By the time Gendry's tears dried, the moon was at its apex. The candle at his bedside burned to a nub, flickering with a threat of extinguishing. Even then, he was hesitant to remove his hand from Sorcha's. Her body was warm beside him, her bare arm evoking pleasant tingles along his skin. Gendry dreaded the seeping cold that would rush to erase that the moment he let go. Sorcha's lashes lowered, and her eyes drifted in and out of focus. Her mouth parted in a spectacular yawn, and she tried to stifle it with the back of her hand. Something in his chest sparked like two stones had scraped together and kicked up heat. His lips curled, and his eyes crinkled.

"We should get you to bed." Gendry tilted his head toward the mattress they were leaning against. Sorcha shook her head and leaned deeper into his side, her braids draping across his shoulder and down his chest like vines of creeping ivy.

"I'm alright if you'd like to keep talking." She let out a small contented sigh. Her breath tickled his cheek. "I like hearing about your life." Gendry didn't talk about himself much. Now that he thought of it, he never talked about himself. He was too busy tiptoeing barefoot around the shattered glass of a secret hidden in his blood. It would be too easy to slip up and reveal a clue to his Baratheon heritage. He stopped engaging in conversation beyond the pleasantries required. Arya was the only person he trusted enough to tell. The red woman discovered it through her dark magic. He felt a weight had lifted from his shoulders as his confession lingered in the air around them. Sorcha knew now, too.

"I think that's enough for tonight." Gendry tucked his chin into her hair, inhaling the scent of lavender and orange. He couldn't help but brush his lips against her head. "I'll tell you more stories another night." He stretched his limbs and pushed away from her. Sorcha let out a small groan of protest that had his chest stretching and pulling like dough in her hands. Gendry stood, ignoring the tug in his chest to stay by her side, and looked down at her with one brow raised.

Sorcha pouted, her eyes hooded with the weight of the day. He couldn't blame her. She'd walked half the city with him and was only just getting used to having legs. Her tail was as powerful as a porpoise, but her legs were likely closer to a child's. Gendry held out his hand in front of her nose. Sorcha narrowed her eyes and let out a minorly irritated huff before taking it. He pulled her up with a heave of strength. She wasn't helping much, and the moment she stood, she flopped back onto the mattress like a fish.

Gendry smiled and laughed as she wiggled her way onto the pillow and curled up lengthwise. Her breathing dipped into a steady rhythm, eyes shut to the candlelight. Gendry studied the softened lines of her face, peaceful and unafraid, even after all she'd seen along their journey. He waited until he was sure she was asleep before reaching out to collect the second pillow from beside her.

He threw it to the floor beside the bed, kicking up a puff of dust and straw that skidded across the floor. He laid the spare blanket out as a barrier between him and the stone floor. Gendry didn't need a blanket to cover him. He was warm-blooded and used to the forge's sweltering heat. The mornings, however, were a different story. Once the lingering heat retreated, the cold night would seep through cracks in the stonework. By the time morning came, he would likely be shivering.

Gendry looked back down at Sorcha, still sound asleep with her head cradled by the lumpy pillow and straw-stuffed mattress. He leaned over and gripped the edge of the blankets to pull them up to cover her shoulders. Sorcha stirred, scrunching her nose in protest. His lips pulled into an automatic smile. Something unfurled inside his chest like the pink petals of a rose in spring. She rolled onto her back, her nose almost brushing his. He pulled back to find her watching him through long thick lashes.

"Go back to sleep." He whispered as he settled down on the hard floor. He'd slept in far worse conditions. A blanket and pillow were a luxury he didn't have traveling north. This was a big step up from what he was used to.

"What are you doing?" Sorcha said through a yawn.

"I can't very well sleep in the bed with you." He reached over to the table and pinched out the candle flame with his calloused fingers. It hissed and extinguished into a lazy swirl of light gray smoke.

"Why not? There's room enough for us both." Sorcha rolled onto her side at the very edge of the bed and propped her head up on her hand. He could just make out the outline of her through the darkness. She peered down at him as he shifted and fluffed his pillow. Gendry tried his best to find a comfortable position while knowing there was none to be had.

"It's not about space. It's about your honor." He shifted once more, then lowered his back and rested his head on the pillow. His spine pressed against the hard ground. Somehow this was worse than the lumpy forest floor.

"My honor?" He could picture her scrunching her nose like she always did when he mentioned human customs. Gendry crossed his arms over his chest and shut his eyes to show his resolution. Not that she could see anything more than an outline in the shadows.

"You may only be part woman, but I still intend to treat you like a Lady." He wasn't about to take advantage of a beautiful woman, no matter what the situation. Sure, he'd slept beside Arya on the road, but that was for the sake of preserving vital heat, nothing more. Arya was still a child. Sorcha, despite her contradictions, was a warm-blooded woman. Probably the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Sleeping with Sorcha now, when there was no reason other than his own desire to be close to her, that would be crossing a line.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Gendry thought he heard a thread of irritation in her voice.

