So this chapter is out quite quickly! Thanks for the support and the reviews, lets see if we can get the reviews to 50! I was planning on releasing this next week but I've almost finished chapter 14 as it is so I decided to gift this to you, though I suppose it's me who should be receiving gifts as it's my birthday on the 8th. Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter, and there is a lot more Sandor in this. I also want your opinion on whether I should include some more adult content in this story, if not I could publish the adult stuff as a stand alone but with the same characters. I am also considering the idea of writing add-ons. Maybe for Jon Snow and Dany Targaryen. But for now I am going to focus on this! I would love your opinions so please don't be shy.

Slightlynerdy.

Wolves and Hounds.

Chapter 13.

"How will we do this Toby?"

"Quickly and quietly."

Toby moved swiftly through the forest, holding leaves and branches out of the way as Tarynn followed close behind, Tome hot on her heels. Owls made their noises in the black night, and the only light they had to shed on their path was from the moon.

Tome. Poor Tome, I wish this wasn't the case. But… I'd rather you away and safe rather than dead and buried.

They had little time; soon her father would come to her tent, probably expecting his eldest, strong minded daughter to be sobbing into the coat of her favourite creature. Instead he would see her stumbling from the woods calling for Tome, pretending that he had run off as soon as she had coaxed him from the confines of the tent. She would then accompany her father for the execution of Lady, just so that the docile wolf had someone comforting as she faded from this world, before she met with Toby again.

"How do I get rid of him?"

Toby looked back at her, sympathy set deep into his eyes, he reached out for her hand and she allowed him to take it. "Talk to him, he must have some of the same traits as you. Tome is not just some mere beast. If that fails, I'm afraid we'll have to chase him away." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and pulled her closer, his hand still tightly clasped around her own.

Tarynn nodded, looking down beside her at Tome's loping body.

I don't want him to leave me. He's a reminder of home, a great, brave reminder. And who else will I have to protect me now? What with the Hound proving me wrong, I really thought that he had it in him to abstain from his bloodlust. But apparently the opportunity to ride down a young boy was just too good to pass up. Toby however, maybe just maybe… Perhaps he'll be my knight in shining armor? Ha! Knight in shining armor, I sound too much like Sansa, besides, what's to say he isn't some sort of murdering maniac as well?

"What are you thinking about Tee?"

"Tee?"

"What, I figured you deserved a nickname, and plus Tarynn is quite the mouthful."

"But Tee?"

"It can be code." He turned to her, "I'll write love letters to you, address them to 'Tee' so that they think I'm writing to some servant girl."

"Love letters huh?"

"Yeah… You don't believe in love at first sight?"

She looked at Toby; at the way the moonlight gave him an ethereal appearance, at how he was quite tall, much taller than Tarynn was that's for sure. She realised that she felt something for him but she didn't get the same feeling that she got when she looked at the Hound, that burning desire, the heat that flared up in her most private of parts.

The Hound's dangerous and unpredictable, just like Theon. Even more so, Theon was craven.

She didn't answer truthfully, but neither did she lie.

"I'm not sure; I confess I don't know what love feels like."

"Well I do, and it feels like nothing else, I can't explain it. You'll just know it."

Tarynn knew he was slightly disappointed, and so she squeezed his hand. He looked down at her grinning before stopping and pressing his lips lightly against her own. Tome whimpered, reminding them of the reason why they were trekking through the woods in the first place.

"We're going to have to hurry up. We don't want your father sending out search parties."

*Sandor*

The way she looked at me.

Sandor plunged his face into a bowl of ice cold water, purging his face of the stinging sensation that his burn was emitting.

She was horrified.

He looked up into the looking glass that was hanging up above the small basin that the room that the queen had given him was supplied with. Her Grace had wanted him near her son at all times now that the little Stark girl's direwolf had taken a chunk out of him. But it wasn't the little pretty boy he was concerned about. It was Tarynn; the woman who made his dead heart beat fast with every word and look she directed at him.

And now she despises me.

He took the scrap of linen that was to serve as his towel and rubbed his face dry. He didn't know what possessed him to ride down the boy. He had seen red, a deep crimson haze which had blurred his vision and thoughts and just rode over the red haired child.

What would she want with you anyway? You're a monster.

