The storm had settled the next morning. The ground was still wet and leaves and branches laid all over the courtyard. But the sun was once again shining and the clouds had dissipated. Everything was as it should be, and yet everything was different.

Gendry had finally fallen asleep in the early morning hours. All the excitement from the night before had left him awake most of the night, just thinking of her, knowing she was there, knowing she would be his. It was a thrilling thought.

He was roughly awoken by Devan making a grand entrance into the lord's bedroom.

The door still didn't have a lock. It really needed a lock.

Because soon Gendry would not be sleeping alone there anymore. He would soon share his room and his bed with his wife. That thought made him smile, it made his whole body tingle, it made him feel warm inside. Meera was here, she was in his castle, and she would be his wife. And the only thing he wanted to do was to go find her and kiss her.

"Gendry, is it true what my mother says?" Devan asked as he sat down on the bed. "That Lady Reed is here. That you will marry her."

Gendry just nodded, lost in his own thoughts. Then he realized how damn close to him Devan was sitting and gave him a kick.

"Dev, what are you doing on my bed? I'm not even dressed," he snapped. "Go sit on the couch that you've ruined."

Devan reluctantly moved over towards the couch while Gendry tried to locate his shirt. Why did the maids always hide his clothes in different drawers? He never had these kinds of problems as a blacksmith.

"You didn't answer my question, Gendry," Devan continued.

"It's true. Meera's here. I asked her to marry me. And I'm about to go find out where your mother hid her."

"So my mother is on you about women too now..."

"Well, Marya might have caught us kissing in the forge..."

"Just kissing?"

"Just kissing. While she was sitting on top of me..."

"So not just kissing?"

"Maybe not."

Gendry smiled. In fact, he couldn't stop smiling. They had just been kissing, but if Marya hadn't walked in they might have done more. He wanted to do more. And once they were married no one would be able to stop them, not even Marya.

"Gendry, you look like a damn fool," Devan said. "You've been smiling the whole time we've been talking."

"I'm just... so darn happy. Because I didn't think I would get to have her. But now suddenly... I'll get to marry her. I'll get to be with her forever. I can hardly believe it's true. That's why I need to go find her, to confirm it's actually real."

Gendry had finally found his shirt now and sat down on the bed to put it on.

"It's real, Gendry. You better believe it. And I'm happy for you too. I know how much you care for her, and she for you. It was obvious just during the short time I saw you together in the capital."

Just as he said that Marya knocked on the door. Unlike her son, she didn't just barge in.

"You can come in Marya," Gendry replied. "I'm dressed. And your son is already here. He didn't really care about the dressed part..."

***

In one of the castle's guest rooms, Meera sat eating some breakfast that Marya had brought for her. It was true what Gendry had said. Marya was actually really sweet and had taken good care of her. The night before Marya had warmed water for her so she could wash off and also brought dry clothes for her to change into. Then in the morning she had brought Meera's own clothes back, washed and dried. She wondered if Marya ever slept.

Meera couldn't really focus on eating though, because all she wanted to do was to see Gendry. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to touch him.

Suddenly Marya came into the room again.

"I'll take you to Lord Baratheon now, Lady Reed," she said. "You need to get ready to meet his advisors together."

That was what Meera had wanted to hear all morning so she practically leaped off the bed, leaving the remainders of her breakfast behind.

She walked behind Marya through the corridors of Storm's End, the castle that soon would be hers. Narrow stone corridors with walls of grey rocks. So unlike the walls made of vines and branches of Greywater Watch. Soon Marya knocked on one of the doors and Meera heard Gendry's voice on the other side telling them to come in.

The room was large and both carpet and curtains were in Baratheon yellow, radiating in the sunlight shining in from the window. Devan was sitting on a couch by one of the walls. And Gendry was sitting on a large wooden bed with a canopy in the middle of the room. The bed that would be hers soon. The bed that would be theirs.

Gendry didn't hesitate for a second when he saw Meera. He jumped up from the bed, walked up to her, put his arms around her, and kissed her.

Marya gave them a judgemental look but didn't say anything.

"How are you feeling?" Gendry asked Meera. "Has Marya treated you well?"

"Marya's been kind," she replied. "And I'm better than I've ever been. Because I'm with you."