"Sleeping with you... it's not proper." Most men would jump at the opportunity. Hells, they'd already have taken advantage of her countless times in his position. When he'd first seen Sorcha she was naked before him. He wasn't going to be like those men. Thank the seven she'd rescued him and not one of those leering sailors on The Aurora. They may have obeyed Hornigold, but had they been left alone with Sorcha... Gendry felt his throat tighten, and his stomach churned at the thought. He yanked his mind away from that path of thought. It hadn't happened that way. Sorcha was safe and untouched beside him. He might've failed to protect Arya, but he wouldn't this time.

"Proper?" She parroted, and Gendry squeezed his eyes shut tight.

"Yes," He took a calming breath. "It would be frowned upon for a man like me to share a bed with a woman who is yet unmarried." It wasn't exactly true. But Sorcha didn't need to know the details of which women were off-limits for a man like him. One that looked and acted like Sorcha would not be within his sights in any scenario.

"Married?" She echoed again. He had to control his growing frustration by measuring his breaths. Gendry didn't want to snap at her, but he wished she'd take his word for once. It was a constant stream of questions and contradictions. He couldn't blame her. She was curious. In her position, he'd likely be the same. But it was almost as bad as having a four-year-old follow him around the forge and ask millions of questions anytime he moved.

"Marriage. Between two people." How did he explain marriage to someone without explaining the entire social structure of Westeros? "It's when you bind yourself to another before the gods and the kingdom. Most of the time, it's done for power, money, or strategy. Rarely, two people will do it to affirm their love." He tried to sound as confident and final as he could. For a moment, there wasn't a sound. He almost thought he'd succeeded in placating her.

"Are you married?" Sorcha's voice was quieter this time. Her figure was outlined by a stream of moonlight. He could make out the shape of her braided hair, the dip of her waist, and the arc of her hips beneath the blanket. He fought against the shadows to make out her features. She was ordinarily so simple to read. There were no ulterior motives or manipulations behind those dark shimmering eyes, the eyes he knew as well as his striking blue.

Now, he could only glean her thoughts through her melodic voice. Was she only curious about the concept of marriage? Or was she asking about his attachments for some other reason? Gendry's heart kicked into the clomping trot of a horse. He tried to shove those thoughts down into the depths of his mind. There was no use pondering over the impossible. Gendry's adam's apple bobbed. When did he start to care about her answer?

"No." He shook his head even though she likely couldn't see it. "I've never had anyone I loved enough to marry, and there's not much I could bring to a contractual one.

"Do you want to be?" She asked. This time, Gendry took a long pause. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat to no avail. Gendry never thought he'd have anything to offer a woman in the way of marriage. Sure, a blacksmith's earnings were a decent living, practically a lordship in comparison to the dregs of Flea Bottom, but that was about all he had to offer. Gendry was a bastard. He had no name or family, and he wasn't very popular with the ladies even before he was on the run with Arya. In the stillest of nights, he would let himself dream of a wife and children, but it was a fool's hope. Fate had other plans for him.

"If I sleep in the bed with you, will you stop asking questions and go to sleep?" He hoped she would accept the subject change for what it was.

"Likely not." Sorcha stated.

"Right. At least you're honest." Gendry let out a long sigh, trying to dispel the burning irritation building in his chest. Couldn't she listen to him for once? Gendry groaned and sat up. "Fine, I'll sleep in the bed. Does that make you happy?" She couldn't see his terse lips and raised brows, but he saw the flash of a pearly grin as she popped up with an energy he didn't think she had left.

"Very." She seemed to enjoy making him squirm. Sorcha lifted the covers and shimmied towards the wall until there was space to lay beside her. Gendry plucked his bedding from the floor and threw it back on the mattress, shaking his head.

"You are infuriating sometimes. You know that?" Gendry told her as he sat on the edge of the bed, his tense back to her.

"Funny, I was just about to say the same of you." Sorcha retorted. Gendry huffed and wiggled until he lay on his side with his back to her. Gendry shifted as far from her as possible without falling back on the floor. He would be kidding himself if he said he wasn't hyper-aware of her body pressed against his. There was a long heavy pause, charged with mutual bitterness. Then, Gendry felt her body shake, and a bubble of chiming laughter filled the air.

"Are you laughing at me now?" He grumbled, scowling into the darkness as if he could dispel it with his gaze alone. He felt her shift, and little huffs of quiet laughter fanned against the back of his neck. Her body pressed against his. This time, Gendry stiffened. He felt the curve of her chest, the heat of her breath as she laughed, the silky soft skin of her legs brushing his.

"Perhaps." There was a challenge in her voice. Gendry pursed his lips and met her dare with his own. Against his better judgment, Gendry rolled to face her. His nose brushed against hers, but he kept himself frozen in place. Her smile was radiant, even in the dark. He fought against the upward tug of his lips and failed miserably. He knew she could see it when she snuggled closer into his chest and tucked her head beneath his chin as if it was the most natural thing. As Gendry toed the line between the waking world and slumber, he felt the tickle of hair against his nose. Then there was the warm press of lips against his cheek. He fell asleep with a smile for the first time he could remember.

NOTE

Hey guys! I've totally neglected this book the past few months but I promise I will not abandon this! I've gotten too much written to bail. Act 2 has 2 more chapters and then we will be in the final act!!!! The sexual tension is building now! Let me know what you think of this chapter and what you think is gonna happen. I just started some character posters which i'm adding to the graphics gallery as I complete so go look when you get a chance!