Hey! This is the chapter of the battle...I am not a hundred percent satisfied, mainly because I just cannot write fighting scenes.

Please let me know what you think. I am also working on the next chapter for We Are All Sinners Here and The Hound and the Maiden Fair. They should be up later this week.

ShinyRedPenny, Hiimawesomehowaboutyou: I thank you very much for your reviews and your continuous support! I am truly grateful. It really keeps me going.

Nyany4: Thank you so much for your review! Actually, this is the story I write because I did not like to seperate them. ;)

Apologies therefore: I had to alter the events of the battle a bit. I do not like doing this but I was kind of forced to. I hope you all still enjoy it.

Thank you.

The Day of the Battle

King's Landing

Aliena

The sky was grey as lead, clouds hung low and the air was as cold and sharp as an Other's breath. Aliena felt the fear like a physical pain, and it was an epidemy. Highly contagious. Conversations were always low and hushed, people looked at their feet rather than at each other. This is the stuff that betrayal is made of. And Cersei supported that instead of lifting the spirits. She was always cruel and unyielding where she should have been kind and forgiving.

"Aliena!" Joffrey was in the courtyard with the other men, dressed in his fine suit of armour. The sounds around them, the clattering of hooves, the nervous whicker of some scared horse, the high, cold sound of metal on metal, made her feel anxious.

I am the blood of old Stormkings. She tried to calm herself. So is uncle Stannis. It was not so much death she feared. She would die if Stannis broke through the gates, not at his hand but at Cersei's. She would never allow her to go over to him. Aliena had chosen her road and she would have to pay, unless she found a way to save herself. No, it was not her death that she feared. In fact, she did not think they would lose. The city walls were strong and she believed that Littlefinger would come, join the battle late, save the city, and be the hero. Stannis would execute him for treason, no doubt, even if he went over to him with all the rose banners behind him. Robb Stark had little love for traitors, too, and Littlefinger would never make it past Lord Tywin. No, they would win, of that she was quite sure. This was not a game of swords, this was a war of minds, fought with schemes and plot and ruses, and that was something she understood.

What she feared was that some would not come back. Her cousin, Balon. She would grieve for him. Joffrey. If he died, all seven hells together would suddenly seem pleasant compared to Cersei's company. The Queen would blame her for not being able to hold him back.

But what she feared most was …

She would not admit it, not even to herself. But she found herself praying for him, to the Warrior, the Mother...and to the Stranger, to give his namesake and his namesake's rider strength and to refrain from welcoming them into his dark halls.

"Your Grace. I wish you good luck although you won't need it, I am certain." Aliena forced herself to be positive.

"My sword was blessed by you and by Sansa. If I lose, I'll blame you." she was not certain whether he was joking or not. She decided to smile.

"You will not lose." she said. Her cousin kissed her but she managed to break free quickly.

"I will expect a warm welcome on my return. You can kiss your uncle's head first...I will give it to you on a pike." What am I supposed to say to that?!

"Your Grace is kind but surely you would not like to share my kisses with a dead man."

A huge shadow was cast over them both and she knew it was him before she turned around.

Joffrey called a squire to help him onto his horse and Aliena used the moment to talk to his Sworn Shield.

"I prayed to the Gods that they will protect you." she said, and noticed at the same time how foolish and hollow it sounded.

"As you pray for him, huh?" The Hound nodded at Joff who hung on his horse like a bag of flour.

"If there were any Gods, girl, they would not protect the likes of me." he snorted. "Save your breath, little swan. You will need it when your uncle comes for you."

"I won't need it when my uncle comes for me." was all she said but the look he gave her was full of questions.

"What do -" he started but the king shouted.

"Dog! Come! Or do you want to stay here?" he sniggered and Sandor Clegane walked past Aliena but not without a last, lingering look.

The men left the keep and only those who were unfit to fight remained. The silence had never been more frightful- and the sept had never been more crowded. Aliena lit a candle for him, a candle for his horse, a candle for Joff. She was unsure why she still did it. It had never done anyone much good. Her uncle had died anyway, Ned Stark had died anyway. Her mother had died. The Gods were truly grasping… but yet, she believed in them. For everything they had taken, they had given, too. And she did not want to be unthankful.

Back in Maegor's holdfast, she joined Cersei in the Queen's Ballroom. The Queen wore white today, just like Aliena, and she looked stunning in it- stunning but pale. The wine brought colour to her cheeks, though.

"Aliena. Sit here with us." Sansa Stark sat at the Queen's right as Joff's betrothed but she seemed unenthusiastic about her place of honour.

Aliena did not listen to the Queen's conversation with Sansa. She had a look around the hall. There was no better time to find out things about people. They were scared, nervous. They would give too much away. She got up and walked around. Few touched their food. Most of them drank. A drunk woman is easier to rape.

The Kettleback came in, his face full of worry. Aliena hurried back to her place at the Queen's side. This was her chance to get out.

"Your Grace. Do I have your leave to go and pray?" She looked at Cersei with sharp eyes. Understand. Joffrey would come back. She would be there and calm him down. She would look for him the the yard. Joffrey would be brought into the holdfast without seeing her. Cersei would close the gate and not open it again, not for her niece. Aliena would be free. As for Ser Ilyn...well, should Stannis really manage to break the gates, should he manage to take the city, then Ser Ilyn would be able to use Ned Stark's sword for Ned's daughter...but not for her. She would wait for her uncle...and live.

