Samwell and Meiying were getting ready in his old chambers at home. He picked out a gown woven with green fabrics lined with red, while her hair was tied with a red ribbon. Even though her belly was bigger than before due to her carrying their child, Sam eyed her with the lust and affection that had grown strong.
"Glad to see that I still look beautiful," Meiying noticed his stare.
"You'll always be beautiful, dear. Then and always," Sam said to her lovingly before kneeling and feeling the heartbeat in her stomach. "Just a few more months."
Sam felt Meiying's gentle hands on his head, her fingers allowing to feel at ease. "But we better get married, in order to avoid complications."
"Of course we will," Sam assured her. "No matter what, we will start a family. This is my promise."
Meiying hugged him closer. "A family… how wonderful that will be for me."
Sam kissed her belly before taking in her scent.
Talla and Dickon hugged him on his return, with Sam returning their warm gesture. As for Meiying, Talla and Dickon were formal with her, but Talla was the warmest after noticing Meiying's belly.
"By the Seven, you found a woman," Dickon exclaimed. Sam shrugged in delight. "I always knew you had it in you."
Sam chuckled. "Well, the years have been kind to me. And the same applies to you, for you are quite grown yourself."
"Been working hard, brother. You know how father is."
"Of course."
"Sam, you didn't tell me that your woman is beautiful," Talla expressed. "And you didn't tell me that I was going to be an aunt."
"And I an uncle," Dickon added.
"All will be said in due time," Sam assured them.
Sam could not be happier that he had only a few more moons to go until his child was born. But he noticed his father nearby, passing him by with a nod and a grunt. Great. Will be fun talking to him.
Sam knew that coming to Horn Hill was going to be awkward, especially given the circumstances of how he left. But his presence there was necessary, to ensure the cooperation of House Tarly when it came to support the dragons. Once his business was done, he would go to Highgarden, where Robb Stark would be waiting for him along with the Tyrells.
"Instead of going to the Wall, you went to Yi-Ti?" Dickon was surprised.
"Well, not exactly. I was shipwrecked there, along with King Daeron and Benjen Stark." Sam told the whole story about Aemon Targaryen, the things he did in the empire, and the truth about Daeron Targaryen.
"What is it like there, the Land of a Thousand Cities?" Talla asked.
"There are good things and not so exciting things about where I come from," Meiying answered her. "Everything might be bigger over there, but it's the same as you would expect anywhere else. Those with privilege like myself, and those without."
"So, as different as it is there, it's not as different?" Dickon asked.
"Yes. This world is inhabited by man, so we should expect man to behave the same way."
Talla exhaled. "That's very poignant. Shows that the world is still the same all around, I suppose."
"How right you are," Sam noted.
"Well, at the very least, you did something with your life, although you failed to do anything at home. Makes me wonder what took you so long?" Randyll had to ask.
"This venison, it's very tasty. Is it from today's hunt?" Samwell attempted to make small talk with his brother Dickon as they ate, in order to move on from what his father just said.
"Well, no. We haven't been able to cure that one yet. This is last week's," Dickon answered him.
"Oh, uh..." Samwell chuckled at that. "Of course. Sorry. Long journey."
"It has been," Meiying confirmed.
"Brought it down from seventy yards. One shot."
"Oh! That's a fair distance," Samwell congratulated him.
"You make the person who is on your sigil proud," Meiying said to him.
Dickon smiled. "Thank you, my lady."
"She's not a lady, son," Randyll snapped at him. "She's a foreign woman who merely got pregnant by my son. And they're not even married."
Samwell ignored that, expecting him to say such a thing and he promised that he would not stoop to his level.
"So, did you do much hunting in the Land of a Thousand Cities?" Dickon asked
"I never had the opportunity to hunt, as I was mostly attending to the imperial family in their palace," Sam answered him.
The eyes from Dickon and Talla grew wide. "You were in their palace?" his sister asked.
"More than that. I was able to speak with the Jade Emperor himself more than once."
"I heard that he was a fat man not fit for his station, not unlike yourself," Randyll continued to bite.
