Chapter 3.

Ser Thomas was about to open his mouth, most probably to object her decision, but Sansa did not allow him to speak. She was tired of his resistance, although she did not want to tell him off in front of everyone again, therefore she chose her words carefully to be as clear about her intentions as possible.

- The House of Stark owes Sandor Clegane eternal gratitude for defending two Stark ladies and that is why he will always be welcomed at Winterfell. The North remembers. – she took a deep breath. – When I visit the guest room in half an hour, I want to see Ser Sandor sitting in the bath tub or eating his chicken, with clean warm clothes on the bed and a welcoming fire at the fireplace. Ser Thomas, would you please come with me.

While she was walking away, up on the stairs leading to the Great Hall and into the Carpet Keep, where she intended to question her main warrior about the latest event, she heard Sandor Clegane laughing.

- Daring little bird… I'd prefer the preceding one.

She wondered what made him so cheerful suddenly, and she was really astonished as she had never heard him laugh, then at the next moment she realised how ambiguous and clumsily chosen her words were: I want to see Ser Sandor sitting in the bath tub. As if she had expressed her wish to see him naked. She blushed a little, feeling ashamed of herself for the slip of the tongue, but she managed to keep her calmness and did not turn around to face the laughing man.

She had seen naked men many times, not only her two husbands, Tyrion Lannister and Ramsay Bolton, but unknown soldiers and noble men with low morals as well, that was why it was not scary for her anymore. She used to be a shy and naïve girl, who had blushed when she had seen mating dogs or servants, when she had heard lecherous comments, but this Sansa Stark had gone long ago forever. However, the thought of seeing his old defender, the Hound naked… it sounded rather inappropriate and shocking. She walked with a quicker speed and soon she left his laughter behind.

In the Carpet Keep, where the stone walls were decorated with beautifully ornamented Valyrian carpets, she sat into her armchair close to the fireplace and looked at Ser Thomas curiously.

- Ser Thomas, I am really curious to know how you managed to catch Sandor Clegane? Tell me everything about it.

Ser Thomas looked a little moody after being ticked off in front of so many people but he tried not to show how hurt he was. He could not understand his Queen, Lady Stark and he knew that it was his task to fight for her and obey to her in every circumstance, without questioning, but this time, in the Hound's case, it seemed to be much harder than before.

- My lady, I was just walking on the market when I overheard a conversation between two young lads. They were talking about a mysterious man whom they saw coming out of the woods last evening. I did not care about it until one of them mentioned how badly burnt the half of the man's face had been. I was sure that it must have been the Hound. So I called some of my men and we hurried into the forest. We did not have to look for him long because he was just lying near the river, sleeping.

- Sleeping? And didn't he hear you coming? – Sansa was really surprised and she could not believe that such a dangerous man, searched by so many people all over Westeros, was just simply sleeping in front of anyone's eyes at daylight as if he had been on a lovely picnic.

- He did, that was obvious – Ser Thomas explained a little embarrassed. - He jumped up immediately, when we got about twenty metres close to him, probably he was not sleeping at all. There were a little fight but we could get him quickly.

Sansa found it really strange as well that Sandor Clegane could have been captured so easily. She had seen him fighting many times and she knew very well how wildly and smartly he had always fought. He was a true warrior, brave, merciless, fast and brutal. She had seen once how five people had attacked him and he had defeated them within a minute using only his right arm and his sword. No wonder that the late Queen Cersei had chosen him to be her son's bodyguard. If he had not run away into the woods after the Blackwater Battle, she thought, he possibly would have become King Tommen's bodyguard as well.

Sansa tried hard to hide her disbelief while keeping on making her questions. This uncommonly carelessness and surprising mercy towards his enemies were not the characteristics Sandor Clegane was always famous for. He must have some secret plans, she suspected, but what could these plans be? What was the reason behind his unusual and mysterious behaviour?

- How many people did you take with yourself?

- We were ten, my lady.

- All skilled and experienced warriors?

Ser Thomas nodded his assent to express his concord.

- Of course, my lady. I chose to bring my best fellows because Clegane has always been one of the most dangerous men.

You are perfectly right, Sansa thought, that is why I cannot comprehend how you could have survived this adventure so easily. She had a really hard time to preserve the emotionless expression on her face.

- Was anyone injured?

Ser Thomas allowed himself a little smile.

- Nothing serious, just a few scratches.

The confusion was clearly seen on her face now.

Ten people were nothing for the Hound, just a bunch of little mice, Sansa thought. And for the first time, he did not fight as fierce as he used to if her men got away this adventure unscathed, only with small injuries. The Sandor Clegane whom Ser Thomas talked about was not the one she had known for a long time.

She remembered how Sandor had almost cut someone into half with his huge sword, she heard so many stories about his brutality and his amazing physical strength, and she remembered how she had been told how he had cursed leaving the castle at the Blackwater Battle to meet King Stannis's army: "Any man dies with a clean sword, I'll rape his fucking corpse!" She still saw that kind of madness and rage in his eyes – but where were these madness and rage when her men tried to capture him? Something was wrong with this story, she felt.

- So you caught him and put him into chains. Did he say anything?

Ser Thomas pulled faces.

- Only vulgar things. Nothing that you should hear.

Sansa felt that she heard enough. She let Ser Thomas go and she stayed in the armchair thinking.

Why did Sandor Clegane come to Winterfell? Why didn't he defend himself against her men as he used to?

Were there some kind of nasty schemes in the background? That could be the case only, she thought, if he were the man of some new masters, but who could it be? There was a kind of calmness and silence all over Westeros now, the seven kingdoms were working hard to restore themselves and life had just settled back into the old routine. Or was it only an illusion? Is someone still trying to grab the Iron Throne, even now, that her brother, King Brandon is sitting on it? Is that person using Sandor Clegane for a secret plan? Who could it be when every house seemed to be satisfied with the present situation and was happy to support Bran?

I must find it out as soon as possible, she decided. I declared him as my guest because I will always owe him so much gratitude for Arya and for myself, but if he means a danger to Winterfell and to my people, and of course to Bran, he must pay for that dearly and he will leave the North in pieces. She also decided to check on him whether he was given everything she had requested.