They rode long into the night, the large, full moon bearing witness to their escape.

Sansa had awoken during the hour of the wolf, Stranger still in a fierce trot.

"Where are we?" Sansa asked, rubbing her bleary eyes.

"Not far enough from King's Landing, that's for sure," The Hound replied.

"Do you know where you're going?"

"Of course I know where I'm bloody going, quit your chirping and go back to sleep." He scorned. She didn't wake again until late-morning, her body too fatigued from the day before and the hard ride out of King's Landing. Sansa arched her back and heard her spine crack in multiple places. It felt good, but she was soon aware of the acute pain in her neck and backside.

"Aren't you tired?" She asked, genuinely concerned; they had been riding for hours non-stop. She also felt bad for Stranger.

"Can't afford to be tired, girl." He took a swig from his wineskin and continued: "Men like me are used to not sleeping for days at end. There's a spot not too far from here where we can set up camp out of site from the Kingsroad. We'll rest up and leave at sundown."

"What about Stranger? Doesn't he need more rest?"

"He's a fucking war-horse. He's been through much worse."

Sansa didn't ask any further questions, feeling disheartened from The Hound's harshness. When they reached the spot hours later, her lord husband unsaddled first, then grabbed Sansa by the waist and lifted her down off Stranger.

"Thank you." She said, feeling flustered. Sansa was no Arya when it came to riding, but she could unsaddle a horse by herself if it needed be.

"Enough with your 'thank-you's.'" He grunted back.

"But, why? Am I not allowed to express my thankfulness?"

"You can express your thankfulness when you're back with your bloody mother and brother."

Sansa wanted to scream with frustration. Why was he always so hateful towards her! All she did was say a simple "thank-you." She was being courteous, yes, but not overly courteous the way she used to be in King's Landing. Courtesy may be a woman's weapon, but it wouldn't win over the Hound's affection. Sansa stopped as she removed her bedroll from Stranger. Did she even want his affection? No. But if he could be a little less harsh towards me this trip will be a little more bearable, Sansa thought. She also grabbed two apples and ate them on her bedroll. By the end of this journey, she would be dying for a hot meal and a featherbed.

The Hound's bedroll lay a few feet from hers, and without having something to eat he lied down and quickly drifted off to sleep. Sansa wasn't particularly tired anymore, so she made her water behind a nearby tree, and then began to play with her hair until her lord husband woke promptly at sundown. He got up, stretched, and went to go make his water as well. Unlike Sansa who hid herself behind a tree, she was shocked to see that he could make his water right where she could see him! Granted she didn't see anything, thankfully, but she blushed madly at his rudeness.

"Pack up your bedroll, we're leaving." He said to her. He then packed up his bedroll, and walked over to the black stallion. Stranger nickered as his master approached him, and Sandor proceeded to scratch the horse affectionately behind the ears and whispered to him. Stranger was the scariest rogue horse Sansa had ever seen, and was surprised to see how such a beast could even be affectionate towards his master. He fed him some oats from his hand from the saddlebag, and began to brush him down thoroughly. Sansa followed suit and rolled up her bedroll and approached Stranger, who then squealed at her and almost trampled her under his massive hooves.

"Woah, woah! What are you doing girl?!" Sandor yelled as he tried to calm the squealing war horse.

"I was only trying to attach my bedroll, and he went crazy!"

"You don't just approach a horse without them knowing, are you fucking stupid, girl? Do you want to get trampled to death?"

"I was only trying to do the right thing! I didn't know he was so ill-tempered!"

"Well you better learn fucking quick if you want to keep your pretty little bones intact." He paused, running his hands through his hair and scratching his head out of frustration. He sighed and turned to her and said, "Come here, I'll show you how to do it right. I'll only tell you once so you better listen carefully." His scars twitched grotesquely in the late afternoon sun.

Sansa lifted herself off the ground from where she was nearly stomped on, wiped her eyes, brushed her skirts off, and walked towards his side. If Sansa didn't know any better, she could have sworn she could have heard the slightest bit of sympathy in his tone. Her backside throbbed from her fall, but she knew better than to complain out loud.

"Here, take these and hold out your hand to feed him. Also make sure he sees you before you approach him," he said, and he placed some oats in her hand. Tentatively Sansa said, "Hello Stranger," and walked towards his front to hold out the oats. Stranger looked at her, snorted as if was disgusted and began to eat the oats out of her hand. Stranger is just about as ill-tempered as the Hound, Sansa thought. The feeling of his teeth and tongue on her delicate palm tickled, and she let out a little giggle.

