Hey!
Here's chapter 9, with the meeting (finally)! Yeah!
As always, English is not my first language (I think you know that, by now). Sorry for the mistakes.
Enjoy :)
The Howling Wolf
Chapter 9
The man standing in front of Sandor was actually a fucking green boy of approximately ten and five. He had a chubby face, little brown eyes, and he was bald, with scars on his head. Definitely a Thenn, but looking much less fearsome than most of them. He was blushing in anger from Sandor's hilarity. The scowl on the boy's face only made Sandor laugh harder.
"You gave me milk of the poppy, didn't ya?" asked Sandor between chuckles.
The boy nodded.
"Well, you shouldn't have. See how I act, right now," Sandor replied, wiping a tear from his eyes.
Abruptly, he became serious.
"Come closer, boy, and have a sit. We need to talk."
Eygar cringed, clearly afraid of Sandor's sudden wrath, but obeyed nonetheless. He was staring at his folded hands, avoiding Sandor's gaze. That was his first mistake.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you, bloody coward!" barked Sandor. The boy jumped on his chair and raised his head up reluctantly. "That's better. So, you're the maester."
"I prefer the term healer," mumbled Eygar.
"Oh, so the maester has preferences. Well, I'll call you maester if I want to. I hate maesters, and, right now, I don't like you. So, it will be maester for you."
"Yes, ser."
Second mistake. Swift as a snake, Sandor took Eygar by his collar and brought him at a few inches from his face. The chair fell on the floor, and they both heard gasps from outside of the tent. Nobody came in, though.
Sandor gave Eygar a hard stare. If a look could kill, Eygar would be dead, he was sure of it.
"Do not ever dare to call me Ser, again," Sandor snarled. "I am no knight, and will never be."
A dog can smell fear, and at that moment, the boy reeked of fear. Sandor gave him a push and the boy fell on the floor.
"Now that I have your attention, maester," continued Sandor, ignoring the boy's poor attempts to sit back on the chair without stumbling. "You will explain what that bullshit about redheads is. I thought wildlings liked them."
"They do."
Sandor seemed puzzled. "But you don't. That's what I want to understand."
Eygar looked hesitant. "I can tell you the whole story, but I need you to remain quiet and listen. Please," he added, seeing Sandor's threatening scowl.
Sandor nodded, so Eygar began to tell his story. "When we were still living beyond the Wall, my grandmother taught me the way of healing."
"Why not your parents? Or the healer of your clan?"
"My parents were killed by White Walkers when I was but a babe. And, my grandmother was the healer of our clan. She had to raise me alone, since my grandfather was long dead. I never knew him." The boy stopped, seeming lost in thought.
Sandor was growing impatient. That was still not answering his questions. Eygar felt it, and began to speak again, his voice shaking a bit. "Aside from being a healer, my grandmother could also predict future. The people in the village didn't want her near them, pretending she was mad. She was scared of redheads too, saying that they were not lucky, but actually bringing bad luck. I didn't believe her, at first. But then, when I was thirteen, I healed my first redhead. The day after, my faithful dog was dead. The second time I healed a redhead, I woke up the next morning and one of my finger was missing."
He took off the glove he wore on one of his hand – Sandor hadn't even seen it – and showed his right hand, which only had four fingers.
"I was forced to believe my grandmother's words when I healed a third redhead. There was a girl – her name was Yrin - which I thought was very pretty, in the village. When I told my grandmother that I would have to leave her soon and steal that girl to marry her, she said nothing. She looked at me blankly, and sent me back to work. Without listening to her warnings, I healed a third redhead. The next morning, Yrin was… Yrin was dead. I recognized the effects of a poison my grandmother used sometimes to heal people. Now, Hound, you must understand why I don't want to heal Sansa. I don't want to lose my wife. I know it will happen if I heal another redhead."
Eygar had tears in his eyes, and some had flowed down his cheeks while speaking, but it didn't affect Sandor, not one bit.
Sandor finally rasped. "You are just as stupid as you look, boy."
Eygar's head snapped up. "I beg your pardon?"
"You. Are. Stupid," repeated Sandor, his eyes never leaving Eygar's. "Do you know what I think of all of this? I think that your grandmother, as the people of your village said, was mad. To make you believe everything she said, she could've been capable of everything, like killing your dog, drugging you then chopping your finger, and finally killing a girl you loved, simply to keep you for herself. Plus, at a young age like yours, it is easy to make you believe anything and keep you under her control. It's understandable. She had lost her husband, then one of her children. She didn't wanted to lose you too."
