answered. For we are the same."

"The same?" Aero's nose scrunched in confusion until Freyja merely nodded for Aero to look at the arm Freyja had extended earlier, still resting on Aero's shoulder. The whorl marks were harder to distinguish as Freyja was still slightly glowing and her skin much paler than Aero's, but there existed the same patterns. "Your skin looks like mine!" Aero exclaimed, gripping Freyja at the elbows. "There are more marks and the design is more complex, but they're the same. You're a Blessed One, too."

Freyja nodded. "I was blessed by the white phoenix as a child, the same as you. There has been no one else but us." The woman let her hand slide down Aero's shoulder to grip at the young girl's elbows, pulling her closer. "It is most fitting that you should be blessed by the white phoenix, daughter of Dinara, and my descendant. Blood of my blood."

Aero's mind was reeling, but she let Freyja continue. "I have been watching you, Aero Vysrane, since you were blessed. You fight with honor and conviction and fierce loyalty. And for that, you have earned my favor, Daughter of the Valkyrie. I saved your lover, though I did not expect you to survive. Even with my blood. Even as a Blessed One. You should not have survived. Curious."

Aero swallowed down the lump in her throat. She was supposed to die. "I was prepared to die. I was expecting it."

Frejya lifted her hand to play with a strand of Aero's hair that had trailed in front of her face. "I died for the man I loved," Freyja nodded solemnly. "And I do not regret it. Our lives are intertwined, young one. I see your heart and there is light. I don't know by whose grace this gift was given to you, but you will live, Aero Vysrane, Daughter of the Valkyrie, daughter of my blood. And your light will burn as any mortal, but your name will never be forgotten." Freyja caressed Aero's cheek before bringing her hand down to settle over Aero's heart. The light around them became brighter and Aero looked down to find that when Freyja touched her, both their marking began to shine. The whorls pulsed together in time with their breaths and Freyja leaned forward to press the lightest of kisses to Aero's brow before stepping back and disintegrating back into a shimmering mist of particles. "Go now, daughter," Freyja's formless voice commanded. "And live."

The creaking was the first thing Aero heard—the sounds a wooden ship makes when it sways in the sea. And then heavy thuds above her. Progress was slow, but she began to stir, pulling the heavy blankets on top of her down to her waist and gradually opening her eyes to the dim lights of the candles around her. The faint glow dissolved into deep shadows as the cold light of the moon shone through the colored glass of the cabin's window. It must be night, she determined. She stirred more, pulling at the nightshirt too tight around her neck. A heavily calloused hand gripped hers tightly and she heard her best friend's frantic whisper.

"Aero?" Evann clasped her hand tighter. "Are you awake?"

"That's my sword hand, you ass," she croaked, her throat tight and begging for water.

"Sorry," he chuckled as he loosened his grip and leaned over her to smooth back her hair and press a kiss to her forehead.

The memories came back to her slowly and then all at once. She remembered the moonlight shining through Gendry's window as she lay with him on his cot. Next, the Great Hall was crumbling around her, but those memories were hazy—like they were someone else's memories from another life.

"How did I get out?" she asked, her mind still clearing. She looked down at the nightshirt she was wearing. Someone had been good enough to wash her body and remove her blood-stained clothes. At the thought of blood, she suddenly felt sick and her chest turn cold. The memories. The terrible, awful memories of Gendry's face gone white as marble. "Gendry?" She sat up too quickly, making her temple throb with pain. "Where's Gendry?"

"He's alive," Evann established, quickly trying to calm her "Except…"

"Except?"

"He hasn't woken up yet."

Aero took a breath. He was alive. That was something. "How long?"

"Two days."

She threw the covers from her body and swung her legs over the side of the bed. "Take me to him," she demanded.

"Like hell." Evann forcibly used his body weight to push her shoulders back down to the feather bedding and covered her back up. "You're going to lie back down until I'm satisfied with your color."

"Evann." She narrowed her eyes and growled low in her throat.

"He's not going to be any less asleep if I take you in there now or after you've eaten," he chided picking up the half loaf of bread from a platter on the bedside table.

