They rode hard for a long time, too long, Saebyl feared she was going to fall off the horse. It seemed to only rain harder the further they went, she was soaked through. When they finally stopped Sandor climbed off just in time to catch her limp body. He set her down at the base of a large tree near a river bank. She watched tiredly as the horse drank it's fill.

"You'll need to find your legs soon, girl." He informed her, taking a swig from a bottle that he had strapped to his belt.

"Can't we just stay here for a while?" She moaned, she couldn't bare the thought of climbing on that horse again. Her thighs were screaming in agony, she was sopping wet, freezing cold and exhausted.

"No." The Hound said curtly, turning to check back on the stallion.

"No? That's it? Just no? I'm tired, I need to sleep, eat something, dry off!" She whined on the ground looking like a petulant child.

"Do you want to be caught, girl? Do you want to be dragged in front of the Queen and be interrogated as to why you abandoned the city? At best, they'll hang you." He barked at her, standing over her small frame.

"Then where are we going?" Sae snapped back, irritated, trying to change the subject. She was definitely not used to someone out and out yelling at her. No one ever yelled at her, not even her mother, disapproving comments and belittling speeches, but never yelling. If he had hissed threatts at her, that she knew how to deal with.

"You're going back to Casterly Rock." She looked up in surprise. "Did you not want to go home to your mother, girl?"

"I am not a child. I do not need my mother." Angry violet eyes glared up at him, though it was still too dark to make out, Sandor could more feel them then anything. "I'm not going back there! Do you think they'd just let me waltz through the gates? The Whore of Casterly Rock?" His response was just dead silence, obviously not thinking about what had happened before she had left her home. "My mother has done me no favours either. If I come back, there will just be another childless lord for me to bed. I'm not a broodmare, I will not breed on command." She stood, a new urge to put as much distance between her and King's Landing ignited.

"No one is asking you to, Little Bird." The Hound replied less harshly and watched her stalk back to the horse, shaking his head, knowing that it was a mistake to have brought her, "We will ride slower now, until we find an inn." One inn while the battle still raged on at Blackwater Bay should be safe. By the time any guards come to find them, he could have them halfway across the country.

Sandor threw her back up on the great beast of a horse after watching her fail twice trying to mount him. She let out a small disgruntled moan when she sat. He grabbed the reins and walked alongside the stallion, it needed a break, it had rode hard and strong for longer than it should have. The black horse would hardly notice Saebyl's miniscule weight on his back and they would move faster if she stayed out of the way.

After nearly an hour in the rain they stumbled upon an abandoned farm. The buildings seemed to be in fair condition, but the house had been completely sacked. Nothing had been left behind save for some larger pieces of furniture. It may not have been the inn Saebyl wanted but it provided relief from the incessant rain.

"We're stopping here." Sandor called back to Sae after checking the premises.

"This isn't an inn." She stated obviously.

"No, it's not, but you're about to collapse and I'm not dragging you about." He replied harshly, pulling his steed into the barn, there still seemed to be a bit of left over hay leftover from the previous inhabitants. Tying up the horse and pulling Sae off his back, they walked through the continued downpour to the house.

"We need a fire." The blonde said, glancing at the hearth, shivering.

"Then you start it." He snapped back. Grumbling, Sae crossed the room to the pile of lumber. The fire was roaring in the hearth in a matter of moments as she stood back and admired her handy work. "How did you do that so fast?"

She flashed him a quick grin. "I am a dragon." Sandor harrumphed at the statement and dug through the cabinets looking for food or wine.

"The fuck is that supposed to mean?" He growled, slamming the small door of the empty cabinet so hard it swung back open again.

Saebyl rolled her eyes, "Oh don't play dumb with me, dog. I'm sure Joffrey undoubtedly spouted on about his grandfather's Targaryen whore to you."

He shrugged as he continued his search, "Little prick talked a lot. Didn't listen much."

"Sparkling conversationalist, you are." She jibbed, another slam of a drawer made her growl, "What in the GODS names are you looking for."

"Wine." He shot back, slamming another.

She groaned and rolled her eyes, "My bag, I filled one of the wineskins with actual wine." She pointed to where she had dropped her pack. "And bring that to me, I can make us something to eat."

