Strange Birds

by BluntK

Kaesar Hill, a bastard of Tywin Lannister, has managed to escape King's Landing but is soon captured by Sandor Clegane who is tasked with bringing her back home.

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The cold was bad. The wind was worse. A thin dress was slouched over Kaesar Hill's body, as she desperately tried finding warmth in the man sitting behind her on the horse. His arms clutched lazily around the rails in front of her, and Kaesar backed up to him as much as possible. She knew they weren't far from someplace warmer, but the cold was rising, and the sun was going down steadily. She could barely see the red giant anymore, disappearing behind large trees growing in the distance. She was finding herself in the middle of a large field, with one very big tree standing solemnly in the middle and no towns nearby, as far as she knew. But in all honesty, she didn't know much. She was almost oblivious to were the man known as the Hound had taken her. All she knew was that they were getting closer to King's Landing. The horse beneath her trotted tiredly, and a shiver came over the blonde girl when she realized they were probably going to have to camp soon. As if the Gods had heard her, and hated her, a gruff voice from behind her grumbled so she could feel the vibrations going through her shivering body./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""We'll set camp here," the damned Sandor Clegane said in a concluding voice, sliding off the horse, with a full-on lack of energy. Kaesar scoffed in disbelief, even though she had seen it coming. She looked with furrowed brows at the tall man, preparing to speak for her case./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Certainly not!" she exclaimed whilst still being seated upon the impossibly tall horse which she couldn't get down from on her own. Sandor's expression didn't seem like one that was dealing with any of Kaesars bullshit this fine evening, but nevertheless, she kept complaining. "It's cold here. If we keep riding for a bit we'll probably hit a town," she argued, but the scarred man paid her no mind as he started rolling a thick fur out under the lone tree in the field, undoubtedly intending to sleep there. Kaesar waited for a moment, almost expecting him to say something. They'd been riding for a night and a day, no doubt tired and sore from the trip. But all Kaesar really wanted was to go someplace warm. Someplace safe. But it was naive to think she would be safe whilst technically being kidnapped. Although it didn't feel like a kidnapping anymore. Just a really shitty road trip. "You're being a pus-" she was about to go into a bunch of cursing before being interrupted by strong hands grasping her waist and lifting her off the horse. The warmth of his hands made her shut up entirely, and when her feet hit the ground, they wobbled so heavily she wasn't sure she'd be able to stand without holding onto the man she'd been spending too much time with. The contrast between the two was absurd. Sandor Clegane was tall, much taller than most men Kaesar had ever encountered. But the most distinguished part of him was not his height, no. It was the incredibly tragic burn marks reaching from the right part of his face all the way down his neck. Kaesar had not asked about it but she had heard all of the stories. People at the castle always did like to gossip. She had also secretly concluded that he was insecure about it since he tried to cover it with his hair, and that's why he wore it so long and dark. Kaesar, on the other hand, was not very tall. She had golden Lannister hair that reached down her back, though the long trip had made it matted and thin-looking. Her skin had no marks, as no one dared hurt a lady./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Now shut up and sleep," Sandor, or the Hound, demanded in a raspy voice. Kaesar never called him that though. She hated nicknames with bad intent, as she knew all too well what it was like to have one./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I will not. It is cold, I am rightfully hungry and we could easily ride on!" Kaesar said, rubbing her arms furiously with all the energy she had left. Even in times as this one with frustration overcoming her, she refrained from using his nickname. Once, she almost caught herself calling him dog and she heard her sister's voice whispering bastard to her all the same. Sandor tied up the horse as Kaesar groaned to herself. "Sometimes it'd be nice if you used your words. You know, as actual humans do," she said, mumbling the last bit. Sandor turned to her, obvious annoyance displayed on his rough face. He began taking his armour and mail off, his body looking relieved when his breast place came off. "Now you shut your mouth and go to bed, or I'm 'gonna smack you to sleep," he threatened, taking all metal off except for his sword and dagger that he held close to his body at all times. Then he began ranting while getting everything ready for sleep. "You could stand to keep your mouth shut sometimes, you ever heard that before? Your mouth is 'gonna get you in more trouble than my sword will you. If I'd knew you'd be this much of a pain in my arse I'd never planned on taking' you to that mad family of yours-"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""They're barely my family-"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""They're your family quite enough, aye," Sandor interrupted, just as Kaesar had done to him. They both fell quiet for a moment before Sandor laid down onto the thick pelt he had sprawled on the ground, his body undoubtedly being able to hold his warmth. Kaesar on the other hand just scrunched up her nose and went to lay on the other side of the tree with her back turned to her captor. When the cold from the ground reached her already freezing frame, her whole body instinctively curled into a ball and a cold gasp escaped her lips as a shiver ran up her spine, spreading out into the whole of her body. She looked over her shoulder to Sandor who was staying completely still as if he could feel no cold. Maybe he couldn't. Maybe all his hate and bitterness shielded him from that sort of thing. Kaesar was stubborn though, determined to warm herself up. For a short while, she was able to convince her and her body that it wasn't that cold, and a certain calmness crept upon the world. Her eyes closed, and she fell into a light slumber that lasted for about an hour before the damned horse named Stranger huffed loudly in its sleep, and Kaesar was woken, colder than ever./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The tired blonde sat up straight, wrapping her pale arms around herself in a vain attempt to regain some of her warmth. It was dark all around her, the only thing lighting up being her ocean blue eyes. One of the few traits that weren't Lannister. The one thing that gave her away. You have your mother's eyes had never been a more devastating thing to hear. Kaesar glanced to the other side of the tree, where a certain sleeping giant laid. Not a sound came from him, which was refreshing. Men and women alike made so much noise in their sleep./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As if the Gods had read her thoughts again, as they seemed to do quite often, a small sound escaped Sandor Clegane's mouth. He turned to his side, and after a moment he turned again, repeating the routine until he laid flat on his back. Kaesar had never seen him so restless, and only now she realized she had never seen him asleep. She always fell asleep before him, and maybe there was a reason for that. She stood up, slowly sneaking over to Stranger who was standing, sleeping. She silently ruffled through the bags that stood by the horse, careful as to not make any sounds. But her body deceived her, and a shiver overcame her frame which made her hands twitch, and rustling sounds shot out of the /"You're as stupid as you look if you think I have anything to steal," a far too familiar raspy voice said. He didn't move, he didn't even open his eyes, or so Kaesar guessed because she couldn't really see anything in the dark. "Now sleep."