Aliena hurried up the stairs to the outer walls. From here, she could overlook the fighting. The men paid her little heed.

She looked over towards the mouth of the Blackwater. It was alive with a strange green light...flickering and twitching- fire. That was not good at all. He will desert. Of course he would. Aliena almost flew down the stairs and ran over to the stables. He would take off his horse's armour, he would need a new saddle. She would wait here for him - and hide from Joffrey.

Sandor

He felt as if he had a fever, his mind was blurred, his body was on fire or at least it felt like it. He couldn't think straight. The flames were everywhere, some green, some red. But all of them were hot and crackling, a promise… He would go back in. Take her and leave. She wouldn't go. She would never. He could take her. She was only a girl. You couldn't. You wouldn't. She would stay - and he would go. He could not stay here, even if it meant to leave her behind. What will the boy do to her? He shook his head. I asked her. She would not leave. The Stark girl was on his mind now, meek and obedient and homesick. He could take her home. Bring the bird back to the wolves, she would thank him...Aye, and the wolves would, too. Wolves are better company for a dog anyway.

He guided his horse up to the keep, allowed no doubt to infiltrate his fire was only a shadow here...but Sandor remembered it too well. He still felt dizzy, his senses were dull. There was no place for him here now that everyone knew what he was afraid of….North. The cold is better than this heat anyway.

"I-is the battle over, S-ser?" The guard was frightened of him.

"Does it sound like it?" Sandor rasped. "Let me in, you fool."

"I h-haave orders-" The man stammered but under Sandor's gaze he mumbled

"The King's Shield, of course-" Has the boy fled too? Somehow, that was more shameful than anything.

The stables were dark and deserted. Sandor would prepare his horse first, take off the mail and put on the riding saddle. Fill the saddlebags with wine and food and gold. Then he would get the little bird - and resist the temptation to see her one last time.

'I prayed to the Gods that they will protect you.' What did she even mean with that? By now he knew what she had meant with the other sentence. The Queen was not like to give Stannis his niece alive. Nor the Stark girl. I could save them both. If she wasn't so stubborn. But it did not help. She would stay here, live or die...and he would do the same elsewhere. Would he be able to leave her behind?For a moment he wondered what she would think when she heard that he had fled with the little bird but then he forbade himself every thought of her. It was almost as poisonous as thinking of fire.

His hands were steadier by now...but he still felt the fear in his bones, overshadowing everything else. His mind still painted the world in hues of green and red and orange.

"You can't get inside the Holdfast." Her voice was soft and sad. He had never heard steps but he felt as if he was half deaf anyway from the song of steel and screams, the crackling of the fire….

"I don't want to get in, fool, I want to get out." he replied as he fastened the starp of Stranger's saddle.

"With her. It would be foolish to go without a nice ransom, and if the ransom looks so pretty, too, why not?" Her voice was sharp.

He did not reply but continued to saddle his horse.

"Don't." she said.

"Leave, or I will kill you, swan girl." He was pitiful. If she came closer, she would see his tears, smell the fear that clung to him like perfume. She came closer, he saw only her dress, white and spotless in the darkness of the stables. His own white cloak was bloodstained and torn. He almost laughed at the symbolism of that.

"You are dead on your feet." her voice was soft...and close.

She stood in front of him now.

"I have seen the fire from the keep." She cupped his cheek. Felt his tears. Wiped them away.

"You have been so brave. Do not leave and waste it all. Stay here, with me. Do not leave me." Her voice trembled and for a moment, Sandor wondered whether she was crying. The stables were dark. She pretends.

Her other hand went to his other cheek, the bad one. Softly, she wiped away the blood, tears and sweat, and it stung when she touched a new gash.

"Stay. Fight on. The morning will come. It is fire, not more. Do not let it rule you. Do not let him rule you. Do not let him take everything away from you." Gregor. Sandor imagined him, laughing and jesting about his puppy brother. But then, other images crept up. Images of the fire, green and hot and hungry, were on his mind and he felt how his hands started to shake again. He couldn't go back. But he would not admit that to her. She should think him a deserter, not a coward.

He wanted to say something harsh but suddenly, she pulled his head down and pressed her lips on his. They were as soft and full as he had imagined them. His hand went to her face, her hair. Soft as feathers, warm and thick. He felt her tongue on his lips and parted them, met her tongue with his. When they touched, she moaned, the softest of moans, but he still heard it. He felt how his head got clearer, how the flames disappeared from his mind. He broke the kiss, looked at her. He could only see her eyes, in fact, shiny in the darkness.

Maybe she saw the decision in his, or maybe she had known how he would decide all along.

"Come back." she squeezed his hand which was not trembling anymore. The fear was still there, like marrow in his bones but there was something else now, too.Come back. Come back to me.

He felt her eyes in his back as he directed Stranger towards the main gate.

The fire was raging everywhere but he tried not to get too close. Come back. It was like a fever dream. Tomorrow, he wouldn't be certain whether it had all been real.

"Where for fuck's sake have you been, Hound?" The imp shouted at him.

"Looking for the king." Sandor gave back. Someone should shorten him a bit more. It was a miracle that the dwarf was still alive.

Sandor drove his sword through one of Stannis' men. The morning will come. he thought, as he heard trumpets behind him. And now the lion comes to save the city. He had heard that story before.