DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GAME OF THRONES OR ANY ASSOCIATED CHARACTERS

Chapter 26

Jostled once again by the rickety wooden cart they'd been thrown on, Austin bumped into the Hound next to him. The Clegane growled and struggled, but their bindings were too strong even for the monstrous strength of the former Kingsguard. This continued for several hours until the cart stopped abruptly, and the two were dragged off and hauled to their feet, only to be shoved in a direction, two men for each of them.

Hearing a the buzz of activity ahead of them, Austin knew they must be somewhere like an inn or house, because they were still outdoors. The whole place cheered when Austin felt his feet hit solid wood, no doubt because of their capture. Then, Austin heard a familiar voice.

"Those are two large persons. This one is uncommonly large. How does one manage to subdue two such large persons?"

"You wait for both to fall asleep, the larger one having drunk himself there," a voice replied.

"Poor men, you both have my sympathy," the first voice replied. Austin heard the obvious sound of a sack being snatched off of the Hound's head. "Not a man at all, a Hound! And who might this be?"

The sack over Austin's head was now snatched away, and the Dayne squinted as his eyes readjusted to the light. When they refocused, he saw a shorter man in front of him, clothed in all red, a sword at his hip. Thoros of Myr.

"Ser Austin Dayne. Just what might you be doing in such…unsavory company?" the warrior priest asked, looking to the Hound as he did so. "So good to see you again, Clegane," he finished sarcastically.

"Thoros? The fuck you doing here?" the Clegane to Austin's right asked.

"Drinking and talking, same as everyone else. But you didn;t answer my question."

"He helped me escape King's Landing," Austin said. "Dragged me out is more accurate."

"Why were you back in the capital?"

"I was sent to negotiate with Stannis Baratheon by King Ned, but Stannis demanded I remain with him, so I fought in the siege," Austin replied honestly.

Thoros nodded. "Yes, but why would a Clegane drag a Dayne off of a battlefield and flee the capital with him?"

"He believes I am his only chance of getting a pardon from Ned Stark."

Thoros looked to the Hound. "That true Clegane? Why would you want to join the Starks?"

"I have my reasons," the Hound said darkly.

Thoros smirked, then signaled to the men behind Austin, who cut his bonds. "Ser Austin here is a friend, I can't say the same for you, Clegane."

The Hound scoffed, his eyes rolling as his head adjusted to the side. As he completed this movement, three younger people attempted to sneak out of the inn, but the Hound caught them, even recognizing one of them.

"Girl!" he turned to Thoros, an accusing expression on his face. "What in seven hells are you doing with the Stark bitch?"

The pair of them turned their gaze to the shortest one of the young trio. Hearing the word Stark, Austin's head snapped to the right. He shoved the Hound out of the way, the Clegane colliding with and knocking over Thoros, hands still bound. Austin walked straight up to the shortest one, who adopted an embarrassed look, bowing her head. As Austin dropped to one knee, he studied her clothing. He realized she was traveling dressed as a boy, and made a mental note of her cleverness.

The dark brown hair matched, so Austin reached forward and raised the girls chin to stare directly in her eyes. She stared back, the wild, dark brown eyes giving away instantly who she was.

"Arya?"

The Dayne was jerked out of his amazement by a groan to his left. The Hound was still on top of Thoros, and yet the Red Priest had somehow managed not to spill his skin of rum.

"As touching as your reunion is, Clegane is bloody heavy."

As Edric strode through the courtyard of Harrenhal, he couldn't help but sweat nervously. It'd been days since the battle of Blackwater Bay, and still no word from Stannis or Austin. Edric was beginning to fear the worst, which is why he was nervous after being summoned by the king.

He climbed the steps towards the great hall quickly, the door opened for him by Ser Marlon, who stood guard outside the door. Edric nodded to the man, who closed the door behind him. Inside, Ned stood at the window on the opposite side of the room, with Lady Catelyn and Ser Barristan seated at the long table in front of him.

Edric bowed shortly. "You summoned me, Your Grace."

"Show him," Ned said, still facing the window.

Edric looked down to Ser Barristan, who had a slip of paper in his hands. It was slightly curled, meaning it was from a raven. Edric stepped forward and unrolled it to read the whole thing. It read:

To Eddard Stark the King in the North, our siege of King's Landing has failed.

Tywin Lannister, aided by the Tyrell army, broke our foothold on the beach, and

forced us back into the sea. I have retreated back to Dragonstone, and await

your next move. In regards to Ser Austin, I regret to inform you that he is no longer

in my company. Whether taken prisoner by the Lannisters or killed, I do not know.

~ King Stannis Baratheon

Edric placed the slip of paper back on the table, running his hands through his long, white hair as he thought. He glanced to Lady Stark, whose eyes were full of worry and empathy, neither of which Edric needed at the moment. He looked to Ser Barristan, who had a confident look, the two of them thinking the same thing.

"Austin's alive," Edric declared.