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I can't. I'm going to turn into an ice block if I lay there for another minute," she complained, though not with as much force as she'd like. "I've got no furs and I'm not thick enough to hold my own warmth."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Sleep," Sandor demanded lazily, whilst Kaesar groaned./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Fine!" she declared loudly, which made Stranger wake up in an instant. She paid the tall horse no attention, as she instead walked over to where the scarred man was with intent, and practically threw herself down beside him. "You've got furs, you've got warmth and you want me to sleep. This is your doing."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""As long as you shut up I can't be bothered with what you're doing," he said, putting one arm under his head and the other over his eyes. Kaesar turned her full front to his body. She noticed a number of things in that instant. For one she was already soaking up the warmth from the furs pressing softly against her and the natural warmth oozing out of the body lying beside her. He smelled of blood and sweat and ale and fatigue and she couldn't help but think how unfamiliar those smells were to her. Although she lived in King's Landing, the town that smelled the worst in all of Westeros, she never really left the castle. She was used to petals and rich summer wines from Dorne and small pastries and soaps in a million different scents. No, these new smells weren't familiar, but they weren't bad at all. She had hated nearly every day in King's Landing, and so the smells of soap and flowers made her sick to her stomach, reminding her of false families and hateful sisters. Of sheep amongst the common folk and snakes amongst the riches, which were things she would never think to miss. And she didn't./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Her father was a tyrant. Powerful and cunning, yes, but also sinister and unloving. He had hated her for her eyes, although Kaesar had been made because of her father's mistake. But yes, it was her fault. It all was. Her lovely sister certainly thought so. Kaesar could still see Cersei's vengeful smirk as she ruled through her son, who never loved Kaesar either. Jaime and Tyrion were other stories. Kaesar's forever faithful, tall, and handsome brother had never had anything against his dear half-sister. He was ever so tolerant. And Tyrion, arguably as much as a disappointment as Kaesar had been when she came into the world. Both siblings born into despair, one a whoring, ale-loving dwarf of a disappointment, and the other one a bastard. At least Tyrion was all Lannister./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"But now, when she was with her captor, she was freer than she'd ever been. And she thought of this as she snuggled closer to Sandor, her nose buried in his side and her hand warming themselves up almost shoved up under his back. He said nothing, did nothing, and neither did she. And they fell into a slumber that lasted just until the first light broke./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Kaesar woke up to a hard truth as her body was yanked upward, her thin dress being ripped with intent. She smelled the cheap ale oozing from whoever was disturbing her, and she heard the laughter of different men, none of them Sandor. The sun shone aggressively into her eyes that she was trying to open, as well as trying to open her mouth, but a rough hand was closing it tightly. She suddenly realized she was in danger. Her skin was exposed to the cool air, and she felt hands going from her neck to her stomach, intently moving toward her thighs. She thrashed and clawed at anything she could get her hands on, but her disoriented eyes couldn't focus on anything around her./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Think we've got ourselves a little dirty lady, boys!" snarled a man with a rat-like voice uncomfortably close to Kaesar's ear. She felt the hand over her mouth press even tighter down on her, which she responded to with a bite she had to strain to achieve, and the result was her mouth tasting the metal of the blood now in and around her mouth. Rat Voice didn't seem bothered by it. Kaesar began being able to see, the sun not blinding her any longer. Rat Voice was the one holding her, trying to rip her dress all the way off from behind. Two men stood by Stranger, looking through the small bags by the horse. They're as stupid as they look if they think we have anything to steal, Kaesar thought to herself, thrashing wildly in Rat Voice's arms, scratching at his hands until they drew blood and kicking his legs until he threw her on the ground in annoyance./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Get the bitch under control, we don't have the time for this," a shaggy, brown-haired young man said, rummaging through a small bag hidden away under the limited food and water; Kaesar's satchel. As she was about to protest, Rat Voice got up on top of her, roaming his hands all over her rejecting body. Her eyes weren't focusing on him, much to his dismay, but rather on what the brown-haired man was fishing up from her satchel. A golden pendant, which the thief looked overly ecstatic over until he turned it over. His eyes widened and his smile disappeared as he saw what was engraved in the pendant, and he lifted her head to meet her blue eyes. The other man by the brunette's side snatched the pendant from his hand in confusion, looking equally as surprised when he realized what it was./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""We need to leave," said the man who now had the pendant. He had white hair, although he looked too young to have it./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Boe, get off her," the brunette said and Rat Voice stopped what he was doing, sighing as if he was deeply annoyed by the whole ordeal. "Why?" he asked uninterestedly, still on top of the blonde bastard. Kaesar's heart stopped beating for a moment, going from victim to someone who suddenly had a bit of power over these three./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Ignoring Rat Voice, the brunette turned his full attention to Kaesar. "Where'd you steal this?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm no thief," she said with clarity in her voice. She held steady eye contact with the brunette, her head in an incredibly uncomfortable position, though taking note of Sandor's dagger that laid solemnly by the tree close to her. He had taken his sword to wherever he had gone. Fantastic timing. She was telling herself she could easily talk herself out of the situation. Do exactly what Tyrion had taught her, and if that didn't work, opt for the Jaime solution./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You're not.." the white-haired man trailed off and Kaesar tried looking tough, although it was hard whilst being half-naked and with a man on top of her./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""A Lannister?" she finished his question for him, raising an eyebrow challengingly. "I am. So you better leave or I'll let the King deal with you." The brunette and white-haired man stood up slowly from where they had crouched by the bags and dropped the pendant in the grass. Kaesar let a breath out of relief, not being able to believe her dumb luck. Just as she was thinking about said dumb luck, Rat Voice, who was still very much on top of her, grasped her chin with his rough fingers, twisting her face towards his, and stared skeptically into her eyes./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You're no Lannister," he said and Kaesar's heart dropped into her stomach, her breath hitched in her throat. "Lannisters got green eyes. I learned that as a kid, and you ain't got green eyes, girl."