"Where d'ya think you're goin'?" Ray called after the large, retreating figure of his friend.
Sandor stopped walking towards where Stranger was tied up outside the saloon. He had been intending to ride back to the ranch, forgoing both returning to the saloon to drown his sorrows at his continuing bachelorhood (or perhaps, he would have raised a glass to his relief at it?), and avoiding joining the newly wedded couples for a celebration supper at Kennel Keep's only respectable hotel, The Kennel Master.
Judging by the knowing look in Ray's eyes, he already knew that Sandor had been trying to slip away unnoticed.
'Can he fuckin' blame me?' Sandor thought.
Quite frankly Sandor would rather eat a mound of mouldy horse shit than sit through a celebratory dinner and watch the group of happy brides and grooms coo and fawn over each other, while all the while his jilted arse would be stuck facing the woman who had so vocally rejected him after taking one look at his mangled face. With that thought in mind, Sandor steeled himself for the inevitable pushback that was sure to come from Ray. He was about to voice his objections when Walder Frey's voice rang out along the dusty street.
"Not you, wife!" he snapped cruelly, grabbing his new bride by her arm and hauling her off away from the main group. "I ain't payin' for no fancy grub for ya. Ya'll be cookin' me supper at home 'fore I bed ya!"
The poor girl let out a startled whimper, but made no objections as she allowed herself to be dragged into an alleyway and disappeared from sight.
"That poor girl," Bronn's plump bride whispered to her new husband in the uncomfortable silence that followed.
"Nowt ya could have done for her," Bronn shrugged, reaching for the door handle to the entrance of the hotel and politely holding the door open for his wife. "She's of age and married the lech out of her own free will."
All the couples quietly shuffled into the hotel, the mood a little strained and soured in the wake of Walder Frey and the new Missus Frey's abrupt departure. All the couples, that is, bar Ray and his lovely new bride.
"Now, Sandor…" Ray started.
Sandor barely resisted rolling his eyes, and he only did so because he was in the company of his friend's new wife. He doubted her first impression of him, him swearing at Miss Sand to shut her fuckin' mouth, was favourable. He did not need her thinking that he was petulant and childish too, not seeing as how they would be living in close proximity to one another out at the ranch.
Sandor was prepared to argue with Ray after his failure to quietly slip away, but one little glance over at his old friend's redheaded bride and the words he was about to speak died on his tongue.
She stood with her back to her new husband, still looking down the street in the direction that Walder and his unfortunate bride had taken. From his position, standing away to the side and slightly behind her, Sandor was witness to a subtle change in the woman's expression. In the span of only a couple of moments, he watched as a muscle along her jawline jumped beneath her porcelain skin from the force with which she was clenching her teeth together, but it stopped as she took in a shuddery breath and slowly released it. With her exhalation, she allowed her shoulders to drop slightly, seemingly forcing the tension they had previously held out of her posture, and her rosy lips which had been pinched together morphed into a small 'O' as her breath passed threw them. The worried look that she had previously been sporting on the short walk over from the temple, one complete with a furrowed brow, slipped away as she took a second breath in and slowly let it out.
The change in Ros' countenance, as subtle as it was, was like watching a bride's veil fall over her face, obscuring it from observers. Gone was the nervous, panicked creature he had glimpsed stood up at the altar before she had spoken the matrimonial vows that had bound her to his closest friend, and in her place stood a woman with cool, collected poise.
A gnawing, uneasy feeling appeared in the pit of Sandor's stomach as he watched a seemingly innocent smile form on her rosy lips, a smile she directed at her new husband as she turned to face him.
"Shall we go in?" Ros said, directing the question at both men.
Ray returned her smile and held the door open for her. "Go right on ahead, I'll be along in a moment."
After Ros entered the hotel with a polite "thank-you kindly" spoken to Ray, the older man arched a brow at Sandor. "I'd very much like it if ya joined us. Get to know Ros a wee bit 'fore she comes out to the ranch with us tomorrow."
Sandor did not want to. He wanted to skulk away and lick his wounds in peace, but that twisted feeling in his gut stopped him from doing so. With the life he had led, it was not only his impressive size and strength that had on countless occasions kept him from dying at the hands of someone who sought to do him harm, but also his ability to listen to his instincts. So, even though Sandor was not exactly sure why the beauty with flame-coloured hair set him on edge, he trusted that there was an as of yet unknown but very valid reason for why she did do.
"Fine. I'll stay for fuckin' supper," Sandor growled out, and this time he did roll his eyes.
"Splendid!" Ray grinned, surprised at Sandor's change of mind, but mightily pleased all the same. He slapped him on the shoulder as they walked into the hotel together and jokingly added, "Oh, and do try and not say fuck every other word."
"What about bugger?"
"Best avoid that one too."
"Cunt?"
"Absolutely not."
"Fuck's sake, Ray!"
.
My apologies for this chapter taking so long. Real life has been hectic and I haven't really had any writing mojo. However, I'd like to assure all my lovely readers that this story is very much alive and well! This was a shorter chapter than usual and I rewrote it a few times as I wasn't too happy with it, but I still hope you enjoyed it :)
As always, comments are very much loved and I answer all of them. I greatly enjoyed reading some of your theories for the story, so please feel free to leave some more. The plot is all planned out already and if anyone correctly guesses something that will happen, I'll give them a shout-out when that chapter rolls around.