Sorry I haven't posted, I've been really busy. Thank you to those who left kind and constructive reviews. I promise to post another chapter very soon to make up for the delay.

Chapter 21

Ella was panting on the ground as if she'd run for miles. She was positive she had ripped her stitches and if the warm wetness pooling underneath her wasn't proof enough, the lightheadedness told her that she was losing blood.

A lot of blood.

She would not die on this floor, she had a purpose and she would not die before she accomplished it.

So she sucked it up and crawled a couple of more feet before she allowed herself to rest. She had managed to crawl half way across the room and was now almost to the door.

What she planned when she got there, she didn't know. All she knew was that she was not going to wait around for Willas to return. She hated seeing his stupid face, hearing his stupid voice, listening to his stupid breathing and she was sick and tired of his begging her to forgive him.

She would likely bleed out before she got away but at least she'd die on her own terms, .

She managed to pull herself a couple more feet before she collapsed onto the her side with a whimper of pain.

The wound was burning and she was sure she had an infection. Willas was clearly no healer thankfully he realized this and went in search for help and more supplies. This left her with a small chance to get away, and more than likely her last chance.

Laying on her side she thought of Willas and hoped he would be captured.

Traitor.

Sighing she sucked in a breath as she prepared to pull her body even further towards freedom.

The door creaked open and Ella closed her eyes in defeat.

He was back.

Soft steps approached and Ella opened one eye and looked towards a pair of dirty boots. Boots that most certainly did not belong to Willas Tyrell.

No these boots were filthy and ragged. Much smaller than a mans boots.

Ella opened the other eye and met a pair of grey eyes that were examining her with a very stern face.

Something was very familiar about this face but she pushed it aside.

"Who are you?" Ella croaked.

"You're prettier than I expected," the girl answered with a sneer.

Her eyebrows crinkled. "Gee thanks. Who are you?" Ella asked again.

"I'm no one," the girl replied as she slowly circled her.

"Well that makes two of us. Why don't you either help me or get the hell out." Ella snapped back.

"I don't see what is so special about you," the girl went on, ignoring her again. "Well besides your golden hair and doe eyes." Ella rolled her eyes. "What would make him risk everything for you?" the girl asked, with nothing but hate in her eyes.

To hell with this, Ella thought."Who are you?" She was sick of her not answering her questions. She didn't feel like playing games, not now not ever.

Once again the girl went on as if she didn't care that Ella was agitated. "I should kill you. It would be so easy, a Lannister gone from the world would be a blessing."

"Yeah? Go ahead. I'm dead anyways. You think I'm afraid to die? You'd be doing me a favor." Ella spit back.

The girl's face transformed from disbelief to confusion. She studied Ella's face and then her eyes traveled over her crumpled figure before staring at her stomach. Ella knew what she must have seen and she refused to follow her eyes. It was bad enough she could feel the warm wetness. smell the blood that covered her and the floor.

She hated this girl for staring at what she refused to acknowledge

A look of pity crossed the girls features as she studied her closer.

"You're hurt." she murmured as she bent to exam her wound closer.

"Don't," Ella yelled out as the child tried to lift her dress.

"You're bleeding too much. You need to let me close it, I'm not too great with a needle but you will die if I don't try."

"Good. Maybe I'll join my husband." she hesitated and continued "I miss him, so so much." Ella's voice cracked as she started to cry.

The girl hovered over her akwardly and watched her sob and choke for a couple minutes until she finally sighed.

"Robb's not dead, so stop your crying. You need to let me help you. If you die like this he will never forgive me." the girl whispered. Ella shook her head in disbelief and wiped her snotty nose on her sleeve.

"You're lying. Did Willas send you? You can go back and tell him it won't work. The moment I can stand on my own I'll shove a knife through his weaselly face."

"I'm not lying, I would never lie about my brother that way." Arya replied with a huff.

"Your brother?" Ella studied the girl, looking for any similarities. From what she had been told by Robb, Arya looked just like their father, but even with her dark hair and grey eyes, she could see the resemblance.

"Arya?" she croaked.

Tears filled the girls eyes for a few seconds before she hastily wiped them away.

Ella reached for the girls hand and gave it a squeeze. "It's okay to cry,"

"I'm not crying" Arya growled back defensively.

"Well if you wanted to its okay. I've been crying a lot lately."

Arya rolled her eyes, "Its just hearing my name said out-loud. I've been pretending to be a boy for so long I almost forgot that I'm really Arya Stark."