Meera smiled at Gendry. Because it was true, she had never been happier.

She looked at the man that was about to become her husband. His shirt wasn't buttoned all the way up. It looked like he had been interrupted while putting it on. She could see his skin, his muscles, his body through the opening of it. She wanted to rip that shirt off him. She wanted to push him down on the bed and climb on top of him. She wanted to kiss him and never stop.

But she decided against doing any of that since she figured Marya would probably frown upon it. Soon though, soon they would be alone in this bedroom and able to do whatever they wanted to each other. And no one would object since they would be married.

Meera did decide to kiss Gendry again though. She pulled him close and pressed her lips softly against his. Again and again.

Marya looked at them and sighed.

"Can you two not wait until you are married to do that?"

Marya didn't get a reply from Meera and Gendry as they were still kissing. It's hard to talk when your lips are attached to someone else's. So instead she looked over at her son.

"And I thought keeping you and Brynda apart was hard enough, Dev," she said. "Can you try to make sure that they don't consummate their marriage in advance? I wouldn't put it past them to do it right there on the table during the council meeting..."

"I'll do my best, mother," he said with a shrug. "But I'm not sure anything can keep those two apart."

Marya turned around and walked towards the door.

"Young love..." she muttered to herself as she walked past the still kissing couple and left the room.

After Marya had left Meera realized that she hadn't actually greeted Devan yet so she reluctantly pried her lips away from Gendry's.

"Devan, I'm glad to see you again," she said.

"You too, Lady Reed," he replied. "I guess we always meet under these kinds of circumstances... with your lips attached to his."

Meera blushed at that statement, even though it obviously was true.

"I'm sorry," she said. "Maybe we should try to be more discreet..."

"I don't care," Devan said, seeing her embarrassment. "I'm happy you care about him. Because he's like a brother to me."

"Well after what you did on that couch you don't get to care anyway," Gendry said.

"What did he do on the couch?" Meera asked.

"Not something he should speak about to a lady..."

Devan looked slightly embarrassed and he spared Meera the details of his escapades.

"We need to get down to the council meeting," Gendry said to Meera. "I will state my intention to marry you to my advisors and then we can plan for marching to your homelands and defending them."

"And if they don't agree?" she asked.

"Then I will ignore them..."

"It'll be interesting to see Lord Penrose's reaction to this," Devan added. "Although he does seem quite intent on marrying you off so maybe he won't oppose."

It concerned Meera that one of Gendry's advisors might not agree with their marriage.

"Don't worry," Gendry said and took Meera's hand. "Lord Penrose doesn't decide anything around here. Even if he believes he does... I'm the lord here and I decide. And I will certainly decide who I marry."

He leaned in and kissed her again. As he did Devan got up from the couch and started to walk towards the door.

"Come on," he said. "Let's go down there. Before I have to actually pull you two apart..."

***

Lord Penrose and Ser Swann were already seated at the table in the Great Hall when Gendry, Devan, and Meera walked in. Gendry had called for a meeting that morning and told them he would make an announcement.

Both men seemed struck by surprise when Gendry walked in holding Meera's hand. They did not know that she was there and they had not expected this.

Devan walked in slightly ahead of them. He walked around the table and sat down in his seat. No rolling over tables today. This was not the time for childish antics.

Gendry and Meera stopped at the other side of the table. Standing hand in hand in front of Lord Penrose and Ser Swann.

"Gentlemen," Gendry said. "This is Lady Meera Reed. And she will be my wife. This is what I wanted to announce to you today. I will marry her as soon as possible and then my armies will help her take back her father's lands from invading forces. This is our decision and it's not up for discussion. But we can explain the details of the arrangement for you and together plan for how to proceed."

They then walked around the table and sat down together. Devan had helpfully moved another chair to right by Gendry's chair so Meera could sit down next to him.

Lord Penrose looked like he couldn't contain himself, he had so many questions and objections. And he didn't know where to start.

"You need to marry someone with armies, Lord Baratheon. The Neck barely has any men. You can't sacrifice your men to defend her lands and get nothing in return."

Gendry was about to object when Meera took his hand under the table. He looked over at her.

"Let me talk to him," she said.

