The second that you heard news that the dragon queen was coming for Kings Landing you knew you needed to get out of the castle. You had put your leather dress on, thrown a cloak on, and tried to secure your hair into as tight of a braid as your long, thick hair could allow and ran for it. You decided to wait out the battle by the beaches in one of the small caves that was naturally build into the cliff on which the red keep was built.
You weren’t sure who you wished for to win, Cercei was unpredictable not in the sense that her behavior was sporadic, but you could never tell what the next piece of her plan would be executed and who would be killed with it. As one of her ladies in waiting you weren’t prepared to surrender your life for her. You’d seen the monster that lives within her, you had grown up in the castle with your mother who had lost her life when Cercei had sacrificed her own people to regain control of Kings Landing. The dragon queen was a different kind of unpredictable, that state of her mind was unsure as her father had shown the same signs of dwindling down into madness that you heard she presented. You weren’t sure you would be safer with her than with Cercei.
You hid inside the cave yet even from there you could hear the bells chiming followed by the screams of people and the roar of the dragon and its queen.
The rumbling above you made you question not if you would die but if you would prefer to die by the cave potentially collapsing on top you or if you would like to burn instantly by the hellfire you could smell.
A few more hours passed and night fell. You could no longer hear the dragon screaming but you could hear the distant sobs of terror as people came to find their loved ones dead and their own injuries unbearable.
You knew coming out of the cave would be a risk, you weren’t sure if the new queen would take kindly to you being in the prior queens court, you felt so numb to the experience though that you felt there was nothing worse that death would bring than the unknowing anxiety you were putting yourself through. You walked out to the bright daylight when morning broke. You smelled the ash in the air and the faint smell of burnt flesh. You looked up at the castle from where you were on the beach below and saw it crumbled in several spots.
A group of soldier that were certainly not from King’s Landing approached you. You felt so disconnected from the world that you didn’t even register that you could about to be killed if they were so ordered.
“State your position,” one of them said with a thick accent. You looked at him and shrugged.
“Whoever won.” He thudded his staff to his armor.
“Hail Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen the First of Her Name, The Unburnt, Queen of the Iron throne, the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Queen of meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Protector of the Realm, Lady Regent of the Seven Kingdoms, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons.”
“Long may she reign,” you drawled looking at all the lives she had ruined despite her vow for freedom.
You turned back to the sea and wondered if you could simply take a boat and find a new home. You just wanted quiet.
As you looked down at the sea past a patch of rubble you noticed some subtle movement. You thought it was ash settling but after some of it fell off the moving object you saw the dark red blood that had been concealed by the soot. You took a few steps closer and noticed the scarred face of Sandor Clegane. It had been many years since you had last seen him at court and you had never expected or thought of seeing him again but there was no mistaking that scar for anyone else.
You walked away from the soldiers down towards him.
He groaned and gritted his teeth while he tried to move. It didn’t seem like he could see you there was a great deal of blood on his eyes.
As you grew near to him the soldiers followed you.
“Do you know this man,” the same one asked.
“Yes, give me water,” you held your hand out to them. They handed you a flask that wasn’t very full. “This is Sandor Clegane, I believe an ally of the queen. The soldier nodded after taking a closer look at him. He said something to one of his men who in turn ran off. The rest of them began removing the rubble that was lying on top of Sandor.
“You look beautiful,” you said bluntly and poured water into your hand. You gently knelt down next to him. He grunted again. You gently began to pour water onto his face then used your hands to brush away blood and soot gently. He sputtered and groaned as the men pulled away a large rock from beneath him.
When they moved it you saw the body of something that may have once been a man that made you still.
“How sweet, you wanted to share a grave with your brother,” you felt chills going through you while you poured more water onto his face. The men removed another rock that was ontop of his stomach and he let out a loud yelp.
“I needed to make sure he got there this time,” he breathed out and was able to open his eye after the water loosened the sticky and crusted blood. You helped him lean up and brought a handful of water to his lips this time. He opened his eyes and looked at you. You could see he recognized you.
“Many people will forever be in your debt,” you said. He drank the water and you felt his rough lips on your hand gently sucking.
The soldier who had ran off at the others command came back with a stretcher. I looked at the thin material and winced. It may have worked for the thirteen year old boys they would recruit at desperate times to protect the kingdom but not for Sandor Clegane who was now the largest man in the seven realms.
“Fuck off with your toy, boy,” the bloody man grunted. Dribbling bloody spit into your hand. You wiped it onto his chest. Two of the soldiers took his hands and helped to pull him to his feet. He yelled as it happened.
“Take him to the tents,” the soldier said.
“No,” you handed him back his flask.
“I own a home just up the hill. If it’s still standing, just bring him there. I’ll take care of him.” Sandor coughed staring at you with eyes that looked like a freed man.
