"My dog?"
An excited voice shattered the silence in the Throne Room.
It was Prince Joffrey Baratheon.
He pushed his way out of the crowd.
His handsome, slightly sickly pale face brimmed with the feverish excitement of a child who had found a new toy.
He idolized Lynn.
From Lynn unhorsing the Knight of Flowers at the Tournament to stopping that fatal arrow for him on the streets of King's Landing.
In his eyes, Lynn had long since become an idol, a god of war.
Now his idol wanted to borrow his dog for a duel between brothers!
Could anything be more thrilling, more spectacular?
"You want my dog to fight for you, Lynn?"
Joffrey ran excitedly up to Lynn and looked up at him, his blue eyes gleaming with fervor.
"Of course! Of course you can!"
Without even seeking his mother's or the king's permission, he eagerly turned and shouted toward a corner of the hall.
"Hound! Did you hear that?"
"Go! Kill that monster of a brother of yours for Lord Lynn!"
"This will be the greatest duel King's Landing has seen in a hundred years!"
If Lynn choosing to fight in person would have been madness, then choosing the Hound was absurd.
Everyone's eyes turned as one toward the man standing in the corner of the Throne Room.
Sandor Clegane.
He wore a plain suit of mail and carried his distinctive dog-head helm beneath his arm, exposing the hideous, fire-ravaged half of his face.
He was merely the prince's guard, a loyal and vicious dog.
Here, his status was lowly. He did not even have a voice.
He was strong. No one doubted that.
But his opponent was the Mountain.
His own elder brother, Gregor Clegane!
The demon who had turned him into this hideous thing!
Everyone