Note: There are some spoilers for The Lion and The Falcon at the beginning of this chapter. Since the timelines of these stories are not lined up these events actually haven't happened there yet, so even if you're caught up on that story you won't know about these events yet. If you don't want to get spoiled, skip from the paragraph from where Gendry mentions a letter from Horas Redwyne until the paragraph where Meera blinks to keep awake (it's not very far). Otherwise, just consider this advanced foreshadowing!

It took a lot of effort for Meera to remain awake during the council meeting. The child she carried had kept her up most of the night. Either it seemed to kick her bladder or it lodged itself right under her ribs. There was no way for her to get comfortable in bed anymore. She had collected all the pillows, leaving her husband without, and put them around herself for support, but it didn't help much. Her husband had snored away, Gendry was used to sleeping without pillows anyway, but Meera had remained awake.

She pinched herself in the leg to prevent herself from falling asleep, while her husband talked about important matters with his gathered advisors. Davos, Stannis, and Lord Penrose were all gathered around the table.

Gendry held a letter from Horas Redwyne, the lord of Highgarden. Whatever was happening there was a mess, and it only seemed to get worse.

"He demands that his newborn nephew, Paxter Arryn, should be recognized as the Lord of the Eyrie by all the Lord Paramounts," Gendry explained. "And that his brother's wife, born Janei Lannister, should be recognized as the rightful holder of Casterly Rock."

"But Lord Arryn and Lord Lannister are still alive, aren't they?" Davos asked.

"I believe so," Gendry said. "But he has them imprisoned for their crimes, awaiting a trial."

"I did hear the rumors of what was going on between them," Davos said. "Devan told me after he talked to Tyrion. But surely that should be a personal matter, not a matter of politics."

"I agree. But Horas seem to have gone completely mad... he's involved the remaining factions of the faith militant."

"Surely his mother can't agree with that. Mina Redwyne is born a Tyrell, and the faith militant was the end of their house. I can't believe that the lords of the Reach stand behind him either, they were loyal to the Tyrells."

"I don't think they do..." Gendry said and held up another letter. "Because I received this from Hobber Redwyne, Horas' brother who he used to rule together with but deposed. Hobber writes that he has the majority of the houses in the region behind him and that they will try to take Horas down. He just needs some time to convince his sister Desmera, who is not too pleased with her husband Robin after everything that went down, to stand on his side. So according to Hobber, I should ignore whatever Horas demands."

"So the twin brothers stand against each other."

"And I stand behind Hobber. Because I need Robin and Tyrek alive. I need them to rule their kingdoms. And Hobber has promised to free them."

Meera blinked to keep awake. She wanted to know about what was going on in the Reach, but her body badly wanted to sleep. Her head felt fuzzy and the noise around her became muffled.

And suddenly she wasn't in the Great Hall of Storm's End anymore. She was in a dark forest illuminated by moonlight. Surrounded by white trees that shone as brightly as the moon. The leaves on the branches were bloodred.

Jojen was there. Next to him stood a young girl Meera didn't recognize. Her face and hands were covered with scaly scars.

They stood on opposite sides of a crib from which the scream of a child rose.

It was her child. Meera knew that instinctively. The child in her belly who kept her awake all night. She wanted to walk up and peak into the crib, but she couldn't move.

"We'll protect her," Jojen said. "Let us protect her. Me and her together."

The girl bent down to calm the child and the screaming stopped.

A shake on her shoulder made the forest disappear. The hall around her appeared again and so did the people in it. Meera looked up to see her husband crouching next to her with a worried look on his face. "You fell asleep," he said and patted her leg. "And you screamed."

"I had a dream of Jojen again," she said and put her hand on his. "This time a young girl was there, with scales on her skin. I've never seen her before."

Davos, who stood behind Gendry, suddenly froze in place. "Scales?" he said. "Like a dragon?"

Meera nodded. "I think so," she said. "She was not much older than Steffon and she had blonde hair."

"Shireen..." Davos said, seemingly stuck in memories from a time long gone. Memories of a little girl who didn't get to grow up. "She was Stannis Baratheon's daughter. She was good. But he burned her."

"She looked kind," Meera replied. "Jojen said that they will protect her together."

"Her... so he says it's girl," Gendry said. "That we'll have a daughter."

Gendry looked ecstatically happy about the thought of a daughter. Although Meera knew he would be just as happy for a son.

"A girl is good," Davos said. "My wife always wanted a girl. Less trouble."

Meera wasn't sure her own father would agree on that. She had always caused Howland far more trouble than Jojen.

