for Cort
It was early morning, and Sandor was already in a bad mood. Stranger had woken up limping, and try as he might Sandor could not get close enough to the lame leg to tell what was wrong. The stallion wasn't lashing out at him (thank the gods, or he'd have had to call Alain and Bert to come and help hold him down) but he was dancing and shying and jumping around like a hyperactive rabbit, which all had the desired effect of pissing his master off to no end.
Finally he reached the end of his patience. "Stand still, you fool beast!" he bellowed, and was so surprised when the horse actually listened for once that he nearly lost his moment of opportunity. But he slipped in between Stranger and the tree he was tied to, and crouched to examine the leg. The horse whickered in annoyance, and Sandor glanced up, catching movement out of the corner of his eye. He couldn't quite see who was standing there, most of his vision being filled with horse, but he figured whoever it was could stand to wait a few minutes-- and if they couldn't, whatever they wanted likely wasn't that important anyway.
Finally he reached the end of his patience. "Stand still, you fool beast!" he bellowed, and was so surprised when the horse actually listened for once that he nearly lost his moment of opportunity. But he slipped in between Stranger and the tree he was tied to, and crouched to examine the leg. The horse whickered in annoyance, and Sandor glanced up, catching movement out of the corner of his eye. He couldn't quite see who was standing there, most of his vision being filled with horse, but he figured whoever it was could stand to wait a few minutes-- and if they couldn't, whatever they wanted likely wasn't that important anyway.