"Is that how you got away? Cut your hair and pretended to be a boy? That's really clever of you." Ella said in awe.

"You're father saw through it in a matter of seconds." Arya replied sourly.

"How did you get away if he knew who you were?" Ella questioned.

"He knew I was a boy but not Arya Stark. My friends and I were able to escape but the Brotherhood found us."

"Is that who brought you here?"

"No. The Hound did. He took me to ransom back to Robb."

Ella choked out a sob and tried to pull herself together.

"So its true? He's alive? Is he okay?" Ella asked with hope filled eyes.

"I'm not sure. The Hound says he's still alive." She said as if she didn't completely believe it either.

"I saw him.. the arrows.. It was awful. I thought for sure he was dead." Ella said between sobs.

"We need to get out of here before the Hound comes. He's out looking for Willas Tyrell." Arya started to look around the room for anything she could use as a weapon.

Ella felt a faint shiver of fear passing through her and she needed to take a deep breath to calm herself.

"No, Arya you need to run."

"I won't leave you behind," Arya snapped as she picked up a chair and slammed it against the wall, smiling when she broke off one of the legs. She swung it around a couple times before she moved to help Ella try and stand.

Ella cried out in pain as the girl tried to put her arm around her shoulders, and then screamed in agony when Arya stood, trying to pull her up.

"Please stop, just stop. Please. You need to leave me, I'm dying anyways. You need to get back to Robb and your mother. Run North, Robb's men have to be out searching still. Don't stop until you see your family's sigil."

"I won't leave you so either help me or shut up." Arya said in annoyance, trying to drag Ella towards the door.

"Gods stop, please stop," Ella looked down and saw she was bleeding profusely now. Every tug the girl gave and it opened her wound even more.

"If you want me to survive you need to stop moving me. Run and find Robb's men. Tell them to come back for me. It's the only way."

Arya bit her lip as she considered her options.

Before she could reach a decision the door was pushed open and the Hound entered dragging Willas with him. He threw the much smaller man to the floor just a few feet away from Ella.

xxx

"If you try and move her she'll die. She's losing too much blood." Willas said, trying to make the Hound see reason.

"If I leave her here her family will find her. How long do you think she will survive then?" The Hound growled back.

"Its too risky. Besides, if she dies out on the road, what do you think Robb Stark would do to you? He won't care that you were trying to bring her back. She bleeds to death and you will be killed. Either by Robb or by Tywin Lannister. Just leave her here until she is better."

"Nice try, but I know better. I know that the minute I leave you will take her and run. You can either help me or I'll hand you over to Stark. I planned on selling you to Renly Baratheon, but if you get in my way I'll hand you over to the King of the North and watch as your head is removed."

The two men stared at each-other in silence until Willas finally gave in.

"Fine, but you need to get a covered wagon. Its too cold to leave her exposed and with the blood loss she is likely to freeze to death."

The Hound gave him a loathing look as he paced the hall. Finally with a grunt he slammed Willas against the wall and held his arms behind his back as he searched through his clothes.

"What are you doing?" Willas yelled, partly in fear and partly in irritation.

The Hound ignored him as he patted him down before finding what he was looking for. He swiftly pulled out Willas's pouch of gold coins.

The Hound handed him back a few of the coins before shoving Willas down the hall. "Go buy a wheel house and a couple of strong horses. If you take too long I'll break every bone in your hands."

Willas nodded and moved as quickly as he could. He didn't doubt the Hound would keep his promise.

xxx

"You swore you'd take us to Robb. Its the whole reason we were moving her to begin with!" Arya yelled, not the least bit afraid of getting in the Hounds face.

"If we don't trade the Tyrell heir first, your brothers men are likely to execute him. The Tyrell's will not pay me for a corpse."

"Is that all you care about? Getting gold? If you take Ella anywhere near Renly's army they will capture her and Robb will never see her again." Arya was so furious her entire body was shaking.

"That's why I'm leaving you and her behind. You two stay hidden until I come back." he barked.

Arya let out a noise of aggravation that was somewhere between a groan and a scream.

"You would leave us alone? You don't think we will run as soon as you and your stench is gone?"

The Hound lifted his arm and gave himself a good sniff, before agreeing and shrugging his shoulders.

"That's why I'm leaving you here without horses. I'd like to see you carry her all the way back. Its a two day ride, how long do you think it would take you on foot?" The Hound had the gall to actually smirk at her angry expression.

