Kissed By Fire

Author's note : Thank you for the reviews/follows/favorites. Those are the only ways for me to know if you like this story, so don't hesitate to review/follow/favorite if you do :) Here is the third chapter! Enjoy :)

English is not my first language.

*Warning : Violence against a woman, mention of rape.


Chapter 3

Burning [love] hate

The walk through the corridors went in silence, but for the sound of the Hound's boots hitting the marble floor. Just before they turned the corner leading to Joffrey's bedchamber, Sansa stopped. She was losing her courage. She didn't fear dying; she feared the way it would happen, for she knew Joffrey would make it the most painful death possible for her.

Sandor came to stand a few inches behind her.

'' Do you think he's going to kill me? '' Sansa whispered, her trembling voice betraying her sudden fear. The silence that followed was answer enough. Sansa's eyes filled with unbidden tears before she asked in a small voice: '' Do you know how? ''

'' I… ''

Sansa waited, but nothing more came.

'' Sandor? ''

For answer, he placed a warm hand on her shoulder, and took a deep shivering breath.

'' The King spent the whole day pestering about how he wanted your head on a spike before dawn. Cersei strangely seemed against it. She took him apart to talk to him, but we all know that what Joffrey wants… ''

'' Joffrey gets, '' Sansa finished.

'' Aye, no matter what his mother says. He is King, after all. ''

His hatred for the boy was more than obvious in his voice. Yet, at that exact moment, Sansa needed comfort more than angry words. On an impulse, she turned around and threw herself in Sandor's arms. After a moment of hesitation, Sandor placed his hands loosely on her back, then his arms came around her completely and he engulfed her in the best hug she'd ever had in a very long while. She felt warm and safe, as she always felt in his presence.

She was happy he didn't wear his armor in her presence, although it didn't do anything to make him look less imposing. Without the cold thing between them, she could feel his comforting heat. It seemed to be the only thing that could warm her body, and a tiny part of her heart that wasn't dead yet.

After what seemed like an eternity, yet not long enough, Sana gently pulled away. Sandor let her, his hands now resting only lightly on her waist. He had never touched her that way – she had never dared to embrace him either. Many things had changed.

Sansa raised her hand and cupped his cheek; the burned one. She had spent the year feeling safer when that face was around, so she had stopped fearing it. In the flickering light of a torch burning near, she could see his eyes were shining from barely contained anger, but there was also a deep sadness in them. He was feeling powerless.

The sight made something stir in her, and convinced her that what she was about to do next was the right thing to do. Swallowing her tears, Sansa stood on the tip of her toes and placed a gentle kiss on Sandor's lips for the fist time. Only now did she realized that she'd always been curious as to how he would feel, if his mouth would be as cruel as his words, and if the ruined side would disgust her. It was nothing like she had imagined, she thought to herself.

On the contrary, his lips were warmer and fuller than Joffrey's, although a little chapped. The burned side didn't bother her at all; to her utter surprise. She even relished in the feeling! And there was no cruelty in his touch. He leaned into her, but didn't crush her, and his lips moved ever so gently against her, as if he was afraid to hurt her or scare her away.

A pleasant shiver ran down Sansa's spine, and she wished this moment would go on forever. When she felt his fingers grip her hips a little harder, she knew she had to go, or else she would stay in his arms, taking the risk of them being discovered in this treacherous act, and then they would both die. She didn't want that, not for him anyway. She cared for him too much.

Her heart breaking in two as she did so, she abruptly turned around, and disappeared to meet her fate. Her only regret, she thought as she pushed the door and met Joffrey's impatient gaze, was that she hadn't done it before.

Sandor was left standing in the corridor, stunned. His hand was raised, as if trying to catch his little bird, but she was already gone.

.

Pain.

It was all Sansa could feel. Her body, her thoughts, her soul, her heart… Everything was pain. Her throat and her lungs ached from screaming. Her sides were hurting from being kicked. Her most private parts were on fire and possibly bleeding from being forcefully invaded so many times. The delicate pieces of skin where the whip had snapped felt numb.

Sansa was laying on the ground, curled on herself in a vain attempt to stop the pain. A fire was burning in the heart close to her, but she couldn't even feel its heat. Joffrey was circling her, all the while spitting insults. Sansa's ears rang too much from the last blow to her head that had sent her sprawled on the ground, thus making her blessedly deaf to his words.