She had just taken a small nibble when Bet burst through the doors, winded, but excited. "He's awake!" she announced. Bet's eyes panned from Evann to where Aero was pushing herself to a sitting position. "Aero!" Bet launched herself at Aero, tears of joy and relief starting to form in the corners of her eyes.

"Fuck me," Evann sighed, rolling his eyes

"I was so worried!" Bet exclaimed, helping pull Aero up to sit. Aero kicked the covers off her lower half again and made to stand. The throbbing in her head intensified and her legs almost collapsed underneath her. Evann quickly darted an arm around her to keep her standing. Bet took her other side. Resigned that Aero wouldn't be told to rest until she's seen Gendry, they led her below deck to the ship's sick bay. Outside the door, they could hear a commotion from within.

"Let me see her," Gendry growled, followed by something crashing to the floor.
Aero pushed open the door and almost fell into the room. Gendry paused with his hands on Kraig's shirt as Aero stumbled attempting to push away from Bet and Evann. Toward him. Evann held fast to her so she wouldn't collapse. She quickly assessed Gendry, giving him a once over. His stubble had grown out over a few days. His eyes looked heavy, but alert. He looked like he had just crawled out from the deepest pit of hell, but at least he had survived.

"You're alive," Aero breathed a sigh of relief so desperate she almost wept.

"Why would you do that?" he demanded, angrily shoving his hand through his unkempt hair.

"What?" The relief quickly transitioned to disbelief.

Evann shouldered Aero's weight onto Bet and made to step between them. He pushed his finger into Gendry's chest and backed him against the cot Gendry had been sleeping in. "You sit your ass down right now, blacksmith. And you'd best correct that tone." Evann snarled.

"Evann!" Aero snapped his name harshly.

Ignoring her, Evann continued his rant that he had been practicing for two days. "She almost died saving you. Did die, if you believe Jaime Lannister." Evann moved closer to Gendry, their noses almost touching as Evann, though smaller in build than Gendry, stared Gendry down. "She is my best friend," he enunciated, lowering his voice threateningly. "And she almost died. I'm not in love with you. I don't even like you so believe me when I say that I couldn't give a shit that you're still breathing right now. If you raise your voice or if you so much as look at her wrong, I'll send you back to whatever hell you crawled out of."

"I didn't want her to die for me. She should have left me there," Gendry argued.

"That's something we can both agree on." Evann looked back over his shoulder to make sure that Aero was still standing. She was still on her feet thanks in large part to Bet holding her up, but she looked miserable. He wasn't used to her being the helpless one. Seeing her more broken than she had ever been scared him more than he could say. Taking it out on the blacksmith helped, but not nearly enough.

Evann gave a defeated sigh and shrugged his shoulders. "But for whatever reason," he continued, "she loves you and, and gods be damned, I'm stuck with you because I love her." Gendry's eyes dropped to the planked wooden floor as Evann leaned in so that only they could hear. "And if I thought for one moment that you weren't as stupidly in love with her as she is with you, I would cut you down. You remember that, blacksmith."

"Leave them," Evann ordered, motioning to Kraig to leave the room. "This is going to be gross and I don't want to be here." He tugged at Bet's hand who followed his direction in leaving Gendry and Aero alone.

Aero pushed against the wall for support as she made her way around the small room to sit at the edge of the cot Gendry had been lying in. Her legs were still wobbly, and she wasn't entirely certain she could support herself when the ship was swaying with the sea.

Gendry seemed to be faring slightly better. He, at least, was able to keep his balance without needing assistance.

"I didn't want you to do that," Gendry began, keeping his voice low so Evann couldn't overhear.

"You're angry with me for saving your life?" she asked incredulously.

"When it means taking yours, yes."

"I told you. I told you that I was going to die," she seethed. "And you decided to ignore it and talk about marriage and babies."

"Don't you ever trade your life for mine, do you understand me?" he demanded. "There is never a time when that's okay."

"You would do it for me," she argued, crossing her arms over her chest stubbornly.

"That's different."

"The hell it is."

He shook his head. "My life doesn't mean anything."

"It does to me!" Aero screamed.

