Secret Flames (Sandor Clegane)

Chapter 37

The group of escapees fled the grounds of Winterfell and headed to the coast where the remaining Greyjoy ships were sat alone in the darkness. Thankfully, some of the greyjoy men had managed to escape, and Tallulah split the group into two, each with a few Greyjoy men who would know how to run the two ships.

"This is my home," Sansa cried as Tallulah told her and Arya to lead the women and children onto one of the ships.

"Not anymore. Home is where you make it Sansa, where your family are. This isn't that place anymore." Tallulah replied.

Arya managed to pull her into line though and eventually, they were both working together to help the more vulnerable.

"Has anyone seen Jon or Daenarys?" Tallulah called out as everyone continued to rush onto the ships.

"No sighting yet," Beric replied.

Tallulah had not released the old man had also made it, and was thankful to see another familiar face. The thought made her think back to Mulan though, and the hundreds of men she had lost. Her mind was quickly pulled away from her own darkness though when the thundering sound of dragons wings blasted through the air.

Silently, she watched as both the dragons landed. Inside she could feel a raging anger bubble inside of her, and this exploded when Jon and Daenarys approached her.

"You fled?" Jon questioned.

Tallulah didn't have any words to answer him though and instead through back her fist and brought it back to slam across his face. Jon instantly stumbled backwards and touched the side of his cheek where her fist had made contact.

"How dare you!" Daenerys snapped.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Tallulah roared back. "HOW DARE YOU LEAVE YOUR PEOPLE TO DIE. HOW DARE YOU LEAD THEM TO DEATH. AND FOR WHAT? WHAT HAVE THEY DIED FOR? YOUR PRIDE? YOUR RIGHT TO RULE THIS KINGDOM?!"

"Tallulah..." Jon sighed.

"Don't you even dare speak to me. Whilst you were flying above the skies, I was on the ground, I was on the ground watching your people die. No not die, slaughtered, they slaughtered them Jon! Men, women, children, they killed them all! And why? Because you have pledged your loyalty to this woman? This woman who has no care for your people, just her goal and her self-proclaimed right to rule! Fuck you!"

"Where are my men, where is my army?" Daenery hissed like a petulant child.

Tallulah smiled with a evil look towards Daenarys. Taking a step closer to her, she stood right up in the dragons queens face. "Still fighting for their queens kingdom. Dead most likely."

Daenerys quickly went to try and grab the small blade she kept in the belt of her dress, but Tallulah was too quick. Raising one hand to her throat the other a few inches from her face, but instead of her normal skin, she turned the one hand into flames.

"Go on... I dare you," she hissed and looked back to see the two dragons stood calmly behind her.

"Your dragons couldn't protect us before and they won't even protect you now. Perhaps jon pledged his loyalty to the wrong mad queen" she went on to scoff, referring to Cersi and the southern men they could have used in this fight.

Releasing her grip, she continued on with a voice of venom and hatred. "Now you have two choices Daenerys. One, you come aboard the ship but as a prisoner, or two, you can stay here and rot."

"You can't-" she began to say before Tallulah started laughing. "Try me bitch."

In the end Daenerys stepped back, making it clear that she would not be boarding the ships. Jon, with a sad puppy dog look to Daenarys, eventually stepped onboard with his sisters, and then Tallulah finally left with Sandor and Beric following behind.

As the ships slowly sailed away and the land of The North became smaller and smaller in the distance, Tallulah watched from the top deck and took a deep breath in. For now she could take a moment to breathe, for now the dead could not follow them.

'You saved us, if it wasn't for you..." Sansa whispered as she, Arya, Jon, Davos, Beric and Sandor walked up behind her.

"I made a decision. Someone had to,"

"You lead us all to safety. The others, they're all calling you their true Queen. The only one they'll ever follow," Sansa continued.

Slowly, Tallulah turned around and looked over at Jon and then Sandor.

"People are fickle. They will follow whomever they think will best serve their interests at that time. I don't care what they call me."

"But... what do we do now?" Arya spoke up.

Tallulah sighed heavily. "Tell the men to sail towards King Landing. The rest of us need to pray that Cersi will let us in after our last meeting. That's our own chance of surviving now."