Sandor was across the room, opening the top of the wine before he even grabbed the bag. He tossed the bag by her feet and sat as far as he could from the fire while still retaining the benefits of its heat. She haughtily glared at him as she started pulling out supplies that she had packed. The man was too focused on finishing the whole skin of wine in one fellow swoop then giving any sort of attention to the glares he was getting.

"We only have the one you know." She shot as she pulled some salted beef from the paper packaging.

"Not enough." He grumbled, "It'll have to do."

"I'll hate to meet the sober you." She said, almost under her breath, "So, what are you going to do with me?"

"Do with you?" He asked, finally lowering his drink to glare at her. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"I think you know what it means!" Sae shot back, suddenly very aware that she had run off with a very dangerous man. Second only to his mountain of a brother.

He leaned in and glared at her, "I'm not a fucking raper. I won't touch a hair on that pretty silver head of yours." He shifted away from her, finishing the last of the wine.

Saebyl stopped and pursed her lips, "I know-" She said carefully, "I just wanted to make sure." She glanced back up at him, "You're not as scary as you make yourself out to be." The look he shot her was colder than winter itself. "Your brother was scary- you're not nearly half as terrifying as him." She tried a small joke, a tiny smile tugging at the corner of her lips, trying to ease the mood.

The Hound let out a derisive snort, "He's a fucking monster. Would have eaten you whole."

"I only met him a handful of times but Gods-" She shuddered dramatically, "Don't think he liked my hair."

"Why are we talking about my brother?" He snapped.

Sae shrugged, "Just making conversation. Presumably we'll be stuck together for a while, might as well talk to each other."

He scoffed, "You spent too much time in the capitol."

"Women talk, especially high born women. They have nothing better to do. We don't get swords and told to go kill." Sae explained as she aggressively skewered the meat to put over the fire. "They give us little needles to sew pretty patterns on cloth. That's the closest we get to having weapons."

""You're not a high born woman though." He added.

She looked up at him, "No- no I'm not."

"Then why the fuck do you talk so much."

"I'll have you know people find me interesting. I may have a bastard's last name but there was a reason I was in the company of some of the most powerful people in the realm." She shot back, puffing her chest.

He snickered, "Is that what they're calling it now? Pretty sure the most powerful person in the realm was in you."

She clenched her jaw, "Fine- I get it. You're better than me because you have a family name. as blood soaked as it is, it's still a name." She said icily.

He rolled his eyes, "Seven hells." He uttered under his breath.

"We're not so different you and I, you know. We both worked for Lannisters, served them for years… and look where that got us." She scoffed, watching the food on the fire intently curling her knees into her chest. She could hear him shift behind her, finally just leaving the cabin all together, he was evidently done with the conversation.


The abandoned house was the most comfortable place they had found all week. Though making good distance between them and King's Landing, patiences were wearing thin. The pair hardly spoke unless to bicker about stopping for a break.

"Seven hells, I have blisters on my blisters. We need to stop, we need to figure out where we are going." Saebyl whinged as they crested a hill. "Look, an actual inn. One night, please. We need to rest, the horse needs to rest and you need a bath."

"Too dangerous." The Hound growled in response.

"I thought you were afraid of fire, not water." She quipped.

"I'll make you walk the entire way, girl." Sae didn't think his mood could have gotten worse, but she had been dead wrong. Sobriety wasn't becoming of him.

"Look, it's on me, I've got a bit of coin here. A hot meal, place for the horse, an actual bed." She drooped her shoulders and pouted, "I need to stop, Sandor. I cannot walk any further in these boots." She wiggled her expensive travelling boots at him. They had not been designed to do any serious travelling, unfortunately. More suited for Tywin Lannister's mistress to be seen in as she sat in a carriage.

He stood on the spot, glaring down at her but she glared right back, "One night. That's it and if we're killed, it's your fault." He caved, he knew it would not be worth the fight later. Sae jumped up and down clapping her hands.

"Oh thank the gods, a hot meal. Maybe they'll have roast pork and potatoes." She practically skipped to the small inn. She made it through the doors before Sandor, and didn't wait for him to tie up the horse.

