The Mountain of Ice and Fire

"How is the Hound?" Queen Cersei stood at the head of the Hound's bed, asking Maester Lucius.

"His internal injuries are minor, mainly shock." Maester Lucius said respectfully, "To put it plainly, he's been scared out of his wits."

The Hound, who could hear, move his eyes, and think, cursed, "You son of a bitch, Maester, when I get better, you'll regret this, Maester!"

But unfortunately, the Hound couldn't utter a single word. He couldn't speak or eat, relying on some strange and awful-tasting liquid food prepared by the Maester to replenish his body's needs.

"He's really been paralyzed by the Mountain's fear!" Joffrey said with a surprised tone, then his lips curled into a contemptuous smile, "I knew all along that the Hound was a coward without any courage. He usually hides it very well, deceiving everyone, but I saw through his little tricks long ago!"

The Hound rolled his eyes, trying to look at Prince Joffrey's face, glaring at him. As long as he glared at Joffrey, that coward would shut up in fright. Unfortunately, the Hound couldn't do that. His eyes could move, but his neck couldn't.

Damn poison!

Damn it, it was meant to be used against the Mountain, but who knew the Mountain would use the Hound's sword to stab the Hound himself.

During last night's duel, the poison entered the Hound's body, quickly paralyzing him.

What shamed the Hound was that he was carried back by the red priests last night. The whole way, from the Ruby Ford to the residence in Earlstown, his body was shaking strangely.

Because the Mountain was huge, the Hound feared that the amount of poison wouldn't be enough, so he used almost an entire bottle of poison on the blade. He used more than ten times the usual amount.

Then, he got a rare opportunity to experience the effects of this precious poison.

At least it proved one thing: Maester Lucius was telling the truth about the potency of the poison.

The Hound was indeed very afraid of fire. Over the years, he had been overcoming this psychological barrier and had achieved some results. On the surface, his reaction to flames was no different from ordinary people. The fear was deeply and well hidden in his heart!

Last night, when the Mountain threw the torch in front of his face, and the heat of the flames sprayed on his face, his fear erupted like a flood, no longer able to be suppressed. The outbreak of fear caused his body to convulse more and more strongly, which aggravated the energy of the poison, making him more deeply poisoned. The deeper the poisoning, the more it affected his body's reaction, making his fear of fire even greater.

Thus, in full view of everyone, in front of His Majesty the King, Her Majesty the Queen, His Royal Highness the Prince, the Hand of the King, the Master of Laws, the Kingsguard, the Commander of the City Watch, and dozens of courtiers and dozens of knights, the Hound became a person trembling with fear, trembling as if his whole body was dancing.

This was more uncomfortable for the Hound than having his head chopped off!

The Hound had a strong sense of self-esteem when he shouldn't have it; when he should have valued self-esteem, he often wanted to throw it in the trash like a rag.

In the language of the world the Mountain transmigrated from: The Hound might have a slight split personality!

"Heal him, Maester!" Queen Cersei said indifferently. Her superior arrogance came with a coldness that kept people at a distance.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Please rest assured, when our carriage arrives in King's Landing, I guarantee to return a healthy Ser Sandor Clegane to you."

Cersei nodded, glancing at the Hound, who was staring wide-eyed as if dead drunk. The Hound's eyes met Queen Cersei's, and he saw in Cersei's eyes the usual coldness, the queen's arrogance, and a deep contempt for a dog.

The Hound's gaze followed Cersei's figure until she left the Maester's room.

His head was positioned just right to face the doorway, allowing him to see people coming in and out. As for the people at other angles, such as the gleeful Joffrey muttering at the foot of the bed, he couldn't see them. The Hound hated that he didn't have a third eye to glare at Joffrey and make him shut up.

Joffrey felt very happy seeing the Hound unable to move. He laughed, "Maester, is the Hound afraid of fire?"

"I don't know, Your Royal Highness!"

"I have a way to find out." Prince Joffrey said with great interest, "Do you want to know?"

"Please enlighten me, Your Royal Highness!" Maester Lucius said politely.