Samwell brushed that off. "In my position during my time there, I mostly assisted the Grand Secretary, which mostly dealt with the administrative matters for the emperor. It was quite the education, on how an empire is run. Everything that the people east of the Bone Mountains do is very efficient. Things that much of Westeros could benefit from."
"I see," Talla said. "What is one example of how they do things that Westeros could benefit from?"
"Well, they do institute the usage of paper money in the empire. All you need is a special type of paper that only the treasury uses, and the only way that you can tell if the paper is genuine is if it had the official seal and other minor details that a trained eye could detect," Sam explained. "Those who are guilty of counterfeiting would have their hands cut off, but people will find ways. That's something that Westeros should watch out for, even though paper money does present an interesting evolution for our monetary problems."
"It seems that the Yi-Tish have rubbed off too much on you, Samwell," Dickon noted.
"Samwell, would you care for more bread?" Talla offered.
"Oh, um... Yes. Yes, please. Thank you, Talla."
"Not fat enough already?"
Sam ignored his father's words and took the bowl. He was not going to let his father ruin his meal, something that stumped Randyll given his eyes. Enough with the small talk. Have to get down to business.
"I am accompanying Robb Stark under orders from the dragons themselves," Sam told them. "As you all know, Robb Stark is alive, and he has been put in charge of gathering support for the dragons from the south. If his meetings with the Tyrells and the Martells are of any indication, Dorne and Highgarden will declare their support for House Targaryen. But House Tyrell needs to have the backing of its bannermen, which they need to be sure of due to the Hightowers moving against them. I am here to report whether Horn Hill will fight with the Tyrells."
"Yes, I know your purpose here, son. If it were any other messenger, I would have said yes because the Lannisters are responsible for your mother's death. Did you know that?"
Sam was emotionless, but he tried very hard to hold back his tears, as did Talla and Dickon.
Randyll still decided to be cruel. "You managed to stay soft and fat. Your nose buried in books, only this time written in that funny tongue of the east. Spending your life reading about the achievements of better men. It doesn't matter that you were in a palace, because you didn't make any decisions of your own and you are still following orders. I'll wager you still can't sit a horse or wield a sword."
While Sam was not letting his father get to him, he could hear Meiying's nostrils breathing out loudly, her anger rising. This caused Sam to hold onto her hand, to tell her to calm down.
Randyll then turned his attention to Meiying. "I know you are from Yi-Ti, but what about your family? How'd you come to meet my son? You a simple girl, a nobody?"
Sam turned his head to Randyll. "I think that's quite enough, father."
Randyll was taken aback. "What the fuck was that, boy?"
"No, no," Meiying interjected. "It's quite all right, Sam. He's asking important questions, and I should answer them." She cleared her throat. "My father was a lord back in Yi-Ti, although my family is less ancient than yours given that we were initially involved in trade before deciding to enter nobility. I received all the education expected of a woman in my station, which I trust you to infer."
"But you're not really nobility, are you?" Randyll asked bluntly. "From how you talk and how you dress, both are marks of those raised by merchants. And you have too much jewelry, especially from your ears," he pointed to Meiying's earrings. "Only those from merchant blood would be so ostentatious."
Meiying was not affected, as she was aware of the feelings old nobility had towards merchantmen, and she had grown used to the disdainful looks that were similar from Randyll's face.
"If I can assure you, my lord, my father obtained his lordship during his lifetime. Just had to approach the right people and pay for the privilege."
"But you're a newcomer to nobility, while House Tarly has been around for thousands of years. You obviously cannot say the same for yourself, given that you're only one generation while I and my children are only the most recent of hundreds of generations. I guess the idea of nobility is something of a cheap concept in Yi-Ti, given that you can have the title bought while a legacy is truly earned… But still, higher than I expected Sam to get, anyway."
The table was silent, their father attempting to insult Meiying while she stared back at him, which continued to surprise his father given how unemotional she was being.
"And how did you meet my son?"
"In a teahouse," Meiying told him. "I was being approached by a man who did not take a hint, and Sam destroyed him with his wit and mind. And then, he braved through a murderer and helped me through…a difficult time."
"What do you mean by a difficult time?" Randyll pressed.
