42. Smells Like Freedom.

The first thing that Robb did when he got to his office was to grab the bottle of whiskey that he had on a table next to the wall and pour himself a glass of the liquor, which he quickly swallowed in a single gulp. He wanted to pour himself another glass of whiskey, he wanted to drown himself in alcohol and fall into a deep sleep and forget everything. What he had learned today felt like torture. It felt even worse than torture, maybe. He knew that physical pain would end sooner or later, but the pain that he felt inside... There was no way of knowing when that kind of pain would fade away, if it ever did.

He couldn't pour the whiskey into the glass because his hands shook so much that the bottle almost slipped through his fingers and crashed against the floor, but it didn't. Instead he left the bottle again on the table, and then he walked towards the wooden desk of the office and put his hands on its hard surface. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He could feel his wife's hands on his shoulders.

"Robb?" she asked calling his name, worried about him. He hadn't said a single word since he left Sansa, his mother and Clegane upstairs in the bedroom that had once belonged to his sister.

Robb set his eyes on the phone on his desk, and almost took it. His intention while going downstairs was to pick up the phone and call his brother Jon so that he would go to Winterfell and get Bran, Rickon and Ned out of Westeros. But Robb couldn't just call and make Jon leave his military obligations just like that without calling even a little bit of attention, and Robb needed to be absolutely discreet about that whole affair. No one could notice, at least not now, that he was making his family leave the country and go far away... There would be questions, and questions always brought trouble.

He was going to call Bran then, and tell him to make sure that Rickon and Ned were safe. Robb knew that even though Bran was still very young he was a very responsible man, and he wouldn't let anything happen to his younger brother and his nephew. Robb could trust him... but could he trust everyone else?

What if they are listening to me? he wondered then, and his gaze wandered through the whole office. Where there any listening devices? Hidden cameras that he did not know about? Were the Lannisters or Joffrey closely watching his every move to know what he was up to? He wouldn't be surprised if that was the case...

That is absurd, he realized then. Am I paranoid now?

Maybe he was. Maybe he wasn't. He didn't know... The only thing that he did know was that he did not dare to pick up the phone and call his brothers to tell them what had happened and that they had to leave, because he was afraid that somehow if he did that Joffrey would know. He could not risk Joffrey knowing...

This is ridiculous, he thought, referring to that sudden paranoia of being spied on.

But maybe it wasn't that ridiculous. Now he knew that Joffrey was able to do whatever he pleased to get what he wanted, so what would stop him from spying on the President of Westeros to get an advantage over him? A day ago Robb wouldn't have thought his Vice President and brother-in-law capable of doing that, but he had discovered things that had almost made his blood freeze in his veins because of the horror that they awoke in him. Joffrey had murdered his father... Joffrey had planned Theon's death, and he had been abusing his sister for such a long time...

Thinking about that made Robb want to pull at his hair and scream in agony. He remembered his fathers's funereal; that memory was as clear in his mind as if that day had happened only yesterday. Robb remembered the devastation that his entire family felt. He also remembered how sick he had felt when he learned of the details of his father's death. He remembered thinking: What kind of soulless monster does something like that? Only the devil himself would be capable of committing such a crime.

And now he knew that Joffrey had been that monster, and that his sisters Sansa and Arya had been forced to witness everything... And that Sansa had had to sacrifice herself for the sake of the whole family and be with that beast...

Robb couldn't take it. He yelled and he slammed his fists on the hard wooden surface of the desk. Talisa immediately hugged him, trying to soothe her husband's sudden outburst of anger, pain and guilt. Robb's knees gave up from beneath him and he fell to the floor, taking his wife down with him. Robb sat on the floor, feeling helpless like a little child. Talisa kept hugging him tightly, not ever letting go of him.

"It's okay," she murmured, trying to call him down. "It's okay, Robb, everything will get better."

Robb tried to speak, but the words got caught up in his throat and they would leave his mouth. He found out then that he was crying. When had he started crying? He didn't know, but he was a sobbing mess. He couldn't speak, but the sound of his cries filled the office.

