Author's Notes: Hey everyone, well here it is the fight you have all been waiting for, the Viper against the Mountain! As always I own nothing.
The following day dawned bright and promised to be hot. Sansa dressed as best she could but with her maids gone and with only Brienne to help her dress she doubted that she looked her best. Still she was determined to not let any discomfort show itself to the members of the court. Walking swiftly, Brienne walking behind her, armored and with her hand on the hilt of her sword, they arrived where the battle would be fought and found that she had arrived ahead of the participants.
As she waited she found that she was nervous. The outcome of this battle would not affect her directly, she had already been found innocent, so even if Prince Oberyn should fail to defeat the Mountain she was free and safe from official prosecution. Even as she considered it she found she knew the answer. She may not love Tyrion like they did in the songs and stories but she was fond of him in a way and he had helped her and defended her when no one else would, besides, she did not believe in songs and stories any longer.
Just then Prince Oberyn, accompanied by Ellaria Sand, arrived. Ellaria was dressed in the Dornish fashion, which always made Sansa blush when she saw it, but it was Oberyn's attire which drew her gaze. Knowing the Mountain's fierce reputation and having seen him in action she expected Oberyn to be wearing the heaviest armor that he could get, instead he wore only light leather armor and he did not even have a helmet. Seemingly completely at ease he walked to the table a poured himself a cup of wine and finally turned to look at her.
"Good day my lady, it is good of you to come and observe." He turned slightly to address Brienne; "And you as well good lady. Perhaps when I've killed the Mountain you and I could compare our fights and our styles." Before Brienne could say anything Sansa interjected.
"You seem rather lightly equipped my lord." To this he only smiled and shrugged.
"I like to move around when I fight." Seeing her look remain skeptical he continued. "Actually, heavier armor would be of little use to me in any event. The Mountain is known to cut men in half, against such strength armor is of very little use. No my lady, my best chances lies in not being hit at all and for that I have to be able to move around." Sansa did not know what to say to that so she decided to trust that he knew what he was doing.
Just then Tyrion was escorted to the pavilion. He and Sansa exchanged bows and then he also expressed concern regarding Oberyon's choice in armor. His concerns were brushed aside as carelessly as Sansa's had been. Just then there was a distraction on the other side of the battle field as Sir Gregor Clegane, accompanied by his squire, entered the arena. He was every bit as large as Sansa remembered and just as intimidating. He was clad in a suit of black armor and his head was encased in a helmet of the same color. In his had he carried the massive sword the Sansa remembered all too well. His appearance had an impact on those around her as well. Brienne grip her sword tighter and Tyrion was visibly edgy but it was Ellaria Sand who said what the others were thinking.
"You are going to fight that?!"
"I am going to kill that." Prince Oberyn replied, not a trace of fear evident in his voice. Sansa stared at him and for a moment wondered if the man was entirely sane. Sane or not his attitude failed to reassure his paramour.
"That's the largest man I have ever seen." She said, fear clearly in her voice. Again the Prince seemed to be unaffected.
"Size doesn't matter when you're flat on your back."
"Thank the gods." Tyrion said absently, clearly trying to gain some of the princes confidence. Just then, to the blowing of a trumpet, the Grand Maester came to the center of the area, as he had done the day before.
"We are gathered here, in the sight of gods and men to determine the guilt or innocence of Tyrion of House Lannister. May the Father judge the justice of these two combatants' claims. May the Mother grant her…" He was interrupted by the blowing of the trumpet to signal the beginning of the battle. As Oberyn started out Ellaria grabbed him and pulled him into fierce embrace.
"Don't leave me alone in this world." He returned the embrace just as fiercely and kissed her passionately.
"Never." He said simply. Sansa watched them. They seemed to have the kind of relationship that she had once dreamed of having with Joffrey. She looked over at Tyrion and then quickly looked away.
Oberyn detached himself, took his weapon from his squire, a long bladed spear and walked toward Sir Clegane, who stood in the center of the arena waiting for him. As he walked towards his opponent he began to twirl his spear and do a series of jumps and flips that drew cheers from the audience. At last he stopped before Clegane, to Sansa's surprise he was smiling. He then surprised her further by speaking to his opponent in a friendly manner, as if they were two friends meeting on the street.