Lady Stark shook her head. "No, we don't know that for su-"

"I know it! Austin is too tough, too stubborn to die to some Lannister footsoldier on some nameless beach!" Edric exclaimed.

Ned finally turned to face the Dayne. "I agree. But that still leaves the possibility that he is a prisoner. The Lannisters now hold more bargaining power than we do. Tywin Lannister will never trade both Sansa and Austin for Jaime."

"He might, if you back him into a corner," Ser Barristan offered.

Ned looked to the elder knight. "What do you have in mind?"

The man nicknamed the Bold rose to his feet and walked over to the map of Westeros that sat on the adjacent table. "If we close around him, he may be forced to agree to your terms. He will never agree to peace, but he may agree to a prisoner exchange."

Ned and Edric followed the old knight over to the map, even Lady Stark joining them. They studied the pieces on the board. Four lions were clustered around King's Landing. Three stags sat in the Stormlands, and two roses sat at Highgarden. Two twin towers sat at the twins,and three wolves sat at Harrenhal while a single fish sat at Riverrun.

"We know Stannis has fled to Dragonstone, sustaining heavy casualties," Ser Barristan said, removing a stag from the board and placing the remaining two on Dragonstone.

"We also know that the Tyrells have allied with the Lannisters," he said, placing the two roses at King's Landing with the lions.

Ned placed his fingers on his chin, stroking his beard. "So the question is, how do we box them in? They outnumber us now."

Edric shook his head. "But they don't. Stannis is still our ally, and we can call the Frey troops down from the Twins."

"What are you getting at?" Lady Catelyn asked.

Edric smirked, an idea having fully formed in his head. "If we move east, we can cut off Tywin from the north by besieging Duskendale," he said, moving the three wolves towards the large port city.

"But that would leave our flanks exposed, and we could be slaughtered against the walls," Ser Barristan advised.

Edric shook his head. "Not with Stannis landing in the Stormlands and moving towards King's Landing's southern border."

"What if that doesn't deter Tywin enough? He could leave the Tyrells in King's Landing, or he could stay and the Tyrells could move on Stannis," Ned asked.

"Which house has the largest army at the moment?" Edric asked.

Ned raised an eyebrow. "Besides House Stark? That would be House Bolton ever since the Karstarks left a fortnight ago."

Edric nodded. "So House Bolton and House Frey will cover our western flank, and can move to intercept Tywin if he marches on us, leaving the rest of ours and the Tully forces to besiege the city."

"And once we take the city, we will have Tywin surrounded. He'll be forced to exchange Sansa and Austin for Ser Jaime," said Barristan.

Ned cracked a small smile. "Call for a raven. Tell Stannis Baratheon that we march for Duskendale."

Trudging through the deep snow, Jon couldn't help but notice that these wildling furs were much warmer than his Night's Watch leather and cloak ever was. Mance had called for the wildlings to break camp and begin their march towards the wall. Jon was ordered not to stray from the King Beyond the Wall, and Ygritte in turn never strayed far from Jon.

Jon paused tin his march to think for a moment, and Mance walked up behind him. "Was it hard for you to kill the Halfhand?" he asked.

Jon nodded. "Yes."

"You liked him?" Mance asked, knowing the answer before Jon even nodded. "I like you but if you're playing us false it won't be hard for me to kill you. I've got wildling blood in my veins, these are my people."

"I understand," Jon responded as the pair continued their march.

Mance chuckled. "Well how could you understand?"

Jon turned to him. "You want to protect your people."

"Do you know what it takes to unite ninety clans, half of whom want to massacre the other half from one insult to another?" Mance asked, cocking his head to the side. "They speak seven different languages in my army. The Thenns hate the Hornfoots, the Hornfoots hate the Ice River Clans. Everyone hates the cave people. So, do you know how I got moon worshippers and cannibals and giants to march together in the same army?"

Jon shook his head honestly. "No."

Mance looked him right in the eye. "I told them we were all going to die if we don't get South. Because that's the truth."

With that, Mance led the way off to a small rock, where Tormund and Ygritte stood, staring at a man with glazed eyes who sat on the rock. Tormund nodded to Mance when he and Jon approached. "Shouldn't be long now."

"What's wrong with him?" Jon asked, eyes flitting between the eagle in the sky and the man with glazed eyes.

"He's a warg," Mance said. "He can enter the mind of animals, see through their eyes. He's scouting for us."

"You've never met a warg?" Ygritte asked, genuinely confused as to how one couldn't have met a warg.

Jon's gaze returned to the seated man. "Orell!" Mance said forcefully, waking the man from his trance. "Where were you this time?"

"The Fist of the First Men," Orell said.

Mance leaned forward. "What'd you see?"

Orell looked directly at Jon, smiling. "Dead crows."

Austin was actually grateful for the horse he'd been given this time, for they'd been on the march for several days, most of the men of the Brotherhood having to walk on foot. The Hound had been transported in the same rickety cart that they'd been captured in, but he had more room to move around since Austin was no longer keeping him company.