"When my parents were killed by that murderer."
Dickon and Talla shook their heads, both out of sympathy for Meiying and their father for being too insensitive.
"But he did not do any of the fighting himself, huh?" Randyll had to ask.
Meiying was shocked at how cold he was being, and Sam felt his veins bulge in his head.
"You see that sword?" Randyll pointed to the blade near their table. "It's called Heartsbane. It's been in our family for five hundred years. It's Valyrian steel. Only a handful of them left in the world. It's supposed to go to my firstborn son after I die. To him," he gestured to Sam with a scowl. "He will never wield that sword. If he were to become Lord Tarly of Horn Hill, it would be the end of this house, as he clearly showed that he still cannot fight. As for you, my son clearly has good taste, but it shows that he could not get any woman here at home, so he had to look elsewhere. Didn't think that the concept of spares would apply to women as well."
Finally, Sam snapped, and he pounded his fists on the table. Talla and even Dickon got scared, never seeing their brother like that.
"Shut up!" he shouted.
Randyll smiled mockingly. "Oh, you've got a temper now, boy? Didn't think you had it in you."
Before Sam took a step towards him, Meiying grabbed onto his arm and shook her head. "He's not worth it, dear. Leave him alone."
Randyll blinked, his expression showing genuine surprise. "What do you mean, I'm not worth it?"
"I will not allow my future husband to do something that he will regret," Meiying made clear. "You know, I was hoping that Sam was exaggerating when he talked about you, since a small part of me hoped that you would be a better man than he remembered. But you're not. It's amazing that Sam was able to endure living in this castle, having a man like you as his father. And I keep wondering where Sam got his strong and quick mind, for I see no traces of that from you."
Randyll stood up from his chair, anger evident but keeping control over himself. "Did your merchant parents ever teach you manners? Instead acting like a whore in a brothel, at my table in my dining hall?! How dare you berate me!"
"Now, I see where Sam got the temper he just displayed. Like son, like father," Meiying continued. "We are not welcome guests here. Therefore, in the morning, we will leave."
"Just like that?" Talla stood up, this time to try to salvage what was going on.
"Yes. I have nothing against you, and that also extends to you, Dickon," Meiying looked at Sam's younger brother. "But if that man is the man of this house, I will not allow myself, my future husband, and my child to live under him. Better to have no grandfather than to have a shortsighted man near my family."
Randyll scoffed. "You call me shortsighted?"
"Yes, you are," Meiying confirmed. "Sam might not be capable of fighting, but he is more than able to handle himself. And he has done things that you could never dream of while showing bravery. Moreover, you were blind to see that he has a heart, something that I think you don't have. Tell me this, my lord. Did you even cry when the mother of your children was killed?"
Talla gasped while Dickon's face grew pale. But what shocked Sam was that his father, for the very first time, was speechless. It was as if Meiying saw through him and knew where to hit, finally allowing for the cover that protected his father to start crumbling down.
"You see. Many people have chests, but very few have hearts. Yours," she pointed to Randyll's chest. "Is empty. For that, once we leave, we will never come back. And it's a pity really, given that this castle does need some major repairs and you don't have the coin for it, but I do."
"What is she talking about, Sam?" Talla asked.
"As with any marriage, I will receive a dowry. Hers is considerable," Sam told his sister.
"How much?" Dickon asked.
"Roughly three hundred thousand golden dragons," Sam revealed.
Dickon coughed in surprise, and Talla stood there because even she understood the value.
Sam looked at his father's face, and he felt the greatest satisfaction after seeing him gulp.
"Where will you go?" Randyll asked. "Given that the both of you represent the dragons, the Lannisters' little birds will be looking for you."
"The Tyrells have extended their hospitality to us, so we'll go to Highgarden," Sam said. "We'll bother you no more."
"You can stay here for a few nights in Horn Hill," Talla offered.
"Talla, I'm afraid that's not your decision to make. It's our father's," Sam reminded her.
Dickon was the first to act. "Father, please take back everything that you just said."
"Oh, you're cowering at the mere mention of money?" Randyll showed his disappointment.