They fought back and forth unaware that their voices had escalated until the deep silence set in. The moonlight did not reach where they were. Candles burning out in their stands and lamps turned low hung from nails on the support beams and cast a dim, warm glow across them. Gendry sat shirtless, his head down, biting at his bottom lip as he always did when he was thinking. It took a while before Aero realized what had been in the back of her mind since she had walked in. There was no scar on Gendry's chest. She itched to reach out and touch where it should have been—just to make sure it wasn't some trick of the eye. But before she could, Gendry's rough voice echoed around them.

"How?" he asked, his head still down.

He didn't need to elaborate. Aero knew he was asking how he had survived. "What do you remember?"

"Not much," Gendry shrugged. "I remember the smell of blood. Pain. You. And something red behind my eyelids."

"Ser Ilyn put a sword through your back. I killed him," she explained, the heat still rising in her chest at the memory.

"Cersei?"

"Alive, I assume." She shifted so that she was facing him sitting on the cot. "Something took over me," she confided.

Gendry narrowed his brows in confusion. "Rage?"

She shook her head. "It was the Valkyrie—Freyja," she answered. "I felt her take over my body. It was me, but it wasn't…" She waited for him to interject or call her crazy, but he kept his own opinion, so she continued. "We have a legend of the Valkyrie in Eryatheia. I never thought it was true, it was only a story. The short version is that there was a woman, Freyja; she was favored by the gods and given wings and immortality. She fell in love with a mortal man and when he died, she begged the gods to take her life and give it to him. But they didn't. Instead of dooming one to live without the other, the gods lifted them both into the heavens where they live amongst the stars together forever."

Gendry moved so that he turned toward her. "And you think it was this woman that was you but not you?"

Aero nodded. "I saw her. She came to me in the Void." She was going to tell him more—that Freyja was a Blessed One and her grandmother hundreds of generations before. But these were things she felt were better kept to herself for now, at least until she had sorted them out for herself. Aero sighed and leaned back against the rough wooden headboard of the cot. "I prayed to her. To exchange my life for yours or take us both. But then she took the Valyrian ring and turned it liquid in my hand." She held her hand out and marveled at her palm remembering the burning of the melted metal in her hand. But there was no scar. Was that an illusion, too? "Do you feel different?" she asked him.

"The ring," he began, shifting closer to her. "When you… When we were… together. It burned me. You were wearing it and I remember it burned me. But when I looked after, there were no burn marks on my neck."

She held up her hand again to examine the finger where the Valyrian Steel ring had sat. "I didn't even notice it was hot."

Gendry placed his palm just below his sternum where his wound would have been. The skin was smooth but for a sprinkling of hair, as if there never was a wound to begin with. "You put it inside me, the ring. I can feel it. It's in my blood. I can feel it flowing from my heart." He took her hand and guided her finger to follow the path of the blood as it left his heart. First up and then down his bare chest, his stomach… lower. "I don't want you to think I'm ungrateful…" Gendry sighed heavily. "But if I lived and you died, it wouldn't really be living."

"But since we both lived," she started, hesitantly, resting her hand on his thigh, "does that mean you're done being angry with me?"

"It's over, then? After we did…" his face reddened again, and he picked at the skin of his thumb. "When we were lying together, you said you knew you were dying. Is that… do you still feel that?"

Aero paused for a moment, taking the time to readjust to her body. She felt the hunger, the aches and bruises in her body, but not in her soul. She was no longer tethered to the sense of a candle burning low. She felt more awake and more alive than she had before. She felt stronger, somehow. The realization made her heart swell. She could have a normal life. "No. It's gone."

Gendry sighed deep in his chest and let the fatigue wash over him. He pushed himself back onto the small sick bed, wrapped his arm around Aero's waist and pulled her down with him. She situated herself with his arm underneath her neck and they lay facing each other. "How did we get out?" he asked her, pushing a strand of her long hair back away from her face.

"I think it was Jaime," she began, cautiously. "The Great Hall was crumbling and I didn't want to leave you, but he was pulling at me. Then everything went dark."

Gendry nodded contemplating what it meant to owe his life and probably Aero's to Jaime Lannister. "What will happen now?"

Aero smiled then and hummed as she pushed her forehead against his jaw. "We go home."

"Home?" The thought warmed his chest. He had never really had a home before. Only a room above his master's shop.

"Home," she confirmed.

"And Westeros?"