Arya had had it with him. "You dirty, ugly, rat bastard son of a bitch!"

His eyes narrowed but his face remained passive as he spoke."Be careful, my patience only goes so far." he threatened.

"Ha. Go ahead. Go ahead and sell him back to the Tyrell's. Do it quickly so we can be on our way. I can't wait until we reach my brother, he will remove your head and no one will have to look at your ugly face again,"

"Take care what you say, I may decide to sell you back to the Lannister's instead." he muttered darkly.

She stared at him in pure hatred before turning around and storming back to the wagon where Ella was sleeping. She vowed she would see his head on a spike very soon.

She pulled herself up to the carriage door and slammed it shut. The frame of the door shook with the force of her efforts and she threw herself down on the seat across from Ella who had barely stirred from her fevered sleep.

She watched her struggle in her sleep and worried she may not survive before they make it back to Robb and her mother.

Arya hated the Lannister's with a fiery passion, but Ella seemed much different. She seemed good. After spending several days in a carriage with her brothers wife, she was sure of Ella's feelings for her brother. Her brother must have felt the same if he had taken her as his wife. He risked everything to be with this girl and Arya wanted to make sure he got her back.

xxx

Willas looked dejectedly over to the carriage that held the girl he loved. He had tried to say goodbye but she made it clear she wanted nothing to do with him. The she-wolf Stark girl had only made matters worse, promising him a missing hand if he dared to touch one hair on her golden head.

A taunting voice pulled him from his thoughts.

"Ah, young love. She looks at you like you have shit smeared on your face." The Hound gloated.

"Thank you for that observation. Will you reconsider and allow me to take her back with me? Robb Stark is in a war that he cannot possibly win. She will end up killed or worse when he fails."

"No. The lady wants to go back to her husband and I intend on selling both of them. I return without that pretty wife of his and I'll end up without a head."

"Twyin Lannister would pay you more gold than you can imagine for returning his daughter. Robb Stark will probably execute you the moment you step foot in his camp. He won't care that you brought his wife and sister back. Stark's don't follow the same rules as everyone else."

"Well, Id rather take my chances with a Stark then be at the mercy of some flowery Tyrell or treacherous lion."

The look he gave the Tyrell boy was enough to shut him up.

And that was that.

xxx

Ella was hot, too hot. She could feel sweat that covered her entire body and soaked through her dress. She licked her dry lips and tried to crack one eye open before groaning at the sunlight that blinded her. She searched quickly for Arya but realized she was alone.

She sighed and tried to heave herself into a sitting position, wincing when the pain came rushing back.

xxx

Arya knelt over the river watching and waiting for a fish to get close enough to grab.

Movement across the river caught her eye and she quickly hid behind one of the large rocks. She peeked from her hiding spot trying to see who the approaching figure was. She prayed that it would be one of her brothers men, but knowing how close they were to Renly's army she doubted they'd be that lucky.

Squinting her eyes the large figure started to become clearer, and she finally realized who it was.

Fucking son of a bitch!

Arya was torn between running for her life and attacking him to keep him from discovering Ella. She knew the Mountain was Tywin Lannister's henchmen and she had no doubt if he discovered them he would take them back to Kingslanding.

If they go back to Kingslanding she would be traded off to the highest bidder and forced into a terrible marriage to some fat old Lord using her to get their grubby hands on Winterfell. Arya would not end up in the life she was sure Sansa would suffer.

She would rather die than let them take her, but the Mountain was already too close and likely to catch her if she went back for Ella. The dream of seeing her family again was becoming bleaker by the minute.

Then suddenly she realized something...

The Hound. If anyone could fight the Mountain and have any hope in winning its him.

Could the Hound take the Mountain in a fight? Or more accurately did she care who won? She wanted them both dead so the victor mattered little to her.

But could she use this as a distraction to take Ella and run?

Yes. Yes she could.

xxx

"Robb, you need to rest. You keep running yourself ragged and it won't matter if you find Ella because you will be dead."

"I will not abandon the search." Robb growled back, eyes cold as he glowered at his mother.

"I'm not telling you to give up. Let your men search for her. You need to rest so that you may heal."

"If it were father that was out there, hurt and with our enemy, you would never stop looking. Don't ask me to stop. I will find her and make them all pay." The determination in his eyes made Catelyn give a small smile and nod.

