|
As the plane door opens Sandor looks out at the landing field and sees a medley of vehicles approaching. He heads down the steps closely followed by one of his men, who he gives a several commands to as he descends to ground level. It is a very dark night in Philadelphia; Sandor squints as he counts the approaching headlights, while Mr. Rhodes barks orders at the bodyguards that are jostling to get into their positions.
The lead vehicle, recognisable as Godfather DeadlySin's armour plated Silver Arrow, comes to a halt 30 meters short of the plane. A hooded man steps out of the passenger seat and waits at the front of the car to be greeted. Sandor approaches, closely followed by Isiah and a small entourage of henchmen with pistols drawn. Sandor stops a few feet away and reaches into his pocket, he pulls out an old coin and flicks it into the air. The hooded man's hand shoots out from under his cloak and catches the coin.
Valar Morghulis' Sandor exclaims.
'Valar Dohaeris' Jaqen replies as he pulls back his hood.
'Good evening Jaqen, I trust you had no problems on the route here?'
'A man faced no obstacles in his journey; a man feels we will be quite safe…'
Sandor signals to his men, and the Godfather is escorted from the plane and to his car by his bodyguards. Jaqen opens the back door and bows his head to the Godfather, who climbs into the back and is joined by Sandor and Isiah shortly afterwards. The rest of the men pile into the other vehicles and finally Jaqen climbs back into the passenger seat of DeadlySin's wagon and the convoy finally moves off.
Jaqen sideways smirks to himself in the front seat as Sandor, DeadlySin and Isiah shuffle uncomfortably in the cramped back with Isiah still trying in vain to fasten his seatbelt. DeadlySin watches him with impatience as he tries to slide further over and find the clasp.
'Is the seatbelt really necessary?! Jesus!' Says DeadlySin as Isiah lets go of the belt with a look of embarrassment on his face.
'We're packed so tightly in here we could crash at 100 and not budge an inch! Also, why the hell am I in the backseat? I'm the Godfather!'
'A Godfather is safer between his biggest men, and a man must show the driver the path he must follow.'
DeadlySin sighs and wipes a bead of sweat from his brow as the others sit awkwardly around him.
'Well can we at least get these back windows open? I'm melting here!'
Sandor and Isiah both shuffle inwards squishing DeadlySin even further, and both try to find a handle to open the windows…
'Sorry Sir, doesn't look like these back ones open…' says Isiah as he and Sandor move back to their previous positions. DeadlySin begins to sigh again but he is interrupted by the driver…
FFFFFAARRRRPPPPP!!!
DeadlySin slowly closes his eyes and shakes his head in disbelief, and tries to tuck his nose and mouth inside the collar of his shirt, while Sandor and Isiah try hard to stifle their laughter next to him. Jaqen rolls down his window and looks at the driver with an unimpressed look on his face.
'A man should not have to endure your odour!'
The driver looks back at him with a blank expression and says the same thing he had been saying all day…
'HODOR!'
. . . . .
Thirty minutes later the convoy arrives at its destination, the four men scramble out of the car and gasp for clean air. It was odd for it to be so quiet outside the 20' perimeter wall of the former Yoawa Army headquarters, a place that was usually bustling with activity. The front gate is opened and on the other side waits Bunny, Lalaith and more of DeadlySin's top advisors and leaders. Sandor enters and greets them with handshakes, as do the others and DeadlySin, after he has finished coughing his lungs out.
They are led inside and to the meeting room where the leaders of Philadelphia all take their usual seats, leaving an empty one between Neon and Squidmaster. With everyone now inside, Sandor goes to close the door and stand outside to ensure they aren't interrupted…
'Sandor!' A woman's voice says loudly inside…
Sandor pokes his head inside to see who has called his name and sees Bunny looking at him.
'Sandor, why don't you sit down and join us?' She tips her head towards the empty seat at the table, and Sandor smiles at the joke and closes the door.
'SANDOR!' She shouts again…
'Please, I insist, take a seat!' She says, with more seriousness in her voice this time.
Sandor heads over to the empty seat with a look of confusion and embarrassment on his face. The men and women in the room are all staring at him now and he doesn't have a clue why. He sits down in the seat and everyone's attention then turns to DeadlySin who is flicking through his agenda for the meeting.
'Welcome everybody; first of all I'd like to thank you all for your hard work over the last day. It makes me proud to be able to give Phil Steak the opportunity to run his own city, and it is through everyone's hard work that we have been able to spread our wings. With Phil no longer in town it leaves a corner of this city in need of a Captain to run things for me. It wasn't long ago that this city was badly wounded in a war that spanned across the land, and we now have a city where most of the faces are fresh, and we are delighted by the enthusiasm shown by this new crop of mobsters. Choosing one man to follow in the footsteps of someone so pivotal in our organisation was no easy task, but I believe I have a good eye for potential as do my advisors, and we have come to a decision on the person best suited to take up this role.'
Sandor looked across the table at Lalaith who had been looking at him the whole time and was now smiling at him. Averting his eyes he wondered whether this was the time or place for a woman of her stature to be eye-fucking him, but he also felt equally flattered. He looked to her left where King Sao was sat, who had the same look as Lalaith on his face. Sandor was no homosexual, he had no ill feelings towards people of this orientation, but he felt the need to discourage King Sao from his obvious intentions. He screwed up his face like an angry Rottweiler, and scowled back at him to make certain he knew that feelings were not mutual, until he felt a huge slap on his back from Squidmaster who was sitting next to him…
'SANDOR CLEGANE!'
Sandor jumped and broke eye contact with King Sao, and now saw that everyone was staring at him with smiles on their faces. He looked up at DeadlySin who had just yelled his name and wondered what the hell was going on and why his name had been shouted yet again...
'In your short time here in Philadelphia you have demonstrated the fundamental qualities I look for when I chose men and women to lead, and have earned the respect of many people in this city. You're a young man that has plenty to give, and I would like to formally offer you the opportunity to set an example to others and become a leader in Philadelphia. How about it Clegane? Would you like step up and start your own family?'
Sandor nervously looked around at the expectant faces surrounding him, and knew there was only one answer they would accept…
. . . . .
An hour later Sandor stepped out of the building and into the yard at the rear of the building and sat next to the guard dogs to mull things over. He is soon joined by Jaqen who approaches to receive his next orders.
'A man senses his task has changed, what do you command of him?'
'It is my task that has changed Jaqen, you are still to assist me as you can.'
'Are we to leave this place?'
'No, we are to stay here; this is now our home, which we must protect.'
'A man would be honoured to stand beside you sir'
Sandor continues to pat a huge guard dog's head as Isiah spots them and heads over.
'Sandor! I've just been given the news! I bet that was a shock for you!'
'You could say that…'
'Well I hope you've got room for me here, I've just been reassigned, I'm reporting to you now!'
'That's great news because I have a task for you already…'
'Oh?'
'Bring me wine!'
'Sandor, Sandor! You didn't think an event like this would go down without a celebration did you? Follow me!'
Sandor follows Isiah round to the front of his new headquarters, where crates of alcohol are being brought through the gate, and well-wishers are arriving to celebrate. Isiah grabs two bottles of wine from one of the crates being wheeled past, and thrusts them into the hands of Sandor and Jaqen, then grabs his own bottle.
'So what are we drinking to Sandor? Does our family have a name?'
'I've had a few ideas but I'm pretty keen on the Sentinels…'
'So be it… The Sentinels of Sin!'
The trio raise their bottles in the air before drinking to their new family, and the rest they say, is… A blur…
|
