KING'S LANDING, WESTEROS - 297 AC

OVER THE COURSE of multiple months, Lady Rhea Arryn found countless reasons to find herself in Tobho Mott's shop. Whether it was her sword that needed sharpening, even though it was already sharp, or that her father required something to be mended even though it wasn't really broken, Rhea found her way back to the shop and back to Gendry.

He wasn't a particularly outspoken person, but Rhea never found the silences between them uncomfortable. The silences carried a sort of unspoken familiarity between the two children. They would often just sit in the early morning watching the sun rise and announce the new day.

In the first few visits, Rhea learned a lot about Gendry. He was only a few years younger than her, he was an orphan because his mother died when he was but a couple of years old and he dreamed about becoming a knight. He also learned a lot about Rhea and secretly yearned for her privileged life. She had a title, a powerful family and riches he could only dream of.

Rhea also found out that Gendry had a fear of horses. She found out after a horse had gotten loose in the street and he cried and ran away. Gendry refused to see her after that, and it took Rhea a lot of convincing to let her into his heart again. He told her how he was kicked harshly when he was a child and that was the reason he had the fear.

She was currently on her way towards his small room above the shop to conquire that fear. He had agreed to meet Willow after Rhea had promised him she was a sweet horse and would not do wrong. She also bribed him with a promise that he was allowed to smelt a piece of her armor and keep the metal.

"Goodmorn,Tobho." Rhea called out to the sweet but stubborn man who had grown acustomed to her frequent visits.

"Mornin' Lady Arryn." Tobho replied with a grumble that told her how early it was. Even though Rhea had told Tobho multiple times that he could call her Rhea, he refused and said it wasn't 'proper'.

Before Rhea could make her way towards the stairs, Gendry appeared in front of her. "You ready to go?" she asked him, looking at him with a gaze that said; 'will you dung your pants or not?'

"Aye, aye I'm ready. But if that beast of yours steps one foot out of line, our friendship is over."

"By the gods you can be dramatic Gendry, are u sure your mother wasn't an actress?" Rhea teased back before adding in; "You'll be fine as long as I'm there and as long as you don't start screaming like a little girl when you finally do come near her."

Gendry replied to her teasing by simply staring at her bitterly, as if holding himself back from saying something that would only worsen the situation.

The pair said their goodbyes to Tobho and were soon on their way towards the keep, in which the royal stables were located.

The guard on duty at the gate, Rossard, recognised Rhea and let them in.

Even though Gendry had been inside the castle walls a few times now, all thanks to Rhea, he still was amazed with the great structure.

The stables were big as well. Not as big as the castle, but could still house over 50 horses, all owned by the royal family and other lords and ladies.

When they finally arrived at the final stable, all the way at the end of the hall, Gendry locked eyes with a large brown horse that seemed to have almost a sweet look in her eye.

The horse neighed as she realised her owner was walking towards her and in the blink of an eye, there was a big smile on Rhea's face and a twinkle in her eyes that Gendry hardly ever saw.

Gendry still kept his distance, but was a great amount more relaxed when Rhea started petting the horse's head, and the beautiful beast leaned into her touch.

"You can come closer you know, she won't bite," Rhea almost whispered towards Gendry after seeing his reluctance towards her horse.

He stepped forwards with slow steps, as if not wanting the fury inside the horse to be set off. Not that the horse had any fury inside her heart, but he didn't know that.

When his outstretched hand finally touched the horse's nose and she didn't bite it off, his posture changed and he became less tense.

He whispered gently to the horse; "hello, little lady." And Rhea looked at him with great pride in her eyes.

"You think you might be ready to ride? She fits two people." Rhea asked him.

At the mention of riding the horse, his posture became tense once more, before he finally spoke up.

"I guess there is no better time than now," he replied with a hesitant smile.

With a nod, Rhea began to brush the horse free of any dirt that was left behind on his back and tacked him up quickly. With Gendry following behind, Rhea made her way outside with Willow at her hand.

"Could you just hold her for a second?" She asked Gendry, to which he nodded and took the reins from her hands.

With her hands now free, Rhea whistled loudly in a pattern. Gendry looked at her, confused with what she was doing, before Meleys swept down from the sky and landed on top of her shoulder.

The bird gawked happily at seeing her, but when Meleys saw Gendry, she happily made her way onto his shoulder instead.

"She has known you for only a few months and is already choosing you over me," Rhea said with a jealous tone.

Gendry didn't say anything back, being too busy with scratching Meleys. He felt great love from the bird that he had not known as long as Rhea had known her.

Rhea made her way towards her horse and helped Gendry mount Willow before mounting her as well, taking her seat in front of Gendry.

"If at any point you would like to stop, please say so." Rhea told Gendry in a motherly tone before whistling a different tune making Meleys ascend into the sky once more.

Willow began moving forward and towards the path that led out to the King's Wood. When arriving there, Rhea gave her horse the command to start trotting and Gendry had to hold onto Rhea's waist at the sudden change of speed.

After a while of trotting, Rhea's voice broke the serene silence with a question. "Do you want to go faster, Gendry?"

Gendry replied with a nod and Rhea immediately gave Willow the command to galop.

"Hold on tight!" Rhea added over the wind that was already starting to race against their ears.

Gendry grabbed her waist even tighter, almost squeezing her too harshly.

When he got used to the feeling of galloping, he let go of her waist slightly and enjoyed the feeling of riding.

He hardly noticed that they had returned back to the stables and Rhea had already started getting off of her horse.

They made their way back to the stables, Gendry talking her ear off about the ride with more excitement than usual, unknowingly forging an unbreakable bond with each other.

• • •
KING'S LANDING - 289 AC

LORD JON ARRYN was a troubled man. It was the weight that came with being the Hand of the King. All the stress he experienced was usually controlled, but because of the new knowledge his daughter shared with him, he had been feeling even more troubled.

Hours of research had already been put in towards the new discovery. Because he still had to do his part as Hand of the King, those hours often took place when the sun had fallen and the moon had risen.

Still, he had made no further progress. Nowhere in the castle's enormous library was anything to prove that Robert's children weren't his.

He of course could not ask help from anybody, because the matter was so delicate and risky. He also didn't want to risk his daughter getting harmed. So the only option was to do it himself.

Many more months had passed of searching, and even a new year had begun before he finally decided that he did not have any other options. So he called his daughter to his chambers.

Rhea sat in front of him, Jon's desk separating the two. There was a long drawn silence between the two before Jon finally began speaking.

"I have reached a dead end. There are no books in the library about it and there are no witnesses to anything." He paused before continuing; "I only have one last resort and it is but a mere rumour that it exists. A secret library built by Maegor Targaryen, that exists somewhere beneath the castle. I can only trust you with this, and you know the tunnels well."

"I did not want to put you in such grave danger but, I see no other option."

"You must find it, my sweet daughter. Find the answers we have been looking for."

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pip talks!
heyo lovelies
so i don't know if this is crap or not but i really wanted to post this chapter anyways.
what do you think will happen next?