Our Love (Sandor Clegane AU)

Promise

"Sophia!" I cried out as I fell to my knees beside her body.

At first glance I had thought she was dead. Laying motionless in the damp grass with her dress torn open and blood on her face. Then, as I pulled her into my arms and wiped the hair from her face, I saw her eyes move to look at me and a single tear roll down her cheek.

"What happened to you?" I whispered as Sandor finally came up behind me.

"Go get the others, tell her we need a healer and someone to carry her back. She's alive but hurt!"

Sandor did exactly as I asked without a other word, and as he disappeared back into the darkness I realised I was completely alone with Sophia and possible the monster that had hurt her. Trying to fight back every possible worst case scenario from my mind, I tried to wipe the blood from her cheek and pull her dress over her body.

"Bad men." She whispered 

"Sophia? What? Say that again bunny? What happened?"

It was no use though, she had closed her eyes and seemed to drift off. Thankfully, it wasnt much longer until a group of men from the camp came charging through the woods.

"You'll want to get some of your men to scout the area. Make sure whoever's did this isn't still hiding in the trees," Sandor spoke to Ray as another man came over to pick up Sophia.

"These men aren't fighters Clegane. They'll need a leader out there."

"Aye, I'll go with them. Cranberry, return to the camp with the rest of the group. Do not leave the clearing!"

"I'm not leaving your side!" I snapped back.

Sandor came over to me and placed his hand on both sides of my cheek. "It ain't me that needs you right now. Go back with your friend. I'll be back before sunrise."

In defeat I nodded and stood with Ray as we watched a group of them trail off into the woods. "Shall we?" Ray smiled softly and held out his arm.

Back at camp, Sophia was taking to the private tent which had housed Sandor when he was recovering from his wounds. One of the elderly women was brought straight to her and ordered everyone to wait outside.

It felt like a lifetime as I stood by the entrance of the tent with Ray, pacing back and fourth as worries for both Sandor and Sophia rushed through my mind. Finally, the elderly women reappeared with a pained look.

"The young girl was raped. She won't say much about it, but I've giving her some tea to help with her nerves. She'll need plenty of rest, but the girl will be okay with time."

"I'll speak with her. See if she will tell me about what happened."

Ray nodded in agreement, not that I was waiting for his approval as I quietly bucked under the cloth entrance of the tent. Inside, Sophia was lay on the small wooden bed, she was covered with blankets and seemed to have some sort of cream on the cuts that covered her face. When she realised I had entered, she painfully rolled onto her side to face me and began to cry.

"Sophia, hunny, it's okay. You're safe now." I quickly tried to comfort her as I rushed to the side of the bed and fell to my knees.

"Bad men, bad men," she mumbled over and over.

"I know, I know. Can you tell me, did you recognise them? Did they have anything on them that told you where they were from?"

"No sigil. No name. Their voice, they were from the South, but they weren't the Kings men. Outlaws maybe?"

"Okay... it's okay. Sandor and the men are making sure they are no longer around. They can't hurt you again. I promise."

"Will you stay with me?"

"Of course. I won't leave you side. Try to close your eyes though, get some rest and I'll be right here."

As promised, I stayed with her all night, sitting on the floor by her bed and holding onto her hand as she slept. When the sun began rise and light up the tent, one of the women came with with two bowls of wet oats. In silence, I helped Sophia eat, spooning the gulp into her mouth as she sat shaking under the covers. Not long later, Ray came in to check up on us.

"Have the men returned? Sandor?"

"No sign of them yet. I'm sure they're okay. Sandor is a well known fighter, they probably found some tracks."

"Fighter or not, it doesn't mean he's invincible," I mumbled.

Ray was probably right though, and I tried to not focus on the worst case. I had make sure Sophia was okay, I needed to out her first. So as the day crawled onwards, I tried to keep her entertained. Teaching her a game my mother had played with me as a child when we took long road trips.

"It's called opposites. I will say two words and you have to guess what I actually mean. The words will be the opposite of what I mean. Like rain could be sun, dark could be light. Shall I go first?"

Sophia picked up on the game straight away and even managed a small smile as she began to win every round.

"My turn," she giggled. "Short found hate,"

Smiling, I sat back and tried to think of the answer. "Long lost love?"

"Yep, like you and the hou.. I mean like you and Sandor."

"Well shit, I'm not sure I'd call it love," I scoffed in slight embarrassment.

"No? I've seen the way he looked at you and how you cared for him. Dont you love him?"

Her question caught me off guard, and as my mind returned to him, I felt a twinge of pain at the thought of him still not returning. "I dunno... I suppose... yes, I guess I do."

Sophia instantly broke out into  fit of laughter.

"Oh you think that's funny do you?" I laughed and sat up on the bed to tickle her sides.

Our moment of silliness was quickly I interupted when a ear shattering scream erupted through the air outside the tent. Sophia instantly locked eyes with me and I could tell she was scared stuff.

"It's okay, it's okay," I tried to reassure her as another scream broke out.

"Their here, their going to kill us," she began to panic.

"Sophia... SOPHIA. Look at me, take a deep breath, okay. It's going to be okay, someone's probably just cut themselves preparing supper. I'm going to go outside and check, okay?"

"No... no you can't. You promised you wouldn't leave me. You promised!"

"And I promise I'll be right back. I promise you'll be safe okay. Just stay in here and I'll be just a minute."

Slowly, she released her grip on my hands and I cautiously moved to the entrance of the tent.

Outside, smoke filled the air from the flames of other tents which had been set alight. Men, women and children were running around, screaming for their lives as others chased them with swords. Quickly, I ducked back inside the tent and tried to push back the panicky attack that threatened to overtake my body.

"What's happening? Its them, isn't it?"

At Sophia's cries my mind snapped back to reality and I knew what I had to do. Rushing to her side, i pulled her from the bed and began to wrap cloaks around her. "We need to leave Sophia. Right now, we need to run. Do you understand me. You do not let go of my hand and you do not stop running, no matter what."

"We're going to die," she cried.

"NO..." I snapped and grabbed her face to face mine. "We are not going to die. We are going to run and find Sandor. We can do this, okay? Say it, say we are not going to die."

"We are not going to die," she whispered.

"Good. Now, remember what I said. Just keep running."