Maud sighed tiredly as she shifted in the grass. She'd been scouting the Lannister tents for a full day, working out their movements for a raid team.
She winced as Grenn, her scouting partner, elbowed her in the ribs. "Don't fall asleep on me," he warned with a smile. She pulled a face and stifled a yawn as she looked down at the troops. They seemed to be on their way to Riverrun, where the Brotherhood has already seen Lannisters and Freys conglomerate.
"There's nothing more to see," she hissed back. "They're going to march to Riverrun in the morning. The Blackfish is gonna die - if he's not dead already. I don't know why Beric won't let us help him."
"We don't fight wars," Grenn reminded her. "There's not enough of us for that. You know what happened last time we tried to fight a battle against them." A glare from Maud told him exactly what he could stick where. "Sorry," he muttered, turning back and staring at the tents so intently that if he was R'hllor the encampment would be in flames.
The crunch of leaves made the Brotherhood and Sandor aware that someone was nearby. Sandor's hand went automatically to his axe (not for the first time, he missed his sword), even as a chirpy bird noise made the others relax.
"They're back," Beric muttered, almost to himself.
Sandor sat up a little straighter, running a hand over his beard to check for grease - a move that made Thoros snort.
Expectantly, he waited as two scouts appeared - a male and a female. Sandor's eyes skimmed over the pair as he looked for the red-headed Stark. He was so intent on searching for the child (who else could Thoros have been talking about?) that he didn't notice the female scout stopping dead in her tracks.
"S-Sandor?" She whispered, only just loud enough to be heard.
He turned and realised with a start that he knew this woman. Yes, her hair was shorter, she was wearing trousers instead of a dress and her body was more toned but it was definitely Maud. A wave of emotions flashed over him: he was sad that Sansa wasn't there, happy to see Maud, but at the same time it hit him that Maud had been the one who sold him out to the Brotherhood. He settled on indifference.
Of course it's her, he grumbled to himself. Should've known she would have taken up with them as soon as she could. On the outside, he just grunted and turned back to the fire.
Maud stood there, slightly numb, as she stared at the man. Her captor, her saviour, her...lover? Of all the people she ever expected to see again, Sandor was low on the list. She'd assumed he was in Essos, fighting for coin. So why was he back: and sitting with the Brotherhood?
"Come," Beric said, gently touching Maud's shoulder to wake her from her stupor. She was grateful for the man as her and Grenn followed him, walking away from the hulk of a man hunched over the fire and deliberately facing away.
"So, what did you learn?" Their one-eyed leader asked.
Grenn turned to Maud, but she couldn't quite get any words out. "More Lannisters, and a few Freys. Seems like they're heading to Riverrun," he said.
"Poor Blackfish," Beric said, as Thoros walked over to join the group. "He was a good man, but I can't see him standing long against the might of that army." He shook his head as Thoros offered him a skin of wine.
Maud, on the other hand, took the wine and drank eagerly, to the amusement of the three men.
"Is that really the Hound?" Grenn whispered, awed.
"Aye," Thoros responded, wrestling back the rest of the skin from Maud, "Although I was expecting a bit more of a reunion."
Grenn looked confused for a second (he was not the brains of the Brotherhood) until he realised why Maud was acting unusually. "You know him, Maud?"
Thoros chuckled. "Like a wife knows her man."
Maud came out of her daze at that. "That's a lie and you know it, Thoros! We were...friends. Then he buggered off to Essos without telling me," she explained to Grenn. "So I joined the Brotherhood."
A hollow laugh stopped her from continuing and she twirled round to see Sandor standing there. "That how it happened?" He asked.
Maud felt a chill run through her. She'd forgotten the effect his voice had on her, she realised, as she looked up at him. He had no armour on, which should have made him look smaller, but he still looked like a brute of a man.
"Yes," she said quietly. "I came back to the inn and you were gone. I waited, and when you didn't come back I came to join the Brotherhood."
A snort toldMaud what Sandor thought of the story. "You left the bit where you sold me out to these tosspots and I had to kill Beric here."
Maud and Grenn turned to Beric, eyes wide. He nodded his head in agreement. "Yes, Sandor was involved in a trial. The Lord of Light deemed him innocent. And now he's back and can help us with-"
"You said you took some of his money and he left," Maud squeaked.
"We said nothing," Thoros responded. "Anguy brought him to us and-"
"Anguy brought him?" Maud felt a wave of anger.
Either Maud was a fantastic actress, or she hadn't known, Sandor realised. Which meant… "That cock archer said you told them where I was."
"I didn't," she said quietly. If Anguy was here right now I'd bloody thrash him.
Sandor nodded. "Aye, I ken that now." He cracked a tiny smile that brought sunshine to Maud's heart.
Maud thought she wouldn't be able to sleep that night, but bone-tiredness meant she fell into an uneasy slumber minutes after she lay down. In her dream, she was married to both Anguy and Sandor, and they were arguing over who she would cook for...with each arguing she should cook for the other. She woke up confused and slightly disgruntled.