When he entered the tiny establishment, she was already pushing coins under the innkeeper's nose, who looked more than pleased. The Hound stalked around the back of the room to a table away from wandering eyes. Saebyl's expression had changed dramatically being surrounded by people. The Hound had never seen her so alight. Constantly surrounded by people who hated her in King's Landing dulled her light, a smile on her face that actually reached her eyes. She took in every man's gaze like a plant takes life from the sun. She had two pints of ale in her hands when she found her bodyguard in the back corner.

"They have a room, only one. So, if anyone asks, you're my husband." She said, her cheeks flushed with a new life and shoved the tankard under his nose.

He gave a derisive snort, "Poor thing, being married to me. How on earth is anyone going to believe that?" He drank deep from the cup.

She shrugged, "My father is impoverished farmer, lost everything to a band of raiders, all he had was a daughter to marry off to anyone who would take her." She smirked over her drink.

"Came up with that one quick. Good little liar." He watched her expression, she seemed to take the comment as a compliment.

"I have to be." She replied simply, looking smug.

"Do lions like little birds who sing pretty little lies in their ears?" He was goading her and she knew it.

"I am not a bird." She replied. Their meals were brought to them and the conversation was killed. A delicious hot stew, some sort of meat, Sae couldn't tell what it was and didn't really want to know, plenty of vegetables and a chunk of bread on the side. They both ate greedily and in silence, though she swore more of Sandor's got on the table then his actual mouth. Their mugs of ale were continuously filled without request. She didn't think the amount of coin she had given the owner warranted them unlimited drinks, but she was too tired and hungry to question it.

Sae tried to not overindulge in drink as a general rule in her life but her head was already swimming. Somehow being intoxicated surrounded by all these low born folk didn't seem like a wise idea to her so she pushed her tankard away from herself, out of reach. Her companion on the other hand, took advantage of their free drinks. She had never seen a man drink so much and still possess the ability to stand and make conversation.

"Pretty maiden, do us a favour and come sit with us. Get away from that grim face and tell us a tale." A thin man called boldly from another table.

"I do not think it would please my husband if I spent time with other men." She replied, trying to keep her wits about her.

"Husband? What a cryin' shame that is! You shouldn't be warming his bed, you should be in a castle with a high lord because you are more beautiful than the Queen herself." The man stood and approached their table. Sandor's glare was intensely fixed on this stranger.

"Now, now, my husband is good to me, you need to walk away, ser." She bowed her head and tried turning her back to him but he grabbed her hand and bent down on one knee.

"Maybe he could share you for just one night." The man made quite the mistake in saying. Whether it was a joke or not, no one could know because Sae's open hand connected to this intruders face so fiercely and quickly after the words left his mouth. It was only shadowed by Sandor Clegane's massive frame standing suddenly, nearly toppling the table.

In two steps, the Hound's hand was around the man's throat. "You do not speak to her like that, you little whelp." A chair came across Sandor's back in an effort to get him to let go of the man but that only instilled more chaos.

Saebyl dropped down behind the table and watched rather impressed while Sandor managed to fight off three men. He'd throw one man nearly clean across the room while another would come at him, it wasn't until they broke another chair that the innkeeper's sons muscled them out of the establishment. The fighting seemed to continue outside. Sae rushed out, only to have to step over one unconscious man and spot the others fighting close by. She had to ensure that he bodyguard remained alive or else something terrible may happen to her.

She picked up a shovel that leaned against the stone building and approached the scene with caution. The Hound's movements were wobbly, but surprisingly he kept his footing, the two smaller men circled around him, each fairly inebriated themselves and took turns taking shots at the Dog. Sandor lifted one off the ground and that's when Sae took her shot at the other with the shovel. Both bodies hit the ground at the same time.

"The fuck did you do?" Sandor asked, looking up at Sae and her shovel, and then stumbling backwards. She ran to his side and tried to help him, his massive weight against her veered her to a large oak tree where she braced him.

"You're a mess." She giggled and hiccuped and slid down the tree beside him. "Thank you for fighting for me like that." She blushed to herself in the darkness, it had been too long since a man fought for her honour. Deep resonating snores were the only responses she got.


Sorry everyone for taking such a long break. I have not forgotten about this but some heavy life stuff and school hit me all at once.