"A girl is not a proper heir though," Lord Penrose said. "House Baratheon needs an heir to live."

"I can make a daughter my heir, just as well as a son," Gendry replied. "I see no reason why a woman wouldn't be able to rule as well as a man, or even better. My wife certainly can. And I've met plenty of other women who would make far better rulers than any man."

"If we can't stop the Dornish forces you won't have anything to give an heir anyway," Lord Penrose said. "An attack is imminent and you don't have the resources to defend the Stormlands. So can we focus on that instead of your wife's dreams, Lord Baratheon?"

"Arya will help me, I've told you so," Gendry replied.

"And I've told you that I will believe that when I see it. But we can't rely on some imaginary forces from Essos for our defense. And why would the king's sister help us when you've made an enemy of the king?"

"I trust Arya."

"Because you fucked her? You can't make decisions based on such matters."

Lord Penrose threw a glance at Meera, probably anticipating a reaction from her. Meera just glared back at him.

"Because Arya's my friend," Gendry said.

Lord Penrose shook his head but didn't say anything further.

"Let's recess for a bit," Davos said, "So Lady Baratheon can rest and you two can calm yourselves down before we ride out this afternoon to inspect the troops stationed outside the castle."

As the other men left the room Gendry stretched out his hand to help Meera get up.

"Will you go rest for a bit now?" he asked once she was standing. "I will be away all afternoon anyway and you seem tired. I noticed you didn't sleep much last night.."

Meera shook her head. Just laying on her bed all afternoon sounded dreadfully dull, no matter how tired she was. "I told Brynda I would visit her later," she said. "And then I promised Steffon to help him practice shooting his bow and arrow."

"Just be careful," her husband said with a concerned look.

"I will. I promise," she said and leaned over her belly to kiss him.

***

Meera stopped to rest on the landing between the stairs. Walking stairs was a struggle for her these days. Her hips hurt and her belly weighed her down for every step. Meera wondered how she would be able to traverse stairs later on if it was this difficult now. According to Marya, there were about three months left until the child would be born.

Three months. Then she would have a child in her arms. It was hard to comprehend.

She tried not to think of birth, because it scared her. And not a lot of things scared Meera Reed.

Brynda and Stannis occupied a whole floor of the tower, complete with a big bedroom, a study, and a nursery. Stannis had been given the official role of scribe to the lord, which warranted their comfortable living quarters. Marya, Davos, and Steffon also had a floor to themselves since Davos had taken over Ser Swann's role as military advisor to the lord.

Once Meera finally made it up the stairs she entered the bedroom and immediately threw herself on the bed. Brynda gave her a weird look from where she sat by the window.

"Sorry," Meera said as she tried to catch her breath. "I guess it's not proper for me to lay on your bed."

Actually, she didn't really really care what was proper. She was pregnant and needed to lay down. Proper etiquette could go screw itself.

"I don't sleep on that side anyway," Brynda replied.

"But your husband..."

Brynda chuckled. Like the thought of sharing a bed with her husband was preposterous.

"Stannis doesn't sleep in here," she said. "He sleeps in his study, I think. Or perhaps in Bastian's room."

Of course, the reason for their marriage was well-known in the castle, but Meera was still surprised Brynda spoke about it so frankly.

Brynda went over to the bed to lay down next to Meera on the bed.

Meera looked down towards both their pregnant bellies. There was an obvious difference in size. There was a slight bulge under Brynda's dress, barely visible when she stood up if the dress fell the right way, about the size of a small melon. While Meera's belly seemed to be about the size of a pumpkin. And not a small pumpkin either, a large pumpkin that could feed a whole family. At least that's what it felt like. There was no way for her to hide her condition. No matter how her dress fell.

Yes, Meera wore a dress. Because she had to wear something and her pants didn't fit anymore. Neither did her husband's pants. She had tried. So reluctantly she had resorted to dresses. Only simple and loose-fitting ones though. The one she currently wore was in green linen with pleats in the front to make room for the giant pumpkin.

"Why are you so much smaller than me?" she asked. "You should be further along... "

"Because I'm taller probably," Brynda replied. "More room for the child to grow. Although I'm glad I'm not showing that much yet since that makes it easier to pretend the child is Stannis'. We'll just have to pretend it's born early."

Brynda's words trailed off a bit. Like she got lost in her own thoughts. Meera knew who her friend was thinking about.

"You haven't seen him again?" Brynda asked.

Brynda never spoke much of Devan, but her more reserved demeanor lately made it clear that she missed him. They all miss him, of course. The castle wasn't the same without Devan's exuberant presence.

