Dark Wings (Sandor Clegane)

Chapter Fifty-three

Jaslin was walking through the courtyard when she saw Tormund return with a handful of the brothers from the Nightwatch. They were speaking in hushed tones with Jon and she instantly knew something had happened. Waiting in the background, she quickly walked after Jon when he had left the group.

"What is going on?" she asked as she reached out for his arm and pulled him to the wall.

"They'll be here by sunrise".

Jaslin instantly let go of her grip on his arm and leaned back against the wall. With the size of her stomach now, her back would ache like nothing before some the slightest walk and with the stress of what was upon them made every slight pain feel 100 times more intense. 

"We were supposed to have more time".

Jon didn't speak as he looked at her under his frowned brow and she could feel a nauseating heat between them. "Please Jon, will you not talk to me. I know I may have upset you, but we are family. Please do not let this come between us, not when we might not have tomorrow".

Jon looked down at her baby bump and sighed. "You're so big".

A smile crept across her face as she hit him on the arm. "That is not something you should say to a woman. Pregnant or not. You'll need to know these things if you are to court our queen".

Jons smile quickly dropped as he returned his eyes to hers. "That's not something you'll need to worry about anymore".

He was about to walk away when she tried to reach out for his arm again. When she saw the pain and sadness in his eyes though she quickly let go once again. "I love you Jon".

"I love you too and I'll do everything I can to make sure you and that baby have a tomorrow. I promise you". 

Later that evening Jaslin and Sandor were laying in bed. She had told him earlier about the news Jon had told her and they had spent the rest of the day in each other's arms. 

"Can you feel the baby moving?" she asked him as he rested his head on her stomach.

"Aye and the sound of the heartbeat".

Jaslin ran her hands through his thin hair as he stayed there, breathing the scent of her skin just in case it would the last time. Just as that thought entered in his, the cries of the war horns erupted through the castle. From the opened window they could hear the instant shouting of men outside and they both knew the dead had finally arrived. 

"Go to the crypts" he ordered as she jumped from the bed and began pulling back on his clothes.

Jaslin watched silently, taking in each muscle in his legs and back move as he pulled on his breeches and boiled leather. Before she knew it, her eyes had filled with tears and she sat crying uncontrollably. 

"Hey, come on now woman, stay strong of me" he growled as he bent to his knees in front of her and cupped her face in his huge hands.

"It's too soon, we were supposed to have more time".

"Yeah well, we'll have more time together when this is all over. I promise you, we've survived plenty worse and we can survive this too. You have to get to the crypts though".

Sandor pulled her into a tight hug as she sobbed against him. She knew he was right, but with the baby inside of her, she found herself more and more emotional each day. As her sobs died down though there was a knock at her door.

"I thought I could escort you down to the crypts my lady?" Tyrion announced as he opened the door.

Sandor stood up from the ground and nodded at the dwarf before turning back to his wife. "I'll see you later okay. Keep your blade close and keep safe though, I'll be much better knowing you and the pup are safe. Can you do that for me?"

Jaslin nodded as he bent down to her and kissed her lips one last time. Tyrion then walked over and offered his arm to her, smiling softly she wiped the tears from her face and placed her hand on his arm. Sandor watched silently as they left the room, trying to remain strong for her as she took one last look back before disappearing down the corridor. 

"We should be safe down here my lady" Tyrion ensured her as they reached the crypts and found the rest of women, children and elderly. 

Jaslin sat by one of the statues of a long dead Stark and placed her hand over her bump. The child inside of her was moving around relentlessly and it exhausted her more than anything. After a short time, Sansa had joined them and went straight to her side. 

"Are you okay? The baby?"

"Is moving around like a wild horse, but it's okay. What was happening outside?"

"It's bad" she whispered.

Jaslin rested her head on her shoulder and sighed. There was nothing she could do now and that feeling was worse than knowing what they faced out there. Sandor had been right though, she had to remain strong, for him and their pup. It wasn't long until that feeling disappeared though, from the screams and explosions outside it was hard to focus on anything but the worst. Sansa sat at her side though, holding her hand tightly the entire time as they hide in the darkness with the dead. 

Soon the screams became louder and there was soon pounding on the door of the crypt. Both the girls stood up at the sound and looked around the other scared faces. Jaslin's attention was quickly pulled elsewhere though when the sensation of peeing shocked her body. Quickly she looked down and saw that her waters had just broken. 

"Sansa" she cried out.

Sansa instantly spun around and then let out a little scream which was then followed by more blood-curdling screams. As Jaslin stood there in her own water, the dead Starks became alive from inside their resting places. She instantly froze, not knowing what to do, the baby was coming but so were the dead. Sansa quickly grabbed onto her hand and pulled her behind one of the largest sealed graves and shouted for Tyrion to help them. 

"Lay down on your back and put your legs up. Tyrion you need to keep an eye out for us. I can't do both".

Jaslin could hardly take in the words as she felt the worst pain in her entire life between her legs and began to scream wildly. Sansa quickly leaned across her placed her hand across her mouth. "Bite on this, you need to try and stay silent".

Sansa then leaned back and pulled up the fabrics of her dress. There was a mixture of waters and blood between her legs, but she could see the baby crowning. 

"I need you to push okay" she whispered to Jaslin who was panting heavily but frantically nodded.

Under the ground of Winterfell Castle and chaos of battle, through the scream of dying men and clang of sword on sword, Jaslin forced the last of her energy and pushed with all her might. Opening her mouth, she let out the loudest scream Sansa had ever heard as she pushed again and again until finally, she could see the babies head.