Ser Cortnay Penrose stood on top of one of the watchtowers overlooking the Stormlords camp by the castle of Storm's End. Just like every other day this day was quite uneventful. The stormy sea below the castle was roaring but up by the castle nothing much happened. They had given up actually trying to attack the castle many moons ago and were now just waiting the occupants out. Which would have been a great plan if it wasn't for the Iron Fleet delivering necessities to the castle by water.

They've had the castle under siege for years now, trying to evict the Tyrek Lannister and his forces. But Cortnay knew as well as anyone that Storm's End was no easy castle to take, as the castle had never been taken. Cortnay had held it himself as the castellan for Renly Baratheon. And he had been the one who let Tyrek Lannister and his forces in. The Stormlords had accepted the Lannister forces holding the castle King Joffrey and King Tommen as they both were Baratheons and therefore the legitimate heirs to the castle. But when Tyrek kept holding the castle after they both were dead it enraged the proud and distrustful Stormlords. They allied to take back the castle they considered rightfully theirs from the Lannister occupants.

But the Stormlords were constantly fighting among themselves about who would get to hold the castle once they took it back. Cortnay Penrose had no doubt in his mind though that the castle would be his eventually. As the former castellan, he had the strongest claim to it and he was the person who knew the castle the best. He would be able to defend it better than anyone.

As he stood on the watchtower something caught his eye. Something yellow flapping in the wind. He couldn't quite make out what it was but it looked to be something traveling on the King's Road that led up to the castle. And it came closer and closer to them.

Once Cortnay saw what the yellow flapping was he couldn't believe his eyes. One after another the other Stormlords saw it too. They all stopped what they were doing and just looked. In awe and disbelief. It was the banners of House Baratheon. Flying high and proud in the stormy winds of lands where they belonged.

***

Gendry had seen the tower of Storm's End for hours, reaching high up in the sky, but now he was finally close. So close that he could hear the waves breaking on the cliffs below it and see the vines of ivy climbing the castle walls.

He didn't feel like a Baratheon yet. He didn't feel ready to do this. But he would pretend he was ready until he actually was. Maybe he would have to pretend for the rest of this life.

As they got close to the Stormlords camp he saw them all gathered by the road. Looking at him. Whispering. Speculating. He felt nauseous as he saw them. Knowing he would have to convince them, impress them, dazzle them. Be someone he wasn't yet.

Devan led the way as they rode up to the center of the Stormlords camp. This was the best place to address them from. The Stormlords all gathered around as Gendry got off his horse. They seemed eager to find out who he was and what he wanted.

At the center of the camp was a small stage that the commanders used to address their men from. Gendry walked up the few steps to the stage. He walked across it and stopped right in the middle of it. He stood there for a moment, taking it all in. Looking at all the men standing there waiting for him to speak. He felt like was going to throw up. His hands were shaking so violently that he was sure that the gathered crowd noticed it.

This was it. No hesitation, no fear, no turning back. This could be where his quest ended. Or this could be where it began.

They were all looking at him. He didn't know their names yet, he didn't know their houses, but he needed them to trust him anyway.

"Greetings Lords of the Stormlands," he started.

He felt like his voice was barely carrying so he took a deep breath before he continued.

"I am Lord Gendry Baratheon. The bastard son of Robert Baratheon. Legitimized by the Dragon Queen."

He noticed whispers among his audience as he said that. He noticed looks of disbelief but also looks of amazement. The name Robert Baratheon meant something to these men. It meant honor and glory.

"I've come here to take back the castle that belongs to my family from the Lannisters. I bring with me my father's armies. They have chosen to follow me instead of Queen Cersei."

One more deep breath. If he just kept breathing he would get through this. Or at least he wouldn't pass out right there on the stage.

"I understand that my arrival, and my existence, is startling to you. I know you have been trying to take back the castle for years. I know many of you wish to rule it. I know you have no reason to trust that I am who I say I am. But I hope you trust me when I say that I am here to try to once again bring peace to the Stormlands. To unite it under the Baratheon banner just like my father Robert and my uncle Renly did. Like their forefathers did before them."

The whispering among the audience continued, he didn't know if it was good or bad. But he continued to recite the speech that Davos had prepared for him.

"I'm not asking anyone to bend the knee to me. I've bent my knee to too many masters to ask anyone to do that. I only ask of you to not dismiss me outright, to at least consider my proposal. And what I propose is a parlay with the Lannisters, to convince them to give the castle to me. After all, they are holding it for House Baratheon. And I am a Baratheon. If they give it to me the Dragon Queen has promised to spare them, to not use her dragons on their armies as she will in King's Landing. There needs to be no more siege, no more fighting. The castle will belong to the Stormlands again. It will belong to House Baratheon. That is the proposal I ask you to consider."

Tyrion Lannister had helped him and Davos with this part of the plan. Tyrion had asked the Dragon Queen to spare his cousin Tyrek if she could if Tyrek surrendered. There was also one more part to the plan that Gendry would save for the parlay. The Stormlords didn't need to know about that part.

Devan stepped up and addressed the crowd. Most of the men here knew him and trusted him since he himself had participated in the siege.

"I am Devan Seaworth, son of Davos Seaworth. I will vouch for this man, that his claim is true. He is Gendry Baratheon, son of Robert Baratheon. My father has assured me of that, he fought beside Lord Baratheon up north. I think many of you can see it too, you recognize his father and his uncle in him."

He saw men in the audience nodding in agreement with this. Gendry did look like Robert and Renly, there was no denying that.

