andor had been able to leave the Keep earlier than he had expected and arrived at the silent creek half an hour earlier than expected. He walked through the wooded area, seeing Kestrel's grey horse Mikkera tethered to a tree and tied Stranger to the one beside it.
As he began to walk away Sandor turned back to see with amazement that the two horses were nuzzling into each other.
Shaking his head, Sandor rounded the trees and saw the creek. There was no one there at all, save for Kestrel, who was in the water with her back to him, evidently naked. He couldn't see anything in particular but coughed lightly, making her turn around, crouched down in the water so he could only see the top of her cleavage and nothing else as she smirked slightly.
'I wasn't expecting you for a while'. He coughed awkwardly, looking at a point above her head deliberately 'I managed to leave early…do you want your clothes?'.
He glanced at the fire beside him, and the small pile of clothes beside, as she laughed he looked back at her 'Have you never seen a woman naked?'.
He laughed lightly 'yes, of course. But you are a highborn woman, I don't want Ser Hightower sending his army after me for seeing his daughter naked'.
Kestrel snorted with laughter, moving through the water to the bank, still covered mostly by the water, holding her hand out for the underdress that Sandor held out for her as he turned away quickly.
'Sandor, I think you mistake my father and my Uncles for King's Landing man, I am not an enslaved woman of these lands, I am the master of my own life. You can turn around again'.
He turned, seeing that she was wearing the thin beige dress, sticking to her damp body and leaving nothing to the imagination. Sandor coughed and glanced away slightly 'what are you saying?'.
She shrugged and sat down on a log beside the fire 'I'm not some virginal little girl like the ones you have here... If we're supposed to be married I thought you should know…is that a problem?'.
Sandor blinked in surprise 'No, I don't really give a shit'. She smiled and he sat down on the log opposite her on the other side of the fire 'good, because it looks like Cersei Lannister isn't giving me a choice, nor you'.
He was silent for a long time 'you are a Highborn woman Kestrel, you can say no, say your father has found a better match'. He saw the flash of genuine confusion on her face 'if you have someone you'd rather marry Sandor then you can just say'.
He looked equally confused 'you are a beautiful woman Kestrel, you can have any man in the Seven Kingdoms, do not settle for me'.
She sighed and stood up, walking around slowly to where he was, sitting down beside him 'I am not 'settling' for any man Sandor, I don't want a Knight, I don't want someone to keep me in a castle tower somewhere and run away to fight, I want to be able to fight my own battles, I want to live my life, I don't want to become Cersei Lannister or Margarey… and I don't want a man who will change himself to impress me'.
Sandor was looking at her closely, not sure what to say. Eventually Kestrel broke the silence 'Can you keep a secret?'. He nodded 'Sandor, you must swear to me that you will keep this a secret, please?'.
He nodded, muttering 'I swear', eyes sincere.
Kestrel stood up slowly, took a step forward and crouched in front of the fire, glancing back at him, seeing the fear and confusion in his eyes. Without a word she put her hand into the fire, right in the middle where it was hottest. Sandor made a move to pull her away but saw that she wasn't expressing any pain or even mild discomfort; she moved her fingers lightly within the flames before turning and swiftly sitting back beside him.
As he watched her closely Kestrel placed the hand that had been in the fire on Sandor's face, letting him feel the brush of her skin, which was barely even slightly warm. She left her hand there for a minute before he reached up and held his hand over her own
'It's not even warm…you are…you're a Targeryn?'.
Her eyes were sad as she slowly nodded, voice quiet 'at least we have something in common, we both want your brother dead'. He blinked, still holding onto her hand 'The Targeryn's, none are left but Daenery's and one at the wall…I thought'. Kestrel shook her head 'I was taken from the castle before the soldiers came'.
He looked confused 'your father?'. There was a long pause and Kestrel's voice was even quieter
'Rhaegar, Rhaegar Targeryn'.
She saw Sandor's eyes widen in shock and he stared at her closely, seeing the light brown hair that was nearly a dark blonde, the light eyes and the strong, high cheekbones, something clicking in his mind.
'Your mother….Lyanna? Lyanna Stark?'. Kestrel says nothing and he continues speaking 'The Stark's all have dark hair, the Targeryn's are blonde, you have a mixture of both… there were three guards at the tower of Joy for Lyanna Stark…why would they do that unless there was a child there too… Robert and Eddard would never let any harm come to Lyanna would they'.
Kestrel looked away slightly and then up again as Sandor continued speaking, trying to understand the situation
'Robert would kill any child of Rhaegar, so they had three guards there. Eddard was the last to come to the throne room, Jaime and Robert were there for an hour before Stark arrived. His sister died during the siege, but before she died she made him make a promise didn't she? Had her daughter taken from the castle and raised with someone else. You couldn't be raised as a Stark, you might give yourself away by putting your hand in a fire around Robert, so you were sent to the Hightower's?'.
Kestrel nodded slightly 'Gerold Hightower was one of the guards at the tower…Eddark Stark killed him, he didn't realise it was me that was being protected, not his sister being held captive... when he found out he was so sorry that he had me taken from the castle and asked Barlor to raise me as his own…he had no children of his own... I am here to free Sansa, my cousin, and I know you can help me'.
Sandor was still watching her closely, their hands still touching as she muttered 'you are a better man than you realise Sandor Clegane, I would rather be married to you than any other man in the Kingdom'.
He faltered for a second before leaning down and kissing her quickly on the lips before pulling back quickly, looking awkward 'Sorry, I shouldn't-'.
She cut him off 'stop talking' without another word Kestrel leant in and kissed him herself.
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