"Have they told you who I am?"
"Some dead man!" Clegane growled as he thrust at Oberyn, who spun away from the blow, graceful as a dancer.
"I am Oberyn Martell of Dorn and do you know why I have come to this stinking midden heap of a city? For you. My sister was Princess Elia Martell. You raped her, you murdered her, you killed her children and I will hear you confess this before you die. If you do it now I will make your death quick. If not, well…" He shrugged in a friendly manner still smiling all the while. Clegane's only response was to roar and charge.
He brought his sword down in a powerful blow, Oberyn spun to the side and the blade crashed into the ground causing the stones to crack. Oberyn responded by thrusting his spear at Clegane's chest, the blow landed but failed to penetrate his armor. Clegane swiped at the haft of the spear but Oberyn jerked it back before the blow could land.
"You raped her, you murdered her, you killed her children." Oberyn said again, going down on one knee to thrust at Clegane's own knee. Clegane again swiped at it without effect. While he may have failed to strike his spear Clegane forced Oberyn to move his spear aside and Clegane was able to get close enough to land a savage kick to Oberyn's stomach. The blow lifted Oberyn off of the ground, he landed heavily and skidded across the ground, finally stopping not far from where Sansa and the others stood. As Clegane charged towards him, sword coming up, he leapt nimbly to his feet and darted to the side. Sansa expected Clegane to turn to pursue the prince but he did not alter his course and with a start Sansa realized that Clegane was headed right towards her, his blade coming down with the force of an avalanche
"Watch out my lady!" Brienne yelled as she grabbed Sansa and pushed her to the side. This broke Sansa from her stunned immobility and as she stumbled she was quickly able to recover herself, a fact she thanked all those hours she had spent learning to dance. As she righted herself she found herself looking up at the royal box where Lord Tywin sat with the most important members of the court, among whom was the Queen. The Queen had a look on her face that Sansa did not recognize at first but then she saw that it was suppressed anger and was that disappointment? Then Sansa realized the truth, that lunge had been no accident. Sir Clegane had been trying to kill her! A deed doubtlessly done on the Queen's orders, it was perfect opportunity, if it had succeeded Sir Clegane could claim that it had all been an accident and no one would ever be able to prove otherwise. Realizing her peril she kept back a foot or two and was even more grateful for the solid presence of Brienne next to her.
Seemingly unaware of her near-death experience the two combatants continued their dual. Clegane was clearly becoming angrier and angrier with his lack of success. No matter how he tried he could not land a blow on either Oberyn or his spear. The Prince for his part continued to dance around his larger opponent while thrusting out with his spear. But while Clegane could not land a blow Oberyn could not get any blow he landed to penetrate Clegane's armor. But he continued to dart and thrust about and all the while he continued his chant.
"You raped her, you murdered her, you killed her children."
Sansa was not sure how long the duel lasted or how many times her heart soared and dropped. It soared whenever Oberyn landed a blow, willing it to be the decisive one but each time the blow would be defeated, either by Clegane's armor or some move on his part. Her heart plummeted whenever it seemed that Clegane would land a death-blow but Oberyn would always manage to avoid the blow, often by mere inches. The crowd had fallen silent, spellbound by the life-and-death struggle being played out before them, the only sounds that were heard were the sound of Sir Clegane grunting and Prince Oberyn repeating his mantra again and again.
"You killed her, you raped her, you murdered her children."
On and on they fought then, so quickly that it seemed to take everyone by surprise, it changed. Clegane thrust his sword at Oberyn's chest and Oberyn went down on one knee to avoid it. From there he thrust upward with his spear. It went in and broke through the chainmail and plunged into Sir Clegane's armpit. Clegane roared in pain as Oberyn jerked his weapon free and rolled forward coming up facing away from Clegane's back. Turning to face his opponent's back he thrust his spear into the back of Clegane's knee. As Clegane fell to one knee Oberyn walked around to face his opponent and when he spoke all humor was gone from his voice.