This was probably for the best, as Gendry and Lord Penrose were rarely able to discuss things rationally. Most of the time it ended up with them screaming at each other.

"He doesn't get nothing in return, Lord Penrose," she said. "I'm the last of my name and upon my father's death, I'm his only heir. I will inherit his lands and his title. By marrying Lord Baratheon I give that up and transfer it to our children instead. My father's lands would be ruled under house Baratheon from that day forward."

"Of what value is the Neck to rule?" Lord Penrose asked. "It's just a crocodile-infested swamp."

"My home might be a swamp, and it does have crocodiles. But it's placed right on the border between Westeros and the North. It's very valuable for transport and trading between the kingdoms. Whoever rules it controls the border and can decide whether to toll people and goods going by."

"Lord Baratheon needs an heir himself too, someone needs to rule the Stormlands. This arrangement binds you to birth at least two children Lady Reed, I hope you realize that."

"Of course I do. I know exactly what this entails, Lord Penrose. And I know what I will need to do. Granted there's no guarantee we will have children but I assure you we will try our best. And given how many bastard children Lord Baratheon's father had I think there's a good chance he will be able to produce a good number of offspring."

This shut Lord Penrose up briefly, and he looked slightly embarrassed that he had even asked.

Gendry squeezed Meera's hand and smiled at her, happy that she was able to take this discussion in a calmer manner than he would have been able to.

A thought crossed his mind though. A thought he couldn't bring himself to think out loud. That Meera's mother had also birthed two children. But she had not survived the birth of the second child.

"And what happens if your father passes before your children are grown enough to rule his lands? Your father is not a young man and while I don't wish him any ill faith there's no guarantee he'll live for another 20 years."

"There's not... of course, I wish for my father to live to a be as old as possible but if he doesn't there are others who can take over until our children are of age. He has several trusted advisors who could serve as castellan of the castle for any time necessary."

"As I said, Lord Penrose," Gendry said. "This is not a discussion of whether we should marry or not. That is decided."

"I can answer his questions, Gendry," Meera said and stroked his hand under the table. "It's fine. I've thought of how this will benefit both of our houses. This is a matter of love but also a matter of politics."

"And speaking of your father," Lord Penrose continued. "He's not here. Have Lord Reed agreed to this? A lady can't just go and marry anyone she wants without her father's blessing."

"My father gave me his blessing before I left my home. He told me I could do whatever I needed to save my home."

"Including getting married and giving up your name and title?"

"Yes. My father won't object, I promise you that. My father trusts me. And my father knew I would go to Lord Baratheon."

"Seems like you have thought this through, Lady Reed," Lord Penrose conceded. "Lord Baratheon can certainly do worse than having you at his side. He needs someone to calm him down and someone who can think rationally."

"Like you are always so calm and rational, Lord Penrose," Gendry grumbled.

"I'm giving you my blessing to marry Lady Reed, Lord Baratheon," Lord Penrose said. "So maybe you should be a bit less hostile."

"I don't need your blessing..." Gendry retorted.

"I'll accept your blessing, Lord Penrose," Meera said. "On both mine and my soon to be husband's behalf."

She put her hand on Gendry's leg under the table, patting him lightly. Trying to make him relax a bit.

"It's fine," she whispered to him. "We're fine."

"How long can your father hold the castle against the enemy forces, Lady Reed?" Ser Swann asked.

"He said a couple of weeks when I left, and it's been about a week since then. So we don't have much time..."

"We would need to get a septon from the capital for the ceremony and that would take a couple of days at least," Lord Penrose said. "That means the ceremony probably can't be for another week or so. Then it might be too late."

As he said that Meera looked over at Gendry with a concerned look on her face. Something seemed to bother her. She leaned over towards him.

"Can I talk to you?" she whispered. "Outside."

Gendry nodded, a bit concerned about whatever it was she needed to talk about. Hopefully, she hadn't changed her mind.

"Me and Lady Reed need to discuss something quickly," he said to his advisors. "We'll be back shortly."

He took Meera's hand and lead her out of the hall. The advisors left behind looked a bit confused but didn't protest.

They sat down on a bench right outside of the hall.

"What's bothering you?" he asked. "Are you regretting this?"

