Rhonda Hightower came to find her daughter in her rooms, closing the door behind her and seeing that Kestrel was standing by the window with Tellen, who was looking uncomfortable and she could see the annoyed look on Kestrel's face.

'I assume Tellen has spoken to you?'.

Kestrel nodded, turning around and crossing her arms with a hard expression 'uhuh,'.

Rhonda could see how annoyed Kestrel looked and sat down with a sigh 'your father has rejected the offer to marry you to Swann, he is asking Clegane right now if he will consider the offer again. If Sandor does not accept then your father will go back to Swann and accept the offer'.

Tellen raised an eyebrow 'we all know that Sandor is going to accept'.

Rhonda nodded 'indeed. I've heard he's been incredibly short tempered with all his men in the last few days'.

Tellen raised an eyebrow in amusement 'well, he's always like that really, just slightly less so when he's with Kess'

Kestrel didn't look amused and Rhonda looked over at her 'darling, you can appeal to your father if you really, really don't want to marry Sandor. He'll listen if you are adamantly against it'.

Kestrel turned back to the window, muttering darkly. Tellen and Rhonda glanced at each other knowingly and he nudged Kestrel slightly 'I'll accompany your mother back, give you some time to yourself, if you need me you know where I'll be'.

Kestrel again made a vague noise and Tellen rolled his eyes, following Rhonda from the room.

Kestrel sat in her room deep in thought for a long time before she heard a knock at her door and muttered 'come in' without turning around.

She heard the door open and close but the following silence made her turn around.

The little servant girl Beccas was standing there with a large seaming pot of evidently very hot water, and the pot was clearly heavy as she put it down carefully. She looked awkward, her voice quiet 'I was told to fill you a bath, M'Lady?'

Kestrel blinked, shocked that this small girl had been asked to do the task 'Oh… thank you. Just leave the water over there, I can sort it later'.

Beccas nodded and moved the water to the bathroom area, looking shy when she came back out as Kestrel stood up.

There was no one else in the rooms and she glanced around 'Beccas?'. She nodded, looking timid and doing a clumsy curtsey 'yes, my Lady?'.

'How old are you?'.

'Ten years my lady'

'You don't have to call me 'my Lady' in every sentence'.

'Yes my Lady- I mean…'. Kestrel waved a hand to stop her apology 'It's fine. Do you have family here? Parents, brothers, sisters?'.

Beccas blinked, looking surprised 'no… I have no one. Mother died when I was little and I don't have a father'.

Kestrel glanced out the window at the City for a second, looking saddened as she looked back 'all these people, all this wealth and you have to look after yourself, even though you are only a child?'.

The girl shrugged 'I'm used to it M'Lady, it's all I know, I dunno what it's like having a family… Mus' be nice though'.

Kestrel saw the wistful look in the little girls eyes and she smiled sadly 'I need to leave M'Lady'.

Kestrel nodded, watching sadly as the girl left, closing the door behind her. She sat in silence again for a long time before being interrupted by yet another knock at her door, looking to see who came in this time.

Sandor was wearing his light armour and his white cloak, looking imposing in the doorway, but he noticed that there was no hint of fear on her face as she motioned him in, closing the door behind him.

There was a silence between them and he saw the hint of annoyance on her face as he closed the gap between them 'I have just spoken to your father'.

'Hmm, I assumed you would. And what did you say? Did you tell him that you turned your back on me when I told you what I had planned? Or did you just neglect to mention that?'

Sandor half laughed 'your father seemed to think I'm good enough for his daughter, I don't know if you've got much of a choice Kestrel'

She slapped Sandor hard across the face, looking furious. She went to slap him again but Sandor caught her arm sharply, stopping her before she hit him 'get your hands off me'.

'Calm down, you're getting hysterical'.

Kestrel's eyes darkened and she tried to move her arm but Sandor's grip was too tight 'Let go of me- now'.

'If you can keep yourself calm' his eyes were amused and wrenched her arm free, eyes still full of anger 'I hate you, you know that?'.

Sandor raised an eyebrow 'then why didn't you contest your fathers decision?'.

Kestrel glared at him but didn't move, seeing the edges of Sandor's lips twitch slightly 'what the fuck are you laughing about? I thought you were meant to be moody and sulky?'.

'You say you're angry and you shout at me, yet when I let you go, you don't run away or even attempt to leave. Why is that?'.

Kestrel sighed and visibly relaxed, her voice dropping its sharp tone 'I don't know if I can trust you anymore, when Joffrey finds out the truth, he'll have a price for my head… and yours, when he finds out you knew'.

Sandor shook his head and made a loud derisive snort 'I am not afraid of the little boy who sits on the throne'.

'Good, because we have to leave in a few hours'

Sandor looked confused, frowning 'What do you mean?'

'The Greencloaks are arriving tonight. They are swearing fealty to me, when they swear to Joffrey it will be a false fealty… we are meeting them an hours ride away just before sundown, if you're going to marry me then you should be there too'.

Sandor said nothing and Kestrel glanced out her window over the City again 'I have to speak to Cersei before'

'What about?'

Kestrel shook her head 'I'll tell you later'.

Sandor looked down at her for a second before running his hand lightly over her jawline, watching as her eyes briefly closed. Sandor knew he was back in her good books and leant down slightly to kiss her, feeling her kiss back after a second.

He ran a hand down her back and pulled her flush against him as Kestrel linked her hands around the back of his neck as she felt Sandor's hands running over her, pushing her up against the wall.

Their kiss picked up in intensity and their breathing quickened as Sandor picked Kestrel up and put her on the stone windowsill, kissing down her neck and over her chest as he stood between her, running a hand up her leg, feeling her smirk against his lips.

Sandor pulled back slightly, both of them breathing heavily 'what?'.

Kestrel shook her head with a smile, putting her hand behind Sandor's neck, pulling him back down into a kiss, feeling him pulling the hem of her dress and not stopping him.

Kestrel looked surprisingly presentable an hour and a half later, after a quick wash and brushing and re-braiding her hair. No one that passed her would have any idea what the quiet, demure Lady in the dark blue dress had been doing for the previous hour.

Cersei was in a room of the Court, looking over messages as Kestrel entered after knocking.

Kestrel did a low curtesy in front of Cersei 'My Lady, may I ask a favour of you?'.

'You can always ask, I shall not promise you an answer, what do you want of me Kestrel?'.

'There is a servant girl at the Keep, she is ten, Beccas is her name, I wanted to ask of you that she became my own servant girl?'.
Cersei blinked 'why would you want a lowly girl as your servant?'.

'I like the way she does my hair, my Lady, she has no family to speak of, and I will take over her care'.

Cersei half shrugged, waving a hand vaguely 'if you wish, it is no matter to me'.

Kestrel smiled before leaving the room, feeling a smug smirk pull at her lips as she thought about just how well her plan was coming together.

Of course, neither Kestrel, Sandor, Tellen or anyone else was aware of the danger they were actually putting themselves into. I would only be a matter of weeks however, before they came to realise just what they had started.

As always, please review and let me know what you thought etc :)