"We may yet see Westeros again," she mused, taking his hand in hers. "War is brewing in the North. If House Stark calls for aid, Eryatheia will answer."

"Eryatheia!" one of the men cried from the crow's nest.

Gendry found he didn't mind the sea. Even with the monotony of endless blue in every direction, he enjoyed the spray of the water and the smell of the salt. In another life, he could have been a sailor, he thought. Maybe it was just the feeling of being free for the first time in his life. He was out of King's Landing and standing next to the woman he loved. He enjoyed staring at her in moments like this, when she was preoccupied and didn't notice him watching. They stood near the bow, the sound of gulls and the splash of the waves beating against the ship. Her mass of loosely curled black hair danced around her in the wind and she closed her eyes, letting the sun warm her face.

Heading West into the setting sun, Gendry saw his first glimpse of Eryatheia. The closer they came to the mass of land, the more awestruck Gendry became. Where King's Landing was red, Cylix was a shining, blinding white. The Shimmering Stone stood tall upon the mountain in great spires and winding parapets. Staring up at the Red Keep all day had given him the notion that castles were built to be ugly but strong. The Shimmering Stone changed his mind. Beautiful white marble sculptures stood out amongst the ornate stonework inlaid into the castle walls. If he were a stone mason instead of a blacksmith, he would have fainted at the sight. This is my home now, he thought.

"The towers and stone were carved from the White Mountain where it sits, and Eryatheia is rich in opal stones," Aero explained pointing to her golden circlet encrusted with fire opals that sat on her brow. "It was Ygrayne the Bright that began construction a little over a thousand years ago. She hired jewel makers and masons to work together and cut the opal to make patterns in the white marble. When the sun hits it at just the right angle," she pointed up to castle, the fading light casting pinks and purples on the white stone, "it shines."

A great gust of wind almost knocked them to the deck as Ovid, hearing the gulls and sensing land, took off in only a few flaps of her giant wings. She angled North past the Shimmering Stone to the White Wood forest, her home. As the Serenity pulled into the bay, they could see Ovid circling the tops of the trees with others of her kind—the Connemara.

King Ixion and Aero's brothers along with Evann's parents, Ilando and Melaena, were waiting on the docks to greet them as the company departed the ship. Gendry thought it was unnerving to be witness to such unconditional love. Aero was immediately swept up by her brothers, being passed around from one hug to another all the while being chastised because somehow word of everything that had happened had already reached Cylix before they did. She rolled her eyes at them and argued with them until King Ixion silenced her with his hug.

Gentian was the tallest and looked most like Aero and King Ixion. Though not taller than Gendry, Gentian had Aero's soft features, but sharp jawline and they shared the same dark hair and golden skin. Alder, the second son and Pyrus, the youngest, must have favored Queen Dinara with lighter, tawny hair and fairer skin. Gendry, unsure, stood off to the side.

Evann took Bet's hand and guided her over to his parents to introduce her as his intended before Aero stole her away to introduce Bet to the rest of her new family.

"We're thrilled to have a sister that's actually nice to us," Gentian effused, earning him a punch from Aero. He rubbed the spot on his chest that would likely result in a bruise before adding, "but I want a look at this boy Aero brought home."

Gendry had purposely stood back, giving them their space. Truthfully, he didn't know how to react in these situations. "Gendry," Aero called to him with a smile. She extended her hand out to him and he took it, stepping into the circle of people Aero loved the most.

"He's shorter than I expected," Pyrus, the youngest of Aero's brothers, noted while stroking his patchy, still-growing-in beard.

"Taller than you," Gentian retorted. He eyed Gendry, stepping back a bit. "Taller than me."

But Pyrus wasn't ready to let it go. "Yeah, but little sister finally likes a guy, you expect him to be taller."

"Well above average for a Westerosi," added Alder, ever the know-it-all. "Still above average in Eryatheia. It's Aero that throws off the comparison because she's also well above average height. Next to an average-height female I suppose he would seem more formidable."

"Uh. Thanks?" Gendry shrugged.

Alder nodded noncommittally.

"Who bet that Aero would bring home a Westerosi boy?" asked Pyrus, emptying his coin purse into his hand.