"And once we leave, we can tell the Tyrells that you are being… uncooperative," Meiying threatened. "I'm sure that a visit from a dragon would be in order."
Talla turned her head to their father. "Father, please."
Randyll stared at his son and Meiying, his face showing his wavering feelings.
"Fine, for the sake of your mother, you can stay." Without another word, he left the hall. That was enough for Sam, for he knew that his father's pride would not let him acquiesce without a proper reason that makes him look magnanimous.
Immediately, the air felt warmer and Talla went towards Meiying, looking at her belly. "How long until the child comes?"
"Give or take, three moons."
"Can't wait to make my first dress for her," Talla expressed her desires.
"Who says it will be a girl? The baby might need a wooden sword soon enough," Dickon stated.
Sam breathed out a sigh of relief. And he felt more thankful for Meiying, for she had done what he could not and silenced his father. Because of that, he was finally able to know what it felt like to have his brother and sister be warm to him without consequence. If only mother was here, Sam thought sadly.
Arya found herself in wonder at the castle that comprised the main part of Dragonstone. It was practically a dream for her to be in the same place as the first dragonriders in Westeros. She obsessed herself over the three conquerors of Westeros, taking care to memorize every detail of the Targaryens such as Rhaenys and Visenya, Alysanne, Rhaenyra, and Daena the Defiant. All the women of House Targaryen inspired her very much, as they all gave her a glimpse into the type of life that she wanted to live. And her wish came true, for she was trained by the best in the Jade Order and then knowing how to be sneaky under the tutelage of Mingyu, which had to be ceased since she was with her uncle Benjen in the North. While she wanted to be at home and see Sansa again, she felt that she had to be with Jon as they were planning their next moves.
With them was Ser Barristan Selmy, Daario Naharis, Grey Worm, Misssandei, Tyrion, and Gerion Lannister. Ser Barristan's reputation throughout the Seven Kingdoms would do much to sway some of the men fighting in King's Landing, while the old knight showed no signs of letting up. Daario would stand by with his Second Sons, and work with the Dothraki who accompanied them. Grey Worm would lead the Unsullied into battle at the right time, while both Tyrion and Gerion would be utilized for their Lannister heritage.
They received news that Robb was in the Reach, gaining much success in persuading the houses of the Reach to answer the call of the Tyrells before Highgarden would raise the Targaryen banner. And with Sam stating that he was about to have his own family be persuaded to answer the call of the banners from House Tyrell, things were looking good from the Reach. The only issue that would hinder them was the threat from Oldtown, as the Hightowers were not going to be loyal to the Tyrells and Oldtown had to be contained by the Redwyne cousins of the Queen of Thorns before they did any damage.
But Arya read the letter from Robb about the existence of their sister Dyanna, who was fathered by their father and would inherit Starfall. Arya could feel herself crying at how Robb described Dyanna as having their father's cheekbones and ears, which was all that she needed to see in writing. Why, father? If only you told us about Ashara and our sister, if you only knew about her, if only the Rebellion had never happened…
Arya promised herself that when everything was done, she was going to see Dyanna face-to-face, meet another sister from another mother. And she expected many things from Dyanna, as they were both Starks in one way or the other, and she wanted to do all the things that sisters would do. I should've tried harder with Sansa. We might have had our differences, but our childhood would never come back. Perhaps I can be that way for Dyanna this time around.
Given the updates throughout Westeros, they were meeting in the room with the Painted Table. Arya knew about the Painted Table, something that determined the course of all of Westeros' history when Aegon carved it up. The Painted Table was a large table, carved from a block of wood and painted in the form of a detailed map of Westeros as it was at the start of Aegon's Conquest. It depicted the landscape and settlements of the continent, but it did not include borders. The Painted Table was more than fifty feet long: roughly twenty-five feet wide at its widest point and four feet at its thinnest. Positioned near Dragonstone's spot on the map was a raised seat that allows the occupant to view the entire table. It was covered by over three hundred years of varnish. Near the table was an iron brazier, and the chamber contained a hearth.
