Emmelyne sat in a chair, shaking. R'hllor lie asleep at her feet. Shae stepped to her side, dabbing at the cut on Emmelyne's head with a cloth.
Emmelyne winced, biting back any sound that threatened to escape. "You're all right. It's not deep," Shae encouraged her gently.
"Those men were going to..." Emmelyne went quiet.
Shae nodded sadly. "They were. They probably thought they'd kill you and Sansa after."
Emmelyne bit down hard on her lip, which was chapped and dry, tasting blood. "He hurt Sansa," she said. "I begged and pleaded with them to just take me but one of them hit Sansa. They called me Demon. One of them tried to steal my necklace."
She brought a hand to the ruby as if making sure it was still there. "They wanted to hurt us."
"Of course they did," Shae replied.
"Why? Why would strangers want to hurt us?"
"You girls are everything he will never have. Your direwolf eats better than his children. It does not matter now. He's dead."
Emmelyne sighed. "I could've given them food if I had it. I hate the king more than any of those men down in Flea Bottom."
Shae took her tightly by the shoulder, looking her in the eyes. "Don't say those kinds of things. If the wrong people hear you, bad things can happen."
"But you're not the wrong people. You're kinder, at least to me. I trust you."
Shae shook her head, stepping away from the eldest Stark sister. "Don't trust anybody. Life is a lot safer that way."
Emmelyne nodded slowly. She smoothed her skirt, getting to her feet. Her legs were still shaking beneath her, though not as badly as before. "Thank you, Shae," she offered.
"No," Shae said. "No need to thank me."
Emmelyne and Sansa walked the halls quietly, Sansa holding tightly onto Emmelyne's arm. As they walked, they passed Sandor. "I beg pardon, Ser," Sansa said. "I should have come to you after to thank you for saving Emmelyne and I. You were so brave."
Sandor seemed slightly surprised. "Brave? A dog doesn't need courage to chase off rats."
"Does it give you joy to scare people?" Sansa questioned.
"No," Sandor said simply. "It gives me joy to kill people."
He stepped up to the girls, who backed away in turn. "Spare me," he said. "You can't tell me Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell never killed a man."
"It was his duty. He never liked it," Sansa argued.
"Is that what he told you? He lied. Killing is the sweetest thing there is."
"Why are you always so hateful?" Emmelyne questioned.
"You'll be glad of the hateful things I do someday when your sister is queen and I'm all that stands between her and her beloved king," Sandor answered stiffly.
Sansa turned, starting to walk away. But Emmelyne did not follow her. "I see darkness around you, Sandor Clegane," she said. "An all-consuming darkness. I think thats why you're hateful."
She took a step toward him. "Let the light find you. R'hllor will save you from the dark days to come."
He looked at her, surprise evident in his expression. "After all that you've been through you still worship a god?"
"I worship my god, Sandor. I worship the Lord of Light. And if this is all happening and I can do nothing to stop it, then it is simply R'hllor's will."
"Your god is cruel enough to let your father die?"
Emmelyne bit down on her lip, not answering. "So you see, fierce one. Your god doesn't care about you. None of the gods care about anyone," Sandor stated.
She didn't speak for a moment. The pair just stared at each other, a deafening silence surrounding them. Finally, Emmelyne responded. "You're right. The gods don't care about what happens to anyone. But R'hllor has answered my prayers twice. Once to fix my necklace, and the other to spare my little brother's life. He will reward those who remain devout to him."
Sandor nodded slightly. "Then R'hllor is a better god than the others."
Emmelyne gave a small smile. "Yes, He is."
She turned away, walking down the hall in the direction Sansa had gone. Sandor watched her leave. "Gods help you, Emmelyne Stark," he said softly to himself.
Emmelyne was surrounded. The men, the ones who had planned to rape her and Sansa, somehow they were alive. One of them drew a dagger, laughing madly. "No, no! Please no!" Emmelyne screamed.
The man ignored her, stabbing Sansa hard in the chest.
Emmelyne awoke, jolting up in her bed. "Just a dream," she reassured herself. "Not a vision."
She heard knocking at her door, and she stumbled to her feet. "Who is it?" she questioned.
"Me," Shae responded through the wood, her voice frantic.
The door opened, and Shae looked at Emmelyne. "Sansa's had her blood. Come help me comfort her, quickly," Shae stated.
Emmelyne nodded, and the two women hurried from the room. As they made their way toward Sansa's room, Emmelyne looked around nervously. "Did anybody else see?" she questioned.
"No," Shae replied.
Once they reached the room, Emmelyne was the first to enter. Her eyes went wide as she noted that Sandor stood beside the bed, where Sansa sat, weeping madly. Shae stepped to Emmelyne's side, and a deathly quiet went over the room. Sandor didn't speak, but he gave Sansa an apologetic look. He had to tell the queen.
It was late in the afternoon. Emmelyne stared out of her window. Stannis Baratheon was close by. He would lay siege to the Red Keep and surely win the battle. Stannis had more ships than the Lannisters and all of their men combined, and he also had a Red Priestess by his side. Emmelyne tapped her fingers on the window sill, humming the tune of a song to herself. It was a song Catelyn had sung to her once when she only five or six. She'd tried to forget the song, as it was about the Mother, a god of the Seven. It was a hymn, sung during wartime by women missing their sons or brothers or husbands. She began to sing softly, trying her best to remember the words. "Gentle Mother, font of mercy, save our sons from war, we pray. Stay the swords and stay the arrows, let them know a better day. Gentle Mother, strength of women, help our daughters through this fray. Soothe the wrath and tame the fury, teach us all kinder way. Gentle Mother, font of mercy, save our sons from war, we pray. Stay the swords and stay the arrows, let them know a better day."
Emmelyne knew many songs, but for some strange reason that was the only one that came to her mind. She had to admit, it was surely because she missed Catelyn. She missed everybody.