Gentian also emptied his coin purse. "I had that she would start a war with Westeros. Does that count?"

"Only if and when a formal declaration of war is received bearing the official seal of the reigning house," Alder answered.

"Damn," Gentian swore. "What about Aero adopting a stray? No offence," he added hurriedly to Bet. "We just know our sister very well. We haven't been able to get rid of Evann for twenty years."

"Hey!" Evann grabbed his chest, feigning offence.

"That one was mine!" Alder exclaimed. Gentian and Pyrus groaned and handed Alder two gold each.

"I bet that she would kill King Joffrey. Is it still the same if someone else killed him? I mean, either way," Gentian made a clutching motion as his throat pretending to be strangled.

"I think that deserves one gold since Aero was present at the time of King Joffrey's death," Alder agreed.

King Ixion rubbed at his temples. "This is why some species eat their young. Away with you all," he motioned to his three sons. "And I expect you all in the dining hall tonight for dinner," he called after them. Aero, following her brothers' example, tried pulling Gendry away before her father could say anything more. "Not you, young lady."

Aero cringed, stopping in her tracks. She hated when he called her 'young lady.'

"Father?" she asked innocently enough.

"You and your suitor-"

"Gendry," she quickly corrected him.

Ixion nodded dismissively. "Yes, yes. You and Gendry are also expected to be present in the dining hall for dinner tonight as well." Ixion turned his back to them and left them to trail behind him as they made their way up the roads to the Shimmering Stone.

People made way for them in the streets. Aero's people loved her and greeted her warmly with flowers. And when Aero took his hand, they looked at him with curiosity and respect rather than distrust or indifference. Gendry marveled that the white city seemed to have very little dirt; dirt as he knew it, anyway. In King's Landing, that's all you saw. Dirt and shit lined the streets as people threw their chamber pots out the windows. But not here. He was fascinated that Cylix had developed a system to transport water from the Silent Falls directly into the city using sloping structures built from the same white marble as the city itself.

A phoenix flew over their heads, its wing gently tipping to the side to brush the top of Aero's head in a hello and Gendry's face lit up. He had never seen a phoenix before. Aero laughed as it circled in the sky and dove again. She lifted her hands in the air and brushed at the phoenix's feathers as it passed over their heads again. Gendry gaped at the way the light caught the bird's feathers and even if he read a million books of adjectives describing it, no words could ever do justice to the way the sunlight catches a phoenix's wing and makes it look like fire.

The chamber Aero led him to in one of the Shimmering Stone's towers was larger than the whole of Mott's shop. A large feather bed was situated across from an ornate fireplace, the inside of which was lined with patterns of carved opals that reflected the firelight and made it dance about the room. The white marble walls were engraved with a great mural of phoenixes and beautiful scenery that seemed to tell a story and the windows opened to balconies that looked down upon the city and out across the White Wood.

"Hey!" Gentian called from the doorway and chucked a handful of fabric at Gendry. "Thought you might need clothes for dinner. These should fit, though I think you're a little wider in the chest."

Gendry nodded, still unused to people being kind to him. "Thanks."

Gentian wandered into the room and sat at an old table next to the North window and tossed his feet casually onto another chair. "Baby sister left you alone? Surprising." Gentian pulled his dagger from the belt at his waist and began polishing the steel with his shirt tail.

"Why is that surprising?" Gendry asked, uneasy. Aero was down the hall helping Bet settle into her own room.

"Because she's usually pretty good at knowing my tricks." Gentian tossed the dagger in the air, watched it flip and caught it seamlessly by the handle and sheathed it. He stood again, almost as tall as Gendry, but not quite. "What are you doing here, blacksmith?"

It was a loaded question, Gendry knew. A test. He could say that Aero invited him, that he was following his heart, any number of things that were true. "I love her," Gendry shrugged. "I know I don't deserve her. I know she's better than me. I even tried to talk her out of being with me a few times. And I'm not the smartest man, but even I learned very quickly not to argue with her when she has her mind set." Gendry shrugged again. "So I'm here. Because I love her and for whatever reason, she loves me. If you're trying to intimidate me or give me the 'big brother' talk, Evann has already covered how I'm a wad of dung on the bottom of his shoe, if I lay a finger on her, he'll kill me, how much I really, really don't deserve her, and how he knows people that can hide my body where it will never be found."