I'm sorry, he wanted to say. He needed to apologize to his father, to Sansa, to Arya, to Theon. To his mother and his brothers and his son and his wife. He had to apologize to them for not having known how to take care of them. It was his responsibility, and he had failed. I'm so sorry...

He couldn't say the words, but Talisa seemed to hear him anyways.

"It's okay..." she repeated again softly.

Robb shook his head. No, it want okay. It would never be okay...

Joffrey had to pay.

Back in Sansa's old room, Sandor woke up. He had fallen asleep on the armchair, and the position in which he had slept left him with a terrible back and neck pain. He groaned as he stretched. Sandor felt his bones cracking, and then he felt much better. He yawned, and then he rubbed his eyes and ran his hands over his face and then he looked at the bed where the two Stark women were.

Catelyn Stark was already awake, and she was looking at her daughter while Sansa still slept. Catelyn was humming something softly, some song. It sounded like a lullaby, but Sandor couldn't really be sure that it was in fact a lullaby, because he did not recognize it. When he was a child his mother had been too busy, and often too sick to go to his room and night and song him lullabies, and in most nights she had to worry over Gregor's problematic behavior. Sandor pushed away those memories from his mind and he focused on listening to the soft music that came from Catelyn Stark. She didn't sing- well, she didn't hum,- as well as her daughter did. Sansa's voice was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard, but still that soft humming was very nice and it almost made him sleepy again.

He was about to close his eyes and doze off again when suddenly he noticed that Sansa was slightly stirring. He leaned forward on the armchair, and Catelyn Stark stopped humming when she also realized that her daughter was moving.

Sansa slowly opened her eyes. She blinked several times and then she looked up to stare at her mother. She looked confused at first, like she couldn't really remember where she was or why was she looking at her mother. Then her memories struck her and she sighed, but a few second skater a small smile took over her features.

"Hi Mom..." she whispered, still sounding a little bit sleepy.

"Hi baby," Catelyn said, and she kissed her forehead. "Are you okay? Do you need anything?"

"I'm fine..." Sansa murmured. "Could I have some water?"

"Of course. I will be right back."

Catelyn got off the bed, and after making sure that Sansa was completely covered with the blanket she left the room to fetch that glass of water that Sansa had asked for. Once Catelyn was out of the room Sandor stood up from the armchair and crossed the room towards the bed. Sansa saw him coming smiled; she made more room in the bed for Sandor, and he sat down on it.

"Hey," she whispered, looking up at his eyes.

"Hey," he murmured. "How are you?"

Sansa shrugged. "I'm fine, I guess... I have a headache... I suppose that it's from all the truth suddenly leaving my body. It feels like such a relief..."

"It should be," Sandor said. He caressed Sansa's face then, making her smile some more. "You are going to be out of here very soon."

"I can't believe it's finally happening..."

"Me neither," he admitted. It felt too good to be true, but good things had to happen from time to time, didn't they?

"When are we leaving?" Sansa asked. Sandor realized then that he would have to ask her what she wanted. Did she want to take a risk by hiding there until she could leave, or did she want to take a risk by going back to the mansion and faking that everything was back to normal for just three days?

"In three days," he said. "Listen, Sansa, there's something I have to ask you..."

"Yes?"

"Your brother days that he can definitely take you away in three days. But we need to decide what to do until then," Sandor told her, and Sansa's face became serious again. He just hoped that she didn't get mad because of the only two possible options that they had. Sandor took a deep breath before saying: "You can stay here and stay hidden. Then in three days Robb will somehow take you out and away, but you will be safe until then. Or... you could go back to the mansion and pretend that everything was normal and not raise any suspicion, and then you could escape in three days. I can promise you that nothing will happen to you while you stay back in the mansion if you do end up deciding to go there. But I won't take you there if you don't want to go," he quickly added, wanting Sansa to know that he would not force her to do anything. From now on everything was her own decision; she deserved as much.

Sansa thought about it for about three second before saying, with a voice full of convicting and security and without a shadow of doubt:

"I'll go back to the mansion," she said, taking Sandor completely by surprise. "If I run from Joffrey tonight he will know what I have done, he is not that stupid. I'll go with him, and I'll endure whatever I have to endure if that means I can escape in three days. What is three days compared to three years? It's worth it..."