"Bring the fire closer to his face. If his eyes are terrified and his expression is abnormally frightened, then he must be afraid of fire!" Joffrey's eyes shone with excitement, "Maester, my dog has suffered worse injuries than this before, but he could still beat a guard to the ground with one hand that day." Joffrey's eyes darted around, his voice revealing the excitement of discovering the Hound's secret, "I bet he was scared by the torch the Mountain threw in his face. Tell me, what kind of person would be so afraid of fire?"

"Fuck your mother!" The Hound cursed at Joffrey, "I'm not afraid of fire at all, you little bastard, I'm not afraid of anything!"

Maester Lucius laughed, "Your Royal Highness, a person bitten by a snake will be afraid as soon as they see a snake; a person bitten by a dog will be very afraid of dogs. Hehe… it's a kind of psychological disorder… Your Royal Highness!"

Joffrey walked to the other side of the bed, looking at the terrible scars on the Hound's left face, "I understand, Maester, the Hound played with fire when he was young, set his bed on fire, and burned his face. Look at his left face, even his ear is burned, leaving only a small hole. Tsk tsk, what if the other side of his face was burned like that, leaving only one ear hole? How ugly would that person be?"

"I can't imagine!" Maester Lucius laughed.

Lucius saw the veins popping out on the Hound's neck, his hands and feet struggling forcefully, but unfortunately, he used too much poison, and he was too deeply poisoned. What would have taken a few days to recover from might now take the Hound half a month or longer.

"Go, Maester, immediately light a candle for me!" Joffrey ordered Maester Lucius.

"Yes, Your Royal Highness!"

The Hound's throat emitted a distorted whimper, a very low but clear sound. He did make a sound. Was he afraid? Joffrey really wanted to meet the Hound's eyes, but he didn't dare. Not daring to meet his eyes didn't stop Joffrey from experimenting with fire. He was a good boy who did what he thought of, and he never procrastinated when it came to pranks or torturing others! He had always possessed this excellent quality!

Maester Lucius happily brought a burning red candle.

He was a Maester proficient in medicine, knowledgeable, and naturally able to see that the Hound was indeed deeply immersed in fear, which gave him a malicious pleasure.

If the Mountain hadn't told Maester Lucius to ensure that the Hound would live and be healthy, because he would duel the Hound a second time, and without the King and the Hand of the King present, he would burn the Hound alive after winning the duel.

If the Hound died before that, the Mountain would burn Lucius to death!

This forced Lucius to abandon his plan to add a chronic poison to the Hound's nutritional liquid food, because the Mountain didn't say when he would come to find the Hound for the second duel. If it took too long and the Hound was killed or crippled by the poison, the Mountain would blame Maester Lucius.

At that time, the Mountain had promised him that he would find Lucius no matter where he was. If the Hound was still alive but not strong enough to fight, the Hound would sneer, "Mountain, tonight is not last night!" He would suddenly start, quick and unparalleled, swaying left and right, and he would be in front of the Mountain, his long sword gleaming coldly, stabbing straight at the Mountain's face. Living and not being strong enough, then the Mountain burning the Maester with a torch would only be the lightest of all the Mountain's methods of tormenting the Maester.

Maester Lucius morally upheld his promise to the Mountain, but that didn't stop him from assisting Joffrey in conducting a fire experiment on the Hound.

Joffrey dripped the burning red candle drop by drop on the Hound's left face, avoiding the angle of the Hound's eyes, "Maester, look at the Hound's eyes, aren't they filled with fear of fire?"

"…Yes…Your Royal Highness…The Hound is afraid of fire…very afraid of fire…He's about to faint…Your Royal Highness!" Maester Lucius's tone was tense, but his heart was extremely happy, "Your Royal Highness…I can't bear to watch…Come and see…The knight can't take it anymore…"

"I won't look." Joffrey was excited all over, trembling with joy, "As soon as I see the Hound glaring at me, I want to poke his eyes out with needles, but Mother never allows it…"

*

Ps: Don't scold or abandon the book when you see the Hound suffering. Ice and Fire stories have a habit of routines and reversals. There was already a case in the previous 'Mistress' chapter. Trust the author, there will be easter eggs later.

Thank you: Book friends 161022190349025 and Chau534 for the small reward support, thank you, handshake!