While Sandor was speaking, the boy kept shooking his head, refusing to admit what Sandor thought as the ugly truth. Sandor got angry.
"Stop acting like a fucking child, and accept the truth for what it is! You are married. You are supposed to be a man grown, now. During that sweet honeymoon, you probably put a babe in your wife's belly. To be a father, you must be a man."
"I can't. I can't," Eygar kept repeating.
Sandor now understood that the boy had been used and manipulated by a member of his family, and his fears were still there.
"You can, and you must," replied Sandor more quietly. "What is your wife's name?"
"Rina."
"A pretty name. You love her, don't you?" Eygar nodded and Sandor kept speaking. "I need you to heal the woman I love. If you are scared that something will happen afterward, I can stand guard in front of your hut and protect you and your wife. I'm a dog, I'm accustomed to this."
Eygar looked ambivalent. "You would really do that?"
"Aye, you have my word" said Sandor without blinking, feeling hope rising in him. "I can even pay you, if you want to."
"I don't want money." Eygar sighed. "I'm not sure, Hound. I… I'm scared."
"I promise you that everything will be alright. A dog will die for you, but never lie to you. And, I'm a good dog, I can assure you. They wouldn't call me the Hound, otherwise."
They both shared a chuckle.
"I thought you were more bad-tempered," said Eygar, a small smile playing on his face. "When I entered the tent, I was sure you would just kill me without a second thought."
"Don't tempt me," growled Sandor.
Suddenly, they heard screams and shouts outside of the tent. Sandor stood up abruptly, forgetting his wounded leg. He ignored the pain and found his great sword on the floor. Eygar had already unsheathed his axe. When they got out of the tent, they realized the village was under attack by another clan.
Rick was fighting two men, shielding Sansa with his body. She was standing between him and the wall of a hut. She seemed frightened. Seeing red, Sandor charged. He ran into the men, knocking one down on the ground, and quickly ran his sword through the man's chest. Rick killed the other and they shared a look.
"I'll protect her," said Sandor. "Go find your wife."
Rick nodded and ran away. Sandor only had time to push Sansa out of his way, before a man ran to him and gave him a hard blow on the jaw. Sandor felt a bit dizzy since he was still a bit weak, but he managed to regain his mind and punched the man back several times, until he fell on the floor, unconscious. Sandor slit his throat. When he turned around, Sansa was nowhere to be seen.
Sandor froze and fear rose in him. He looked everywhere until he finally saw her, running toward a young girl of about ten and four, which was about to be assaulted by a man and nobody was there to help her. He heard Sansa shout.
"Rina!"
Sansa ran to the girl and pushed her out of the man's track. She was the one to receive the blow. Before Sandor could do anything, Nymeria came out of nowhere with a loud bark and jumped on the man. They heard him yell in pain, before the wolf ripped his throat.
Sansa was on the ground, rocking the girl in her arms without caring about the bruise forming on her left cheek. Sandor came closer to them and turned Sansa's face toward him worriedly.
"Are you alright?"
She nodded and kept smoothing the girl's brown curls. The girl's eyes were shut thight and she was sobbing. They heard shouts again, and Sandor turned around to see the enemies retreat. When they caught sight of the wolf, they all ran away.
Sandor gave a sigh of relief, and everything started to spin around him. The pain in his leg woke up, but luckily the wound hadn't reopen. He breathed deeply and lay down on the ground, hoping to make the spinning stop.
Eygar arrived close to them and had only eyes for his wife, who was in Sansa's arms. Sansa let go Rina who jumped in her husband's open arms.
"You saved my wife," Eygar said, looking in amazement at Sansa.
But she wasn't looking at him. She was staring at Sandor, her big blue eyes shining in the light of the day, and she was holding his head on her lap, stroking his cheeks and hair tenderly while smiling at him. Sandor looked up at the healer and smirked.
"Do you still think she is cursed?"
Will the maester - I mean the healer (sorry Eygar) - change his mind? You'll see in the next chapters.
I hope you liked this one. You can tell me by leaving a review. It is very appreciated and I reply to all of them :)