Seven hells, she's much braver than I ever thought she was, Sandor thought. And she had already proved a thousand times how brave she is.

Sandor leaned down and kissed Sansa. It was only a chaste kiss of lips on lips, but that was all that both of them needed at that time. That was how Catelyn Stark found them when she returned, and she froze at the doorframe and almost dropped the glass of water that she carried in her hand. She stood there, watching Sansa and Sandor kissing unaware of her presence, somewhat stunned. Catelyn had accepted that her daughter and that man were in love, though she still could not imagine how that had come to happen. It was so bizarre, watching her daughter with that man... But Catelyn knew that love never made any sense.

She cleared her throat, and that was enough for Sansa and Sandor to end their kiss and look at her. She smiled at them and then went to the bed and gave Sansa the glass of water, which she drank.

Soon after, everyone was in the garage if the mansion saying their goodbyes, for it was late and Sandor and Sansa had to leave. She communicated to her family her decision to go back to the mansion and pretend that all things were normal. Her family respected it, but Sandor and Sansa could tell that no one really liked the idea. However, Sandor had given his word that nothing would happen to Sansa, and he was going to keep it.

"I'll see you in three days," Sansa said full of hope to her mother, brother and sister-in-law before getting in the car. Sansa couldn't stop smiling. Long gone were her tears and her fears from earlier that day, and Sandor was glad of that.

He drove back to the Vice President's mansion. It was a little past midnight, and already all the lights were out. Sansa was glad that apparently everyone was sleeping, but she knew that she would have to answer questions the next day. Sandor helped her to come up with a story to replace the real events that had happened with, and then he parked the car outside. He helped Sansa get out of the car and then he escorted her to the front door of the mansion, which he opened for her. He walked inside the mansion after her, but right after he closed the door a cold and hissing voice surprised them in the middle of the dark.

"Where have you been?"

Sansa almost screamed, startled. Even Sandor almost jumped a little.

The lights of the main hall turned on all of a sudden, filling the place with intense light and making Sandor and Sansa narrow their eyes. Joffrey was there, standing next to the light switch on the wall.

Although it was late and everyone else was already sleeping, Joffrey was still wearing his suit and he was obviously very much awake. The look in his eyes was... dangerous. Sansa gulped when she saw him, but she didn't cower in front of him and instead kept her head high. Joffrey glared at her through narrowed eyes; he wasn't possessed by the mad rage that had taken over him earlier that day, but traces of it remained in him and could be noticed from afar. When he saw Joffrey, Sandor took a slow step forward and got closer to Sansa, getting ready to act and protect her if need be. Fortunately, Joffrey stood still next to the wall, simply glaring daggers at them.

"I said..." Joffrey muttered, "where have you been?"

"We were-" Sansa started saying, but Joffrey interrupted her.

"I wasn't asking you."

Sansa shut up immediately, startled by Joffrey's hateful and cutting tone. Her husband glared at her one more time before setting his murderous green gaze on the bodyguard. Sandor remained unperturbed as he stared back at Joffrey, not showing even the slightest bit of emotion in his eyes and in his overall expression.

"Where. Have. You. Been?" Joffrey asked one more time, losing his patience.

"She wanted me to drive her around," Sandor said, simply shrugging his shoulders. That was what Sansa and him had agreed earlier that they were going to say in case they were questioned. It wasn't a very good excuse, but any other lies could be easily discovered. "So I did."

Joffrey frowned and then he arched an eyebrow while he still glared at Sandor and his wife.

"You drove around... for five hours?" he asked skeptically.

Sandor merely shrugged and nodded his head, acting as naturally as he could. Joffrey stared at him for a few more seconds, doubting his words, but he knew that Sandor never lied- or at least, he used to never lie- and so he finally ended up believing it. He looked at Sansa again, who was waiting for him to yell at her or something of the sort. Instead Joffrey made a quick movement of his head and motioned towards the staircase.

"Go to sleep," he said in a dry tone. His glare was still rough, but he seemed to be a bit pacific for the time being. "I have work to do."