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I am! I swear, my nephews the King, and the Queen regent is my sister, now let me go or I swear-" her desperate pleading was cut short when a hand flew over her cheek which emitted a sound that made her right ear ring. Her cheek stung, and tears welled up her eyes./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""The Queen Regent, the Kingslayer, and the Imp. So you must be.." the brunette started, walking over to Kaesar and looking down upon her. "The Bastard. You're no Lannister. But you'll be priced as one over at Pentos." That set a natural instinct off in Kaesar, who had been desperately trying to discreetly get the knife from under the tree. Her fingertips grazed the blade without the men noticing, and as soon as Rat Voice went to make a gross move on her again, she grasped the knife and plunged it into the man hovering above her. The brunette and the white-haired man stepped back in shock as blood splattered all over Kaesar, and Rat Voice fell to the side, clutching his now punctured neck./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He sputtered for a few moments, before finally dying. Kaesar gagged, blood covering the whole of her face and chest, and she wasn't able to smell anything else. Clutching Sandor's knife in her shaking hands, she forced herself to crawl away from the scene with her torn dress hanging loosely around her mostly naked body. Her stomach churned due to the smell and she had to restrain herself so as to not release her stomach acid everywhere. Her body ached from the previous pressure, and her knees hurt from repeatedly being scraped on the rough ground, but she kept crawling. But only until she felt arms wrap around her and throw her onto her back. She didn't know which one of the men did it, but she cut one of them while swinging wildly with the knife, evidenced by a searing grunt. One of the men yelled something that Kaesar wasn't able to focus on, and the other walked toward her with purpose and long strides. Her breathing quickened and she held the knife out in front of her with shaky hands./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Stay back!" She tried to demand but it came out as a plea instead. The man barely seemed to hear her, or the more likely scenario was that he just didn't care for her commands, and Kaesar's whole body shook. She couldn't hold the knife anymore. How useless she felt when the knife fell from her hands and a loud whimper escaped her lips. When her ever-faithful brother Jaime had talked to her about the battle and the war, he had talked about the adrenaline and the absolute battle fever that took over a person.. she felt none of it. Well, then again, this wasn't a real battle. It was barely a fight. But Kaesar still felt beaten, and only beaten. She took short, shaky breaths knowing she wouldn't be able to fight him anymore./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You little bastard bitch," she heard the man growl. She closed her eyes, knowing she wouldn't survive this unfortunate encounter. And it was as if the Gods had heard her again because she expected to feel a stab through her chest, but instead, she heard a pained grunt and she opened her eyes. The gnarly sight of a great sword impaling the thief covered her sight and she sat in shock. The other thief, whom Kaesar hadn't quite noticed under the ordeal, emitted a series of different curse words when his friends' spluttering body fell to the ground./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Nonononono- I'm sure we can work-" the man said in a hurried voice as he fell backward. Kaesar looked from his desperate, sweating face to the killer who was charging at the now-very-small man. The Hound. Looking like a raging dog, plunging his sword through the man so redness covered Kaesar's eyesight and she closed her eyes, clutching herself tight. She hadn't realized she had begun crying hard. She heard the squishy yet crunchy sound of a sword being pulled out of a still-warm body, whilst she removed her clutching hands from her body to her bloody face. She realized she had not been harmed doing the encounter, but quickly thought of how much she would have been if she hadn't been rescued./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Bird," Clegane called when he was done checking for more danger, "why didn't you bloody shout?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Kaesar wiped away salty tears and ironed blood, opening her red-blue eyes to stare in disbelief at the tall man. She said nothing but hugged herself closer, and it seemed Sandor realized that the girl was practically naked./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""We'll go to a town," he finally said, although hesitantly. "Should be one nearby. Not a man can know who you are, you'll be getting a new name." He started packing the horse, barely minding the half-naked crying girl who sat trembling on the grass. Or at least he pretended not to. "And we'll avoid any more bloody thieves. Don't need the attention. The trip should be fucking smooth from now on."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I don't want to go home."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"A small silence fell over the camp, and Sandor Clegane's rough hands stopped in their tracks. It didn't take long for them to regain their pace, and he sheathed his unnamed sword and he put the last things in the bags that hung on Stranger's sturdy body. Next, Sandor went to Kaesar who flinched when his arms wrapped around her and lifted her up. She didn't even have to hold onto him for support. Instead, she held onto the little fabric she had left and stayed as far away from Sandor's body as possible. She could feel his warmth and a hand on her leg and another on her back, carrying her like a bride. She felt like anything but a bride, though. He had mentioned a town nearby that they would've normally avoided, but they would most likely find hospitality from the townsfolk. And if not, we'll just take what we bloody have to, Sandor had said, and Kaesar had kept quiet. She couldn't quite comprehend how he was able to merrily go by his day knowing he had taken lives. But then again, she had never seen him happy. Not really. So he might still bear the scars of all the souls he had stolen, or maybe all the murdering and hurting had made him as cold and evil as he had been leading on. The trip wasn't very long. It only took half a day, and even though the duo had Stranger, Sandor still carried Kaesar himself, which she was very grateful for. She didn't want to know how it felt to ride a horse on a bare arse. Kaesar realized quickly that they were going to a lively town. She could hear noise, positive ones she thought, from the center, and when she and Sandor arrived at a narrow opening to a cozy tavern front, she was greeted with many sights. Musicians and performers by the square and drunkards and prostitutes by the tavern, close enough to smell, but they didn't seem to notice the newcomers. Sandor grumbled under his breath, clearly not happy with having to interact with any of the people surrounding him. A big lady in a revealing dress stepped out of the tavern bursting with laughter, but it went away as quickly as it came when she saw the burnt man, Sandor Clegane, standing with an absolute unit of a horse by his side and an exposed, bloody girl in his arms./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You're new, aren't cha?" She asked gleefully, yet with a skeptic and slightly worried look on her face. The blood on Kaesar likely spooked her, but she seemed to try and be as indifferent as possible. "You need a place to put yer horse, or-" she began, but was interrupted by the man who held Kaesar./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""My wife and I were attacked," he said in his gruff voice which sent chills down the blonde's spine. Wife. It would probably be the most believable cover story, but it still did something funny with Kaesar's head. The lady's face turned sad as she whispered seven hells under her breath while hurrying around a small fence and over to the pair. "She's hurtin'," Sandor said unenthusiastically, "we'll need clothes. And a place for the horse."