He had seen her with the Lannister bastard. The way she laughed with him, the shy smiles and secret glances, the flirting. He could never amount to that, never top it. He was almost twenty seven years of age and lusting after an eighteen year old who deserved more than what he could give her.

Sandor screwed the linen up into a tight ball, clenching his fist before releasing it and tossing it into a corner. There was something about the Lannister bastard though, something that caused his gut to twist about but he couldn't pin point it. The boy hid it well with easy smiles and flirtatious winks, but there was certainly something shifty about his persona.

And the Gods know it's a common misconception that I'm the only one for you… But I will try, and if I don't succeed then I'll die trying.

Sandor went to his bed, the first sturdy one he had slept on since they had left Winterfell, lying on his back and looking up at the beams that crisscrossed the ceiling. But it wasn't the beams he saw, it was Tarynn, the image of her floating above him enticingly, he could almost feel the soft warmth of her skin, the long silken hair, those blue eyes so inquisitive and intelligent, but so quick to trust.

I made a promise, and I keep my promises.

He turned on his side, closed his eyes and fell into the thick veil that was sleep. His dreams, instead of being filled with nightmares, possessed a dream centred around Tarynn…

Her laughs echoed off the walls as she ran through the castle.

It was a castle that Sandor remembered from long ago, one he had not visited in a long time.

He was chasing after her down the halls, halls that were made up of cracked stone and forgotten memories. As he ran past a flash of yellow teased the edges of his vision.

He caught up to her, taking her in his arms, pressing kisses down her neck, unlacing her dress with quick nimble fingers.

"Sandor." Her moan was breathy and filled with unspoken desires as she grabbed hungrily at his shirt, pulling him down to her; a searing kiss was shared between them. He growled in return, slipping the dress off Tarynn's shoulders, it pooled around Tarynn's ankles, leaving her in just her corset and undergarments. He fiddled with the laces of the corset, his lips still moving with Tarynn's as she pressed her body tightly against his, his manhood beginning to harden. He gave up with the laces, pulled away from Tarynn and took a dagger from the waistband of his trousers. He ran the sharpened blade up the back of Tarynn's corset before prising it off and throwing it to the side. Bearing her breasts to him, his hand slid over one, caressing it as Tarynn gasped and bucked against him. He kissed just under her ear and laid her down on the floor…

Sandor woke with a grunt, his member having swelled considerably. He stood, planning on walking it off. What was this girl doing to him?

*Tarynn*

When they reached a spot that was relatively far away from the main encampment, she turned to Tome and knelt amongst the leaves, holding out her hand. The direwolf came to her, licking the palm of her hand, looking up at her with intelligent blue eyes.

"You need to go Tome, they'll kill you otherwise." Hot tears began to slip out of her eyes, and she felt a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I'm going to miss you, so much." She leant forward, wrapping her arms around Tome's neck, the direwolf snuffling against her. When she pulled back Tome looked down at the ground whimpering, "Please Tome, I can't let my father kill you. It won't be forever. I'll find you again one day. I swear it."

Tome licked her face, gave one last whine before turning and slipping through the trees. Several moments passed before Tarynn had the strength to stand, and even then she collapsed into Toby's arms.

"It's not for forever Tee, he'll come back to you when the time is right."

"I hope so, I really do."

"You have to get back, to your father. If you spend anymore time out here we'll get caught. I confess I don't know what they would do if they knew I had helped you."

You have thwarted the king's justice, we both have, and my father would be compelled to do the right thing.

But again she didn't share with Toby her thoughts, "I don't know Toby, you're risking a lot for me, but I don't know what the outcome would be." She kissed his cheek once again but he wasn't satisfied, he pulled her into a kiss, long and lingering, when they broke apart Tarynn looked up into the crystal like grey eyes…

Grey? No, green Toby has green eyes.

"I am forever in your debt. But I must return my father will already be suspicious."

Toby guided her back to near the edge of the forest before they parted, he smiled, a sad sort of smile stealing one more kiss from her lips before heading back towards the depths of the forest. He was to take an alternative route so that they weren't seen in one another's company. Tarynn calmed herself, Tome was safe but now she had to face lying to her father, something that she had never been very good at. Robb had been though; he was good at pulling the wool over both their mother's and father's eyes. He had this great line…

"I am heir to Winterfell and you doubt my honesty? Father Maybe you should name Tarynn as your heir if that's the case."

Her father would laugh, jostle Robb's hair and send the boy on his way. But Tarynn knew there would be no jostling of hair tonight.

