An Inconvenient Flame [Sandor Clegane]

Chapter 32 - Life at the village

I had a hard time adjusting to the life in the village. Everyone was undoubtedly kind and always ready to help if I asked. The only thing that bothered me was the fact that the villagers were extremely scared of Sandor. They always kept a distance to him and never once did they thank him for doing such a hard work.

Despite his injury, I had seen how he carried entire logs on his own whereas the villagers were three to carry one. The first time I had seen Sandor carry a log that big, I had felt extremely impressed. He did it without any complaint but still liked to keep to himself, chopping wood or what else he could find that kept him busy away from the people.

I had been sent to help the women preparing food and tending to their crops. It wasn't a hard job, but it gave me something to do and keep my hands occupied. I had come to understand what weeks of malnourishment had done to me. I was weak and had once collapsed after a day's work. Brother Ray had asked me to slow down and told me I would earn my supper in some other way.

Sandor hadn't spoken many words to me either since I arrived, but he kept finding me around dinner and kept me company. It was nice the first couple of days when I still got to know the others but when I became more confident around them, I decided it would be best to join them. Sandor kept close but at a distance.

I had found a few friends in my opinion, there weren't really any girls my age, they were all older and many of them had husbands and lovers, some even had kids. The conversation often traveled and revolved around their sex life. I had always remained quiet whenever they started, it wasn't easy to join in, I had zero experience about the act, so I just listened.

I learnt a lot but didn't know how to act around it. I knew of the act but had never tried it. But when Solara once again moaned loudly to show how it was done, I splashed some water at her. May broke down laughing but so did Solara. "You're so easy to read Lyra, are you still a virgin?" Solara mocked wiggling her eyebrows at me before splashing water right back at me. She kept her black hair in a tight braid.

We had been crouched in the shallow part of the small lake near the village while washing our clothes. It had been a warm day, even though winter was coming. I sighed and stood up, but my action revealed the full extent of my scar.

May gasped when she noticed, it made me halt and look back at her as she secured some of her hair behind her ears. It was a fiery red, redder than even Sansa's. "What?" I asked and looked around, thinking someone had been peaking on us. May pointed at my thigh. "How did you get that?" May stood up as well and approached me. I shivered when she allowed a finger to touch the wound.

I recoiled away afterwards and tried to cover my naked body with my clean dress. I hadn't minded the touch, but it was still a little uncomfortable seeing as we were all naked. "I was thrown off a horse when I was younger." I explained and moved all the way up to the rocks surrounding some part of the lake. I sprayed my wet dress out before jumping back into the lake.