Through the curtain of her hair, Sansa saw Joffrey stopping in front of her. He didn't have the whip in his hands anymore. He crouched down and pushed her hair away from her face. His hairless torso was heaving under his nightshirt. Looking in his green eyes, Sansa noticed that they were glinting with something new. A new idea, a new game of his that made him happy, and made her suffer.

Joffrey moved out of her sight, and she felt more than she heard the floor creak behind her. Her ears stopped ringing just as he was starting to speak.

'' You know, Sansa, I've always thought you were pretty, '' he said, tracing a line on her shoulder with his cold finger. Sansa shivered. His hands were never warm.

Unlike Sandor's.

'' A pretty face on a pretty body, but with an empty head, '' Joffrey kept blathering, completely oblivious to his wife's thoughts. ''Oh, I didn't need you to be clever. The only part of your body I needed for my purpose isn't visible for the eye unless I kneel between your legs. For me to be able to spill my seed inside of you, I needed something pretty to look at. Now, we both know that it was useless, '' he said sourly. Then, he laughed mockingly before spitting on her bare back. '' Who knew you could fall lower than you already are? First you were a stupid girl, then a traitor's daughter, and now… HA! Now, you're not even a true woman! What use is a pretty face for me if the body wearing it can't even bear my heir? ''

Sansa tensed at his words. His words sounded like a final speech, a speech one gives before killing his enemy, like Oberyn Martell had done before killing the Mountain. He had forced him to confess the rape and murder of Elia Martell and her children, before driving his poisoned spear in Clegane's heart. That didn't stop the Mountain from killing him before dying himself.

After the fight, Tyrion Lannister, who had been accused of attempting to kill his nephew and king on his wedding day, had vanished. Lord Varys had also gone missing after that day. Sansa remembered that day very well. She had never seen something so gore in her young life. Ellaria Sand's horrible cry still haunted her nightmares sometimes. What had marked her the most, though, was the twisted pleased look on the Hound's scarred face. His booming laughter had scared everyone around him – everyone except for his little bird. Needless to say that he'd also gotten awfully drunk that night.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Sansa heard Joffrey moving behind her. The fear of not knowing what was going to happen spread in Sansa's blood like wildfire. She tried to turn around. She had to know when the time would come, when she would be free to remember the people she loved. Unfortunately, the movement caused her so much pain that she had to give up right away. She felt like sobbing from despair, but only a weak whimper escaped her lips.

'' Tomorrow, '' Joffrey went on behind her, '' the High Septon will publicly pronounce our marriage invalid in the eyes of the Gods. Only then will I be free to have you executed for treason. You lied to me. You told me once you would give me strong sons! It was all a plot to stay here and become queen. The King's Whore, the people will call you. The bards will sing about your downfall, about how you seduced your King to get power and glory, but you couldn't keep it a secret forever. Your womb can't quicken, which is impossible seeing how my own father was able to make so many children with so different women. It's your doing! It could be sorcery… ''

As he spoke, he became more and more breathless, as when he was pleasing himself. Maybe he was. Yet, right now, Sansa was past caring.

Tomorrow, she thought. Tomorrow, I will be free too.

Then, she felt Joffrey's breath close to her ear as he whispered,

'' Tell me truly, Sansa. Are you a witch? ''

What?!

'' A maegi, like the Dothrakis call them? Do you use bloodmagic to make your face look pretty in order to seduce men? ''

Seven help me, he is gone completely mad!

Not knowing where she found the strength to do so, a small laughter that sounded more like a sob escaped Sansa's lips.

'' We'll see if you can still laugh after this! ''

He seemed to reach behind her, and Sansa felt his hot breath close yet again. She closed her eyes tightly, readying herself for the pain. It didn't come right away. The warmth of Joffrey's breath seemed to increase, until it became almost unbearable.

What is he do…?!

An excruciating pain of which she'd never felt before, nor even imagined she could feel, exploded on her left shoulder, interrupting her thoughts.

All the Seven Hells broke lose behind Sansa's eyelids as flames licked at her skin.

She screamed.

.


I know that kiss happened very soon BUT it isn't a lover's kiss, but a '' I need comfort cause I think I might die tonight in very painful circumstances '' kiss. No, they're not gonna be married in chapter five, I promise you! There are still many chapters to come, and there might be no happy ending for them... Who knows? ;)

I hope you liked it! You know how to let me know :)