When she reached the stables that was to be Lady's last place on earth, her father was sat on an overturned trough, Ice was in his hands as he sharpened the edge with a whet stone. He spoke to her without looking up.

"Where's Tome Tarynn?"

She remained looking down at the ground, her eyes were still red and puffy from crying and that added to the deception. "I can't find him father."

"You can't or you won't?" Lord Stark sighed, "Why do I have to have two stubborn daughters, both you and Arya chased off your wolves. I know you did, you've never been very good at lying Tarynn. You think I don't know my own daughters?"

"I… I couldn't let him die Father."

"No, so instead you allow Lady to, a sacrifice in exchange for her two siblings to live. Is that right?"

"Two lives are greater then one."

"It seems that I cannot convince you to turn over your wolf…" Eddard Stark looked his daughter up and down; she had been quite round when they had started the journey south, soft and happy. But now as they continued their venture to King's Landing she had begun to lose the extra weight she had put on as a small child. Robert had been right; she looked exactly like Lyanna, acted exactly like Lyanna… She shared the same stubborn traits as his long dead sister. "Hold Lady, she deserves comfort."

Tarynn knelt beside the wolf that had been chained to the wall. A weight lifting off her chest as she realised that she had gotten away with avoiding Tome being killed. She stroked the gentle wolf's head as her father neared, the great sword clasped tightly in his grip.

"Hush Lady, think of Sansa and rabbits."

The direwolf whimpered, and Tarynn calmed her by stroking her soft, smooth fur. When her father drove the point of his sword into the wolf, Lady yelped before collapsing limply in Tarynn's arms. Her body heaved one more time with life before falling still. Tears soaked Tarynn's cheeks as she gently laid the dead wolf down on the ground.

"Tarynn…" Her father reached out to her, his rough hand clasping her shoulder, "You understand why I had to do it yes?"

"Our way is the old way."

"Yes. And we must kill those who we condemn personally, a weak Lord is a Lord who cannot raise his own sword to kill a man he has personally condemned to death."

"But you didn't condemn Lady, King Robert was the one who gave the order."

"Lady is of the north, she deserved to die by a northerner's hand, not by the hand of a pet executioner… Come; let us pray to the Old Gods so that Lady's spirit will be sped along to her final resting place."

They sat together quietly for a time, praying to the Gods that Lady would find peace in the land that souls go to after they depart from the mortal world. The cut that Eddard Stark had used to end Lady's life had been clean; no blood had spilled from the wound.

"Tarynn you need to sleep, tomorrow we start the last leg of the journey. The queen is anxious to get back to King's Landing as soon as…"

"I don't care for the queen."

"She is still Robert's wife, and you must respect her as such. Now go, I won't have another word from you." Tarynn stood, brushing down her dress. Ned stood too, taking his daughter into his arms and gently kissing her forehead, "Robert was right, you are so very much like Lyanna. Now go, and dream of books and quills."

Ned allowed his daughter to leave him and crouched beside the dead wolf, his head in his hands. He wouldn't be able to console Sansa, and was relying on Tarynn to do that for him. He missed his Cat, perhaps he shouldn't have left Winterfell after all.

As Tarynn walked back towards her tent a shadow emerged from the darkness to her left, she looked up, her eyes stinging from crying. She went to move past whoever it was looming in the dark, but someone stepped out in front of her, causing her to stop and look up.

"Sandor."

"Tarynn."

"I don't want to talk to you."

"Well I'm not leaving until you do."

"You murdered that boy in cold blood."

"He ran."

"That's your answer is it? The boy ran so you decided to kill him?! You are… You disgust me."

"I don't expect you to understand…"

"You're right I don't understand…"

"Will you shut up for just one moment?" Tarynn closed her mouth, the retort she was about to use left forgotten, the Hound placed his hands on her arms but she flinched away, shrugging off his touch. He dropped his hands, his eyes showing a rare flicker of emotion. "They'll notice it if I just change the way I act. I'm a killer Tarynn, I've told you before."

"But that was a boy."

"I've killed other children before…"

"You are not helping your case!"

A silence surrounded them. Sandor looked into Tarynn's eyes, hoping to convey some sort of silent message, hoping that she would understand that she would forgive him. But the moment was lost to him when someone else joined the moment.

"Lady Tarynn?"

