"Soon we reach the Red Fork, my love…" Nicholas informed Brenda as he leaned over to give her a kiss on the cheek. The horse's reins were in her hands and she gazed ahead with a nod of acknowledgement. Nicholas seemed disappointed with her reaction and jumped out of the cart and onto the wooden seat in front next to Brenda. They engaged in a hush conversation that Myrna's ears could not pick up. She was not interested anyway.

If Myrna could describe the mood on the wagon it would be sleepy. Perhaps agitated… or both. Myrna was sure everyone's bottoms were as sore as hers was. Soon the beautiful Riverland scenery around her became rather boring. Tree after tree, and an occasional hill. The breeze coming off of the Bay of Crabs was pleasant but time went by awfully slow.

A bounce in the cart made everyone look at Nicholas after he jumped back in. Ignoring the eyes on him, her brother leaned back and rubbed his temples as he shut his eyes. Knowing how her brother had treated her recently Myrna knew it was wise to leave him be, but not everyone thought that way it would seem.

"Your woman don't want to fuck you anymore?" Sandor japed at him. It had been awhile since any of them had spoken, and it should have stayed that way.

Nicholas frowned hard at him and was about to stand up when Brenda began to sing.

The Dornishman's wife was as fair as the sun,
and her kisses were warmer than spring…

He turned his head at her.

But the Dornishman's blade was made black as steel,
and its kiss was a terrible thing…

As she continued to sing the song in her honeyed voice, Nicholas let out a scruffy laugh as if some joke had been cracked. He eased back down and acted as if nothing had happened but he kept a small smile on his face as Brenda continued singing from the front. When Myrna took a peek at the Stark girls across from her she saw Sansa captivated by Brenda. Her face was turned towards Brenda and she seemed almost entertained. There was something amiss, though. No spark in her green eyes. Perhaps her time in Kings Landing softened her liking towards songs. The same had happened to herself after everything that happened to her back at home.

Brothers, oh brothers, my days here are done
the Dornishman's taken my life,

But what does it matter, for all men must die,
and I've tasted the Dornishman's wife!

The song finished, and Sansa complimented Brenda. Brenda gave no response, and the girl blinked awkwardly as she gazed back down at her hands that were on her lap. When Arya noticed she narrowed her eyes towards Brenda and Myrna knew another problem was going to arise.

"You could say thank you," Arya spat.

Brenda sighed softly and slightly turned her head. "Thank you," she uttered sarcastically.

Arya was about to stand up this time but Sansa grabbed her sister's arm and pulled her back down but that did not stop her from speaking her mind. "You used to be nice! What happened to you? Is it because of him?" Arya pointed at Nicholas with her free hand. "Everything's gone to shit since he appeared!" she added.

"Arya!" Sansa scolded harshly. "There's no need for that language!"

The young sister broke free but crossed her arms instead of her original plan, whatever it was. "Someone had to say it," Arya said now glaring at Nicholas.

So far Myrna had stayed out of it, but she felt it couldn't remain that way for long. Sandor had been keeping his eyes closed after almost having an encounter with Nicholas, but his furrowed brows told Myrna he was listening to everything going on. He had less patience than her, and she was close to losing hers.

"You're wrong," Nicholas spoke up rather calmly. Arya and Sansa, even Sandor now had their eyes on him. "Everything will be the way it should be in the near future. I promise you that," he smiled at Myrna directly. It gave her chills. What exactly is her brother planning?

The wagon halted sharply and the horse held its head high and trotted in place. Everyone now moved their attention from Nicholas to Brenda who now was standing on the seat glaring down at Nicholas. "If everything were as it should be your sister would be with The Mountain and he wouldn't be chasing our arses! The Gods know he is doing just that!" Brenda hollered. Nicholas took in a deep breath before turning to face his disgruntled love as everyone else in the wagon watched. "What are you going to do about that!? And what are you going to do with Baelish?! I need an answer right now!"

