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Sansa was gathering the courage to ask Shae about it for the majority of the day. Shae might have been her handmaiden and under different circumstances Sansa would be horrified to approach her about her... problem... but the lack of other female companions and the fierce determination the other woman showed on Sansa's behalf made her the only choice. Sansa was definitely not going to ask the Queen, no matter how sympathetic she had seemed to her plight.
"Shae?"
"Yes, milady?" The foreign accent of the dark-haired girl had become familiar to Sansa and the fact that she was currently brushing Sansa's hair and couldn't see her face helped, too.
"Is it normal to feel weird during your moonblood?"
"Weird how, milady?" Shae said without much interest in the topic. No wonder there, Sansa thought, it isn't as new to her as to me.
"I..." Sansa paused to think on how to best explain herself. It had started in the morning when the Hound had come into her room (Joffrey had wanted to break his fast with her, he had said) and found her all desperate over her bloodied sheets. He had been the one to advise her she would better tell the Queen herself. He had been right, of course. A secret of this magnitude would never be kept in the Red Keep. But there was something else. When the Hound had spoken to her in his usual rough voice, she suddenly felt like she was both warm and cold at the same time. She had never noticed how his deep voice resonated when inside, either. She had always thought it harsh and cold, like the man himself but... but there had been that weird feeling in her stomach when he had escorted her to the Queen and she had seen how wide his shoulders were and then she had remembered how that broad back had felt under her hands when she had clutched at him as he had been carrying her to safety after saving her from those men during the riots and she had felt herself flush from head to toe and-
"Milady?" Shae stood in front of her with a small smile on her face.
"I'm sorry, Shae, I got lost in thoughts."
"Who is it, milady?"
"I beg your pardon?" Sansa asked bewildered. Shae couldn't have known about what she had been thinking about, could she?
"You've been thinking of a man, haven't you?"
"No, I-." Sansa blushed guiltily, Shae's knowing smile making it all worse.
"I can tell, milady. And they weren't chaste thoughts either."
"You can't tell anyone," Sansa pleaded and Shae nodded, looking almost eager. Sansa looked down at her hands and started speaking in a low voice.
"There is this man and I started having these... feelings... when around him. Like I have a fever but then I feel cold again and there is this... throbbing... low in my stomach and... and... and I couldn't stop staring at his back and remembering how firm it felt under my hands," Sansa blurted out and Shae blinked.
"When you say his back you mean-"
"His back," Sansa said, frowning. "His shoulders and below," she clarified and didn't understand why Shae let out a relieved breath. "And I don't understand why I feel that way. And it started only today so it must be happening because of my moonblood so is it normal to feel that way?"
Shae closed her eyes and smiled.
"Yes, it's quite normal for a woman to feel aroused during the days when her flower blooms."
"Aroused?" Sansa was embarrassed to hear the squeak in her voice but Shae was wrong. She wasn't aroused by the Hound. Arousal was something that only happened with your lover. Unbidden, the image of the Hound leaning over her, touching her, kissing her, entered her mind and Sansa flushed anew. He was so tall and strong. She had seen firsthand just how powerful he was, how ferocious and dangerous. And yet, for all that strength he had always treated her gently, almost like he was afraid she would break if handled roughly.
Sansa touched one hand to her cheek, feeling how hot it was burning. She glanced at Shae who was watching her curiously. Aroused by the Hound. Who would have thought?
"Does the feeling disappear after?"
"No," Shae said and stood up. "But it means you are truly a woman now, milady," she added when Sansa glanced down. "You should enjoy those feelings. They are the only enjoyable thing about the whole experience."
"Thank you, Shae," Sansa called out after her retreating handmaiden who nodded at her.
"Goodnight, milady. Have pleasant dreams."
Pleasant? Sansa wondered to herself, remembering her last night's nightmare. Then again, if she were to dream about the Hound coming to her rescue... Sansa hugged herself as shivers ran down her spine. Now that would be a good dream, indeed.