"Toby. I'm fine, the Hound was just leaving."

Sandor watched as the Lannister bastard walked up to Tarynn, placing a hand on her shoulder protectively. A surge of jealousy rose up inside Sandor and he repressed the urge to rip the grinning fool's face off.

"Tarynn please."

"That's Lady Tarynn dog, she is miles above your station."

"At least I'm not a bastard."

"Gentlemen please."

"Rather be a bastard then an old dog," A sneer masked Toby's face, "an ugly one at that."

"Please." Tarynn turned her back on Sandor, her long hair got caught on a breath of wind causing it to float up and into Sandor's face; he inhaled, breathing in her scent. "Toby I can handle it, just go."

"No I won't leave you with this…"

"Toby."

"He murdered that child!"

"He won't harm me."

"He's a savage."

"He's my savage."

Toby's eyes narrowed as he gazed over Tarynn, green eyes flickering between the two. Sandor watched as the bastard tried to contain the anger that was no doubt trying to make an appearance and inwardly he grinned. However Toby somehow managed to suppress it.

"Fine. I will visit you later however, just to make sure you made it back to your tent in one piece."

He stooped and kissed Tarynn on the cheek, his hand lingering on her waist, Sandor bristled.

"Go." The blonde haired man turned on his heel and stalked off towards the tents that served as the soldiers make shift quarters, his cloak gently flapping in the wind.

"You have gained yourself a fan."

"Toby's a good man Sandor."

"Are you sure about that?"

Tarynn looked down at the ground.

Am I sure? Am I truly convinced? If so why can't I say it? What's stopping me from telling Sandor that I believe that Toby is a good man through and through?

"I don't like him Tarynn."

"Well it's not your decision."

"You're the daughter of the Lord of Winterfell; do you know what would happen to you if you got caught with a bastard?"

"What are you saying? That it's better if I got caught with you?" Sandor wanted to scream yes at her, to shut her up and smother kisses over that indignant mouth of hers, but he had already lost a battle that he didn't realise he had been fighting until the last moment. "I am not the heir to Winterfell, and my father has four other children that he can use to strike up connections. If I decide to be with someone then I'll be with them, I have never believed in the concept of marriage. Nor, even though I have flirted with the idea…"

"That's not all you've been flirting with."

"… of love, am a believer in that either. But… I cannot trust you Sandor. I thought you a better man but I was sorely mistaken."

The Hound took his flask from his hip, lifting it to his lips, tipping his head back he poured a copious amount down his throat before swallowing and looking back at Tarynn with hollow eyes.

"You don't need to trust me, but I'll be watching you wolf. And you should be watching yourself. Sometimes it's the ones who look the most normal who are the most dangerous."

He brushed past, his cloak snapping in the wind. Tarynn was left rooted to the spot, not even turning round to watch him go. One more tear fell from her eye but she brushed it away hastily before heading to where she was supposed to be for the night.

She tore back the tent flap, knowing that it would be empty seeing as Tome was now several miles away from the encampment. She unlaced her dress, and then her corset, rummaging around for a clean white shift. When she found it she slipped it over her head, but her skin prickled and she felt eyes on her. She ran across the tent, grabbing the dagger that lived in her riding boots.

"Whose there?"

"T – Tarynn?"

"San?" Tarynn put the dagger back in her boot, and went to the tent flap; she moved it aside revealing her slender sister.

"I can't sleep." The girl's eye's were swollen red with tears, and Tarynn could still see the silvery track marks that the tears had made on Sansa's cheeks. She pulled Sansa into an embrace.

"Oh Sansa, I'm so very sorry." Sansa sniffled, burying her face into Tarynn's shoulder. "Come, you can sleep with me tonight."

This was rare, Tarynn usually never allowed others to sleep in the same chambers as her, she was very much a solitary person when it came to sleeping arrangements but her sister needed comfort and seeing as their mother wasn't there to provide motherly sympathy the task fell to Tarynn.

"Was she at peace?"

"Yes. Yes she was at peace Sansa."

"It wasn't even Lady's fault, it was Nymeria's. Nymeria's and Arya's, it's not fair."

"I know. But life rarely is fair."

Tarynn spread the cushions and blankets to make a wider space for the sisters to both sleep comfortably on. She left the light blue one that Tome used to sleep on, pushing it to the side. She covered the pillows who a blanket and found another blanket that was big enough for them to sleep under comfortably. When that was done Sansa laid down and Tarynn followed suit.