Sansa didn't even say good night, not did she stop a second to give one last look to Joffrey and Sandor. She just nodded her head and quickly made for the stairs, wanting to avoid any possible conflict, which was understandable. Sandor didn't look at her while she left to avoid the risk of letting his emotions show in his face, and to prevent his eyes from lingering after her for too long while Joffrey was still there. After Sansa was gone Sandor simply said good bye to his boss and then left quickly, just like the girl had done. He was surprised that Joffrey hadn't wanted to ask any more questions...

Well, that was easy, he thought as he made for his own bedroom in the mansion. Now we only have to put up with all this for three more days, and we will be gone.

Joffrey had stayed a few minutes in the hall looking at the stairs where they had disappeared, each one at a different time. He kept glaring, even though there was no one left there to glare at. After he got tired of standing there in the middle of the hall, he turned the lights off again and returned to his office walking through the darkness. He turned the lights on again after entering his office, and he sat behind his desk. Joffrey stared at the phone on the wooden desk. He stared at it in silence for what seemed to be endless minutes until he finally decided to pick it up and dial a number.

He had a very important call to make...

The next morning Sansa woke up alone in bed, a fact for which she was extremely glad and thankful. She always hated to wake up and find Joffrey lying there next to her, but after what had happened the previous day that morning she would have hated it even more. She thought that maybe she had slept late and that was why she was all alone. In fact, she had indeed slept late, but a quick glance at Joffrey's side of the bed confirmed her that she had been alone all night. She smiled.

She showered and quickly got dressed before leaving her room and going to the dining hall to have breakfast. The smile disappeared from her face when she saw that Joffrey was there, drinking his coffee and reading the newspaper. Sansa quickly glanced around the dining hall; no one else was there, not even the bodyguards.

She sat down on the table, and once Joffrey noticed her presence he looked at her, but he didn't say anything. Sansa stayed silent too, and she only murmured a soft 'thanks' to the maid that brought her her breakfast. She started to eat in silence, and Joffrey went back to reading the newspaper. The atmosphere around them was tense, and soon it also became kind of awkward, but Sansa did not want that silence to end, for she had absolutely no desire to speak with her husband. She was also glad that there wasn't anybody else in there with them; that way she did not have to make polite conversation...

However, the silence was soon broken by Joffrey. His words greatly surprised Sansa, though.

"Your brother called earlier," he informed her.

Sansa almost chocked on the orange juice that she was drinking, and she carefully put down the glass on the table.

"Oh?" was all she said. She could feel her heart beating very fast in her chest, and she hoped that Joffrey wouldn't notice. She was nervous. What had Robb said to Joffrey? Why had he called? "What for?"

"He wanted to talk to you, actually, but I did not want to wake you up. You looked so... exhausted," Joffrey said, and something in his voice made Sansa sick. "He wanted to inform us that he and your mother and sister-in-law are returning North for the annual ceremony in honor of your father. It's the anniversary of his death."

Sansa almost gripped the breakfast knife in her hand, and she felt an extremely violent urge taking over her. She glared at Joffrey, even though she knew she shouldn't do that in case that she might provoke him.

You killed him, she muttered in her mind. It's the anniversary of his murder because of you.

It didn't escape her how Joffrey's lips slightly curled up in a smile full of satisfaction. It almost made Sansa throw up.

"Of course, he invited us to fly north with him. I declined. I am a very busy man."

Thank God that you don't have the nerve to accept going to that ceremony.

"And what excuse did you put for me not going?" she asked. Joffrey always forbade her to go anywhere with her family and without him. That time would be no exception, and she would have to work up some plan with her family to get her out of that damned place...

"Oh, I didn't put any excuse," Joffrey said then, confusing Sansa. "You can go."

"What?" she asked, stunned. She wasn't sure that she had heard right. Had Joffrey just said that she could go?

"You can go," he repeated. He was still reading the newspaper distractedly, ignoring the way in which Sansa almost gaped at him, completely surprised. "Maybe you should start packing, you leave the day after tomorrow at morning."

"But, w-why...?" Sansa mumbled. She could not understand it. She was extremely glad that Joffrey was allowing her to go and thus saving her a lot of trouble, but she could not understand why he was doing that.