"Good." Gentian clapped Gendry on the shoulder. "That about covers it." He made to walk away, but turned back just shy of the door frame. "Look," Gentian sighed, "it doesn't matter to us that you're not a highborn. It might to my father. He's hard to read sometimes. When Aero adopted Evann, we adopted him, too. I've never considered him anything less than a brother. If she loves you, I would be happy to call you brother as well." Gentian extended his hand in a show of good faith. It struck Gendry how odd this was—how odd all of this was. It was only days ago that Aero walked into Mott's shop. Never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined that she would love him—that she would bring him to her homeland and he would be meeting her family.

Gendry shook hands with the prince of Eryatheia, finding comfort in the man's words.

Dinner held new surprises for Gendry. First, he had never seen so many eating utensils in all his life. He sat down at the place set for him at the Vysrane table and his mouth fell open. How was expected to know which one to use? Aero noticed his worried expression and chuckled. She leaned over to him and whispered to him that he could just watch her and follow her lead. On his other side, Evann was whispering much the same thing to Bet. Bet whispered back that she knew which utensils to use, thank you very much. Gendry stifled a laugh.

Gendry had also never been served before. Not a real dinner anyway. Not with family. And never anything so grand. Tonight would only be a four course meal, he was told Anything more than the bread and soup he normally ate was a feast. It was a small, intimate dinner for Aero's homecoming, reserved for family. Ilando and Melaena were there as well, on the other side of Evann. Melaena tutted at Evann's hair being so long, and Ilando was having a conversation with King Ixion about a book they both had read. Is this what normal families do? Gendry wondered. They all fell together so easily. He was also very conscious of how at ease Ilando and Melaena seemed. Their clothes were less fine than the Vysrane's, their table manners slightly less refined, but still much better than Gendry's. And yet, they were accepted as family.

Conversation was never stale. Of course Aero's brothers threw a barrage of questions at Gendry, claiming that Aero had been particularly short with details in her letters as far as Gendry was concerned.

"Maybe that's because it's none of your business," she rebutted casually as she sipped her soup.

"I suppose you left your family behind, then?" Alder had asked.

Gendry shook his head. "No. No family."

"Are they dead or are you a bastard?" Pyrus sloppily questioned with a mouthful of bread. It was enough to earn him a swift kick to the shins from Aero.

"I didn't know my father," Gendry confirmed. "But I had my mother for a while. I remember she was beautiful. Yellow hair. She died when I was young. Master Mott must have had pity on me because he took me on as an apprentice just after."

"Ah!" Ilando exclaimed, dabbing his mouth with a napkin. "Aero wrote to me that you both had worked with Valyrian Steel. How did you find it?"

"The finished swords were beautiful, but the work was bitter."

Ilando sighed wistfully. "It always is when it's something you love. As it happens, I'm retiring soon and my apprentices are not yet old enough to take on the Stone Forge alone. I believe Aero has mentioned this to you?"

"She has, yes." Gendry shifted in his seat so that he could see Ilando without straining his neck.

"Is that something you would be interested in?" Ilando asked, cutting into the roast chicken on his plate.

"I- I'm not sure," Gendry admitted. "I would love to be useful in any way I can. I'm just still having trouble with the idea that I have a choice now. It's very… overwhelming, I guess, everything that has happened in such a short time." He fidgeted with the fine cloth napkin across his lap. "I think I'd like to talk it over with Aero before I make a decision and get a better feel for what's expected of me."

Gentian made a 'not bad' face and nodded. "Smarter than he looks."

"I highly doubt that," Pyrus scoffed.

Aero sent Pyrus a cold smile and turned to King Ixion. "Father, did Pyrus ever tell you it was him that dyed all the well water blue?"

"Well, she was the one that let all the foxes escape from their pins that year you took us hunting!" Pyrus accused, raising his voice.

"Because what's the point of hunting foxes? We don't eat them! And who thought it would be funny to light the statue of Helios on fire and nearly burned down the stables?" Aero rebutted, her anger rising.

"Pyrus, stop baiting your sister," Melaena snapped. "And you," she pointed at Aero, "this is a poor way to lead by example."