"I miss mother."

"As do I."

"Tarynn?"

"Yes?"

"Could you sing to me?"

"Which one?"

Tarynn knew the answer before Sansa said it. The first thing that Tarynn had learned when she had begun taking lessons in how to speak the bastard Valyrian of the Free Cities had been a song, a song about the moon and the sun and their unrequited love.

"The one about the sun and moon that you used to sing to me when I was little."

"In Valyrian?"

"Yes, it's so much more beautiful in Valyrian."

Tarynn cleared her throat and sat up slightly, she brushed a few strands of hair from her sister's forehead before starting to sing:

The moon and sun drifted so happily,

Together they were, and together they'll be,

Though they have seen only glimpses,

Their love is like that of a prince and princess.

But when darkness falls and casts away the light,

The world blackens as it fades to night,

The sun disappears from his view,

The moon mourns for his beau,

And when the light creeps back in,

The moon sets, the sun's day begins,

Two loves who rule the sky,

Who will never meet eye to eye.

When Tarynn had finished singing Sansa had mumbled a thank you before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep. It was times like these when Sansa looked like the little girl she was and not the grown woman she was so desperate to be.

Cherish it, my sweet dear sister for you will grow and you will change and your life will never be the same. I should know. I set off on this venture to King's Landing with the intent of learning all there was to know, and seeing all there was to see. But instead I am flirting with a bastard, and allowing a heartless killer to get close to me.

Tarynn sighed and kissed her sister softly on the temple, Sansa stirred before lying still once again. Tarynn turned over and closed her eyes, a howl sounded in the distance which caused her to think of Tome, of Sandor and how everything she cared about seemed to be slipping through her fingers.

He ran across curving forest paths, kicking up the dirt and the leaves, he ran along his snout in the air breathing in the scents of the forests. She smelt of the forest, his bond did. But now she didn't want him that he had to go in order to live. But he would watch, he would follow from a distance, he would not leave his bond alone in the stone prison that the two legged creatures called King's Landing.

He will be unseen, but he will be there. Watching and waiting.

*Sandor*

When Sandor returned to the small box room that was situated next to Prince Joffrey's he didn't proceed to his bed immediately. Rather he went to the window, the moon was still high in the sky but soon it would slip from its peak and the brightness of the sun would replace it.

I need her. I want her and I will have her. No insolent blonde haired fucker will get in my way.

He clenched the window sill tightly, chunks of mortar breaking off in his grasp. He was one of the strongest men in Westeros. His rival being in the form of his own brother, and yet Tarynn could bring him to his knees with just one word.

Well a word and the thing that lies between her legs.

He pushed away from the window and sat on the bed, his head in his hands. Tormenting him was the smell of Tarynn which still lingered. He looked down his arm and spied a strand of hair, too light to be his own and too dark to be Joffrey's. He plucked it from his arm and held it up in the moon light. It was long, and it was Tarynn's. Sandor stood and went to the window again, he held out the strand of hair and let go, watching it as it floated away on an invisible burst of wind. He was about to turn from the open window and pull down the slats to block out the glare of the moon when he heard something down on the road below.

He craned his neck struggling to see out of the tiny window, but he was able to distinguish the two voices. One was distinctly female and the other was male, the male had a lilting, easy tone to it and Sandor swore he had heard it before. He could make out gaps of their conversation, the woman was talking;

"And she has played into your hands… Good… Make's it easier."

"…Problem… There's another, and I don't think she'll be as easy to… Then we first thought… She's not into the whole…"

"Strange… Women love that."

"Do you?"

The man had a suggestive tone in his voice, and he heard a flirtatious giggle and a sigh. Even when they had finished their conversation, and one of them who had been involved in the parley walked towards the direction of the tents. The other, the woman, walked towards the door that led to the servants' part of Castle Darry. Sandor kept an eye on her as she moved. If she hadn't turned around at the door he would have just surmised that it was a servant girl plotting with a soldier of some sort, but she did and the moonlight illuminated her face squarely.

Cersei Lannister looked around but never up before she disappeared into Castle Darry's servants' entrance. An uneasy feeling settled over Sandor as he moved away from the window and tugged the slats down. He wondered if he had seen too much, and who the subject of the conversation that had just occurred was.