"I can't forbid you to go everywhere with your family, and much less to such an event," Joffrey simply answered. "It would look very suspicious... Besides, I trust that you won't make any stupid decisions while you are away... Or will you, Sansa?"

Sansa gulped. She knew what Joffrey meant. He meant that he trusted that she wouldn't do exactly what she had done yesterday.

Too late, she thought, and for the first time she savored victory. However, she nodded.

"Of course..."

"Good. But there's one more thing," Joffrey said, and then he did put down the newspapers and he looked at his wife. "Clegane stays here."

It took all the self-control that Sansa had not to widen her eyes with horror and gasp. What? Sandor couldn't go with her? But why?!

But he was going to come to the North with me, she thought, suddenly feeling all the victory and the happiness fading away. We were supposed to leave together!

Calm down, he can find another way to go with you, a voice in the back of her mind said, calming her down.

"Why?" she asked, and she somehow managed to keep her voice from shaking and giving away her disappointment.

"He is my best bodyguard. I need him here."

"But we will be back in a few days," Sansa lied.

"I need him while you are gone," Joffrey insisted. Sansa didn't know how to argue against him without making it look suspicious. "Your family's bodyguards will suffice for you, I'm sure."

"I thought you wanted him to control me," she reminded her husband the reason why he had out Sandor at her service in the first place. "He's the only one that can properly keep an eye on me."

"I don't need him to keep an eye on you anymore," Joffrey said, and for some reason that made Sansa frown and feel even more confused than she had felt before.

Does he really trust me that much? she wondered. Well, Sandor is a smart and resourceful man, he can catch a plane and go North after he gets rid of whatever job Joffrey has for him...

She tried to convince herself of that, but the disappointment and the sadness wouldn't go away. She had wanted to leave with Sandor, and she hated the thought of having to do it without him. How would he react to the news? Sansa knew that Sandor would be furious, but there was no way of avoiding having to be separated for a short while.

"All right," she ended up saying, feeling defeated but sounding completely normal, like she didn't care the slightest bit about her bodyguard.

"Good. Oh, and one last thing, Sansa," Joffrey said then. "Do you remember that song that I asked you to record?"

Not long ago, Joffrey had given to her the lyrics of an old song and had asked her to record it professionally with music and all in the studio and put it in a CD. Sansa never knew why Joffrey had made her such a request, but she had done it anyways. She nodded.

"Do you have the CD?" Joffrey asked, and again Sansa nodded. "Bring it to me."

Sansa stood up from the table and left the dining hall. She returned a couple of minutes later with a CD in her hands. She handed it over to Joffrey, who smiled when he took it. Sansa sat down again on her chair and looked at the CD with curiosity.

"The Rains of Castamere," she murmured, saying the name of the song. "I heard about it one time. It was written back in the Middle Ages by your family, was it not?" she never talked to Joffrey, true, but music was her favorite topic, and she couldn't stop herself. She felt too much curiosity to stay silent.

"It was, yes," Joffrey nodded. "The Lannisters were one of the most powerful families back then as well, when they were lords and ladies. They were even kings once, before other kings took over and then times changed and democracy came along," he commented. "This song was written after one of my ancestors fought against rebels and won the war."

"It is a fascinating song," Sansa murmured, more to herself than to Joffrey.

Again, he husband nodded. He kept looking at the CD that had "the Rains of Castamere" written in red marker on it as if he was hypnotized by it.

"It is," he said. "Thank you, Sansa."

Once again, Sansa was surprised that morning by something that Joffrey said. He never thanked her for anything, but she could tell that he had meant what he had said.

"You are welcome," she said, a bit hesitant and confused, but still. She stood up from the table after she was done having breakfast. "I'm going to go, I have a lot of things to do..."

She left the dining hall and walked up the stairs again. She was feeling many things all at once; she was confused because of Joffrey's strange and docile behavior that morning, and sad because of the news that she would have to leave Sandor behind, at least for a little while... But above those things, she was feeling happy. She was finally going home...

She did not get to see the way in which Joffrey grinned after she turned her back on him, nor did she ever notice the strange shimmering of his eyes as he looked down at the CD.