Arya picked up on the tension between Lana and Clegane.

"What's wrong with you two?" Arya asked. She set her bucket of water down while Clegane put his armor back on. "You both keep glaring at each other when the other isn't looking."

"Nothing, his shoulder just hurts," Lana said.

"Doesn't explain the glaring."

"It's Clegane. Do we really need to explain why he glares at people?" Lana pointed out. Arya shrugged her shoulders, although her eyes remained skeptical.

Lana stole another glance at Clegane once he started to put his armor back on. Lana knew that they would need help with tying some of the shoulder pads back on. Just as he looked at her, she diverted her gaze, trying her best to ignore the man. She didn't want him to win, which meant she needed to appear as unaffected as possible. When the time came to it, he seemed to have the same approach, ignoring her while they helped put his armor back on. They even managed to get back on the horses without saying a word.

"See, you're both quiet," Arya said, sitting with Clegane on Stranger. "I hope you're not fighting."

Lana's roguery shriveled away at the comment. Arya was probably worried that the only adults in her life were now quarreling.

"It's just my shoulder, wolf girl. Don't feel like talking."

Lana opened her mouth to add something, but closed it, gently smiling. It was moments like those that she warmed up to him. He knew when to lighten up his shithead persona, even if it was on the rare occasion.

The tension never seemed to die, however, as during their ride, their eyes would connect every now and again. And when they did, a dark want flooded his gaze, and that only fueled her. They were both stingy, which meant breaking the eye contact was always a dramatic affair. There was a sexual frustration between them that could no longer be ignored.

That night they made a fire, and she and Clegane continued to ignore each other, save for the odd, accidental glances that connected. Every time, her chest would burn with a nervousness that would whet her appetite, and also wet her elsewhere. It didn't help that when that happened, she imagined telling Clegane all about the effects he had on her body.

Oh, she wanted to torment that man in that way. Taunt him so severely he'd eventually have to act on it.

But Lana was often reminded of the Stark girl. She didn't want to push the man too far, lest the tension grew so thick they had no other option but to take care of it. And Lana didn't know what kind of repercussions would occur if they became intimate, aware that Arya didn't need that potential instability in her life.

As Arya said the names on her list, the sound of people approaching and hooves on stone brought them all to alert. Clegane immediately poured water on the fire. They mostly remained still, the air smelling of smoke. On a bridge in the distance, travelers crossed with a carriage, candle boxes gently swaying while they hung from the wagon. The firelight reflected over the adjacent river, and the voices carrying over the water. One of the men said, "Does anyone else smell smoke?"

"Might be travelers nearby," another said.

"Should we go have a look?"

The carriage stopped on the middle of the bridge. "What for? Keep going," a raspy voice one said that spoke softer than the rest.

"Might got some things to loot."

"At this hour? I don't feel like a fight."

"They're probably asleep by now."

"Not with how loud we are talking. Keep going; we've got places to be," the raspy one said. The carriage lurched forward, the candle boxes vigorously swinging back and forth. Lana breathed a sigh of relief. She hated fighting at night.

"We should move," Clegane said quietly, turning around once they were out of sight.

"And go where?" Arya asked.

"Not here."

"What do you think, Lana?" Arya asked.

Clegane stopped in front of Lana, looking down at her with a cocked brow. She eyed his darkened face. How badly she wanted to say that he was wrong, especially with the way he stood there, waiting for an answer. She knew that he wanted to witness her admitting that he was right. It was the first time they had properly interacted since their near physical breakdown. Her stubbornness nearly won, but the need for Arya's safety came first.

Lana sighed and looked at Arya. "He is right. It's not safe. They clearly don't mind robbing sleeping people."

Clegane scoffed and walked over to the horses. It took everything Lana had not to pester him back. He is so arrogant!.

"Neither of you mind robbing people in their sleep."

"That's why we know to move," Clegane said.

They rode for a few more hours downstream, which was mostly a rocky valley with some irregular spots of deep water. Once Clegane felt it was safe, they got off their horses and rested for the night. Lana lied down, imagining what would have happened by now if Arya weren't there. Would Lana be over there with Clegane for the night? Would they really have fucked already?

It irked her that she couldn't read him, and he seemed to be extra resistant to her tactics. She wouldn't be able to force any of his true intentions or emotions out like she could with most men.

It was one of the few things that she didn't like about the Lord of Light as well. She hated blindly hoping for something.

She tried to sleep that night, but her mind seemed insistent on imagining the two of them alone, her heart rate always beating too quickly for sleep.

They spent two more days journeying. Aside from Lana's hunger, both in her stomach and groin, she was enjoying herself. The country out in Westeros was marvelous and so unlike the tropics of Essos.

Although nothing would quite compare to Asshai or the mountains of the Shadowlands.

Dragons were said to still live in the mountains out there, along with other beasts. On the rare occasion, dragons eggs would make their way to the Asshai, although the vast majority of men that traveled there died. Only those that followed the Lord of Light seemed to make it, or the rare soul that somehow faced the darkness on their own. It was the very trading of dragon eggs that brought Lana to Sedona.

Lana wanted to return to those dark lands one day, attracted to the obscurity of it all, and to see Sedona again.

"Why are you giving me away, if you traded four dragon eggs for me?" Lana had asked her priestess, when she was the age of Arya.