It was still dark, but Maud was no longer sleepy, so clutching her blanket around her against the chill she joined the two men on watch: Jon the cook and Stuart. The three sat in quiet solidarity until the shift change saw Thoros take over from Stuart. "You go sleep too," Maud offered Jon. He accepted with a nod, leaving Maud alone with the red priest. She had a bone to pick.
As soon as the two men were out of earshot, she glowered at her ginger haired teacher. "Why didn't you tell me that you made Sandor fight? That you told him I handed him over to you? You more than anyone knew what he meant to me!" Her cheeks flushed. Over the years, as Thoros told her more about R'hllor and encouraged her skills, the man had become her friend and her confessor. She may have left out a few key details, but Thoros knew she had cared for the larger man, that he had been good to her and even that she had sucked his cock (she hadn't mentioned that he had returned the favour - that was her private memory). She hadn't shared any of this with Beric, Jon or even Anguy, but she had trusted the unorthodox priest.
"I didn't know the last part," Thoros assured her, throwing his hands up in mercy. He had known this moment would come as soon as that huge lurching soldier stumbled upon them in the woods. "But the fight: Anguy, Lem and some of the other men brought him to us. They found him drunk in the woods - later the day he met you, I believe. He is - was - a Lannister man, so we held a trial for his role in all that had happened. R'hllor took his side, we took some of his money, and he went on his way. I knew nothing of anything else. Then a few days later you showed up and Anguy persuaded us to let you join. Didn't hurt you were handy with a bow."
"But why didn't you tell me?" Maud asked.
The man shrugged. "I didn't think about it. It didn't come up. It didn't matter. Pick one. What happened can't be changed - and what were you going to do about it? Have a fight with Anguy? Maybe storm off? Then you wouldn't be with friends, you still wouldn't know where Clegane was. Let it go Maud."
She wanted to. She really did. But her stomach twisted at the thought he blamed her...that he thought that she had been the one to leave him. Anguy had known, she thought. That wily little bastard - he turned us against each other. Had he thought Sandor might have returned to her otherwise, that she'd stay with him? She had to admit, it would have been easy to stay with the large man.
"He's changed," Thoros said, dragging Maud out of her thoughts. "He's more...open now." She nodded: she'd noticed it too. It wasn't just the lack of armour. There was something different about him. Before he would have told the Brotherhood to fuck off and would have gone on by himself. Even just listening to Beric and staying a night was unlike the man she used to know. She wondered what had happened to him. She vowed to speak to him come the morning.
When the sun rose and Jon began to make breakfast, Maud wheedled an extra portion for Sandor. The man woke to find Maud sitting beside him, stubbly bowls of porridge in hand. She handed the larger bowl to him wordlessly as he sat up.
The two ate in silence, each looking the other over. Maud saw that he was more tanned, his hair slightly lighter, like he'd spent more time outside. He seemed to have a slight limp, she'd noticed that last night but we definitely favoured one leg as he rose. Then there was the lack of armour and sword. And those clothes...they looked so familiar.
In return, Sandor noticed that Maud's hair was chopped to chin length, accentuating her pointed chin. She looked more toned, like she'd been training.
"So…" Maud broke the silence. "Where did you go?"
"Around," Sandor responded, continuing to shovel porridge in his mouth. "Mostly the Riverlands."
"Same," Maud replied. Absentmindedly, she played with the ring on her left hand, twirling the smooth metal round and round. Sandor saw and his mouth felt suddenly dry. She was married. He felt a twinge. He didn't know why - it wasn't like he had planned on marrying her - but it seemed like her life had gone on fine without him.
"This is going to sound odd," Maud said, haltingly. "Really odd. But I don't suppose you've seen a man hung from the rafters of a half-built sept, have you?"
Sandor wouldn't have been more surprised if she'd revealed Joffrey was part of the Brotherhood. "The fuck did you say?"
"It was a stupid question. Sorry," Maud ducked her head, taking it for a 'no'. But those clothes...she could have sworn that was what he'd been wearing in her vision. She'd only had a few visions over the years but that first one, of Sandor looking up at the hanged man, was one she'd seen over and over.
"Did that ginger cunt put you up to this? Or were you fucking there?" Sandor snarled. How the fuck did she know? He hadn't told anyone about how Ray had died, and he'd cut the man down and buried him before moving on. There was no way she could have known unless she had been there.
"Who's your husband?" he demanded. "Was he one of the men who killed the villagers? Were you fucking there?" He was right in her face now and Maud felt the raw fear she'd not felt since his brother had attacked her. His anger came off him in waves.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she whispered. "I had a vision, that's all. I, I just wanted to see if it was true."
Sandor's laugh sounded like a bark. It hit Maud what Thoros had said: he'd demanded the lives of two of those rogues including bloody Lem, said he knew the killed villagers. That must have been where he had been staying. The poor man.
"She wasn't there," Beric said in his calm voice, coming up with his usual perfect timing. "If she had been, she'd have a rope necklace." Maud gulped. "Pack up, we're heading out."
With a final look at the brute of a man, Maud scurried off. It wasn't until the Brotherhood began to march that Sandor realised he hadn't had an answer about who her husband was.
Author's note: it's the gorgeous Rory McCann's birthday today so felt the need to put this next chapter up!