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""My gods, of course!" the woman exclaimed, swerving around the couple to pat the gigantic horse with a smile on her face, muttering encouraging words which Kaesar couldn't hear. She took the horse, but not without an "if anyone tries to steal it they'll lose a fucking hand" from Sandor. The lady accepted the threat, bound the horse a safe place behind the tavern and guided the couple through it. The tavern was not full, but there were a few drunk men sitting in the dark corners of the small space. Whores sat by the bar, unbothered, presumably not having anyone at the tavern sober enough to bed. But it was nice and warm and Kaesar laid comfortably in Sandors arms. He must have gotten tired, but he didn't let it show. The blood on Kaesar didn't seem to make the big woman uneasy, which probably said a lot about the small town. But nonetheless, it was a place to stay for a while. The couple got showed to a room with a double-sized bed in the corner and a bath in the other, and even though Kaesar grew up with lords and ladies and tubs made of gold, the welcoming scent of ale and wholeness overcame her as she was reluctantly placed on the bed. The woman grabbed a piece of cloth and a bucket of water and sat down in front of the unsmiling blonde. "Savages, the lot of them," she finally said as she dipped the cloth in the water and began scrubbing blood and filth off of Kaesar's feet, moving upward. A small thank you slipped from her sore lips./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""She speaks!" the tavern woman exclaimed merrily, and Kaesar couldn't contain her smile. A wave of relaxation washed over her as the warmth from the cloth went from her feet and spread to the rest of her. She wrapped a fur around her that laid on the bed, hiding her exposed body./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Ye don't need to wash her, she's not a bloody princess," Sandor said, which earned a glare from Kaesar. It's you who is making me royalty again, dog. Kaesar immediately felt guilty for even thinking it, but her nicknames and thoughts disappeared when the woman laughed loudly./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You two have been married a long time, have ya?" she asked in between chuckles, "I'd thought of you as newlyweds, that youngness in you," she gestured to Kaesar and afterward to Sandor, with a cocked eyebrow and a cheeky grin, "well, you not so much. You noble people marry the young birds to quite old people, don't cha?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Something dropped in Kaesars stomach. Noble people. She wondered if the woman could possibly know that Kaesar was indeed the Queen regent's sister? No, she couldn't. The woman must have sensed the tension that arose in the room after her comment, both Kaesar and Sandor visibly nervous, Sandor with his hand on the hilt of his sword, because the lady cracked a smile and kept washing, clearly not intimidated./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You aren't fooling anyone with that armor of yours," she said, glancing at Sandor. "Look out for thieves. We've got a lot of them."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Like the ones who attacked us," said Sandor dismissively, trying to stir the conversation away from the fact that he was transporting a Lady to King's Landing. She didn't answer and a short silence fell over the room./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What's your name?" Kaesar decided to ask, as her thighs were now being cleaned. Sandor grunted, presumably believing she was feigning the niceness. It didn't matter though, as the woman looked up at the blonde bastard, a proud gleam in her eye./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Barbenna," she said, and Kaesar smiled at her whilst Sandor stood silently in the opposite corner. He had moved away without the girl and the woman noticing. "And you, my Lady?" Kaesar didn't let her panic show. Sandor was just about to be quick and big-mouthed before she replied without a change in her face./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Cassana Clegane of house Lantell," she said, and Barbenna nodded solemnly. Kaesar remembered meeting her supposed distant relatives of house Lantell when she was little. And she figured that the chance of escaping the Hound wasn't big enough to risk being murdered by these townsfolk by letting them know her true family name. Although her last name wasn't the same as the rest of her kin, most people still knew the first name of the bastard daughter of Tywin Lannister. Kaesar locked eyes with Sandor as Barbenna got to washing her pale shoulders and neck./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What about your darling husband?" Barbenna asked Kaesar and finished washing the last of the blood off. She went to a wooden chest nearby and brought a small bunch of clothes back to the blonde./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""We'll be off in a bit," Sandor poked in, getting visibly impatient./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Can't we stay for the night, love?" Kaesar asked, laying it thick. The tall man grumbled under his breath and Barbenna laughed to herself. "Please. We'll be off in the morning. I just want to sleep in a real bed for once."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You're going to the Westerlands, are you?" Barbenna small talked to the girl while Kaesar started putting on her undergarments discreetly under the furs. She was about to answer with a smile on her face, being more than happy to meet someone actually nice and not like the damned Sandor Clegane./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Going bloody home is where we are," Sandor answered for her and Barbenna seemed annoyed at him. She was about to contort a seemingly clever response before Kaesar hopped back in and built onto the lie. The lust for dominance in the small room almost suffocated her, and all of a sudden she just wanted the encounter with the nice lady to be over./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""We've got a nice small keep back in the Westerlands, and Sandor here is a knight," she said, putting emphasis on the title Sandor so clearly disliked, but she didn't let him get a chance to say anything to defend himself, "and we thank you for your help. Is there anything we can do to repay you?" She wanted her to leave, and she wanted to sleep in the bed with pelts over her, without the hard ground beneath her, with fresh clothes on her back, and with combed hair. And she would dream herself far away from King's Landing, and her sister, and her heritage and the Hound. But the Gods were not with her./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Come join me and