She took this hand again and turned towards him.

"Of course not," she said and leaned in and kissed him. Assuring him that she still wanted to be his.

"I'll never regret it," she said. "But... I'm a northerner, Gendry. I don't believe in the faith of the seven. I believe in the old gods. The gods make me feel connected to my brother."

He hadn't even thought of this. Religion was not something he really thought about.

"I'm sorry, Meera. I wasn't thinking... of course, that's what you believe in."

"I know that this is the South and that there are no weirwoods... but if possible I want a northern ceremony for our wedding. Or at least as close to it as we can arrange."

"Anything you want. It doesn't matter to me how we marry, as long as we do."

"You don't believe in the faith of the seven?"

"I don't believe in any of it. I don't believe in gods, they never did me any good. The orphanage where I grew up was run by septas and well... let's just say that they weren't very kind to us."

Sometimes she forgot. She forgot just how different his upbringing had been to most lords. She forgot how much he must have suffered.

"You know I want to know, Gendry," she said and leaned her head on his shoulder. "I want to know where you come from and what you've been through."

"And I will tell you, Meera," he said and put his arm around her. "I'll tell you everything. But right now I think we need to head back in there before they wonder where we've gone."

He got up and reached out his hand towards her. As she got up he leaned in for a quick kiss before they entered the hall.

A few moments later Gendry and Meera were still kissing in the hallway when Marya Seaworth walked up on them in the corridor.

"If I'm not mistaken you two are still not married," Marya said in a stern tone.

The couple interrupted their current activity and looked up at her. They looked quite guilty.

"We'll be married soon enough, Marya," Gendry said. "Can't you be a bit lenient?"

"As you said you will be married soon enough," she replied. "Can't you wait until then?"

"We can wait, Marya," Meera said. "We can try to at least..."

"You better try... Anyway, I came here to talk to you, Lady Reed," Marya continued. "I need to see after the council and take some measurements for your wedding dress. Lady Brynda has offered one of her dresses for you, but seeing as she's a lot taller than you I will need to alter it."

"I don't need a dress," Meera said. "I don't wear dresses... can't I just wear this?"

She looked down at her tunic and pants, still a bit torn from her escape from the swamp.

"You certainly cannot, Lady Reed," Marya replied. "No girl is getting married like that on my watch. You'll wear a dress and you'll look pretty, and that's the end of it."

"She already looks pretty to me, Marya," Gendry protested.

"Well, you would probably think she looked pretty in a burlap sack, Lord Baratheon."

"I'm the one marrying her, shouldn't my opinion matter?"

"You are the one marrying her, but you won't be the only one there at the wedding feast. She needs to look like a proper lady. It's important for your standing as a lord too."

Meera realized there was no use discussing this. Apparently, she was going to wear a dress.

"I'll come and a see you after the meeting, Marya," she said and took Gendry's hand. Urging him to shut up.

"Now go back in there you two," Marya said. "I'm not leaving until you two enter that door together. Because I suspect you will go right back to what you were doing otherwise."

Marya was right, they would have gone right back to kissing. But instead of kissing they entered the Great Hall together and sat down again.

"I and Lady Reed have talked and we've agreed to have a northern ceremony, in accordance with her beliefs," Gendry said once they were settled. "That way we won't have to wait for a septon either. But since there are no weirwoods here we will have to find another appropriate place for the ceremony."

He braced himself for Lord Penrose's reaction.

Surprisingly Lord Penrose didn't look mad though, he actually looked quite pleased.

"There might not be any weirwoods here," he said. "Not anymore at least. But we got something else. Down in the tunnels underneath. There are roots from an old weirwood tree and ancient carvings. That's where the legends tell that the magic that protects this castle comes from. The magic that's the reason that this castle has never been taken."

"And you believe in this Lord Penrose?" Gendry said in a surprised tone.

"I do. I believe in this castle," Lord Penrose replied. "And it would be fitting for you to have your wedding ceremony down there. It would honor the traditions of this castle and your ancestors."

If there was one thing that would always be true about Lord Penrose it was his unwavering faith in the Stormlands and the castle of Storm's End.

Gendry looked over at Meera to make sure she approved of this plan. She nodded at him and reached her hand over the table to touch his.