No one sat on the raised seat, as Jon did not see himself as above Daenerys and Rhaenys. That was one of the things that made Arya assured that he would be a good ruler. He has it in him. He just needs to get to his position and he'll grow into it like a hand entering a glove, she thought.
"Let us begin, shall we?" Daario asked.
Although he was still overreaching himself by staring at Daenerys, he was not stupid and spoke to her, Jon, and Rhaenys with the respect that they deserved. And he was put in charge of maintaining the forces that would hold at Blackwater Bay, which did not involve much movement and thus would keep in control. And Daario would be busy with other women soon, if his eyes wandering towards Gong-Er are any indication, she thought. Arya did not like the idea of Daario anywhere near her, especially since she and Hoon Ti were getting close. Hoon Ti is in Dorne, the place where he used to be all those years ago, probably busy enjoying the pleasures that he experienced before he went back home, Arya cracked to herself.
"Here is the situation," Daario spoke up. "Benjen and his forces are amassing his troops to combine that with those belonging from the Vale and the northern houses that have remained loyal. And if the situation with the wildlings is true, then we will have one hundred thousand more fighters to our ranks. The only problem is that assaulting Winterfell would take time. Coordination, supplies, and defeating the Boltons in that order. I have no doubt that taking the castle would be the easy part, since we have the advantage in numbers, weaponry, and will. But there is the time factor."
Jon nodded, impressed at Daario's explanation. "Very true on all counts. Taking Winterfell will be the easy part, especially since Ramsay Bolton and his supporters are heavily depleted and they are starving. But the timing must be done correctly, as the plan would not work if even one part is out of place."
"The plan should allow for minor flexibility, but the overall goals are to be sticked to," Daenerys stated. "We have nothing to fear here, as the Lannisters don't have any ships to call upon to help them, and even if they do, it won't be enough to breach our blockade. And all we must do is to hold this position while the fighting will be conducted elsewhere, in the south and in the north."
"To stretch the Lannisters out until they snap like twigs," Rhaenys added. "The mistakes that many men made when it came to war was, they only marched in one way and thus allowing for their enemies to close in on them. Unfortunately, that applied to my father as well, as he did not think of extending the battlefields and stretching out the enemy when he had the initial advantage. But that will not happen to us, as we will be everywhere and we can outfight our enemies."
Arya liked Rhaenys' sentiments. "And if we are going to win, we also must be willing to cheat," she added. "The Lannisters showed that they were not going to fight by the rules, so why should we?"
"I like that idea," Daario approved. "But what sort of cheating do you think we should do?"
Arya thought through her options, before a few came to her mind. "How about we… hire some men to go into King's Landing and burn the food stores there?"
"Burn them?" Daenerys asked.
"Well, let me explain this. I don't mean we should indiscriminately burn all the food that is in King's Landing," Arya made clear. "We all know that there are different food stores based on station, with the smallfolk getting the smallest amount while those with privilege get the largest share. We burn the largest foodstore in King's Landing, and we make the Lannisters and their supporters starve, thus making them have to take from the smallfolk. If they take from the smallfolk—"
"They will riot," Rhaenys finished for her. "Thus causing more instability from within the city."
"Can't make things too easy for the Lannisters," Arya said. "The riot that saw Loras Tyrell and Sam's mother killed happened because of Joffrey's terrible time as a ruler. And it is not like things have gotten any better under Myrcella, because she's not fit to be a queen, and everyone knows that Tywin is pulling the strings. We just got to increase the pressure, because the pressure will ensure that the Lannisters, even Tywin, will act rashly."
"I like that idea, personally. We can destroy the food stores that the privileged rely upon, the smallfolk will riot, and we can strengthen our bargaining position by promising the smallfolk food," Jon supported.
"What other ideas do you have, my lady?" Daario asked her. During this time, Tyrion and Gerion were watching her, the former very surprised at how the little girl he saw from Winterfell turned into such a devious creature and the latter impressed that she was able to come up with such a scheme. For Barristan Selmy, the old knight was impassive, but he was also unable to comprehend how Arya was able to come up with such ideas. Missandei and Grey Worm were more accepting, as they knew Arya long enough and could only approve of how far she had come.
