Second Chance // Sandor Clegane

12. Maniacal Grief

    I went to Highgarden first, only to be disappointed. When I went to their castle, the help informed me that Lady Olenna, Lady Margaery, and Ser Loras were all in King's Landing, and that Margaery would soon be married to King Tommen. I hoped he was kinder than his older brother was.

    If Margaery was to be married to Tommen, though, where was Sansa?

    I walked the gardens one last time, letting nostalgia consume me, and then headed farther south to Dorne. It felt like a lifetime had passed between now and the last time I stood in this city.

    As I approached the home of the Dornish royals, I saw Ellaria. "Long time no see, my lady," I called out, making her look up.

    Her face broke out into a grin and she ran to hug me, but when she pulled away, her face had morphed into one of despair. A look of puzzlement crossed my features as I spoke. "What's wrong, Ellaria?" I glanced around. "Where is Oberyn?"

    My utterance of his name opened the floodgates, and she began to weep. "They killed him, those fucking Lannisters! I will make them pay!" I felt a sinking feeling in my chest, knowing I would never see him again, wishing I would have been there.

    Ellaria brought me around to the yard and we sat at a small table. "What Lannister killed him?" I asked sternly. 

    She shook her head. "A Lannister is not the one who delivered the blow, but it was their fault."

    She told me about Tyrion, and how he was accused of poisoning Joffrey at his wedding to Margaery, not Sansa.

    She told me about how Sansa, who was now Tyrion's wife, fled and Tyrion was imprisoned, sentenced to die by his own father, and about his demand for a trial by combat. Gregor Clegane was to fight for the crown, and Oberyn volunteered to fight for Tyrion, to avenge his sister Elia.

    I was even more devastated when she told me how close it was, with Oberyn mortally wounding the Mountain before having his eyes gouged out and his skull crushed.

    I saw red, anyone who knew Tyrion would know he did not poison his nephew. And I knew Tywin Lannister knew that. This was his fault.

    "I'm going to kill Tywin Lannister," I spat. 

    "You're too late," Ellaria told me. "The Imp did it himself. His brother freed him after Oberyn lost. Shot his dad with a crossbow and then got on a boat to Essos. Rumor has it that he's working for Daenerys Targaryen now."

    My eyes widened. "Daenerys Targaryen is alive?" 

    Ellaria nodded. "So I've heard. I also heard she has an army of Dothraki and Unsullied, along with three dragons. People say she plans to sail west, take back the Iron Throne."

    I sat back, taking in everything. I was thrilled to hear that Tyrion had abandoned his family. Rhaegar would be ecstatic when he found out his sister was alive. The feeling of loss hit me deeply, the death of Oberyn made me feel a rage I hadn't felt in years.

    "We will avenge him by killing every fucking Lannister in Westeros," Ellaria told me, and I nodded in agreement.

    "And Gregor fucking Clegane."