An Inconvenient Flame [Sandor Clegane]

Chapter 44 - The vastness of the sea

The ship arrived as the white-haired queen said. I had followed Sandor despite his words earlier. It had broken my heart just a little because I wished for it not to be true. It was Sandor who had started all this, then ended it at the sept as well but how could I just stop? Those feelings had only been fueled by his presence and how he acted around me.

I almost couldn't count how many times I had felt him being hard in the morning. I had grown frustrated every time it happened because he had not been entirely inconspicuous about it, but I had not once dared touch him, still clearly remembering his warning. I shook the thoughts out of my head with a frenzied shake of my head.

"We'll met again, Clegane." Beric chuckled when Sandor had thrown the creature into the boat. Sandor scoffed disrespectfully and didn't even acknowledge the man as he said. "Fucking hope not." Then Beric turned to me, our eyes met and he spoke. "My lady." He lowered his head and turned away again.

I watched the former knight walk away with Elric at his side. Sandor had in the meantime turned to me. He rested both hands on the boat and waited for me to jump in before pushing it out into the sea. I watched him with a raised eyebrow. "You wanna get wet?" He groaned at me. It made me hurry and jump into the boat.

Sandor had agreed to go with the dragon Queen to Kings Landing. Someone had to keep an eye on the dead soldier. Beric and Elric had some unfinished business with the Brotherhood, hence the 'I'll see you again' farewell.

Sandor had only just gotten into the boat when a single horn was blown. I turned my head back towards East watch half hoping it was Jon. I still remembered what one blow of the horn meant. It meant a ranger was returning, two was for wildlings and three for white walkers. "He's gone." Sandor groaned at me not letting me have any hope before he started rowing out towards the larger Targaryen ship.

"But that was a single horn for a ranger returning-" I argued and Sandor scoffed at me. "He went through the ice. That would kill most men alone. If he managed to get out, the cold would kill him instead." Sandor was a little to realistic sometimes.

I bit into the lower part of my lip, the pain keeping me from feeling completely hopeless. I dried a few escaping tears away with the back of my hand after I had turned to face Sandor again. I kept my eyes down but could still see how he moved his arms back and forth in a steady rhythm as he rowed. He took us out onto the open sea. It was the first time I had ever been in a boat but the joy of it was masked by the overwhelming grief I was feeling. I didn't know whether Jon had survived or not.

I helped Sandor put the dead monster away into a big box because it kept struggling. Sandor groaned when forcing the lid on the box. It was strong, stronger than any living man and it made me fear what would happen if they ever crossed the wall. What army could stand against these? The dragons where a good help but one of them was dead, killed by the night king himself. It meant that they weren't as invincible as I first believed.