An Inconvenient Flame [Sandor Clegane]

Chapter 16 - A favor for a favor

           A low groan left me when I found yet another bruise on the back of my leg. A crude teacher was, what Sandor was. I had never had this many unexplainable bruises. He had more than once hit me with the blunt side of his sword, always staying mindful which surprised me a little.

I was trying to get a clear understanding of just how many I had as I sat there in the shallow part of the lake. We had stopped to rest a few hours before sundown because I had asked for it. I needed to wash my body. It had been long since I had felt this dirty. Sandor was almost an expert at finding spots like this, secluded and quiet.

I reached into the water and submerged the cloth in my hand before scrubbing my naked frame, trying to get all the dirt off me. When it didn't work like I had wanted it to, I had gotten back up onto my feet again. I walked into the deeper part of the lake before letting my entire body submerge.

I reemerged with a loud gasp. It had been colder than I had expected. A chill rose through my entire body, dragging goosebumps with it. I shook and gathered my hair on top of my head in a bun. It stayed where it should without any help. I chuckled to myself before crouching down again. I was now sitting in the shallow part of the lake again.

I resumed my tries to get the dirt washed off me but some of it was extremely stubborn. I groaned in annoyance before the cracking of a branch made me spin around, hunched in alarm but nothing was there. Yet, a certain feeling wouldn't leave me. I quickly stood up and reached for my shirt lying on the ground.

My fingers had only just wrapped around it when a figure came running out from the trees, heading directly towards me. "Sandor! What are you-" I began my scolding of him but was never allowed to finish because a hand was placed over my lips as he placed a finger over his own lips, gesturing for me to be quiet. I narrowed my eyes at him before realizing how he was dressed. Sandor was only wearing his trousers, they looked like they had been taken on in a hurry and he wore no shirt. Had he been washing as well?

The second his hand was placed over my lips, I had tried to cover my naked frame with the shirt I had grabbed seconds earlier. I fumbled with it as he lowered his finger again. My eyes narrowed, I was ready to bite him, to make him release me but I heard what he meant soon after when voices reached my ears. My eyes widened in fear and Sandor grabbed onto me. But not before he had grabbed my bundle of clothes and thrown it in under some low hanging branches.

I would have shrieked, had he not had his hand over my lips because Sandor placed an arm underneath my exposed rump and raised me from the ground before he tossed us both into the water. When I hit the cold water, my arms wrapped around his neck, forcing him to let go of my lips. "Release me!" I hissed at him, but he bluntly ignored me and kept holding onto me.

Sandor waded into the water, deeper and deep and brought me with him towards a larger rock we could hide behind. He didn't release me before my back was securely up against the cold stone. A surprised shriek left me which he tried to cover up by placing his hand over my lips again. I was quick to grab his hand with mine and force it away. "What are you doing?" I whispered but he sent me a look that made me go quiet.