Secret Flames (Sandor Clegane)

Chapter 16

The morning after the battle, Tallulah woke up naked in bed with Robb Stark next to her. After the promise she had made herself, she still gave in to his wanting looks, also desperate for the connection with another person. As she woke up this morning, covered in the heavy furs of the Kings bed, she felt shame and guilt. She was not this person, so quick to give in to the desire of men so shortly after leaving another. Another. Sandor. The thought of him twisted in her stomach and she was sure she was going to be sick when Lady Catelyn entered the tent.

"Robb" she gasped in both shock and disgust.

Still half asleep Robb rose up from the bed and stared dumbfounded at his mother. Like a match which had just caught flames, he quickly shook his bed and regained his usual composure. "Mother, have you lost your science to come charging into my tent unannounced".

"I should ask you the same Robb. Must I remind of our promise to the Freys?"

Catelyn turned her frowned eyes to Tallulah and glared as only an angered wolf mother could over her pups. Tallulah could feel her skin heat up under it and quickly shuffled out of bed, naked and like the true daughter of a whore she was. For a moment Robb seemed about to say something, but thankfully felt better of it as she quickly finished dressing and darting out of the tent.

Tallulah did not see Robb for the rest of the day, deciding best to hide away from him and his mother and send her time seeing to the injured and unwell. It was another hot and humid day in the river lands, the air was thick with heat which caused the small biting flies to swarm at anything with a pulse. By sunset, Tallulah had a thick gleam of sweat across her brow and thirst deeper than ever before. She was just about to make her way back to her tent which she shared with the other servant girls when one of the guards approached her. Robb had sent him to bring her to him and at first she was going to protest, but then figured the wine in the royal tent would be a lot sweeter and cooler than anything in the servant tent so gave in to the guard and followed him back across the camp.

"I am sorry for my mother this morning, she should have never-"

Tallulah quickly held up her hand to get him to stop, the thought of hearing him apologize was too much for her bare. Robb was a good man, and one day he would be a good king, but he was young and not Sandor. When Robb stopped speaking, Tallulah took a deep breath and took a step closer towards him. 

"You have no reason to apologize. What happened last night, your mother is right to be angry. You are Robb Stark, King of the North. I am just some girl from flee bottom with a bastards name. I haven't come from anything nor will I ever have anything. I can't help you win this war or bring a thousand men to your side. I'm just Tallulah Waters".

Surprisingly to her, tears had built up in her eyes and began to slowly slide down her sun-kissed cheeks. Robb had stayed silent the entire time, but his face was soft and kind. When she had finished, he finally stepped over to her and cupped her face in his hands. 

"I don't care where you have come from. I don't care what your name is. I have never met anyone like you Tallulah. You are beautiful, smart and brave".

"I'm too old for you" she whispered, their lips mere inches away from one another.

"You make me want to be a better man".

"I love another". 

Robb closed his eyes at her last comment, she had blurted it without even realizing it and instantly regretted it when she saw the look on his face. The two remained in silence for a few moments, him still holding her face with his eyes closed as Tallulah held her breath and had an internal panic attack. Unprepared, Robb then quickly flickered his eyes open and pressed his lips to hers. 

"Can you not learn to love me?" he asked as they parted lips.

"I am a common girl. It would not be right".

"That was not my question".

"I.. I don't know - I don't know. Robb, truly I care for you deeply and last night - last night was good".

"Then tell me you will learn to love with me in time. Tell me you will become my wife. We can then win this war together and I will provide you the life you deserve, as my queen". 

"What about the freys?" she asked, her voice weak and quiet.

"Let me worry about that" he smiled and gently kissed her again as he pulled her back to the bed. 

A/N - Really short chapter and a bit of a filler, but don't worry we'll be seeing Sandor next chapter. Lots of drama and romance to come. Hope you guys are enjoying the story so far though and please let me know what you think in the comments. 

BIG NOTE - I have officially started a rory mccann fanfic, I can't really find any on here and decided to give one ago. Its called sail away with me, so let me know what you think!