A Gift of Fealty
Podrick and Sam come across Jon standing in the Tower of the Guards, gazing out over the King's Road. "You men, is that Clegane back again trying to come north of the Wall? His rough voice carries all the way here." Swallowing hard, Sam replies, "Sandor Clegane once again wishes admittance, my lord. He also requests you meet him at once inside."
Sandor Clegane. The very name invokes the day King Robert came to Winterfell with his retinue of over three hundred men in Jon's mind. The whole family watched their grandiose arrival anxiously, his sister Sansa being the most excited of all. It was the first time she saw Prince Joffrey and his bodyguard the Hound.
Jon knows he cannot understand entirely what she suffered at the hands of the Lannisters, yet her behavior towards him since he turned him away has him baffled. He would have thought she would be glad he shielded her from him and instead she had set her jaw, glared at him and left the room without a word. Puzzling him further, she has spoken very little to him since then. After conveying that Joff's fearsome bodyguard with his terrible scarred face became the man that helped her in the den of lions, she told him she was displeased he had chosen to turn him away and hoped he would not do so again.
"He says he has something to discuss with you about Winterfell." Raising his brows, he gestures for the men to follow him. "Well let's see what he has to say, shall we men?" Nearing the Gate, Lord Commander Snow signals the guards to raise the iron gate and escort Sandor inside. Walking toward the towering giant of a man, Jon cautiously greets him. "Sandor Clegane, we meet again. We heard up here you died along the Trident some time ago."
"I heard that one myself, Lord Commander Snow. The Hound died and was buried there is a more accurate statement." Sandor replies.
"My sister has related to me how you watched over her in King's Landing and while I admit I had my doubts, I owe you my sincerest gratitude for that."
Sandor shrugs, grunting in reply. Jon's words trigger a familiar refrain in his mind: I didn't do half of what I should for the little bird. She deserved better from me. I should have thrown her over my shoulder and carried her out of that pit of vipers rather than leave her for the Imp. I may not be fit for the likes of her but I can keep her safe at least.
Sansa has been very sorrowful since returning north and Jon hopes seeing the scarred man from her past will lighten her spirits. Turning to Podrick, Jon whispers, "Go to White Tree and fetch Lady Sansa at once. Keep in mind Lady Brienne's account of my sister's reaction to the news of his death. I expect you to deal tactfully with her in this matter, as she is still recovering from her ordeal. Have her wait for me in my solar and keep her company until I arrive."
Jon has kept the details of her escape secret and even Podrick does not know the entire story. Lady Brienne had been scouting alone when she found Sansa wandering aimlessly in shock, barefoot and knee deep in snow. It took several days for Sansa to share her ordeal with her and to her credit Lady Brienne related Sansa's full account to him alone. Jon has respected her silence on the matter, hoping once she feels more secure in her surroundings she will confide in him.
Podrick remembers Lady Sansa's anguish all too well. Sansa paled and then sobbed until her misery rendered her sick and incapacitated with grief. Lady Brienne felt it wise to take her to an inn and for a week she neither slept nor ate. He and lady Brienne watched the young woman staring out over the mountains of the Vale with a passive empty expression in her lovely eyes. They both had been most concerned for her safety both physically and mentally and Podrick wished he knew how to better comfort the wife of his former lord. Keeping his thoughts to himself, Podrick nods and bows low, "Yes, Lord Commander Snow, right away."
Overwhelmed with nervous anticipation, Sandor wonders if he heard Lord Snow correctly. Snow is sending for the little bird now? Watching the boy take his leave, Sandor pauses to regain his composure. "I did what I could for the girl Lord Snow, though I regret not enough. I am a changed man now. I lived on the Quiet Isle with the brothers of the Seven and you will find me very different than the man you met in Winterfell. The Hound is dead."
Raising his eyebrows, Jon folds his arms and gestures for him to continue. "I told your sister Arya if I ever came north I would swear my fealty to your brother, though at the time I did not realize the Young Wolf would be killed. I am a man of my word, if nothing else. I understand I need to prove myself to you. To this end, I have brought the traitors of your family to you, Lord Commander Snow. Consider it a token of my loyalty to House Stark."
Pulling the blanket off the packhorse Sandor reveals three bodies, startling Jon, Sam and the other Night's Watchmen guarding the Gate. Studying Sandor closely, Jon steps forward guardedly while turning the first corpse toward him. A familiarly lean headless man wearing a breastplate bearing the kraken symbol of House Greyjoy lies across the horse. Theon. He was a man Jon once viewed as a brother, raised alongside him and Robb in Winterfell. Theon enraged him by taunting his position in the family when his father gifted him Ghost but now only a sinking emptiness fills Jon at the sight of his lifeless body ignominiously lying before him.