the others in the tavern tonight," Barbenna answered while Kaesar finished putting on her new clothes that didn't smell of dirt and sweat and tiredness. She certainly did not want to go to the tavern, and when she looked up at Sandor for a similar answer she got it. He started protesting, but Kaesar felt like she needed to do something for this kind stranger, and while she had no gold nor promises, she could easily go to the tavern with the Hound and Barbenna./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Of course. We'll be there," she said, standing up and smiling Barbenna out of the room, closing the door with a sigh. Her head fell to her hands before she spun around and faced an angry-looking Sandor Clegane./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Did those rapers take your bloody sanity when they robbed me?" he asked, unbuckling his sword and dropping it by the foot of the bed. "We should already be on the fucking road again and now you've promised the bitch-"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""She's been nothing but nice-"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Shut it. I'm reminding myself to not stop the rest of the way from now on because you can't shut your mouth." Sandor took one step with his long legs and was already dangerously close to Kaesar who stepped backward, being backed up into the wall. Tears threatened to climb her eyes, but she held them back, in hopes the scolding would be over soon./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I need to repay her somehow. I can just go to the tavern myself if you resent it so much-"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Do you think I'm a bloody idiot?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Aye," Kaesar replied mockingly, "I do."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"For a moment Kaesar almost thought he was going to hit her, and she closed her eyes instinctively. Silence fell upon the room, and when she opened her eyes again, although slowly, she saw the large man in front of her, standing quietly, as if contemplating something./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Get ready," Sandor said, turning around and taking off the rest of his armor. Kaesar couldn't help but just stand and stare for a moment. After a few seconds, he turned his head, though not looking at her./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""We're going to the tavern. Get ready."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"~~~~~~/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The tavern was filled with laughter and dancing and drinking and Kaesar had been carefully placed off to the side by her large captor. She was dressed in a simple gown made of rough fabrics, far from the kind she was used to./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Kaesar and Sandor sat across from each other in silence. Kaesar was still a little shaken from what had happened earlier that day, and Sandor was in his regular mood. Grumpy. But suddenly, without saying a word, he rose from his seat in front of her and started to leave the table./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Where are you going?" she asked, picking at her fingernails. She was unsure if the tavern had been a good idea; there were a lot of people there, all unrecognizable. She just wasn't sure if she was being looked at the same./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Food," he said, not looking at her. "And ale. And lot's of it."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Kaesar nodded, not that he could see it. Somehow, she became even more anxious when he was away from the table. She looked around the tavern, and she spotted a man with hair like tar and a great big beard, and it reminded her of King's Landing and her former King. She thought back to the great feast in Winterfell. Everything seemed so peaceful back then. There wasn't that much conflict in the realm, and Kaesar's biggest problems were her family. And yet, she couldn't help but feel a greater sense of purpose in the tavern, with these strangers./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Are you okay, love?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Kaesar was ripped from her daydream as she whipped her head to meet the eyes of the man now sitting across from her. His skin was smooth and tan, his face littered with freckles, presumably from working out in the sun. He seemed young, maybe even a year younger than Kaesar herself. She felt herself stare, puzzled./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Your eyes- I know this lot is pretty ugly, but there's no need to cry about it."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He smiled, and even though his teeth weren't completely white, his smile was comforting. Kesar giggled, and she mentally scolded herself for sounding like a little girl. She looked down, feeling warmth creep onto her face./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What's your name?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She composed herself before looking up, straightening her back, trying to feign confidence./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Kae- Cassana." She smiled. A genuine smile and she felt her shoulders relax. The boy looked at her, smiling as well, though Kaesar was unsure if it was as genuine as hers or not./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""A beautiful name. Is there a second part to it?" He asked, smirking, his freckles illuminated by the tavern lights. But before Kaesar could answer, a shadow cast itself over the table./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Clegane."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She looked up at the figure standing behind the boy. No humor was in either of their faces, as Sandor took the boy from the collar and promptly removed him from the table as if he weighed as much as a feather./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Sandor, we were only talking-"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I am so sorry, I didn't know she was married, she- she didn't tell me!" The boy interrupted and Kaesar was filled with a queasy feeling. How disappointing./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Stop acting like a cunt," was all Sandor said to the boy as he put him down with a great big push that led him to the floor. Kaesar could feel eyes being drawn to the scene, and she was sure Sandor noticed it too. Perhaps he truly did not give a fuck./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The boy scrambled away and a certain tavern woman came hurrying. Her skirts bouncing as well as her bosom as she neared the table, a great big scowl on her face. She was charging towards the petite, blonde girl, and Kaesar swore she could almost see smoke coming out of her ears./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Listen, I'm so so-"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I will not listen to another word of you noble folk!" That statement seemed to pique everyone's interest, and Kaesar could already feel people eyeing her, trying to see if she had anything valuable on her. "I take you in, bathe you- I should have left you for the thieves to take." Kaesar frowned as she thought the woman was getting pretty rude. "So get out you freakish man tree and you little whore-"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Okay, now that's just mean-" Kaesar said, but didn't get to express any more than that before a loud smash was heard. She looked over and a small man had thrown a wooden stool at Sandor. Kaesar almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity. Sandor turned toward the man and only had to take one large