"Yes, ma'am," both Pyrus and Aero dropped their heads in shame.

"Go work off your anger in the sparring yard if you must." Waving her hand dismissively, Melaena added "We would like to speak to Aero and Gendry alone, please."

It surprised Gendry that the others nodded, even King Ixion's children, and did as she said. He tilted his head to the side to observe this lowborn woman giving commands to princes. She and her husband both looked to be from the same region, both with tanned skin and golden hair, though Ilando's was streaked with grey, he styled it well. What struck him Melaena's eyes. They were sharper than Evann's. While his was more of a jade green, hers were a very striking sea glass blue.

Evann leaned in between Gendry and Aero to kiss the top of Aero's head, but also quickly whispered "I am so happy I'm missing this." Aero glared as he took Bet's hand and whisked her away. Aero wished so much to be following them.

The serving staff rushed in, quickly clearing plates and filling wine glasses. Aero nodded to the young woman clearing closest to her "Thank you, Amelie." The round table was small enough that it wasn't necessary for them to move to be heard, but Aero stood and moved to the right-hand seat of her father and Gendry followed behind her, nervous of what came next.

"Aero," Melaena began hesitantly. "And Gendry," she added, quickly so as not to exclude him. "The rumors. The Red Keep is in shambles. What happened?"

Gendry looked to Aero, expecting that she would be the one to share. After all, she was awake for more of it than he was. But when she saw that she was picking at her cuticles, he cleared his throat, drawing the attention back to him. "The Lannisters kidnapped me," he began. "Four of them. They stole me from my bed in the night. I tried to fight them, but they had weapons and I didn't. I was knocked out and when I came to, I was in the Great Hall with Ser Ilyn Payne's sword at my neck."

Gendry looked back at Aero, still toying with her fingers. Silently, he took her hand in his, threading his fingers through hers and let them rest on the table in front of them.

"They killed him," Aero all but whispered. She brought her head up and said more forcefully, "They killed him, so I brought the Keep down."

"But he's not dead," Ilando gestured toward Gendry, not intending to be untactful, but still earned a backhand against his chest from his wife. Ilando shrugged. "Well, he's not."

"It's very… complicated," Aero hesitated. "And it's very personal." She turned to look at her father. "Do you remember the story that mother used to tell us? About the Valkyrie that prayed to the gods to take her life so that the mortal she loved would live?"

Ixion nodded. "She told me that story on our wedding day. I thought it was rather morbid."

Aero let out a half laugh, a sad smile on her lips. "Ilyn Payne put a sword through Gendry's back. He was dead. They killed him because I loved him. He was dead in my arms and I prayed to the Valkyrie to save him. I prayed for her to take my life and give it to him."

All of them were silent and Gendry squeezed Aero's hand tighter.

"I don't understand," Ilando finally spoke. "Did the Valkyrie save him or did you? And how did you not die?"

"I don't know," Aero shrugged. "I think I did die. It felt like I did. But I don't know, honestly. It's hard to think about."

"The Lannisters?" Ilando asked.

"Alive. Maybe. Except for Joffrey."

"And you had nothing to do with that?" King Ixion rested his elbows on the table and touched his long fingertips together in front of him. "You didn't lose control of your magic somehow?"

It took a moment for Aero to swallow a sarcastic response to answer her father directly. "No. It wasn't me. Although Cersei did try to have Evann killed." Her attention turned to Melaena and Ilando. "I killed the guard that put the sword to his throat."

Melaena nodded. "He told us." Ilando placed his hand over his wife's to comfort her.

"But then Jaime Lannister was the one that pulled you both from the Keep, correct? And he and Evann brought you back to the ship?" Ilando continued.

"I'm sorry I put him in danger. I told Kraig not to let him leave the ship. I told Bet to keep him there. I tried to keep him away."

Melaena shook her head. "Oh, my darling, did you really think that was ever going to stop him?"

Aero shrugged. "I hoped."

Ixion cleared his throat, addressing Gendry. "I trust you've settled in well, Gendry. Where will you be staying? The room opposite Pyrus is vacant."

"He's staying with me," Aero dared, hand still intertwined with Gendry's on the table.

