Chapter Text
It is called Storm’s End for a reason. Hardly a day or evening passes without storming weather of some kind… howling winds, torrents of rain… However, on this day it was as though the storms themselves took a rest as a wedding gift to their lord. The clouds broke, the sun shone, the howling winds turned to a gentle breeze and the rain took its leave for the occasion. People spoke of the miraculously beautiful weather all day long.
Anyone Arya and Gendry considered to be friends or family had been invited to their wedding and everyone they invited made the journey to Storm’s End.
Queen Sansa had joined with her brother, King Bran at King’s Landing and they traveled to Storm’s End together along with Ser Brienne and Ser Podrick, Tyrion, Sam and Gilly and their children, and even Bronn.
It had been difficult to get word to Jon about his sister’s wedding. Even if they sent a raven to Castle Black, no one was entirely sure where Jon was North of the Wall. Arya had asked Bran if there was anything he could do. As the Three-Eyed Raven, he had been able to locate where Jon was and warg into a raven to send word to Jon. Jon would’ve needed the most time to make the journey so the timing of the wedding had been chosen to align with Jon’s arrival. This was especially important to Arya because she wanted her brother to give her away.
Jon surprised everyone by bringing his lovely wife, Val, a Wildling woman with beautiful long, honey-blonde hair. They had married about a year ago and she was 5 months pregnant with their first child. Tormund arrived with them having heard there was a chance "the big woman" might also be there.
Even Hot Pie was able to come. He arrived a couple days early because his gift to his old friends was going to be to help with the food. In particular, he baked dozens of loaves of bread in the shapes of wolves and stags. He told his old travel companions he wasn’t surprised they had fallen in love and were getting married, “I always wondered a bit about you two, even back then,” he said, this had just made Arya and Gendry smile.
There was plenty of room in the castle for all of their guests to stay a night or two. They were all told to join them on their happy day and eat, drink, and be merry to their heart’s content.
Gendry had insisted that both Stark and Baratheon banners be hung around the courtyard, where the feast would be held after the ceremony. Extra torches had been placed around the dining tables and also in a circle around an area for music and dancing. Gendry also made clear, in no uncertain terms, to anyone who would listen that there would be no bedding ceremony and every person who he told clearly understood there would be hell to pay if anyone did not honor his request.
~~~~~
“Arya, you look beautiful, I hardly recognize you!” Jon said, then immediately tried to correct himself, “I mean, you’re always…. I just have never seen you wear a proper dress before!”
“Don’t get used to it.” Arya smirked. But she looked pleased, and happy. Arya’s wedding dress had been a gift from her sister. Sansa had taken great care to sew a dress especially for Arya which would suit her younger sister’s style, yet still be lovely and appropriate for her wedding. It was a simple, white frock with short sleeves and a billowing skirt down to her ankles and a tasteful leather bodice around her waist, laced up the front. Woven throughout her skirts were cords of black, gold, and grey to represent all colors of both the Stark and Baratheon houses, around her shoulders draped her maiden cloak. Arya wore her hair down, she had even allowed Sansa to curl it “just this once” and Sansa had fashioned a simple crown of white and yellow wildflowers for her to wear. Arya truly looked lovely, and still very much like herself.
Arya and Jon faced each other with their hands clasped on the far end of the godswood, just out of sight of the crowd standing around the weirwood tree. Jon was smiling at her, “are you ready?”
Arya smiled back at him, “Yes...” there was not a doubt in her mind. This actually surprised Arya a little bit. When she was young, marriage, becoming the lady to a lord of a castle, having his children and being tied to castle life and rigid tradition had absolutely terrified her. And even when Gendry had first asked her to marry him, it had terrified her still. But she no longer felt any lingering foreboding because she knew this life would never become what she had once feared. She had fallen in love with a man who loved her exactly as she was. And she knew when he had told her that their life could be whatever she wanted it to be, he meant it. And suddenly, having children of her own no longer filled her with dread. It excited her, even. She had always loved her own family so much, and the idea of starting a new family with the man she loved felt right to her now.
“I like him...” Jon said, speaking about Gendry, “I think father would have liked him too.”
Arya smiled thoughtfully and maybe a little sadly, “Yes, he would have.” Suddenly her father’s words echoed in her head, “Someone who’s brave and gentle and strong…” Yes, she thought, her father would have liked Gendry very much.
They heard the music begin to play over by the weirwood tree, their cue to begin their approach. Jon and Arya smiled at each other one last time, Jon lifted her hands to his lips, tears shining in his eyes. He looked like he wanted to say something but was too overwhelmed to do so. Arya just nodded, she understood. They linked their arms and began to walk toward the music.
As they rounded a corner and came into view of the guests gathered around the tree, Arya felt her first bit of nerves, happy butterflies, fluttering in her belly, just knowing she was about to see Gendry, waiting for her at the tree, to become her husband.
There was an opening amongst the guests, a path for Arya and Jon to make their approach, as they began to walk down this path, she saw him, and her heart skipped, her stomach did a complete flip, and her cheeks flushed, seeing Gendry waiting for her, so handsome in his lord’s costume and cloak, smiling as she approached him, his smile widening as he got a better look at her.