There was a pause before his answer. "Just let them come," he replied.

Sandor snorted. "You're a fucking dead man if my brother gets a hold of you. Especially after stealing his precious bride," he smiled crudely at her brother.

"For once I agree with the smelly dog," Brenda put her hand on her hip as she gave Sandor a look.

Myrna clenched her teeth as Sandor looked away from the lovers casually. Her brother was not happy with people ganging on him. "Should I go hand back Myrna to your brother, perhaps?" he asked Sandor. "I bet he would treat my sister gently, wouldn't he?"

Tension slowly rose again between those two, and Brenda did not seem to be in the mood to sing another song unfortunately. Sandor returned her brother's glare. "The real question here is, would you treat her gently? Whatever the fuck you are planning on doing with all of us, especially her?" This time Sandor really did stand up, and Nicholas remained sitting. He almost looked like a child. Sansa and Arya sat very still where they were and Brenda watched cautiously. "You talk to us like you run this damn thing. Fuck you. And you," he looked to Brenda before looking back down to Nicholas. "I don't give a rat's arse if you helped us out of Kings Landing. You call yourself a knight. Every knight is a bloody joke, but you? You're not even worth a laugh. Seven hells, you were knighted by my brother of all fucking people! You tell me if you should give your sweet sister back to the noble, honorable knight who placed his blade upon your shoulder! Or should she stay here with her brother that put a mark on her back like this one right here?" he pointed to his face.

By now Nicholas looked like he was trying to look through his eyebrows as he stared up at Sandor. He was grimacing so hard Myrna feared what he might try to do. This whole conversation was about her but she remained a mouse. There was so much exploitation at once about her personal life that she did not want to speak. If anyone's eyes looked upon her at that moment she felt like she would have sobbed.

"Fuck all of this! I'm tired of keeping the peace with this pathetic lot," Brenda threw her hands in the air and jumped the wagon. Hastily she marched into a wooded area off to the west opposite of where the bay was.

Then she felt it. Myrna looked down at the wagon's wooden floor before meeting the gaze of the Stark sisters. Sansa's glassy green eyes looked right through her and Arya's cool gray eyes were filled with pity yet some resentment lingered. If things had been different Myrna would be gleefully chatting with these girls over dinner at one of the great halls either in Winterfell or her home Beaumont Hall. They were of northern blood, and their families were once great allies. Their ancestors broke bread together. In fact, Myrna and Nicholas' father helped their father, Eddard Stark, when he called all the Northern bannermen for Robert's Rebellion. Time will kill precious things such as this, and great houses eventually fall. Myrna had to leave.

Myrna shot off the wagon and headed west as well after Brenda. More than anything she wanted an explanation from the woman she trusted more than anyone. When they reunited she was full of love, but now suddenly she hates her. Why would she be so cruel and want her returned to The Mountain? Myrna quickened her pace but only found a small clearing past the wooded area that overlooked a grassy field at the bottom of this cliff. Then she felt a pain in her back, where her scar was.

After shouting in pain she only shouted more as her hair was now being grabbed. Roughly she was pulled back and Brenda's scent filled her nose and she spoke directly in her ear brushing it with hot air. "Did your poor back hurt? How about I add another scar to it!?" then she shoved her forward once again letting her fall.

After being pushed into the dirt, Myrna reached for her pocket for her dagger but it was empty. Her heart sank, and she looked past Brenda toward Sandor who was running towards them through the trees and his facial expression tightened when he realized what was wrong. A few days prior when they sat in the field together he had taken her dagger away and put it away on himself. Myrna was defenseless.

"After all I did for him… that inn fire, the deal with The Mountain, everything! And he chooses you!" the Dornish woman seemed close to tears but she was far too irate to cry. Suddenly a dagger was pointed at Myrna. Her once beautiful, exotic Dornish gaze was now filled with rage. "Why the hell does he care more about you than me!? You're supposed to be locked away with The Mountain and out of the way, but no! Nicholas forbids it!" Brenda wailed.