"Okay, but I insist you eat before going back out." Robb sat down across from her with a heavy sigh and forced himself to eat a few bites.

xxx

The Hound rubbed his tired eyes as he made his way back to the carriage. Trading that Tyrell had been almost too easy and he wondered if the Starks would be as agreeable as the Tyrell's were.

Somehow he doubted it. From what he had heard about the Young Wolf, he didn't easily forgive or forget. He needed to be prepared for the worst and a good exit strategy if things didn't seem to be going his way.

Sandor decided to not worry about it right now. He needed to worry about getting them all to Riverrun in one piece.

A noise to the right had him halting his steps to listen.

He waited to hear it again but he was met with silence. He figured it was probably rodents scurrying through the leaves when a rock was launched at him, hitting him between the eyes.

He grunted in irritation as he spun around, pulling his sword out.

"It's just me," a girls voice whispered.

Sandor rolled his eyes and moved to the bushes that he knew she was hiding in.

"What are you doing?" He asked scowling at her.

"Your oaf of a brother is here. He's searching through the village for Ella."

Sandor felt a chill run down his spine. While he wasn't afraid of his older brother, he wasn't stupid enough to think he would be walking out of a fight with him without being injured.

An injury out here would probably be his death.

He weighed his options before huffing. "We need to set a trap for him. Fighting him outright will likely end in my death and you two will be left defenseless and in the mercy of the next Lannister soldiers you come across."

Arya stared at him blankly for a few moments before coming to a decision.

"I'll lead him back here, you be ready to surprise him."

"You're willing to risk him catching you? He isn't me little one. He will likely kill you before you can utter one filthy word."

"Don't worry about me, just hold up your end. I'll get him here." Arya gave him one last glare before disappearing into the darkness.

"That girl is either really stupid or really brave," he muttered to himself as he set to work on creating a trap.

xxx

Arya crept up to the Mountain as he slept against a tree just on the outskirts of the small village. She had gotten as close as she was willing to be as she tried to think of the best way to wake the sleeping giant and still have enough time to get away.

The bigger they are the slower they run, she thought sourly.

She took another step forward and heard a twig snap underneath her boot.

Dark angry eyes snapped open and focused on her.

Her heart stopped.

He sprang to life all at once, jumping to his feet far too quickly for a man his size.

She let out the most ridiculous girly shriek that sounded like something Sansa would do before she turned on her heels and ran for it.

She made it a few yards before a strong hand was on her shoulder, yanking her back into his hard chest.

She tried to scream but she was so utterly terrified no sound came out.

"Sniveling girl," He hissed at her, "what are you doing here?"

Arya was quick to think of a lie.

"I was looking for help. My sister is hurt, and our carriage is stuck."

He made a nose of disgust mostly to himself and then released her so suddenly that she fell backwards onto her backside.

"You wake me up because your carriage is stuck?" His voice sounded furious and she suddenly felt very sick to her stomach.

This was a very bad idea. Damn the Hound for not seeing this outcome. Stupid dog.

In one furious motion he turned back to her, the gravel crunching under his boots. He came towards her.

"You look familar. Where have I seen you?" he asked with calculating eyes.

He recognized her from the time she was Tywin's cup-bearer. She inwardly cursed.

"I don't think you've ever seen me milord."

Gregor narrowed his eyes at her.

"You have carriage? Who is your family? You must be noble if you travel with a carriage."

She hesitated for only a second. "Frey, my father is Walder Frey."

The Mountain laughed and turned to grab his wine skin.

"I suggest you leave the carriage behind girl. Robb Starks men are everywhere, they catch you and you will spend the rest of your life in a cage. He's out for blood and I doubt he will be as forgiving as his father, the honorable Eddard Stark." he taunted. She felt white hot anger build within her.

How dare he mention her father.

"Could you help me with my sister? She cannot walk. My father will pay you whatever you want."

"Do I look like a servant? I don't need or want your money. Your father will be found and killed soon if he hasn't been found already."

"Please sir, she's really hurt." she tried again.

The Mountain chuckled and turned his back on her as he bent to poke at his fire.

Arya saw an opportunity and took it. She quickly got to her feet and pulled the small blade she had hidden in her boot and thrust it into the Mountain's side as deep as she could before giving it a good twist and a kick to the back of his knee. He grunted in pain and quickly regained his balance as he struggled to remove the blade.

She gave him the finger and took off in a sprint, knowing he would give chase.