From the Ashes (ASOIAF) (Sandor Clegane x OC)

Chapter 39: Sandor

     As Sandor stood on the dock waiting for what seemed like an eternity for the huge gaudy Dornish ship to dock, he reminded himself for the hundredth time that he really did love his position as Commander of the City Watch. The day to day duties of life in Kings Landing had somewhat lost their appeal since he and Tess had returned from Essos. It had been by far the most perfect trip he'd ever taken in his life. From the night markets of Pentos to the mystical city of Myr, it was a land full of strange new adventures, and he'd relished sharing each of them with his beautiful wife. She was so at ease there. No one would have guessed she was Westerosi if she hadn't been beside him. He loved watching her thriving there, speaking with all the peoples from different lands easily as if she was one of their own. He smiled thinking of their nights in Volantis, in the house on the side of the Long Bridge. Sitting on the balcony each evening looking out over the mouth of the Rhoyne and talking late into the night about the Doom of Valyria and dragons. Tess had loved Volantis the most, being there so close to the smoking sea and the ruins of Valyria, in the city where so many claimed to trace their heritage to the dragon riders of old, the magic of dragons felt so much more real. One man even told her that there were rumors that the one remaining dragon, Drogon had been seen in the South, and people believed he'd made a home in Valyria. Tess's excitement in Valyria had made it one of Sandor's favorite stops as well, he had no clue what it was about dragons and the magic surrounding them that made his wife so wild, but he certainly had no complaints.

     Yes, it had been a nearly perfect trip, with only one brief down turn in Myr. He'd come back to the home they were staying in and found Tess crying. He'd been completely confused because up until that point they'd been having a wonderful day. It took some coaxing for him to get her to tell him what was wrong but in the end she did, her moons blood had come. He hadn't realized until then how much she had been hoping she was with child. It touched him to see how much she had already gotten attached to the idea. He hadn't been sure what to tell her in that moment, he'd always been shitty at offering comfort, but in the end she didn't need much. She came to the conclusion on her own that sometimes these things take time, and they'd gone back to their blissful adventure. But now they were back. He finally understood why Tess had always talked so wistfully about Essos when they'd met her. Westeros just felt so dull. The rules and systems put in place to run things here felt oppressive and cumbersome by comparison. For better or worse Sandor would always be glad to have gone and experienced what he did with Tess. Seeing that part of her life and her world was just another way for him to feel connected to her.

"God....how long does it take to dock a fucking boat." She grumbled by his side. It seemed he wasn't the only one feeling unhappy about this production of an envoy.

     The Prince of Dorne had made the trip to King's Landing for King Brandon's name day tournament, but he had requested to come a day early for the express purpose of giving his personal apologies to both Sandor and Tess, for the behavior of the Sands Snakes. Sandor knew he had no real reason to be angry at the Prince. He believed that the young man had nothing to do with the attack on Tess, but he was still not really in a place to be around anything to do with Dorne. Tess on the other hand, he'd been expecting to be more gracious. Maybe he was rubbing off on her, she had seemed much more irritable and prone to grumbling as of late. The ship docked and they watched as the ramp was moved into place.

"These Dornish fuckers never miss an opportunity to put on a show do they?" Said Bronn. Members of the King's small council had come down as a show of good faith to meet the envoy from Dorne.

"What is the point of being blessed with wealth if you can't show it off?" Tyrion said.

"How about to use it for some actual good instead of prancing around like a fucking—" Sandor started, but Tess cut him off.