"We could also send a portion of our forces to help the Blackfish," Arya suggested. "He's been fighting since forever, and he will need the help. And who better to have the riverlords rally around, especially since my uncle Edmure has been a captive and therefore useless?"
"That can work," Ser Barristan approved. "The Blackfish is the only one in the riverlands that the riverlords can rally around, especially those who are sick of the rule of the Freys."
"And that's not including the definite possibility of the Freys slowly losing their men as they committed them to the assault on the North through the Neck," Tyrion added, as he and the rest in the room knew about what they were doing.
"But we should also know that we cannot spare any men now. We simply need every man that we can have, and the Blackfish unfortunately is low on our priorities," Grey Worm was honest.
Arya was offended, as the Blackfish was her family after all. "You mean do nothing?"
"Well, he does have a point," Daario said. "Unless the North is secured, we can't do anything now. And we must maintain our current course. Only after the North is secured can we begin to really help the Blackfish."
Arya accepted that logic, even though she wanted him to be helped.
"But please, continue," Daario urged her.
"We can use Gerion Lannister and Tyrion to the West and try to make the westermen waver. They might not have a good opinion of Tyrion, especially since they still think that he was the one who killed Tommen by accident, but they will be surprised at the sudden return of Gerion," Arya told them. "As far as anyone is concerned, Gerion is not connected with the events in recent years and therefore one of the more untainted Lannisters. That is a rare thing these days, and we should use that."
"I support that," Daenerys expressed. "Gerion seems to have a good head on his shoulders, and he also is not associated with Tywin Lannister. Perhaps there are westermen in secret who are not supporting Tywin and Gerion's presence can present them with an option."
"I support it as well," Jon stated before turning to Gerion. "How soon can you deliver some ravens to all the western houses?"
"Give me a few days, I should have them ready."
"Very good. We must start to chip away at Tywin's power base as well, in order to hasten his collapse."
"Just as the North was divided, the West must be as well," Rhaenys commented.
"Continue," Daario pressed.
Arya was only too happy to say more of her ideas. Better learn more from Mingyu.
"Are you sure that you'll be all right all by yourself?" Jung-Hwa asked him.
"You know me. I can handle just about anything," Sandor tried to calm her.
"What I mean is that… you're home now. And since you are re home, you might run into him."
Sandor frowned, as he knew who she was talking about. "You're worried that I am going to go back to my old self at the very sight of him, where I will allow my rage to judge me."
"Just like at that tourney when Ned Stark was alive."
"Now that, I had to do something before he was going to kill Loras Tyrell. That was just my instincts kicking in."
"But this is different now. And you know that your brother will be fighting against you. I'm just worried that… I know that there is only one way that this will end between you two, with either you or him dead. But if you can… at least make it quick."
Sandor smiled warmly. "For you, I will try. There were a thousand ways that I sought for my brother to die, but since you want me to, I will go for the quickest way."
Jung-Hwa kissed him, which surprised Sandor. But he returned the kiss gently and they embraced.
Sandor kept his hold on Jung-Hwa tightly before he left to venture deeper into the kingswood. But it made going for him more difficult, given what had just happened.
Before he went, Gendry pulled him aside to have a few words with him.
"You know, Clegane, never did I think I would see the day where you would hold another person without trying to kill them, let alone kiss them," Gendry told him.
"What are you getting at, boy?" While Sandor was not going to allow the good feelings to end, he was not going to allow others to make jests about them.
"I would say that… you should be careful out there. Not just you anymore."
Sandor grunted. "The same applies to you and the Stark girl." Arya Stark was at Dragonstone, where they were planning the plan to take Westeros from the grips of the Lannisters. While most of the the dragons' forces were at Dragonstone, most of the action was going to take place throughout Westeros, something that pleased Sandor since he knew that he would lose his mind and patience if he had to stay in one place for a long amount of time. I don't care if it's Dragonstone. I don't want to be bored.
"Well, best of luck to you, Clegane. Give them the Seven Hells, or a taste of it."
"Oh, they will feel it from me," the Hound responded before he and the men moved into the kingswood.