The past few days of travel, Arya had recounted her tale, from the moment she witnessed Austin demand the Trial by Seven to her being at that inn with Thoros. Austin occasionally asked questions, but he got the feeling that Arya was hiding something, as she refused to state the nature of their escape, providing only vague answers.

Several days after their departure from the inn, they'd arrived in a forest, which Austin knew to be in the southern direction, as they'd passed Stoney Sept on their way here. Thoros rode at the head of the column, swigging his rum like the most carefree man in the world. Austin rode second, Arya riding with her hands around his waist. Her friends Gendry and Hot Pie rode next, horses being led from the reins by Brotherhood soldiers.

"Can I take this hood off yet?" Arya asked loudly.

"I do apologize, little lady, but it's better for you if you don't see where we're going," Thoros called from in front. He then raised his flask of rum. "You want some, Dayne?"

Austin shook his head. "I think I'll stick to water."

Thoros shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Within minutes, Thoros called halt, and the procession all dismounted. Austin led Arya by the hand, following Thoros below a small waterfall that turned into a stream. Underneath, the mouth of a cave became visible, lit only by the light of torches and a blazing fire in the center, over which several racks of meat were roasting.

Arya, Gendry, and Hot Pie were lined up next to Austin, their hoods removed. Thoros bowed, waving to the cave. "Welcome to Hollow Hill."

As the Hound was brought in, Thoros stopped the men escorting him and removed the hood. The Clegane looked around the cave, chuckling as he saw the men that made up the Brotherhood. "You look like a bunch of swineherds."

"Some of us were swineherds, and tanners, and masons," Anguy said. "That was before."

Sandor looked at Anguy with a disinterested expression. "You're still swineherds and tanners and masons. You think carrying a crooked spear makes you a soldier?"

"No," a voice responded. On the cave wall opposite from where Austin stood with Arya and her friends, the group of Brotherhood men parted to allow a figure through. The eye patch and raspy, guttural voice were dead giveaways. He was the Lightning Lord, Beric Dondarrion, who Austin hadn't seen since the Trial By Seven.

"Fighting in a war makes you a soldier," Beric said.

"Beric Dondarrion?" the Hound said, astounded. "I killed you."

"Aye, you did. But the Lord of Light brought me back once again. He is the one true god."

The Hound looked around the cave once again. "Stark deserters, Baratheon deserters," Austin eyed the former with disappointment, "you lot aren't fighting in a war, you're running from it," he Hound said.

"Last I heard, you'd survived the Trial and continued to be King Joffrey's guard dog. Even joined his Kingsguard. But here you are. Tell me, who's running?" Beric asked, tilting his head so he could better see the Hound out of his one eye.

"Untie these ropes and we'll find out," the Hound threatened. "What're you doing? Leading a mob of peasants."

"Ned Stark ordered me to execute your brother, in the name of King Robert," Beric declared.

Sandor scoffed. "Ned Stark. He's fled the capital and risen in rebellion. King Robert is dead. My brother's alive."

Beric sighed. "The Brotherhood without Banners will always hunt down those who prey on the weak."

The Hound rolled his eyes. "If you mean to murder me then bloody well get on with it."

"You'll die soon enough, dog," Thoros spat. "But it won't be murder, only justice."

"And that would be justice for what exactly?"

"At the Mummer's Ford, girls of seven were raped, babes crushed in their mother's arms." Anguy said.

The Hound shook his head. "I wasn't at the Mummer's Ford. You can lay your dead children at some other door."

"House Clegane was built on dead children. I saw them lay Prince Aegon and Princess Rhaenys before the Iron Throne."

"Do you take me for my brother? Is being born a Clegane a crime?" the Hound asked, staring circles around the room. "I never touched the Targaryen babes. Never saw them, never heard them bawling. You want to cut my throat? Get on with it! But don't call me murderer and pretend you're not."

Just when the Hound's argument seemed so solid, Arya spoke up. "You murdered Mycah! The butcher's boy. You rode him down and slung him over your horse like some deer."

"Aye, he was a bleeder," the Hound nodded.

Beric turned to the hound after listening to Arya. "You don't deny killing this boy?"

"I was Joffrey's sworn shield, the boy attacked the Prince."

"That's a lie! I attacked Joffrey," Arya said.

"Well then I should have killed you! You, too, Dayne. I seem to remember you knocking Joffrey to the dirt," the Clegane said.

Beric stepped up to the Hound. "You stand accused of murder. But no one here knows the truth of the charges, so it is not for us to judge you. Only the Lord of Light may do that now. I sentence you to trial by combat."

The Hound looked around the cave for any kind of defense, eyes settling on Austin. The Dayne put his hands up. "Don't look at me, it's hard to argue with their reasoning."

The Hound smirked and continued to look around the cave. "So, who will it be? Shall we find out if your Fire God really loves you, priest? Of you, archer, what are you worth with a sword in your hand? What about you, Dayne? Maybe you can live up to your reputation." Or is the little girl the bravest one here?"

Beric turned back to look at Arya. "Aye, she might be. But it's me you'll fight."