"You must be in more fertile lands before you first bleed your woman's blood, or you will never be able to bleed, Saelolana. I have done a lot of traveling in visions, and you need to give birth to more riders one day."

"But I will miss you."

"I have seen it in many shadows. You are not meant to live here. You must go to lands in the West. Dragons need their riders, and the Night is coming. Our mother of dragons will know much heartache, and you must help see her through it. The Night will not vanish in your generation's light. You must help make children that will bear more children, until one day, they must face the true Night."

"What is the true Night?"

"One of the Night's men have grown eager. He will lead an army, but he is not what Night truly has to offer. That comes later."

Lana took in a deep breath. The women of Asshai and the Lord of Light's followers were always raving about prophecies and how the night was coming, and that it was full of darkness and terrors.

Lana wondered how true it all was.

There was one thing she did know for certain - this world, while dominated by humanity, had deep, dark roots in magic and gods. Which gods were right? She didn't know. But she had seen the Lord of Light work his magic before many times, whereas the other gods just seemed to exist so the High Sparrow could rule.

She was pulled out of her reverie when she saw smoke curling into the sky, beyond the trees.

"That's definitely from a building," Lana said.

"A large hearth. Might be an Inn," Clegane said.

"Maybe they have a horse to buy for me. I'd even take a pony," Arya said. Lana smiled at how pathetic that sounded.

"Trust me; I'll be glad to have my damned horse back," Clegane said.

They tied their horses up to some trees and slowly walked through the woods, peeking through the branches. "Definitely an Inn," Clegane said.

"I smell food," Lana said. The air smelled like cook meat. It was almost enough of a distraction to make her forget about her and Clegane. Some men eventually came out to take a piss, and Lana looked away. Arya mentioned that one of them had her original sword. "That's Needle."

"You named your sword?" Clegane asked.

"Lots of people name their sword."

"Lots of cunts."

Lana chuckled, looking down at the ground to distract herself. She couldn't help it. He had a way with that kind of humor. She looked back ahead with a deep sigh, trying to re-frame her state of mind. He gently glanced down to her. "Trying to give us away?" he asked.

"I can't help it that you're funny."

"It wasn't a joke," he said, facing her more.

"I'll laugh if I want," she retorted, facing him as well.

"Maybe I need to stick something in your mouth to shut you up," he threatened, his usual tactics working less and less on her.

Her eyes gently widened as a fiendish grin came to her. "Go ahead, Clegane. I know a few tricks that make men buckle. As I said, that part of me lost its virtue long ago."

His eyes revved with a deep, carnal passion. She liked that reaction. It seemed to be the only thing she could use to get a rouse out of him.

"Will you two shut up," Arya spat. Clegane slowly eyed Lana's body, his gaze reconnecting with hers. His upper lip twitched, and through his scruff she saw his jaw clench. She gently raised a brow and tilted her head. His eyes narrowed and he scowled before looking away, but she caught it. She caught that amusement in his eyes.

She was driving him mad, and he was doing the same to her, and they both knew it.

The more that Lana was around him, the more she got used to his crass nature, developing a tolerance of it. Perhaps it was because he kept threatening to kill everything that annoyed him, especially Arya, and yet he always made sure she was fed and let her ride his horse.

"We can take one of those horses," Arya said, pulling them back in.

"Those horses belong to Lannister men," Clegane said, focusing back on the task at hand. "And there are at least seven of them in there. You see that cart? Those were probably the men we saw on the bridge."

"We can take them."

"Not worth the risk. We are tired and hungry."

"I want to eat some good food and sleep on something soft tonight," Arya said. "Let Lana go in and buy some bread at the very least? They'll recognize you for sure, but they might not know her."

"Fuck off with that. She doesn't go into a tavern full of Lannister men alone."

"Why? They won't know who she is."

"Because I will end up having to kill them anyway. They'd never let her walk out without having their way with her."

Lana tucked that away to think about it later, her stomach warming at thinking he might actually care. But she didn't have time to linger on it as she said, "Plus, every Lannister is looking for a lone female that is my age."

"Forgot about that," Arya said. "Too busy thinking about the food in there..."

"We should camp out and wait for tomorrow when they are gone," Clegane said.

"But my sword."

"It's just a needle like you said."

Arya grunted, looked back at the Inn, and Lana knew that look. "Arya, you stay-"

But it was too late. Arya took off for the Inn.

Clegane was quick to go after her. Lana moved her feet in apprehension but remained in the woods, as was her instinct. When the door opened to the Inn, the sheer frustration on his face was evident. He looked up to Lana with hard eyes before going back to the door.

Well, she didn't blame him there. He couldn't just walk away without looking fishy. He didn't signal her, though. Did that mean he wanted her to stay there? Should she go in after them? She fidgeted as she bit her lip, then sucked on it.

Those were Lannister men in there, and that was Arya Stark and Sandor Clegane. They might not know Arya, but they'd know Sandor. Lana let out a long sigh, readying herself for combat as her stomach grumbled. This would be a weak fight, but she didn't plan to participate unless she had to. She decided to go near the house and assist if it became necessary.

She didn't even think about if it was smart or not to potentially risk her life for Clegane or a Stark.

She just went for it.