Once the stormlands were secured under the control the Baratheons, the overall strategy for retaking Westeros had to be revised, but for the better. It was clear to the dragons that they had underestimate the anger that the stormlords had towards the Lannisters, which was clear from how they were quick to throw Axel Trant off the walls of Storm's End. That added more troops to the armies, and it also made the strategic situation easier since the stormlands would provide an additional base to strike at King's Landing. The stormlords simply had to gather their remaining men and assembled at the Wendwater, from which they would resume their old positions and turn the kingswood back into the hell that plagued the Lannister bannermen, who died in the thousands in that forest. Smallfolk in that area say that the streams still run red with blood, beasts of all sorts pick off what they can off the corpses, and the smell was still strong.
Sandor was accompanied by a company from the Jade Company, all of them equipped with the tanegashima and ceramic casings. Sandor picked the men for their hunting experience, which made them ideal to conduct a campaign of harassment onto the Lannister bannermen that would be entering the kingswood in force. All of them were also capable of utilizing bows and arrows, but Sandor forbade them from using them. No need to have a bunch of girls with their arrows, he thought.
Sandor would rely on stealth and speed in his harassing tactics, which he learned to do while in the lands north of the Five Forts. Once they spotted the Lannister bannermen, they would open fire with their weapons and wear them down in the woods while time was bought for the stormlords to assemble their men. It was predicted that the Lannisters would send a large portion of their manpower to the kingswood, as they recognized the threat posed from the stormlands and how close they were in relation to King's Landing. That was what the dragons wanted, as that would further weaken the garrison in the capital while buying more time to get everything set up in the North and the south that was going to declare their loyalty to House Targaryen. Who knew that the supposed bastard of Winterfell would be capable of coming up with a plan with so many moving parts? Sandor thought, as Daeron Targaryen impressed him by how much he had grown.
Sandor decided to take a page from the book that all of Yi-Ti's commanders were obsessed with. He was given a certain amount of gold to cover any expenses, and he used it to pay anyone who would have any information for him. Sandor knew that it was long time since he was walking through the kingswood when Robert Baratheon was live, and he knew that things had changed drastically. Consequently, he needed to know what exactly was happening and how to use that for his advantage.
Soon enough, one of the people he paid told him that a column of Lannisters was due to arrive in the kingswood, led by Lord Gawen Westerling. Sandor knew Lord Gawen from when he was younger, and he knew that Lord Gawen enjoyed the confidence of Lord Tywin. If we can take him out, we can cause some serious damage against the Lannisters since he would be deprived of one of his most trusted men.
Wasting no time, Sandor got together the men and planned out the attack. They would use the kingswood to ambush the column, with the men targeting the officers except for Lord Gawen. A few would then reveal themselves, which would cause Lord Westerling's men to give chase. Once they were out of formation and deep within the woods, that was when Sandor and the men would pick them off one by one. Once the column was diminished enough, Sandor would move in and grab Lord Westerling. While it will be tempting to kill him, he's more useful to us alive.
Sandor had one of the men field-dress a deer, and Sandor was waiting for the column to arrive. All his men were arranged in their own campfires, with Sandor with a group of four others.
"May I ask, Clegane, where did you get your scars?" one of them asked. Sandor insisted that they call him either Clegane or the Hound, but not his first name and definitely not "ser."
"What do you think?" Sandor asked back.
"Someone told us that someone spilled hot water on you, and that's how you have it," the second man said.
Sandor scoffed bitterly. "Hot water? How about my brother causing this scar on my face? Is that any more shocking to you?"
"Look, Clegane, we don't know you," the third man joined in. "All of us here knows each other at some point or another, and we only heard your name from what you did north of the Five Forts and your connection to the dragons. How else are we going to trust you if you are not going to be willing to be straight with us?"
"I owe nothing to you," Sandor said to him.
"That's incorrect, Clegane," the fourth man told him. "You are leading us, and us coming here in this fucking forest meant that we are willing to trust you with our lives. The question is, can you trust us to do that for you?"
Sandor was never asked that question. All his life, he had been used to fighting alone. While people did ask him to do things, it was never like reciprocating trust among men.
