The Hounds Dragon ***Sandor Clegane***

Gone

The bells of the sept ring and I stand beside Sandor, as always. The king thinks the two of us beside each other scare off more than the whole king's guard. I see around four guards bring out Ned. He looks like shit but better than I would have down there. They drag him through the dense crowd. They yell things such as Coward and traitor at him and anger begins to boil inside of me. Once they've crossed the sea of people they bring him up the steps to the stage and put him on his knees. I look up at Sansa who looks confident that her father will bend the knee and Joffrey will let him go. We all know that's not how this works with the boy king. Worse than Viserys he is.

"I am Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Hand of the King.  I come before you to confess my treason in the sight of Gods and men. I betrayed the faith of my King and the trust of my friend Robert. I swore to protect and defend his children, but before his blood was cold I plotted to murder his son... And seize the Throne for myself."  I listen as the lie of a 'confession' floods out of his mouth just for the slight chance he'll live.

The crowd goes back to yelling after they've heard what he's had to say. Someone throws and rock and hits Ned in the temple. Ned is stumbling and I grab Sandor's arm, all I do is simply look at him and he walks over and makes sure he stands, instead of falling. Once he's back over beside me I whisper to him a 'thank you' and he just pats my shoulder blade.

"Let the high Septon and Baelor the blessed bear witness to what I say. Joffrey Baratheon is the one true heir to the Iron Throne, by the Grace of all the gods, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm." Lord Stark says, trying to continue to please the boy king and his mother. Yet the crowd still angrily murmurs.

Grand Maester Pycelle stands forward, "As we sin, so do we suffer. This man has confessed his crimes in sight of Gods and men. The Gods are just but beloved Baelor taught us they can also be merciful."  He says to the crowd before turning to Joffrey, "What is to be done with this traitor, Your Grace?"

The crowd catcalled and jeered again, "My mother wishes me to let Lord Eddard join The Night's Watch. Stripped of all titles and powers, he would serve the realm in permanent exile. And My Lady Sansa has begged mercy for her father." Joffrey says and I'm almost relieved for a moment, then he continues... "But they have the soft hearts of women. So long as I am your King, treason shall never go unpunished." My heart sinks to the bottom of my stomach and my world begins to spin a little bit making my head hurt. My hands begin to shake violently at my side. 

"Ser Ilyn, bring me his head!" The king announces and Sansa tries to go forward but a guard stops her, wrapping his arm around her waist. Cersei tries to beg her son to stop be he just ignores them. 

"NO!" I screech lunging forward, I find myself being yanked back by Sandor, "DON'T TOUCH HIM! NO!" I continue sending my blood curling pleas.

"I'm sorry." I hear Sandor whisper in my ear and I elbow him in the face. He yells and his grip on me grows tighter. I hear Sansa's incoherent screams in the background of mine. The giant longsword is pulled out of its cover and the sadness is gone, the hot tears that were just covering my face now run dry. The veins in my forehead and neck pop out as the braids in my hair begin to unravel themselves, making me look a mess but I couldn't care less.  

I watch as Ned puts his head down and I manage to break one hand free, "I"M GOING TO KILL YOU ALL I SWEAR IT BY THE OLD GODS AND THE NEW. ON THE CURSED NAME OF VISENYA TARGARYEN I SWEAR I WILL MURDER YOU WHERE YOU REST ALL OF YOU!" I go to reach for my sword but see it's been thrown behind Sandor. He grabbed it and threw it away from me. I yell in frustration as he grabs ahold of my arm again. And just as I'm about to turn and head butt him I see the big sword in the air. It comes down almost in slow motion and before I can even blink my eyes Ned's head tumbles on the ground and the crowd goes silent as I yell again. I look at the detached head and I just freeze. Sandor lets go of me and walks to the head, picking it up and showing it to the cheering crowd. The guard holding Sansa drops her unconscious body and stands straight again. I then look toward the Queen who can't even look at the head, she instead looks at me. She looks sorry but I give her a fiery look. Even though she begged for my friend to keep his life I still blame her. She brought that monster into this world.