step toward him before he backhanded him. Hard, so hard he actually was thrown to the side. All seven hells broke loose after that. Most men at the tavern began attacking Sandor, and Kaesar stood amidst the chaos. Beer and spit and blood flew from all sides and before she knew it, a man came toward Kaesar and threw himself at her, his bodyweight knocking them both to the floor. Kaesar let out a groan as she had knocked her head into the floor hard enough to send throbbing waves through it. The man said nothing but groped around her body, first her wrists, then her fingers, and at last her throat where he found a golden necklace laced between his fingers. She shouldn't have put it on after the thieves attacked. He grinned and Kaesar, who could barely breathe because of the weight on her, could smell ale on his breath. Before she could react, the man flew off her or was rather pulled off of her, but that also made the golden pendant break from her neck, as it was still clutched in the fist of the drunken man./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Sandor threw the man to the side and grabbed Kaesar by the arm, beginning to drag her out of the tavern./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No, Sandor! My pendant- I-," Kaesar stuttered, tears in her eyes as she looked back at the now unconscious man, who held the golden lion in his hand. Sandor didn't respond, but whether it was because he did not hear, or he chose to ignore her, Kaesar did not know. The scarred man was busy pushing away angry townsfolk, whilst also trying to protect Kaesar from filthy, stealing hands. A bottle came flying and fortunately only managed to hit Sandor's leg, but it still prompted the leg to bleed profusely and made the large man growl in pain. There must have been almost 30 people in the inn. Maybe Sandor shouldn't have taken his armor off after all./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"When the pair was finally outside, Sandor grumbled something under his breath./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What?" Asked Kaesar, exasperated. ¨/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""This way," he said, dismissing her question, and began dragging her to the right, into the darkness./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""That's the wrong way- the rooms are that way-" Kaesar ushered, but Sandor said nothing. "What about your armour?" She asked. Still no answer. He just dragged her on, humping on his leg. Kaesar looked backward. She could hear shouts and she could see lights, but the pair just went on into the darkness. The mob split up, some running toward the rooms, and others coming towards the pair. Kaesar doubted they had seen which way they'd gone, but her heart still beat so hard she could feel it in her throat. She kept looking backward, thinking about her golden lion now in the hands of some filthy peasant./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Kaesar and Sandor went further, ending up in a pitch-black forest. They went slow, saying nothing. After a while, Kaesar stopped hearing the townsfolk, and she stopped seeing the lights. She was cold, though. Chills crept up her legs and arms and spread all over her body, even though her dress was of pretty thick fabric. Sandor let go of her arm, and that exact spot began feeling colder than the rest of her body. She followed close behind him, not daring to stray. Suddenly, he let out a loud groan, and his weak leg collided with the ground, placing him in a kneel. Kaesar's heart climbed up her throat as she rushed to his side, grabbing his arm to lend support./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Are you okay? Is there anything I can do? Can you stand?" Kaesar asked, frantically. He didn't answer, instead, he stood up slowly, shakingly, and she kept holding his arm even though the weight of the tall man became increasingly difficult to uphold./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm fine," he said, and immediately fell down again. Kaesar looked around, although not being able to see much in the dark. She kneeled down in front of Sandor, as she thought of what to do./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'll go look for a place we can stay," she said. He huffed and tried standing up again./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Do you think I'm a bloody idiot?" He asked as he fell down again. Kaesar let out a breath./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Aye. I do if you think I would leave you like this." There was silence for a moment. Kaesar couldn't see if Sandor was looking at her or not. "We're both going to die if we stay here." She waited for a moment, before turning around, but before she could even take a step, the grip, and warmth, of Sandor's hand returned to Kaesar's arm. She looked back at him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Don't stray too far, bird. If you can't find anything, just come back. I'll figure something out."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Kaesar nodded, and even after he had let go of her, she stood still for a moment before leaving. Still, it was dark, so she only went in one direction so she could turn around and find her way back when needed. She could feel the twigs and stones under her thin soles, but she focused on her goal. Although, the increasing cold was hard to ignore. She had to go slow, so as to not run into any trees. Her arms were stretched out in front of her, and she moved forward like a blind. Kaesar Hill had not thought she would find herself in this situation. She had not thought she would ever stray so far away from King's Landing. But she still thought it was the best decision she ever made, to run away that one fateful night. She didn't even resent Sandor for trying to take her back - although, for a moment, whilst searching in the dark forest she contemplated just running away. She didn't want to go home. But still, something beckoned her to stay with Sandor. She just didn't know what yet. Her thoughts were interrupted by her stretched-out hands colliding with wood. But a hollow sound erupted from it. She felt around, concluding it was some sort of hut. That would do. She turned all the way around to face the opposite direction and began walking back to the wounded Hound. She could almost remember all the places where trees would block her path, and she floated past them, much faster than before. Before she reached Sandor Clegane, she could hear his heavy breathing./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""It's just me," she warned, and she could almost hear the relief in his sigh, as if he didn't think she would return to him. She approached him slowly./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You find anything?" He sounded exhausted./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yes. Well, I didn't have a chance to look inside. But it's a place to stay." She knelt beside him, snaking her arm under his, lending him support. He stood slowly on his good leg. Kaesar didn't show how much she was straining to hold the man - he weighed at least twice as much as her./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""This way."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The pair fell into a tense silence as they slowly made their way forward. Kaesar could feel Sandor straining to hold his own weight as much as possible so as to not crush the much smaller girl./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm sorry," Kaesar said, quietly, looking forward./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""For what." Sandor didn't ask, he almost demanded it, although not harshly./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""For making you go to the tavern. It was stupid."