The whole castle rattled as the king's men attempted to make their way inside. Thumps and creaks came from the main gate, where a battering ram was wielded against the wood. Having not been enforced or maintained for years, it would soon give in, letting the wolves inside.

"How did they even know we're here?" Gendry despaired, leaning his forehead against his hands. Together with the other lords, he had taken refuge in the prison cells beneath the castle. Unfortunately, Hayford Castle, unlike Storm's End, had no hidden routes to escape through. Hiding deep down would buy them some time but since Gendry had no clue of how to use that time to bring about their salvation, the endeavor was probably in vain. But just giving in and waiting in plain sight for the soldiers to barge inside wasn't how he wanted to go down.

He didn't want to go down at all. He couldn't go down. It just wasn't conceivable. Not until he saved Meera. But the path to her was blocked by the horde of wolves outside.

On the other side of the prison cell, Robin Arryn--whose head was nestled against the shoulder of Tyrek Lannister--mumbled something Gendry couldn't hear. Tyrek, having seemingly forgotten all about what was proper in this dire situation, placed a kiss against the other lord's forehead. "You couldn't know," he assured Robin.

"He couldn't know what?" Gendry asked.

"That they would come here," Robin replied, a guilty expression on his face. "Bronn of Blackwater intercepted me at Crossroads Inn, forcing me to tell him where I was going."

"And you told him?" Gendry yelled, the storm starting to brew in his veins. "Why did you fucking tell him, Lord Arryn? Are you not on my side?"

"He threatened to tell everyone..." Robin mumbled, once again burying his face in Tyrek's shoulder. "The whole kingdom would know."

"What would he tell everyone? What could be so important that you're willing to give us all up?"

Robin sighed. "That... my father isn't my father," he admitted. "I'm not the son of Jon Arryn, which means I have no right to my title and neither does my son. I'm not a good father or husband, so my title is all I have to give him. I can't lose that."

Gendry shook his head in disbelief. "I don't care who is your father, Lord Arryn." He made an effort to keep calm as he spoke. "You should know that, considering who I am myself. And if I win this war, then that is what will matter. I wouldn't let you lose your title."

Another loud thump rattled the castle. Perhaps that was the knock that took the gates down, allowing the wolves to find them.

"But that may not matter now," Gendry sighed. "You already gave us up, and now there is nowhere to hide. I supposed they may spare you for your efforts though."

Robin didn't answer. He just cuddled closer to Tyrek, looking like he wanted the floor to swallow him whole.

Gendry wouldn't have minded the floor opening up at this moment, taking them all far away.

Because here, in Castle Hayford, there was no hope.

Many moons later, the bards would sing:

As hope ran out in the bitter night, there looked to be no more fight

But just as the wolves were at the door, another war cry began to soar.

Gendry looked up in surprise as another trumpet started to blare from outside, signaling the approach of another army. But who? There had been no time to get a message to his forces, and they were too far away to help anyway.

"I don't recognize that tune," Addam Marbrand noted. As a seasoned warrior, he would be familiar with the tunes that signaled attack from every army in the kingdom. So maybe this force was not from Westeros?

"Should we go up to the walls and see who it is?" Hobber Redwyne asked, probably wanting to exit the claustrophobic cell.

Gendry shook his head. "We're safer here," he noted, despite being very curious himself. "We'll wait until things quiet down up there. We don't know if whoever has arrived is on our side."

So they waited. Huddled on the cold stone floor, the lords waited for hours, listening to screams and thundering hooves from above. Whoever had come to their aid appeared to be fighting against the enemy forces. But was an enemy of an enemy necessarily a friend?

They waited until the sunlight started to peer in through the narrow windows on the cell wall, overlooking the shallow moat outside. The bright rays stung Gendry's eyes, awakening him from a shallow slumber. Coming to, he noticed that the morning was eerily quiet. The fighting must have seized.

He rose from the floor, walking up to the window to try to glance outside. But the window was positioned too high up, not allowing him to see anything but the grass on the opposite side of the moat.

"What's going on out there?" Addam Marbrand asked, having seemingly also just woken up from uneasy dreams.

"I don't know," Gendry replied. "I can't see anything. But I can't hear anything either. The battle must have ended."

Addam nodded, noting the same thing as he listened to the silence. "I can go up and check what's going on," he offered. "It's not me they're after, after all."

Gendry shook his head. He was too impatient to stay in the prison cell any longer. He needed to know what was happening outside. "I'll follow right behind you," he said. "We can leave the boys here though." He nodded toward the younger lords Redwyne, Arryn, and Lannister, who were all still sound asleep.

Equipped with sword and warhammer, the two men made their way up the winding stairs to the main hall. With Addam's huge frame ahead of him, Gendry felt comparably safe, despite the threat of enemy soldiers hiding in the castle.

Nothing was out of place. The dust still lay thick and the cobwebs still hung low. Signs that the castle remained unbreached.

Approaching the gate, Gendry could see splinters stick out on the inside, showcasing the damage from the battering ram, which must have been swung across the dried-out moat toward the brittle wood. A few more hits and the device would have made it through, allowing the enemy to enter. But they hadn't done so, because something, or rather someone, had interrupted the attempt at invading the castle.

But who?

Later, the song would tell the tale:

A band of black wolves stood outside, allowing the lords to no longer hide.

"Gendry!" A voice suddenly called from outside. A very familiar voice. "Are you in there?"

Gendry knew that voice. He knew it all too well because the owner of it would never stop yammering. Oh, how he'd missed having his ears burning from too much blather.

Because on the bridge stood not a wolf of the forest but a bird from the sea, ready to bend the knee.

"Lower the bridge!" Gendry ordered Addam.

"Are you sure?" the knight asked, confusion written on his face. "Will we be safe?"

"I'm sure," Gendry replied, without hesitation. If there was anyone he knew was always on his side, it was whoever waited outside that gate.

As the drawbridge lowered, the man on the other side of the moat started to become visible. First, Gendry saw the hair, which confirmed without a doubt who was standing there. Because no one else had hair like that. It stood in all directions, impossible to tame. Despite his mother's attempts.

Next, came the smile. A warm and kind smile. An utterly ridiculous smile.

Long skinny limbs dressed in black. A swagger that was undeterred despite months of untold hardship.

"Dev..." Gendry mumbled as the drawbridge landed on the opposite shore, turning miles of distance between them into a few feet of boards.

"Gendry," Devan replied, for once out of words. But his smile told what words couldn't. It spoke of relief to finally be back where he belonged, by Gendry's side.

They met in the middle of the bridge, arms wrapping tightly around the other one's back to make sure the other one was real. They were really there, both of them. They were together once again.

"What are you doing here?" Gendry asked as he released his grip on his friend. His best friend. His brother.

"I'm saving your ass," Devan replied because, of course, that's how he would explain his heroic deed.

Gendry raised an eyebrow. "By yourself?" he asked.

"Well, we're saving your ass, I guess." Devan swooshed his hand dramatically around the moat, where a thousand men clad in black kneeled in allegiance to Gendry. It appeared that the Nightwatch had traveled from the night of the north into the sun of the south to join his cause.

"We've come to fight by your side," Devan explained, bending down on one knee as well. "We've come to support your claim to the throne, Lord Baratheon."

Author's Note: Dev is back! Oh, how I've longed to write this reunion. Because of course, Gendry could never do this without Devan.

And now, it's time to march toward King's Landing...