"You fucking whore, I knew that it was you all along!" Sandor proclaimed as he arrived just in time to hear the confession and he reached for his sword but was still too cautious to approach. Brenda was unpredictable.

Brenda began breathing rapidly. "There's a permanent solution here…"

Suddenly she lunged. As Myrna took another step back she regretted it, feeling nothing. Now she was completely at the end and all there was behind her was air. With a sharp cry, Myrna leaned forward to get her whole body back on the ground but Brenda took a swing with the dagger. There was no choice but to go back.

Now she really did cry out. Instinct made her toes and fingers dig into the vertical earth and luckily there were roots everywhere. She caught one, feeling it pull out from the dirt a couple inches but it managed to hold her. When she peered up it looked as if she were about four to five feet away from where she was standing. There was some shouting; the noise of a struggle. Seconds pass and the first person she sees is Sandor look over and down at her, his eyes darting around as if his mind was quickly evaluating the situation. Sweat made his scar glisten.

"Where is she!?" Myrna cried out, clinging tightly to the root. The feeling of nothingness under her feet left her paralyzed. She dared not to look down.

"I'll kill the bitch once I get you back up here!" Sandor yelled back and went to his knees and tried to reach down. He was just a few feet too far to grab her.

"Let go of one hand and reach, girl!" he commanded.

Myrna felt her hands begin to shake. "I cannot…" Myrna whimpered.

"Yes you can!" he yelled at her, opening up his palm wider. "Reach!"

After taking in a deep breath, Myrna found the courage to let go of one hand to raise up to his but before she could grab his hand the root she was clinging onto loosened from the dirt wall and she fell even further down and screamed. Now she was dangling and holding onto the root with both hands once again. Then she heard a loud crack as the end of the root completely gave way and everything seemed to crumble around her.

When she opened her eyes they met a starry sky. After collecting her thoughts she tried to move but when she did it felt like her sides were stinging. As she slowly sat up to examine herself a bunch of dirt had been sitting on her and some rolled off. Once she brushed the rest off of herself she saw the side of her tunic had torn streaks and within the holes were long scratches. It hurt like the hells, then she looked ahead of her and saw a ton of debris. Rocks, pieces of cliff and branches were lying by her. When she examined the very top of the cliff it looked different. It were as if someone had carved a large chunk out of the earth. A landslide had occurred.

"Ungh…" Myrna grumbled loudly as she tried to stand up but it took great effort. Her body felt heavy and banged up. "Where is everyone?" she asked aloud.

Making her way closer to the debris she recollected everything that had happened. No doubt all of this was because of the root she held onto. Then she wondered why no one had gone down here to help her. When she fell the sun was high in the sky. Clearly at least a half a day had gone by and it should not have taken anyone that long to make their way to her. Myrna peered up at the uneven land at the top of the cliff where all the dirt had collapsed. Wait… Myrna stared harder at that spot. Sandor was kneeling right there, she recalled. A sudden realization made her gut twist and she looked down at horror at the pile of debris before her.

Then she dove in. Her nails dug deep into the dirt and she scattered the tall pile of broken land as quickly as she could. There was so much and the thought of him being buried in there terrified her. Once she was sure she was almost down to the ground in one area she would move to the next. Myrna felt something and her heart leaped. Brushing away the dirt she only uncovered a large root and nothing more. As her digging went on her breathing grew heavy and not just from the physical labor. Nothing was being found. She wiped her dirty hands across her face, surely leaving muddy marks.

Myrna was sure she checked every spot in this giant pile of broken land. Standing up she glanced at her progress and saw most of the debris had been flattened out and scattered. Then she was beginning to wonder if he even did fall with her.