"What's so funny?" The Hound asked.

"It tickles!" Sansa replied, giggling a little more. She then took another step towards the black beast, and began to pat its head and scratch behind the ears like she had seen his master do minutes before.

"What are you doi-" Sandor cut himself off, at first afraid that Stranger would try to attack her again. He stood in place as Stranger let the little bird pet him and nickered at her in response.

"There, there. You aren't so bad aren't you?" Sansa cooed. Stranger then snorted and nudged his head up against her. "Yes yes, you're a very handsome horse aren't you?" Sansa giggled.

"He's not a little pony, you know," Sandor snorted, almost disappointed in Stranger for showing so much affection towards the little-bird.

"He's not very scary when he's like this. I think he likes me now," she replied with a little smile.

"Maybe," he replied, and proceeded to lift her up onto Stranger. Every time he picked her up it was without warning, and always startled her. She wasn't going to say anything because she knew he would laugh at her if she said something like: "I'd like you to tell me when you pick me up by the hips to put me on your war-horse. And maybe when you do if you could be a little gentler when you do it I would be very grateful." Sansa almost laughed out loud to herself, but refrained.

As they made their way out of the woods and onto the Kingsroad, the sun hung just above the horizon, large and burning red. They snacked on dried meat and cheese as Stranger trotted along.

"We'll ride through the night until late morning again, rest, and make camp at sundown. By then we'll be at a good distance away from King's Landing."

"Do you think men were sent out after us?" Sansa asked nervously.

"Probably, but not until they realized we were gone, which was probably by late morning today. We're probably a day or two ahead of anyone looking for us, and they will probably stop looking in a few weeks or so. But by then you'll already be safe with your mother and brother. And if the Lannisters do send anyone, it wouldn't be anyone skilled because they're more preoccupied with Joffrey's wedding than a traitor's daughter and a craven."

"Oh. So do you know where my mother and brother are?"

"Last I heard, at Riverrun for your grandfather's funeral. But if not, the farther and faster we head north the sooner we'll know. You can't miss an entire army."

"Oh." Sansa said, shocked at the news. She had never met the Lord of Riverrun but felt sad that she wasn't even told about his passing. Sansa then fidgeted in the saddle and said, "Once we're somewhere safe will we um...consummate the marriage?" She asked, her voice cracking at the last words. Ever since they left the Red Keep she was constantly thinking about when he was going to bed her. Was she going to find him on top of her in the middle of her sleep, or would it just happen at random? He made no moves to indicate that he was going to, but she knew it had to happen.

"Didn't I already tell you that there will be no bedding?"

"What do you mean? I thought you wanted to…" She swallowed, "I thought you wanted to…wanted to do it somewhere safe…" Sansa stammered.

"When I said, 'there will be no bedding,' I meant there will be no buggering bedding. Is it that hard to understand girl?" He seemed to growl back at her.

"I just don't understand, isn't the marriage supposed to be consummated? Septa Mordane said if the marriage isn't consummated, under the light of the Seven it isn't-"

He cut her off. "This buggering marriage wasn't even supposed to happen anyways. When we get to your buggering mother and brother they'll find your maidenhead still intact and you'll be free to marry someone more worthy of your birthright instead of a lowborn dog like me." He said, his voice sounding graver towards the end.

"What! Why? Do you not want to be married to m-"

"Enough with your buggering chirping. When we get to your mother and brother they'll thank me for not ruining their precious little bird and I'll leave with my head and possibly a fat purse."

Sansa didn't question him any further. In a fortnight or two she would be Sansa Stark once more. Although she felt relieved, she was terribly confused by the Hound's decision to not complete the bedding. As these thoughts seemed to roll restlessly around her mind, Sansa leaned her head against his cool breastplate and fell asleep.

Notes:

"Stranger nickered as his master approached him..." A nicker sound is produced when a horse creates a vibrating sound with his mouth closed using the vocal cords. When a horse nickers quietly, and moves towards a horse or person, he is saying "hello" - definition / description from Polo Pony Sounds.

I really like Stranger/Sandor's dynamic, and I love making the parallel between Sansa and Stranger and Sansa and Sandor. Also what man or beast wouldn't love to get affection from Sansa?

These next chapters will be lot's of plot / Kingsroad traveling so bear with me. Next stops will be the Ivy Inn and the Inn at the Crossroads.