Gold Saw Dyed in Lannister Red: Gregor (288 AC)
Gregor was just finishing another draught of milk of the poppy to nurse yet another blasted headache when one of his guards entered the main hall and bowed to him.
"What is it, you dog?" he grated.
"Pardon the interruption, my Lord," the man shook a little. "But Black Gold Saw has arrived."
Now that was very uncharacteristically good news to start the day for Ser Gregor Clegane.
Usually, he had to deal with some blasted pettiness of some seven hells-damned lowborn piece of shit getting underfoot and pissing him off. Barring that, it was just looking forward to another day of headaches, milk of the poppy, and seeing to his armor and sword. The monotony of his life was only ever broken when Tywin sent him a raven with orders to go murder someone.
"Ah!" Gregor rose with his mood. "Then let her in already, you idiot!"
But to have Black Gold Saw, Tywin's personal Doll herself, coming to Clegane's Keep was a sure sign to him that Tywin had some reward to grant him for his years of loyal service.
The guard then continued. "A- actually, she wants you to go see her, in the courtyard."
Gregor paused at that, and then strode toward him until he was standing right above him, the man's head barely level with his chest. "Did she say why?" he asked dangerously.
The guard swallowed nervously. "S-she didn't say. But I think it's because of all the smallfolk she brought with her."
Gregor was really tempted to have another drink, if only he hadn't already drunk up his entire morning's portion already. But at the moment, the ensuing headache was more metaphorical than physical, so he simply knocked the guard aside in his natural stride out of the hall and toward the courtyard.
As he headed out, he thought on what exactly Black Gold Saw was planning. He knew himself to be a very blunt and simple man, who had little need to understand the labyrinthine plots and schemes of the other lords in their Game of Thrones. He only needed and wanted to know where he would lead his men and who they were to be tasked with killing. He also didn't mind Black Gold Saw all that much, she was but another servant to Lord Tywin after all, despite how little time the two had spent together in the last five years.
But he had worked and spoken with both her and Lord Tywin enough to know that there was a world of difference between the two.
His Lord could be very spiteful and vicious, but it was balanced out by his dedication to his House and his methodical sense of pragmatism. And when it came to dealing with the other lords of the Seven Kingdoms, he did it as a necessary part of his duty.
But Black Gold Saw, she treated the Game of Thrones like the game it was called. Although she aligned with Lord Tywin in his goals and plans, she participated in the game for the simple fact that she enjoyed it. He could tell, because the look she got in her eyes whenever she laid out the latest scheme to better House Lannister was very similar to those of some of his wilder men whenever they got hiked up on anticipation for a slaughter.
The same look that he saw in her eyes when he entered the courtyard, where a ring of smallfolk stood behind her.
"Good morning, Ser Gregor Clegane," Black Gold Saw greeted him. "I come with an audience, for the presentation of these gifts I have for you."
It was then he noticed that, clutched in her two large hands, was a pair of figures, covered up in baggy cloaks, faces blindfolded, bloody and muddied. And very eminently female.
His previous misgivings began dissipating with the rising of his lust.
"How generous!" he exclaimed. "And just who might these whelps be?"
Black Gold Saw chuckled as her sharp fingers stroked her two captives. "There was a pair of girls who lived simple lives in their simple village. Such close friends they may as well have been sisters. When one lost her mother to an unfortunate accident, the other grieved as if hers had been taken. And then the other's disappeared too, under the most unfortunate of circumstances imaginable, and their tears ran hot once more."
"So a couple girls got pissy their mothers got killed." Gregor callously remarked. "What do I care?"
There was a quiet rumble of murmuring from the crowd behind Black Gold Saw, which she silenced simply by turning to look at them, before returning her gaze to Gregor.
"Despite the mystery of their mothers' deaths, the two blamed their liege lord, but never said so openly, powerless and weak they were like all young women. Unable to bear the pain of living so close to where their mothers died, they left, taking what little possessions and food they could carry, and set out in search of someplace else to call home."
Then she knelt down so that she was level with her prisoners.
"During their travels, they came across a pair of Dolls, sitting uselessly by the wayside under a copse of trees, surrounded by offerings of rotten food, dead flowers, and even abandoned coins. The two girls at any other time might have hoped that the Dolls would Awaken for them, but hope was gone, but they took pity on the poor things covered in mud and filth, so they cleaned away the useless food and plants, collected the coins, and wiped the dirt off their faces."
Gregor was getting really annoyed. There was no one he knew who loved the sound of their own voice than Black Gold Saw, and he was really itching to have a go at the offerings before him. But he had already dared to interrupt her once, and he knew that she hated being interrupted whenever she got going like this.
Black Gold Saw then pitched the faces of the two girls. "But then, the Dolls Awoke! The girls burst into laughter and joy at the new friends they had just made, and realized something: they could return to their home, march up to their lord in his Keep, and finally get justice. Not just for their mothers, but for every mother, father, son and daughter who had been slaughtered by the monster in Clegane's Keep known as the Mountain That Rides!
"And this is the part where I come in," her smile reached a new level of evil cruelty as she nuzzled the shaking girls, cheek to cheek. "I met this motley quartet, learned their plans, and put the Dolls in their place before they could run off to commit murderous rebellion. And you know how Lord Tywin is with smallfolk who rise up against any facet of his rule, don't you Ser Gregor Clegane?"
"Oh, yes," Gregor was practically licking his lips now, and the struggling of the girls in Black Gold Saw's hands increased.
"But then, a thought occurred to me."
Gregor blinked.
Black Gold Saw continued: "Even if I kill these would-be rebels and their Dolls, what's to stop the next vengeful smallfolk who lucks into bonding with a Doll from coming here and killing you, forcing Tywin to plunge all the Westerlands into chaos to hunt them down to avenge the most unlikable man in the Seven Kingdoms? And in the end, would it even be worth the trouble?"
No, Gregor thought.
The menace in her voice grew. "And then I thought, what use is Ser Gregor Clegane anyway? Against even the smallest and weakest Doll, the only thing he's good for is target practice."
Her fingers slit the blindfolds, which fall to the ground.
"No," Gregor whispered, shaking his head.
"'But he's been such a good dog,' Lord Tywin might say," Black Gold Saw cooed mockingly. "To which I would reply, 'He might be the best, most loyal dog in all the world, my Lord, but there's only one thing to do with him when he goes rabid.'"
The pair's eyes open, green and gold shine like fire.
"NO!" Gregor backed away in horror.
"'You put him down.'"
Black Gold Saw opened her hands, and the two Dolls she gripped speeded forward at Gregor.
"NOOOOOOO!" Gregor screamed as the Dolls lunged at him, one leaping at him with fistfuls of knives, and the other coming low with a polearm that folded out a gigantic hammerhead.
He had wasted too much time to draw his sword, and the waving of his arms was utterly useless.
The Doll that jumped landed on his chest and stabbed him in both shoulders, while the lower swung her hammer into his knees, shattering every bone in his legs, the two combining to knock him flat on his back.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!
Gregor flailed and flopped like a fish out of water and wailed like a helpless maiden.
"I am sure, my ladies, that you understand the consequences of what will happen if you tell anyone the truth of what transpired here?"
He couldn't tell whose voice was whose, the pain was so great.
"The truth? Why should we be afraid to say he was killed by a pack of wolves?"
He could feel nothing but the pain, as it penetrated and burned every part of his being.
"'Twas a truly tragic hunting accident. But that's all was. An accident."
For an instant, he felt that there was some kind of irony to all of this he wasn't grasping.
And then Black Gold Saw split him in half.