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"There was a moment of silence. "Aye, it was," he answered and Kaesar felt a pit growing in her stomach. She felt awful. He made a small sound, which was very uncharacteristic of him as if he wanted to say something more. But the silence grew yet again, and the rest of the slow walk was with mouths closed. It felt like a lifetime, but finally, Kaesar's outstretched hand touched the wood of the seemingly small house. They both let out a sigh of relief, though for different reasons./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Sandor leaned up against the wall as Kaesar patted around the house looking for a door. When she finally found it, she took a deep breath and pushed it open slowly. The first thing she noticed was the smell of pinewood and dust - it didn't seem like anyone had been there for a while. It was not like the houses Kaesar was used to - it was small for a whole house, the rough size of her chambers back in King's Landing. A small bed was placed alongside one wall, a table with a single chair on the other side of the room, and at the far back a hearth was placed. Kaesar walked back out, stretched her arms out, and followed Sandor's breathing. Her hands found his torso and he tensed up for a moment. Kaesar felt around him and lent him her physical support once again. She guided him inside and sat him on the bed, closing the door behind them. She ached for warmth, so she went to the desk where she felt around for a candle. Please, she thought to herself, as her hand collided with a standing candle, almost knocking it over. Beside it laid a tinderbox, and Kaesar lit the candle. The single flame made the whole house bright and it took a second for the blonde girl's eyes to adjust to the light. A sound escaped her lips as she smiled, big, and looked back at the scarred man behind her. He didn't look nearly as happy, as all his attention was on his leg. Kaesar glanced at the hearth before deciding to take a step closer to Sandor./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Let me help you with that," she said, and he grunted./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""It's fine. Find me some brew or somethin'," he said, and she nodded solemnly and began searching the room. It didn't take her long before she found a couple half-full bottles of something behind the bed. She crouched down and picked one up, her nails clicking against the dusty glass. As soon as she removed the cork, the smell of strong home-brewed spirit hit her nose./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Seven hells," she uttered, as she put the cork back in instinctively. She stood back up and brought the bottle to the wounded Sandor Clegane, who had already rolled up his pant leg and held a tiny bit of water on it, so as to not use up all of the water they had left./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Here." She handed him the bottle, and he didn't even sniff it before taking a big gulp of it, swallowing it whole./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Fucking vile," he said. Kaesar was certain she could feel the vibrations in Sandor's voice work its way up her body, she was that close to him. With that thought, she took a step back and crouched down, tearing a large piece of the bottom of her dress off. Sandor looked at her, seemingly puzzled. Kaesar handed him the cloth./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""For bandaging."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The hound nodded, but said nothing as he took the cloth and began working on his wound. The glass bottle had cut him deep, and Kaesar could feel his annoyance that he let it happen. She lingered for a moment before making her way to the hearth getting on her knees. Lighting a fire was one of the only survival skills she knew. Of course, growing up in a castle didn't call for many situations where you had to skin a deer or hunt rabbits. But lighting a fire she knew. Simple skills like that had to be learned when one was constantly cold and didn't feel like calling for a handmaiden in the early mornings. It was a routine, like a dance she elegantly made her way through./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm sorry."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"If the house and woods weren't so very quiet, Kaesar probably wouldn't have been able to hear the apology. She stopped in her tracks, and it took her a moment of contemplating before proceeding with the fire-starting. Her back was turned to him, but she could imagine him growing frustrated when it took her a while to answer./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""For what?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"There was a silence again, and Kaesar looked at the small flame she had been able to create. She smiled to herself as a slow stream of warmth began flowing toward her. She loved the flames, the fire. She could stare at it forever./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""For being away when the rapers came."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Kaesar looked back at Sandor, slowly, and found that was looking directly at her. It almost startled her. Sandor had sad eyes, Kaesar had noticed it long before she ever talked to him. She'd always known there was something deeper, maybe even tender about him. She could gather all that information just from his eyes, although she had grown up with conflicting feelings about him, she felt that way about everyone loyal to her family. Then again, she was always loyal to them too, prior to her escape./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You couldn't have known." She stayed by the hearth until she was sure the fire wasn't going to go out. She could feel the tension in the room rose as the flames did, and Kaesar suddenly felt insensitive about not thinking about his obvious disdain for fire. She stood up, taking a few cautious steps toward the Sandor. He had bandaged his leg up and was sitting on the edge of the bed, as Kaesar positioned herself in front of him. She thought back to the night before the thieves came, and realized that was the last time they had slept./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You're very restless when you're asleep," Kaesar said, standing only two feet away from Sandor./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You're very annoying when you're awake," he retorted, looking straight at her. Normally his gaze would make her look away, but they had been through too much to back down now./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I have them too, you know," Kaesar said, noticing how deathly grey his eyes really were, "the nightmares."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Sandor glanced over at the lit-up hearth before locking eyes with Kaesar again. "You don't seem too bothered 'bout the fire," he said./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm not. It's not those kinds of nightmares," she said, and when he didn't say anything, just kept looking at her, she elaborated, "I dream of smoke-filled rooms and of insincerity. I dream of Cersei most of all. She'll kill me when you take me back. Especially because I lost the pendant." The golden lion pendant. Cersei had one just like it. She had always shamed Kaesar for having one, and now she knew that Cersei would shame her for not having it./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""That fucking pendant," he muttered, "and that fucking family of yours."