In the days following the death of her father, Mina lost all track of time. She no longer attended to the plants in her books, or tore a marker from page to count the days. She could no longer cry, nor mourn. Her only indicator of time came from the rays of light cast by the sun through her tiny window each morning.

On one such morning, Mina's feeble attempts to continue sleeping were broken by a banging at her door. The source of the sound, the King, didn't wait to be invited in. Rather, he screwed up his face with disgust at the tiny, dark room and entered alongside his guard.

"You are in the presence of your king. Stand and show respect!" The stout guard yelled.

"Why thank you, Ser Meryn." The King said with a haughty sneer, but Mina ignored.

The king seemed irritated by this, but continued on anyway. "You will come to court today, I command it."

Mina lay still in her bed, staring at the ceiling. She didn't care enough to look at him. She waited a while, before finally sighing, "No," and then turning her back to the petulant little boy.

She didn't need to see Joffrey's face to know that he was mad, his voice dripped with rage, "I was not asking, stupid girl, I was commanding! You will come!"

"No thank you." Mina said once more as she closed her eyes.

The king attempted to order once more, but then stopped himself. "Ser Meryn, make her accept."

Before she knew what was happening, Mina was yanked roughly from her bed. The man pulled her up by her shoulder until he could look her directly in the eye. His white Kingsguard cloak rippled with his movements. "Your king has given you an order girl."

Mina stuck out her jaw in defiance. "And I declined that—" before she could finish, Ser Meryn's fist landed a clean blow to the side of her face. Mina winced at the contact, but stood her ground. A simple beating couldn't hurt her now.

The girl's silence seemed to anger Ser Meryn further. He continued to hit first her face and then her stomach, but each time she regained her composure and stood tall.

Relief from the barrage finally came in the form of a tall figure at the door; the sound of his heavy footed arrival caused Ser Meryn to release her shoulder and push her back on the bed. It took Mina a moment to realize that the man in her doorway was Sandor. It took her even longer to register the white cloak he wore over his armor, the cloak of the Kingsguard. The sight of him in the cloak of her captors stung more than any hit Ser Meryn could land.

"You will be there, Lady Mina," Joffrey said with a clear air of irritation. "I'd hate for your dear sister to have to endure it alone."

Joffrey smiled at that. He and Mina both knew there was no point in arguing; Sansa was and always would remain her weak point, so long as they were both here. "And make yourself look presentable Lady Mina. I don't want you to embarrass my future wife at court."

And with that, Joffrey and Ser Meryn left. Sandor, however, remained.

"Mina…" he whispered hoarsely.

"Save it."

Sandor picked up a cloth from a dinner tray, attempting to wipe up some of the blood now trickling down from Mina's lip, but she brushed his hand away. "Leave it, if I must attend court I want them all to see what their king has done to me. I'll wear it as a badge of honour."

Mina looked up at Sandor, her eyes running over his crisp, white cloak, "Are you truly one of them now?" She asked, afraid of the answer.

"No," he whispered. "Not really." Sandor gently wrapped his large hand around one of hers, running his thumb over her fingers.

Mina forced a weak smile, causing the blood to come out further. "Good, I couldn't bear that." They waited like that for a moment. They had so much to say to each other, yet neither could find the words.

Finally a screech broke the calm, "Dog, where are you?" Sandor turned his head to the direction of Joffrey's wail echoing from down the hall.

Mina put her free hand on top of Sandor's for a moment, "You should go." The man made to argue, but they both knew it was of no use. "I'll be alright, there's not much more he can do to me now."

The pair let the lie settle between them for a moment. Unfortunately, they both knew there was so much more the boy could do.

Sandor stood behind the king as courtiers entered the throne room to hear the king speak that day. Flanked by his advisors, Joffrey looked small and frail, almost dwarfed by the great Iron Throne, but that wasn't his concern. Sandor's eyes scanned the room.

Up in a balcony, in a green silk dress, sat Sansa. The girl was a ghost of the child she'd been before, her childhood robbed from beneath her. Before long, Sandor watched as Mina joined her sister. He could see no words shared between them, but there didn't need to be; their eyes said enough of the horrors they had both shared and the losses they had suffered.

Mina looked gaunt in the yellow gown that once fit her so perfectly. Her hair was hastily tied and bruises from Meryn Trant's beating had begun to blossom beside her right eye. And yet, she still commanded the attention of all around her. There was a fire burning behind her eyes; she would not be broken easily.

The sudden blaring of horns brought all attentions to the dais as the king began the day's proceedings. A variety of cases were brought to the king's attention, though he let his small council members make a majority of his decisions. Cases that lacked a certain amount of gore seemed too boring to pique the boy's interest.

As the hour grew late, Littlefinger stood and drew the crowd's attentions to the final matter of interest for the day, "During his short reign as hand," the man began, "one of the outrageous decisions made by the traitorous Eddard Stark was to declare Ser Gregor Clegane an enemy of the crown."

Sandor looked to balcony. He could see the way Mina's neck tensed, her eyes wide and waiting.

"This accusation," Littlefinger continued, "was not only slanderous, but baseless as well. It is the wish of the small council and the king that all charges be dropped by the crown, and that Ser Gregor's titles, lands and good name be restored."

Sandor tried his best to stifle a scoff at the ridiculousness of the concluding remarks. Some members of the crowd started to move in anticipation of the court being dismissed for the day, but the king stood, silencing them all. "Thank you, advisor, for the announcement of our verdict, however after further thought I have changed my mind. Though the traitor is dead, his wrongdoings should not be allowed to go without punishment."

Sandor clenched his fists as the king paused his sentencing for a moment of dramatic effect, "It is the belief of the crown, that the treacherous Stark family now owes a debt to the Cleganes." Joffrey turned his head to look directly towards Mina's balcony. "I offer the hand of my future wife's surviving sister to Ser Gregor. She will marry him, and when her scheming brothers have all been killed, Ser Gregor will become Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North."

Sandor felt the blood drain from his face. The boy had undoubtedly found something worse he could do to the girl.