It had been a long time since she had reacted so vicerally to her betrothed. She suddenly remembered the first time she had had such a reaction, watching him smith as a young girl... he'd been covered in soot and sweat, emphasizing his muscles as he worked. And then her mind flooded quickly with flashes of images from their entire life together up to that point. She suddenly remembered everything, and every image, every word, every detail came rushing through her nearly all at once, jumbled, overlapping, echoing in her head, as though she were briskly flipping through pages in a book... “oh, you like picking on the little ones, do you?” … “How can someone so small be such a huge pain in my ass?”... “No one can know.”/ “They won’t. Not from me.”... “I should be calling you milady”/ “DO NOT call me milady!”/ “As milady commands…”... “Am I fighting someone?”/ “You’re practicing for a fight… you should practice right.”... “I never had a family.”/ “I can be your family.”... “Last time you saw me you wanted me to come to Winterfell. Took the long road but…”... “All I know is that you’re beautiful and I love you and none of it will be worth anything if you’re not with me. So be with me… Be my wife. Be the Lady of Storm’s End…”... “We build our own family, our own life, and we make our own rules. What do you say?”
Overwhelmed, tears stung her eyes as she approached him. She looked up at him with an expression that must have looked like terrified sadness because suddenly Gendry looked worried. Even panicked. Seven hells, he thinks I’ve changed my mind… she thought. So she smiled, as genuinely as she could, and tried to speak to him with her eyes, No silly, I love you and I still want to be your wife… He must have heard her somehow because his face relaxed and he smiled again.
Sam Tarley stood before them, his round, cherub face smiling. They had asked Sam to preside over their marriage and had let him know ahead of time of a few changes they wanted to make to the traditional wedding ceremony. Sam assured them, as long as a few key moments of the ceremony remain in tact, they could make the changes they wanted and it wouldn’t be a problem.
The first part of the ceremony, introductions, needed to remain. Sam began, “Who comes before the Old Gods this day?”
Jon spoke up, “Arya, of House Stark, comes to be wed. She comes to beg the blessings of the gods. Who comes to wed her?”
It was Gendry’s turn to step forward, “Gendry of House Baratheon, heir to Storm’s End. Who gives her?”
“Aegon, of House Targaryen, her cousin, raised as her kin,” Jon looked at Arya and smiled, “her brother.” Arya smiled back at him.
Sam continued, “Lady Arya, do you take this man?” Arya looked at Gendry and so much love rushed through her chest she could barely get the words out. She swallowed and said, “I take this man…” smiling at Gendry, tears stinging her eyes again.
Now came the first change to the ceremony they had requested. Sam asked Gendry, “Lord Gendry, do you take this woman?” Gendry looked lovingly at Arya, she could see him blinking back tears himself, he also swallowed and said, “I take this woman…”
Sam directed them to kneel before the weirwood tree for the ceremonial prayer to the gods. Then they stood and faced each other again.
Sam continued, “Please join hands.” Arya and Gendry joined their hands. Now came the next change they requested, the vows. A traditional Old Gods ceremony would only require the prayer to the gods, they wanted to combine the Old Gods ceremony with the Faith of the Seven, in honor of Arya’s mother. “Say the words,” Sam said.
Arya and Gendry recited the same vows together, “Father, Smith, Warrior, Mother, Maiden, Crone, Stranger. I am yours and you are mine, from this day until the end of my days." Then they simultaneously recited one more vow which they had also requested, “When the snows fall and the wind blows, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives." The crowd stirred a bit at this, muttering to each other, indistinctly, but neutral in tone, neither pleased or displeased by the change. Arya and Gendry just gave each other a knowing smile, their wedding ceremony would be just one of many parts from tradition people would come to notice from them.
Next, another requested change, the cloaking ceremony. Sam directed Gendry to cloak his bride. Gendry stepped close to Arya and removed the cloak she was wearing, handing it to her to hold. Arya turned. Then he removed his cloak and he gently draped his cloak around her shoulders. She turned back around and he helped fasten his cloak around her neck.
Then Sam shocked everyone once again by asking Arya to cloak her groom. Audible gasps could be heard from the crowd. Standing before Arya, Gendry turned and knelt on one knee to make this easier for her. Arya took her cloak and draped it over his shoulders, then stepped around him to fasten her cloak around his neck. They grinned mischievously at each other and Gendry even winked at her which just made Arya smile wider. The change to the cloaking, in particular, was important to them. They wanted it to symbolize equality in their marriage, neither one dominating over the other.
Once cloaked, Gendry stood up and they faced each other again, clasped their hands once more. Their mischievous smiles remained as the final requested change was about to be revealed to their guests. Sam addressed the couple, “the bride and groom may kiss each other…”
Arya and Gendry beamed and Gendry moved in quickly to kiss her, cupping her face in his hands and then dropping his arms around her waist and lifting her, spinning her around. He lowered her and they broke apart slowly, laughing together.
All of the guests had cheered as they kissed and as the crowd began to settle down, Sam spoke again, loudly, with a rather large grin on his face, “May I present to all attending, Lady Arya Stark Baratheon and Lord Gendry Stark Baratheon of newly formed House Stark Baratheon, first of its name!”
A mixture of audible gasps and murmurs rose from the crowd before evolving into cheers for the newly married couple. Arya and Gendry hardly noticed the crowd response, so lost in each other, hands clasped, standing close, intermittently kissing, laughing, and smiling.
So caught up in each other, they’d forgotten they were supposed to lead the way to the feast held in the courtyard. Sam nudged them gently and they walked back down the aisle between their guests. Arya stopped to hug Sansa and Ser Brienne, Gendry shook hands and hugged Jon, his new brother-in-law, and Ser Davos, who had come to feel like a surrogate father to him.
Then, arms linked, Arya and Gendry began walking toward the courtyard, all guests following after.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Tyrion and Sansa had been standing close to each other during the ceremony. Finally able to talk, Tyrion fell next to her as they walked toward the courtyard with everyone else.
“Marrying for love. It’s an interesting concept, don’t you think?” Tyrion snarked to Sansa.
“It will never catch on.” She retorted.
“No, I don’t suppose it will.”