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""If you have that much disdain for them, why are you taking me back?" Kaesar asked, not budging. Their conversation had become a face-off. Sandor scowled./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""It's not my place to question them. I'm just a loyal dog, remember?" After a short silence, Sandor placed his hands on Kaesar's hips as if to push her away from him and stand up, but Kaesar placed her hands on his shoulders and kept him down./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You're not supposed to walk on that leg of yours, remember?" she retorted, now quieter than before. None of them moved for a moment. The heat from the hearth had spread to the room, now fully warming them up. Heat rose to Kaesar's face, and she wasn't sure if it was from the hearth or the hands on her hips. They had gotten closer together, now merely a foot away from each other. Sandor Clegane's hands were very lightly touching Kaesar now, almost as if he was afraid he would burn himself on her. His fingers slid down, and his hands landed on his own thighs, which Kaesar stood in the middle of. Kaesar's hands likewise retreated lightly, but before her touch had left him completely, a rough hand flew up to grab her wrist. Although not as hard as he normally did. Kaesar gasped very lightly. The whole house was completely silent, only slow breaths could be heard. The pair looked at each other, still, and Kaesar searched Sandor's grey eyes, whilst he searched her blue ones./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Before she could assess the situation, Kaesar had put one leg on each side of Sandor and was straddling him, while he had let go of her wrist. Kaesar's mouth was slightly agape, as she was breathing heavier than before. The scarred man, merely inches from her face, had his mouth closed, but let out slow, heavy breaths. Kaesar had never seen him that close up before. His hair was matted, like hers. His skin wasn't as gruff as she had expected it to be - he looked younger up close. Or perhaps it was just the situation that brought a more youthful side out of him. And lastly, there was his scar. Kaesar slowly lifted her fingers and carefully traced them over the surface of the left side of his face. He didn't say anything, he didn't even shift. Sandor just stared straight at Kaesar's face, while she admired his burns. Amazing what fire can do./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Sandor's hands had gone from his own thighs, which were currently occupied, and settled on Kaesar's. When Kaesar was done inspecting the burn mark, she let her hand settle on the back of his neck. She felt his dark hair for a moment. Her heart started beating, and she shifted so she got closer to him, almost her whole front pressed against his. He was stoic, still, and Kaesar couldn't read his expression./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Their lips were nearly grazing./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Kaesar couldn't distinguish between her own breathing and his. She tried to control it, but it was nearly impossible./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Don't hold your breath, bird," Sandor said, and Kaesar looked him in the eyes. As if on cue, her breath hitched, and for a moment they both were breathless, looking into each other's /But after that short moment, everything went fast./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Sandor's hand made its way up Kaesar's torso, up to the back of her head, and buried itself in her long, blonde hair. Finally, their lips met, and their breathing grew heavy. Kaesar was surprised by the taste, and tenderness of the kiss. She began picking up the pace, and Kaesar tried her hardest to get as close to Sandor as possible, for a moment thinking she would disappear into him. Her hands roamed his chest and sides and back as she slowly began grinding, and a small whimper escaped her lips as they explored her captor's. As they were lost in the moment, Kaesar felt something between her legs, something hard. Her breath hitched again as she pulled herself from the kiss for a moment, which seemed to clap Sandor back to reality./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""We should probably-" he began in a low growl, but before he could keep talking, Kaesar's hands were already down between his legs, untying the lace of his pants, which made him quiet again. His eyes were fixed on hers, which almost made Kaesar shy at that moment, and she looked down at the now untied pants. Her breathing heavy, she gasped lightly at what she saw./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Sandor Clegane moved his rough hand from the back of Kaesar Hill's neck and used it to cup her chin, forcing her to look at him. His face was painted with an expression Kaesar hadn't seen him display before./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I-" Kaesar was about to say something she hadn't herself thought through before she was interrupted by another, way deeper kiss. His lips were soft against hers, and she lost herself for a moment, before being pulled into reality again when she felt growth between her legs. Kaesar snaked her hand between her legs and moved her undergarments out of the way, as well as pulling her torn skirt upward. Her eyes were still firmly set on Sandor's, as they stopped kissing and she lifted herself up, before sitting down./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Incredibly slowly./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The whole of Kaesar's skin filled with chills, but this time not from the cold. She felt herself being filled up, and it took a while for her to make it all the way down. Kaesar and Sandor sat still for a moment, just breathing, looking at each other. Kaesar slowly lifted her left hand to the side of Sandor's scarred face, as his hands placed themselves on each side of her waist./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Slowly, at first, Kaesar started moving up and down. Taking in everything, again and again, her pace began quickening and Sandor's grip on her tightened. Soon, they were both breathing heavily, with closed eyes, and Kaesar thought she would never be this close with another person again. She threw both her arms around his neck and hugged him as she rode him, and he instinctively placed his head on the nape of her neck, hugging her back, helping her with the pace./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Kaesar felt something build up in her stomach. A deep warmth came from her core and spread to the tips of her fingers as she could feel Sandor inside of her, sliding in and out of her, gripping her as tightly as he could. She moaned involuntarily, which seemed to make him go even faster. The warmth in her stomach kept growing./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Sandor, I-" she whispered but wasn't able to continue as something erupted inside of her, absolutely covering her with chills and a loud moan escaped her tender lips, which only beckoned for the Hound to keep going./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Kaesar grabbed a fistful of his hair gently, as she moaned into Sandor's ear. She could feel his pace growing quicker, as it was not her who was controlling it anymore. She could hear his breath growing faster, his grip on her body tightening, and immense pleasure rushed over her still-clothed body./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Without warning, a new kind of warmth filled Kaesar to the brim, and Sandor's pace slowed to a halt, his grip loosening slightly. As they sat in that position, embracing, on the edge of the bed with Sandor still inside Kaesar, they were completely silent, except for both of their heavy breathing which seemed to sync up./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"And at that moment, Kaesar Hill and Sandor Clegane were one./p