"I brought his head too my Lord should you wish to see it."
Shaking his head, Jon pats Sandor on the back and shakes his hand solemnly. "No, I will see it when I bury them. My father would have wished it, regardless of their crimes."
"As it pleases you, my lord," Sandor replies with equal solemnity.
Watching the scarred warrior, Jon recognizes Sandor is neither proud nor sorry for the lives he has taken. It is a feeling Jon knows all too well, having experienced it many times since reaching the Wall. Sandor Clegane is a changed man indeed, Jon muses and is startled to find his own grim feelings mirrored in the man's dark expressive eyes.
Walking around to the other side of the horse, Jon lifts the second body revealing the face of a woman he does not recognize. She is wearing a man's leather jerkin and pants and an axe is still strapped at her side while a necklace with an iron kraken pendant adorns her bloodied neck. Asha Greyjoy. For all her rumored battle experience, she was completely caught off guard, Jon notes grimly to himself, his mind momentarily returning to Ygritte.
"I gave her a quick death," Sandor shrugs, gesturing to her head. "She was a fighter to be sure. I didn't want to leave her alive only to have her and her men seek revenge later."
Leaning in closer Jon notices her neck is broken yet her vacant eyes wear a haunted look of surprise even in death. "Yes, I can see you did just that," Jon mutters, taken aback to find the former Hound, once the fiercest fighter in the Baratheon and Lannister armies, has taken a life such a merciful fashion.
Stunned, Jon walks away, needing a moment to process this unexpected turn of events: Sandor Clegane returns from the dead and manages to kill both Theon and his sister. Not knowing what to expect next, he examines the third bodyon finds it unremarkable except that it belongs to an old frail man who is also headless. Opening the accompanying sack, he immediately recognizes the weasel toothless face of Walder Frey and cannot help but think what Robb would have said to these turn of events. "Come inside Castle Black, Clegane. I would speak to you privately."
Leading Sandor through the winding passageways under the castle, Jon opens the door to his command room. Though he is curious as to how Sandor managed such a coup, he does not wish to ask Sandor just yet especially when he appears deep in thought. "You honor my father and my family, Clegane, more than you may realize as a Westerman. I will gladly grant you any land you choose among the lands in White Tree for your loyalty. The area was once populated by clans of Free folk but now the camp is all but abandoned, save for displaced Free folk of various tribes and other refugees seeking a fresh start north of the Wall."
"Thank you, my lord," Sandor says, bowing low.
Jon gestures for the scarred man to sit and listens with rapt attention as Sandor relates how he ambushed the Greyjoys just outside Winterfell's walls. Sandor managed to execute them just as Stannis Baratheon and his troops approached the castle, engaging the Ironborn and giving Sandor an easy escape in the melee.
When Sandor finishes, Jon smiles. "Amazing Clegane, that is quite an accomplishment. You need not swear fealty to me for I am in no position as Lord Commander of the Wall to accept such a charge. However, my lady sister may well be in need of your services, if that would suit you."
"Yes, of course Lord Snow, it would be an honor." Sandor rasps out with difficulty, his breath taken by Jon's suggestion.
"You must understand Clegane that I cannot help but be curious as to why you felt the need to perform such an extraordinarily dangerous feat. You must be aware as a member of the Night's Watch there is no coin that I may offer you."
Sandor remains silent, pensively lost in thought. He isn't rightly sure he knows himself. How can he even begin to explain to Jon his many reasons for killing the traitors of the little bird's family? How could he even begin to explain to the young man that his beautiful sister's smile and touch is perhaps the only time he can recall anyone showing compassion towards him? How would he make the young man understand that this is the only comfort he feels capable of offering her? His mind flashes back to the serpentine steps and the comfort Sansa offered him when he was drunk and bitter.
She is the only woman who ever willingly touched him and looked him in the face, not with revulsion or fear, but with concern for his desperate state. Many times in King's Landing he was moved by her grace and bravery. Though captivated by her beauty, her kindhearted ways are her greatest allure. Once he experienced the feel of her soft hand on his face, his heart tenderly responded to her. In that darkened room alight with the green glow of wildfire, he shed the first tears of his adult life while she sang to him and from that moment on Sandor knew he would never be the same again. Sansa saved his life; he owes her far more than he could ever hope to repay.
