Sansa watched, half-hidden behind a pillar, as Sandor Clegane happily played with his oldest child – a boy. He could have been one of Sansa's own siblings, by the look of him; he had his father's colouring entirely – grey eyes and dark hair. It was a rare occasion to see her man-at-arms smiling, but if one of his two children were around, it was a safe bet that he'd be smiling at some point in their presence. He was less angry now, after his time on the Quiet Isle and since his marriage.
She couldn't help but smile herself as she watched Sandor toss the boy into the air just above his hands and then catch him deftly. The boy – his name was Lucion – was nearly five and had been born just after Sansa had turned fifteen. She remembered the day, mostly how out of sorts Sandor had been, and nothing she could have done or said would have made any difference, so she simply watched as he paced nervously along the halls awaiting his firstborn.
As a child and hostage in King's Landing, Sansa had held a terrified fascination for the Hound. There had been an attraction, to be sure, and she knew that he wanted her, but he was also horribly angry and drank a lot, so fear had outweighed any attraction she'd had for him. Now that she was grown – a woman of twenty – she was no-longer afraid of him, but found herself with a deep longing for the man.
It had hurt her so badly when he had come to her at last, but had been towing along a pregnant wife. Sansa herself was now Lady of Casterly Rock and still married to Tyrion Lannister, it was true, but theirs was not a marriage of love by any means and Sansa was still a maiden. She'd come to love Sandor at some point between the night he'd left her in her room and when he bent his knee before her at Casterly Rock and so to find him out of her grasp when he'd finally reappeared to her had nearly ripped her heart out.
What Sansa wanted more than anything was to steal Sandor away from his lowborn wife. Steal him away and make him hers forever. But he seemed happy and he loved his children and Sansa had no idea what she'd even do about Tyrion if Sandor was even willing to be hers, so instead, Sansa watched. She watched with a broken heart as his son grew. She watched his smiles and their laughter together, and she watched as his wife once again grew large with child. She watched as he was weak for his daughter and made sure the girl wanted for nothing. She watched another woman's husband while her own was away in King's Landing serving his queen, and she thought that it was maybe worse being a Lannister captive this time around.