Losing hope, Myrna looked the opposite way of the cliff and to where she awakened before. What she saw made her feel stupid. Just a little ways the other direction of where she woke up she saw him lying there. Almost tripping over her own feet, she made her way over there as quickly as she could. Myrna had been so distracted by the aftermath of the landside that she did not even bother to look in other areas. Falling to his side, she saw he had a layer of dirt on himself just as she did except he seemed more injured. Blood covered most of his face. A gash was on his forehead. Then the crack on his breast plate took her eyes off of the gash. This is useless now… Myrna noted. She began unbuckling the straps on his shoulders and gently taking off his armor. Once it was off he let out a throaty sigh but he remained unconscious.

"Sandor? Can you hear me?" she attempted to awaken him and shook his now unarmored shoulder. He let out a painful growl. Myrna quickly took back her hands. Perhaps his injuries were far vaster than she initially thought.

He opened his eyes and blinked a couple times. Myrna was now at loss for words and just sat there looking at him. "Fucking hell…" he cursed under his breath as he grabbed his shoulder and rolled over on his side away from her.

"Are you hurt?" she asked.

He let out a weak laugh. "What does it fucking look like, woman? This is all your fault…" he cursed more but now it was aimed at her.

That was a big blow for her. "I… I didn't mean…" Myrna stammered but did not know how to defend herself. It really was her fault, after all.

"I pulled you out of that pile of dirt over there," Sandor began talking even though he wasn't facing her. It made her heart skip a beat. "Then… I don't know. I must have passed out," he sounded strangely calm.

That makes sense. If I had fallen before the landslide I should be underneath all that broken land, she thought. Somehow she had made it out without any serious injuries and thanked the Seven for it. However, Sandor was not quite as lucky. He seemed to not to want to face her but she would not have that. After standing up and walking over to his other side she kneeled back down and he looked annoyed. "Let me look at your bad shoulder, at least…" Myrna spoke to him as she went for his collar. He allowed her to do so but still kept his eyes averted as she tugged on the collar of his tunic to look.

From what she could see no skin was broken, which was a good sign. When she examined it more closely there was a bump over his joint. He dislocated it, Myrna cringed at the thought. Nicholas had dislocated his shoulder once before when they were children and she remembered how he howled in pain as their maester had to relocate it. That memory had always disturbed her whenever it resurfaced. The problem was she was outside the room her brother was being treated in because she had been too afraid to watch. She did not know what to do.

"We need to relocate your shoulder," Myrna told him as she covered him back up.

Sandor grimaced and nodded his head. "I could've told you that," he said sourly.

"Does that mean this has happened to you before?" she asked and prayed the answer was yes. That would mean he would know what to do.

"First, we…" he had trouble speaking and groaned. "Gods damn this pain. I just… need to rest my eyes…" he drifted slowly to a slumber.

Myrna sat next to the sleeping man and scratched her head. Well, there is nothing I can do right now… she thought.

For now she would rest. Her muscles asked for it. The scratches on her side still stung on top of that. Also, all the thoughts running through her mind left her in low spirits. Had everyone abandoned them? What will they do now? How will they survive without money? Myrna only survived because she had people to rely on. Sure, she had some combat skills but most of the time after her home burned down and before Kings Landing she spent it in some tiny village under an alias and there was no need to fight. There she and her friend who saved her from her brother stayed. Now they seemed like happier times until that part of her life came to an end as well… And she was dragged off to Kings Landing.

Underneath her the grass was soft enough to comfortably sleep on and she sprawled out. The night was very chilly, and she wrapped her arms around herself. An idea popped in her head on how to warm up, but when she looked at Sandor she flushed. No, she told herself and turned the opposite direction of where he was. This wasn't the first night where she slept under the stars. Not by a long shot. Myrna was okay on her own. Or so she made herself believe.

Note: Thank you for your patience! I normally dislike writing notes like this but I want to let everyone know I have not forgotten this story and I plan on updating it more frequently. While I was away I received wonderful compliments and helpful criticisms. You guys are tremendously supportive, even in my absence, and I thank you. Also, the song is obviously not mine but belongs to GRRM. Happy reading!