Ever since the day Petyr Baelish arrived on the Quiet Isle looking for her, Sandor knew he would search the ends of the earth to find her. He promised himself that once he did, he would gladly spend his life keeping her safe. Swallowing hard, Sandor steels himself and fixes his gaze on the stone floor. "I owe the girl that much, at least-for the times I wanted to do more for her. For Sansa and your younger sister, too, my lord."
"I see," Jon replies, knowing full well Sandor tried to ransom Arya back to Lady Catelyn and the man kept his spirited sister from getting killed at the Red Wedding. Before she left for Braavos with the mysterious Jaqen Hgar, she confided it was Sandor that helped her retrieve Needle. "My family and I will forever be in your debt, Clegane. You will always have a place in our home and our table, I swear it. Now, that only leaves Petyr Baelish to finish off and then I will be satisfied, for dear Sansa's sake, at least," Jon cryptically responds, rising to his feet.
Rage surges into Sandor's eyes at the mere mention of the man, his face paling beneath his scars. When word reached the Quiet Isle that Petyr Baelish indeed held Sansa Stark in the Eyrie, he imagined the worst. Elder Brother convinced Sandor to go to the Vale in search of her the very same day Lord Baelish arrived at the sept seeking information about the missing girl he claimed was his daughter. Petyr had heard the female knight Brienne of Tarth had visited the sept and knew she was in service to Catelyn Stark, leading him to believe Sansa must be on the Quiet Isle.
Sandor was proud of the little bird for flying away from the devious Littlefinger. Having spent his fair share of time in Baelish's brothels, Sandor is all too aware of the horrors she most likely experienced living with the man. Only the feel of his shortsword carving into Littlefinger's flesh pacified his fear for her. After hurling his lifeless body into a tributary of the Bay of Crabs, Sandor said farewell to Elder Brother and followed Brienne's trail.
Scouring the inns and taverns for news, Sandor finally overheard a drunken sellsword say his partner had been killed by a large woman dressed as a knight for grabbing her young redheaded charge. "I came across that wench," Sandor offered, buying the man another round. "You know which way she is headed?" Another man had said she was taking the girl to her brother and after Sandor bought him a wineskin, he immediately embarked on the trip north to the Wall, having remembered the little bird's bastard brother was a member of the Night's Watch.
Realizing it has been some time since he spoke, Sandor puts his thoughts aside. "Thank you, my lord," Sandor answers gruffly, uncomfortably shifting on his feet. "But I have handled that matter as well, Lord Commander," Sandor mutters, tossing Baelish's mockingbird pin on the desk.
Taken aback, Jon's mouth slowly works into a terse smile as he marvels at the efficient killer before him while fingering the intricate ornament caked with blood. "It seems you have settled the Stark's affairs most admirably. You certainly live up to the name the Hound. I'm hopeful upon learning of your acts of loyalty my sister will find a measure of peace at last, knowing she never need fear these traitors again."
Staring at the battle hardened man before him, Jon does not tell Sandor that the young girl he once knew is a woman now who has been despondent since hearing of his death. He refrains from saying Sansa shakes almost constantly, the slightest noises and movements causing her to flinch in fear and that he worries she may never fully recover from her ordeals.
Though she appears fragile, he has witnessed the normally soft spoken Sansa time and again vehemently defend Sandor Clegane to anyone who dares slight him in her presence. Since her arrival, she daily makes the long trek in the freezing cold to the lone Heart tree north of the Wall. Although Jon does not meddle in her activities, he suspects she mourns him there while alone with her sorrow and memories.
Frowning, Sandor meets his gaze and nods before resuming staring at a spot on the floor, his heart racing at the mere suggestion of the little bird's misery. Watching the scarred man's discomfort, Jon realizes he is upset learning of her unhappiness. The young man decides not to press for details about their relationship. The pair unquestionably share a mysterious and powerful connection and though their unspoken loyalty to one another somewhat concerns him, he is all too aware that war and crisis forge unusual relationships not easily broken.
I will leave them alone to their own devices for the time being. Jon shakes his hand and moves toward the door. "If you would wait here, Clegane, I would like to speak to my sister in private and then I will send her in to you. She will be most excited to see you, I am certain of that."
Watching the young lord close the door, an unexpected lightness fills Sandor's chest at the thought of seeing his little bird. If pressed, he would call the feeling happiness.