"Let it be known that House Seaworth has chosen to follow him, to follow house Baratheon." Devan continued. "We won't bend the knee, as that is against the lord's wishes, but we will stand behind him as he tries to get back the castle that is rightfully his."

A man stepped forward from the audience. He was completely bald with a red beard. He was tall, even standing below the stage he reached about as tall as Gendry.

"I am Ser Cortnay Penrose. I held this castle for your uncle Renly when he went to war. And I do believe he was your uncle, I do believe Robert was your father. I can see the resemblance. I believe you are who you say you are. And that might excite younger men like this one, men from lesser houses."

He looked in Devan's direction with contempt in his eyes. Clearly he saw himself as better than house Seaworth, a newly minted house headed by a former commoner.

"But that doesn't excite me. It doesn't mean I will follow you. It doesn't give you the right to rule these lands. I don't know where you're from, but I know you are not from here. I know you don't love the Stormlands as I do. I know you wouldn't sacrifice your life to take that castle as I would. You might look like your father and your uncle, but you are not them. You're just a bastard trying to claim their name."

Gendry was just a bastard. But bastards could rise too. Jon Snow had also been just a bastard but he had convinced men to follow him anyway. Gendry remembered how convincing Jon Snow had sounded while speaking to his armies. He needed to emulate that. He needed to be Jon Snow now.

"That's true. I am not my father, I am not my uncle. I never even knew them. I am just a bastard. But I'm all you got. You need a Baratheon, and I'm the only Baratheon you got. For years you've been trying to take that castle with no avail. I can take it for you without as much as a fight. No more men need to die. No more men need to spend years away from their families. If you just let me try."

Suddenly the words were coming to him easily. It was like the ghost of Robert Baratheon had taken hold of him. Or maybe it was the ghost of Renly Baratheon, who had been more eloquent than his older brother. It wasn't words that were rehearsed, it was words coming directly from his heart.

"Since you tell me you don't know where I'm from I will tell you. I am from King's Landing. I grew up an orphan on the streets of the city. I had nothing. Absolutely nothing. No parents, no last name, no home. Do you know what that's like Lord Penrose?"

Gendry stared Lord Penrose right in the eyes as he continued. No hesitation, no fear, no turning back. His voice grew louder.

"You say I wouldn't die to take that castle. How do you know what I would or wouldn't die for? All I've ever wanted in this world is a home, somewhere to belong. I would happily sacrifice my life for the chance to get that. And that castle is that. It's the chance for a man who never had anything to have something. To be someone. To matter. I am just a bastard but I am still my father's son. And just like him, I will never ever quit. I will get that castle, or I will die trying."

Lord Penrose backed up slightly.

"You talk yourself up well boy. Maybe you have the same storm in you as your father and uncle. But you still need to prove your worth."

Gendry was still staring right at him. The resemblance to his father was so clear now. The fire in his eyes, the fury of House Baratheon.

"I am no boy. I am Lord Baratheon" he said. "And I will never be able to prove myself if you don't give me a chance."

As he said that another man stepped out of the audience. He was old, very tall, and had a grey beard.

"I welcome you here, Lord Baratheon," he said and nodded in Gendry's direction. "I'm Lord Selwyn of Tarth. I believe you've met my daughter up North."

The Lord of Tarth then turned to Lord Penrose. He put his hand on his shoulder in what looked like an attempt to calm him down.

"Lord Penrose, Cortnay. My friend. Why don't we let the boy try?"

Gendry wished that these men would stop calling him a boy. He hadn't been a boy in a long time. Boys had parents or other guardians who took care of them. But he wasn't about to protest again as the Lord of Tarth seemed to be on his side.

"Don't you want to go home?" the Lord of Tarth continued, still talking to Lord Penrose. "Because I do. I want to end this damn siege. And if he can end it, let him try. If he succeeds we will be back where we started, with a Baratheon at Storm's End. Then we can all go home."

"He's not a Baratheon though," Lord Penrose protested. "He's a bastard. The Dragon Queen's legitimization doesn't mean anything here."

"Unless you plan to dig his father out of the ground that's the only legitimization he can get. And we will all follow the Dragon Queen soon enough, you know that. What's the harm in letting him try? She will place him there anyway soon enough."

Lord Penrose looked defeated. All the other lords looked about ready to go home, to abandon the damn siege that had taken years of their lives. They would never have surrendered the castle to the Lannisters. But now suddenly another solution had presented itself. A solution where they didn't have to surrender, but still could go home.

"And what happens after that?" Lord Penrose tried in one last attempt. "He knows nothing about ruling."

Gendry realized this was an opportunity for him to garner som trust from the man.

"That's true. I don't know anything about being a lord. I will need help. So it would be my honor if you stayed here and became my advisor, Lord Penrose. Because you seem to know that castle better than anyone."

Lord Penrose nodded. He had no more arguments to make.

"If the other lords agree I will too. I will let you try Lord Baratheon. Anyone else opposing this?"

Lord Penrose looked around at the other lords. No one spoke up. No one opposed. He sighed. Now he had to concede.

"It seems like you will get your chance Lord Baratheon," he said as he started walking away. "Just know that if you get that castle that's when your troubles begin. When you have to rule. I will help you. But I will also watch you. And if you fail that castle might just slip out of your hands."

There was a hopeful glint in Lord Penrose's eye as he said that. He wanted Gendry to fail.

Gendry remained on that stage for a few more moments. He exhaled. His hands had stopped shaking. He was no longer nauseous. Maybe he was starting to get used to being a lord.