"YOU RAPED HER!" He screamed, his voice a mixture of pain, hate and rage. "YOU MURDERD HER! YOU KILLED HER CHILDREN!" As he screamed the last part he charged forward and slammed into his opponent while thrusting with his spear, this gave the spear thrust sufficient power to penetrate Clegane's breastplate, he fell to the ground with Oberyn on top of him. After of a moment Oberyn rose and began walking around.
"Are you dying? No, no you can't be dying yet you haven't confessed yet." He turned and looked up at Lord Tywin and pointed at him. "You haven't told us who gave you the order yet." Sir Clegane grunted and rasped something that Sansa could not understand and Oberyn leaned in to hear what he had to say. Suddenly Clegane reached out and grabbed Oberyn's head with both hands.
"Yes! I killed her children and I raped her with her blood on my hands and then I killed her! Just like this!" So saying he began to squeeze.
As Ellaria screamed Sansa reacted without thinking, she cast her mind into Sir Clegane. Or tried to, when she tried to enter his mind she slammed into a wall of rage and fury which repelled her. She tried again to enter but could not, his state of mind would just not let her. As he squeezed harder and harder on Oberyn's skull her efforts grew more and more frantic. LET HIM GO! She screamed in his mind. To her surprise he stopped applying pressure, it seemed that while she could not influence him and she was not sure if he could understand her words he could sense something or someone other than himself was in his head. Desperate she pursued this avenue of approach. LET HIM GO! She screamed in his mind again. He responded by roaring aloud.
"Get out of my head!" She, however would not stop her mental assault. Finally frustrated at her efforts Clegane let go of Oberyn with one hand and slammed it into the side of his head. This sent a jolt of pain through his head which Sansa felt just as strongly, this finally broke their connection and sent her back into her own body.
As she blinked her eyes and looked around she found that she was lying on the ground with Brienne looking down at her. For a moment Sansa feared that people had seen her but it seemed that all eyes were on the combatants. It seemed that when Clegane had struck his own head Oberyn had taken the opportunity to twist out of the grip, leaving behind only a handful of pulled out hair. Clegane lay unmoving on the ground, his efforts to dislodge Sansa seeming to have sapped his strength.
Lord Tywin rose from his seat, his face a mask of barely contained anger. "The gods have spoken and they have declared Lord Tyrion's innocence. He is free to go."
As the crowd broke out into a fury of buzzing noises at the pronouncement the Prince made his way back to them, holding his head and groaning in pain. Ellaria, tears in her eyes, ran to him and took him into her arms. She then slapped him across the face as hard as she could.
"What were you thinking?! You nearly got yourself killed! You almost…" Here she dissolved into tears. He returned her embrace and patted her gently.
"There, there my love it is all over now." As she sobbed into his shoulder he turned to look at Sansa and Tyrion, who was being freed from his chains. "Well, my lord imp it seems we will have to make ready for that trip to Dorn."
"So it seems," Tyrion replied; "Though I think we shall manage it somehow." Prince Oberyn laughed, though it seemed to hurt his head as he quickly stopped. He then focused on Sansa.
"You did a fine job of ducking yourself my lady when that ox nearly ran you over. Perhaps when we get to Dorn you will allow me to give you a lesson or two with the spear yourself." Sansa bowed.
"You are two kind my lord." At this rate I'll turn into Arya!
As they all left the battlefield Sansa saw that Brienne was looking at her in a peculiar way. Trying not to be noticed she slowed her pace so that they fell behind the others. When she felt that they were far enough away she turned to Brienne.
"Is something wrong?" She asked. The larger woman hesitated for a moment then nodded.
"There is my lady. During the battle you collapsed and when I turned you over…your eyes…my lady, what did you do?"
Author's Notes: Well there you have it and I hope you enjoyed it. Well it seems that the cat is out of the bag, which one could say was inevitable. Well it seems their off. Since it sounds like next season will have a lot more of the Dornish I don't want to give away spoilers so it might be awhile till next update while I think of something. Till then please pray for the sick, homeless and all who need it, which is everybody. Bye and may Jesus bless you all.