"Then that's where we'll get married," Gendry said. "And since we don't need a septon for the ceremony we don't need to wait. We'll get married tomorrow. Then we can march towards the Neck after that."

No one protested. So it was decided. Gendry and Meera would get married the next day.

Just one more day.

Tomorrow.

***

"Tomorrow?" Marya muttered while shaking her head. "He decided that you're getting married tomorrow? How am I to finish this dress before then?"

"I told you I don't need a dress," Meera replied.

Meera was standing in the guest room where she had slept the night before. Wearing a white dress that was way too long for her, it was hanging down on the floor and looked quite ridiculous right now.

"Don't worry, I'll make do somehow..." Marya said. " But I need to arrange everything for the feast afterward too. Did Lord Baratheon not think of that?"

"I don't think Lord Baratheon is too concerned about the feast or the dress..."

"Lord Baratheon seems to be mostly concerned with getting to lay with his wife as soon as possible..."

Meera blushed. But she was quite eager to get to that part too. Although there was something nagging at the back of her mind about it.

"Lord Baratheon is concerned about marching to the Neck as soon as possible," Meera said to defend Gendry. "Before my father can't hold it any longer."

Around her, Marya was putting in needles in the dress to mark where she needed to alter it to make it fit. On the bed Lady Brynda, the previous owner of the dress, was sitting.

"I need to get some more needles," Marya said. "I'll be back in a moment."

Marya left the room and Meera was left standing there in the dress. A bit unsure if she was allowed to sit down since maybe that would mess up whatever Marya was doing.

"Come and sit here next to me," Lady Brynda said and patted the bed.

Meera decided it was probably alright to sit down. Lady Brynda looked kind and she wanted to talk to her.

"Thank you for the dress," she said to Brynda as she sat down.

"I got enough dresses," Brynda said. "And I don't really like dresses anyway."

"Neither do I," Meera said and smiled.

"You're lucky who gets to marry so fast," Brynda said and sighed.

"It's only because we need to get back to my home and defend it as soon as possible. But I do want to marry him. I want to marry him more than anything."

"I wish I could marry too. But apparently, I need to wait, wait for someone to decide that he's good enough for me."

"Who?"

"Devan..."

"Oh, Devan, he's..."

"Childish, impossible, and infuriating? Yeah, I know... But he's cute, so I'll have him. If my uncle allows me."

"Your uncle won't let you marry Devan?"

"I don't know yet... apparently Devan's father is about to talk to my cousin since they're both in the capital. But since he's just the son of a knight it's not the kind of marriage my family was expecting."

"You certainly could do worse than Devan though."

"I could do worse, but I don't think I could do better. He might be a moron but he's my moron."

"Devan's not really a moron though, is he? I met him while we were in the capital. He's kind. He helped make sure I got out of Gendry's tent in time in the morning so that my father wouldn't know I spent the night there."

"You spent the night in Lord Baratheon's tent? So you've already..."

"No, we haven't... Devan was in that tent too, so we couldn't... and we wouldn't have anyway, I think..."

"I don't think Devan would have minded... he certainly didn't care that Lord Baratheon was in the room when we..."

"You've laid with Devan already? And Gendry was in the room?"

"Well Lord Baratheon was asleep... And Devan didn't tell me he was there, I didn't realize until afterward."

"Oh, is this what happened to the couch in Gendry's bedroom?"

"Yeah... so maybe... don't sit on that couch."

Meera was too distracted to really care about the couch. She was thinking of that bedroom. The bedroom that would be hers.

"Tomorrow that will be my bedroom," she said. "I will sleep there tomorrow night."

"Are you nervous?" Brynda asked.

"No, not nervous... excited and happy. And maybe a bit scared. Because I barely even know what... we're supposed to do."

"You'll figure it out. It's not that hard."

"A certain part does seem like it needs to be hard though."

The two girls giggled together.

Suddenly Marya reentered the room and the girls got quiet. This was not a discussion they wanted to have in front of Marya.

"Come here, Lady Reed," Marya said. "Let me get the last things pinned on that dress. If I sew through the night I should have it ready for tomorrow."

Tomorrow she would be his and he would be hers.

Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.

Tomorrow forever would start.

Tomorrow.