Meera shook her head and patted Brynda's hand lightly. "No," she said. "Not since that one dream."

"Hopefully he's safe up North."

"I hope so too. You know I'll tell you if I see him again. Even if I don't know what it means."

Meera wished she knew what her dreams meant. She wished she could assure Brynda somehow that Devan was safe, but she didn't know if anything of what she saw was real. And she didn't want to give her friend false hope.

***

The breezy forest air welcomed Meera and made her feel at home. After her visit with Brynda, she had taken Steffon with her to the woods. Shooting her bow was difficult as her belly was in the way, but she liked being outside and she could still instruct Steffon.

She sat on a rock and watched as Steffon practiced shooting. Birds chimed and squirrels chattered around her. The smell of pine was in the air.

Out here she felt free. Of course, Meera was happy about the child she carried and she couldn't wait to meet whoever was in there. But that didn't mean she enjoyed the process of carrying it.

She had always been wild and free. She had always been fast and agile. She had always been independent. But she wasn't any of those things right now. She wasn't herself.

The sound of an arrow getting stuck in wood interrupted her thoughts. Steffon had accidentally aimed way too high and an arrow had lodged itself several meters up in a tree.

"I'll get that, Lady Baratheon," the boy said. Meera had taught him to always bring all arrows back home if possible.

"No, let me get it," she replied.

Steffon gave her a skeptical look but didn't protest. Marya had raised him not to oppose lords and ladies after all.

Meera made her way to the tree where the escaped arrow was stuck. Steffon followed her, still looking like he didn't think this was a good idea.

He was probably right, but she didn't care.

"But you're..." he started.

"With child? Yeah, I've noticed that too," she replied. "But that doesn't mean I'm crippled. I can still do stuff."

"But my mother has told you to not climb trees."

"Well do you always listen to your mother?"

The boy nodded. Even if he didn't always listen to Marya he wouldn't dare to admit it, since he feared Meera would tell his mother about his offenses.

"Well, she's not my mother," Meera said and put her hand on the first branch. "So I don't have to listen to her."

Climbing a tree while pregnant turned out to be harder than she had expected. The damn pumpkin prevented Meera from getting close to the trunk, so she had to turn sideways and try to climb with her hip against the trunk instead.

It wasn't easy. But Meera figured it out. And for a few moments, she felt like herself again. Although she also felt exhausted.

Finally, she stretched out her arm and pulled the arrow out from the trunk. The tree swayed slightly in the wind and the breeze rustled her curls. She felt triumphant. Even if she knew Marya would yell at her later.

With the arrow in her hand, she carefully climbed down. Not being able to see her feet made the task difficult. Branch by branch she descended the tree. Steffon looked relieved when Meera finally stood on the ground next to him and tried to catch her breath. She definitely got winded more easily these days.

"Let's go home to the castle, Steffon," she said and put her arm on the boy's shoulder. "I think I need some rest now."

***

When her husband came back home Meera actually laid on the bed in their room. Once again she had propped up all the pillow around her, and she had also put a few under her feet.

Gendry climbed up next to his wife and kissed her cheek.

"I'm glad you decided to rest after all," he said.

"I did go to see Brynda and go to the woods first though," she replied.

"I figured you would. If you've decided you will do something there's usually no way to stop you."

"I climbed a tree."

"Of course you did."

He leaned over and kissed her forehead. Gendry knew better than to try to tell Meera what she should or shouldn't do.

"My ankles and hips hurt," she said as she tried to rearrange herself to get comfortable, to no avail.

"Just tell me if there's anything I can do," he said and took her hand.

A movement in her belly made her whole body jolt. Her hand flew to the spot to feel it.

"She's moving again," Meera said.

Her husband's hand went to her belly as well. "She... so you believe what Jojen said in the dream?"

Meera nodded. "There has to be a purpose of the dreams," she said. "They feel so real. I believe Jojen is actually speaking to me somehow."

"If you believe that, then I will believe so as well," Gendry replied. "I'll believe that we'll have a daughter soon."

Meera had thought of the dream and what it could mean all day. A realization dawned on her.

"Joreen..." she mumbled.

"What?"

"Joreen. That's her name. Jojen and Shireen together. That's what he meant."

Gendry nodded and squeezed her hand. "Joreen," he said. "It's a pretty name. And they both deserve to be honored."

"Joreen," Meera repeated. "Our daughter."

She felt another movement under her hand. It was as if the child knew they were talking about her. Or the child was just tossing and turning because she, just like her mother, had trouble being still.

Joreen Baratheon would be her name. She would be as strong as her mother and as caring as her father.