"I can't tell you what happened to my face in detail, since that will take time for me. But there is one thing that I can talk about, which brought me all the way to the east."
"Do tell, Clegane," the first man was eager, as were the others.
Sandor then talked about when he fought Brienne of Tarth over who would take care of Arya Stark. He said that he could not believe that he lost to her, and that if it wasn't for Arya coming back to get him on a cart and putting him on the boat eastwards, then he would have died. Secretly, Sandor kept his gratefulness from Arya, not needing her to rub it in his face. I'll never hear the end of it if she knows.
"And is it true that you were addicted to yapian?" the second man asked.
Sandor sighed, not wanting to relive the time that he was ingesting the fumes that numbed his pain but also affected everything else. "Yes. I was in severe pain at the time, and yapian was the only thing that kept me from screaming. It was easy to become addicted to it, and very hard to force yourself to stop doing it."
"You sweated a lot?" the third man inquired knowingly.
"Well, sweating, throwing up, shakes, all that. Once your body became taken with yapian, it will take much willpower on your part to endure the removal process. And you need help to get through it, which I got."
"And the one who helped you was that physician?"
Sandor smiled at the mere mention of Jung-Hwa, who was back in Storm's End and setting up a proper place to take care of the wounded and sick. "Yes. I owe everything to her, and she helped me beyond getting me off my yapian."
The four men who were at the campfire with him were put at ease, which made Sandor relax as well.
"Well, you showed us how you got here. And if someone like you can get this far, why not the rest of us?" the fourth man noted.
Eventually, Sandor and the rest of the men got the signal that the column was coming. Taking their positions and setting up everything, Sandor and a few men watched as the vanguard of the column came forth. They were carrying the sigil of House Westerling, the six white seashells against a field of sand. Sandor estimated that they were at least six hundred of them, which stumped Sandor since he expected a man like Lord Gawen to arrive with at least a thousand. Either they are not taking this seriously enough, or they do not have the luxury of manpower. But both would do us well in the end, Sandor thought, as the former would mean that the Lannisters were not treating the threat from the dragons seriously enough and the latter meant that the Lannisters were facing severe resource shortages.
Sandor and the men practiced bird calls, which they used to communicate where their positions were and who they were going to shoot. After getting clear instructions, Sandor signalled for the men to open fire with their tanegashima, causing some of the Westerling men to fall to the ground and then causing the others to fall into tighter formation. "Look out!" one of them yelled.
Sandor and his men continued to pick them off, the Westerling men confused at such loud noises and the projectiles moving too fast for their eyes. They then lit ceramic casings and threw at the Westerlings, causing more blood and more bodies to fall.
Sandor whistled, causing a few to come out of their hiding places and begging the Westerling men to follow them deeper into the forest.
Seeing his chance and revising his plan, Sandor took out his shotgun and fired at the men closest to Lord Gawen. The combination of noise and scattershot was enough to incapacitate them, with Sandor taking out his pistols and killing five of them, each with a headshot.
Once his pistols were out of shot, he unsheathed his sword and hacked away. He cut the throat of one Westerling man, crushed open one's skull with the mere force of his blade, and crushed another's neck with his knee. Before Lord Gawen could even draw his sword, Sandor punched his horse's head, causing the horse to raise up in the air and for its rider to fall backwards. Sandor then grabbed his arm and dislocated it with a force of his foot, causing Lord Gawen to cry out in pain.
"Stop crying, my lord. I'm not going to kill you."
"You… You're Sandor Clegane. You're supposed to be dead."
"Sorry to disappoint, my lord. Was my brother pleased by my death?"
"You know him," Lord Gawen said.
"I suppose. Get the fuck up." Sandor dragged the Lord of the Crag onto his feet. "Now, unless you want to lose that arm, you'll do as you told, clear?" Lord Gawen nodded. "Why did you have less men than expected, huh?"
A/N: We have Arya giving her own ideas on how to win, and the Hound fighting well.
Now, the important stuff: Sam finally showing to his father how different he is, and he has Meiying to help him. Retooled that scene with the family, and Meiying was able to put Randyll in his place. Sam now doesn't have to worry about him anymore.