Ixion folded his hands together in his lap. "Do you not think that would be improper?" he challenged.

"You've known for years that all of my brothers allow women in their bed chambers, but you've never said anything to them about impropriety," she countered, sounded more petulant than she liked. She had never been able to master the commanding tone she used with others while with her father.

Ixion's eyes narrowed, and his mouth formed a thin line across his face.

"I could stay with Evann," Gendry offered. "I don't want to cause trouble."

"He's staying with me," she said again, more decisively this time.

"Then I will require a wedding ceremony within a fortnite," Ixion declared, speaking to both Aero and Gendry.

"Fine," Aero acquiesced. "But it will be small. Family only."

"The lords will be offended if they are shunned. Especially as you have chosen a Westerosi as your intended. A large ceremony is expected."

"No," she held firm. "Unless you want us to elope in the North with a Barsic shaman, it will be as I have said." She took the delicately folded cloth napkin from her lap and let it fall on the table in front of her. "Melaena, would you please come to my chambers when it is convenient for you? I will need my mother's dress refitted to my size."

"Of course, my darling. But I think there are still things we need to discuss," Melaena looked hesitantly between Aero and Ixion.

"Then we will discuss them later," Aero said, rising. She kissed Melaena on the cheek and did the same with Ilando, taking Gendry's hand as he made to fall in line beside her. "I am still tired from the journey."

"She is afraid." Melaena waited to hear the door to the dining hall shut behind Aero and Gendry before she downed the rest of her wine and pushed the glass away to indicate that it did not need to be refilled.

"Afraid of what?" Ixion sighed. He thought what a relief it would be to have his only daughter home. He had forgotten how obstinate she could become when she felt cornered.

"I don't know," Melaena mused as she twisted a simple gold and sapphire ring on her left hand. It was a nervous habit. "But you can see it. Something is changed in her. She is warring with herself."

"This boy, perhaps. She's never entertained the idea of marriage before but now she brings home a Westerosi. How will I ever explain this to the lords?"

"Let her explain to them," Ilando guffawed happily. "I'd love to hear her choice of words."

"I can't set her loose on the Congregation," Ixion argued. "She's too wild. I never should have given her so much freedom."

"What freedom has she had?" Melaena questioned, taken aback.

"I've given her nothing but freedom," Ixion growled. "It was a mistake."

Melaena shook her head at the king. "All you've given her is a more appealing cage than most. She has been trained since birth to be queen. Every minute of every day has been planned out for her. True, you let her learn swords and wear trousers, but the weight of it all is crushing her. It is no wonder she was so eager to leave for Westeros. But for you to allow her minor indulgences and call it freedom is false."

"She's never said anything to the contrary," Ixion proclaimed as if that settled the matter.

"Because she's more worried about making you proud," Melaena persisted.

Ixion scoffed and shook his head. "That's never been a concern of hers before."

"Ixion." Melaena lowered her tone, displeased that he could shrug off his daughters unhappiness so easily.

"What would you have me do, Melaena?" Ixion sighed, worn down from the stress. "You paced the halls of my study while we waited for the ravens to come, to send me news that the Red Keep had fallen and my daughter was inside. And Evann with her, devils take him, because he never leaves her side. What would have happened if they had died there across the sea, in the hands of the damn Lannisters? I should never have let her go."

"She would have gone anyway." Melaena brought her fingers up to work at her temple where a headache was forming. "She has too much of her mother in her."

"You see?" Ixion slapped his hand down on the table and made several of the staff jump. "She's not troubled with making me proud. She does what she likes."

"She wants to prove to you that she can rule this kingdom as warrior," Ilando interceded, raising his voice. "She wants you to be proud that she doesn't back down from bullies. She wants to show you that she's capable and she's not afraid to do what she has to do to protect Eryatheia."

Ixion and Melaena both turned their heads to stare at Ilando as he harshly massaged at his eye sockets with the heel of his palm. "But Melaena is right. It's killing her." Ilando leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "I love her the same as my own, Ixion. The same as you love Evann. We all would have felt that loss. But as much as she pushes back against us, her spirit is breaking. I would not see her become a shell of herself. I couldn't bear it. She will come to us when she is ready. It takes time to temper steel."