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Jorah Mormont
It had been weeks since I had last seen Daenerys Targaryen. It had been
even longer since I had become infected with greyscale. If not for her I
would've killed myself as there had been nothing left to live for. All
my pain and sins had come back to haunt me for as long as they could.
The noonday sun of Braavos felt cold compared to Meereen's. After
traveling with my queen and the Dothraki for so long, the city felt
overly opulent. Though it wasn't the most majestic city I had seen in
either Westeros or Essos. Again I looked around to make sure no
pickpockets were about to get more than money when they attempted to rob
me.
Not only would I feel great guilt if greyscale broke out in the city,
but I didn't have much money left to spend on a boat. As Daenerys would
be having enough trouble gaining a fleet of her own, she couldn't help
me out. Nor would I want her to if she could as I was sentenced for
death. It was only her command that made me seek passage to the Citadel
in Oldtown.
I looked at people in fine clothing that contrasted greatly to my own
attire. There was nothing that spelled me out as anything but a man
struggling to make my way in the world. Nothing would make people think I
once was an advisor to a queen. Those people had coin enough to spare
but I didn't want to risk infecting them. I also couldn't accept a high
paying job as that would take time. Time I didn't have.
It would be more than easy to break into a dwelling and take what I
needed. The thought of becoming a common thief didn't please me but
there was no other choice. What rich man would throw enough coin for a
ship to what appeared to be a common beggar? Someone who was not to be
trusted.
A fight broke out and I stopped to watch. Two grown men were arguing
about some unimportant matter. Something about the other ******* their
wife. Or maybe they were calling each other's wives whores. What they
were angry about didn't matter. What did matter was that one man's coin
purse seemed dangerously close to falling off. If it fell then I had a
few precious seconds to grab it without anyone noticing.
I walked closer as if my life was so mundane that this common brawl
deserved my undivided attention. There! There was my chance! In the
scuffle one man's coin purse fell down. I bent down yelling to hide
stealing the purse. I quickly hid it in my cloak and continued to acting
interested in the fight. Once the fight was finished, I walked away
quickly with the rest of the dispersing crowd.
Upon finding a quiet patch of the city, I looked at how much money had
been gained. It wasn't much but it brought me one step closer to passage
to Westeros. At one point I had considered the continent home, but no
longer. My home was Daenerys and to return to her I needed to find a
cure for my greyscale.
If a cure actually existed.
Before I had left Daenerys, she had promised me her bed. She had
promised to make me her king. After everything I had hid from her, she
trusted me enough to grant me the highest honor. A man who had once
soiled his House's name would become a ruler of Westeros. It seemed
impossible but my love did much that people called impossible.
Even though I had traveled a great distance with Tyrion Lannister and
helped to free her from the Dothraki, I knew her forgiveness would not
be so easily won. So I hadn't accepted defeat and tried once again by
participating in the fighting pits of Meereen. When she had been
captured afterwards, I helped her but knew that she would send me away
yet again. This time, though, I would not return.
It had surprised me when Daenerys had not only forgiven me but anointed
me her king. She said she needed me by her side when she retook the Iron
Throne. She, Daario, and myself knew what that meant. He wouldn't be in
her bed much longer as she would throw him away once she set sail for
Westeros.
The joy that went through my entire being was impossible to describe. I
now had something to fight for yet again. Before she had made me turn
away from dreams of Bear Island to serve by her side. Yet again I was
denying fate because she asked it. She wanted me to live and so I would.
The gods themselves seemed to bend to her will.
I felt a pair of eyes on me as I put the coin purse away. Without
appearing like I noticed anything odd, I continued to walk around the
city. I looked at various merchants and some of their wares. My eyes
looked around without seeming frightened. People happened to look around
all the time. Though a Faceless Man would be able to read the fear
clearly on me.
But who would send one of those feared assassins after me? Daario
Naharis may be jealous of me, but he didn't have the funds necessary to
secure the services of a Faceless Man. He would also know that if
Daenerys ever found out he would be a dead man.
It wasn't my intention to buy anything but the apples were more than
tempting. After paying more than they were worth, I walked away with
one. Its simple taste was filling after the insects that had sustained
me during my travels. Though, depending how expensive of a price the
captains were asking, this one apple might cost me my life. And if I
didn't make it to Oldtown, my promise to Daenerys to find a cure would
be unfulfilled. How could I live with that oath broken?
I walked toward a small piece of shade. It wouldn't do to wear myself
out before I worked out how to pay for a ship to Oldtown. If eating an
apple was affecting me, I needed to rest. Though I couldn't rest too
long as once the sun set it meant I'd have to sleep on the streets. Not
only was it not the way a future king should be seen, it was dangerous.
I let out a sigh once I sat down and saw there wasn't anyone nearby. The
sense I was being watched didn't go away. No one knew I was here so
there was no one to worry about. It was doubtful a common thief or
murderer could surprise me. Even in my current state.
My mind counted every piece of coin I currently held. Maybe there was
enough to pay for passage if only I lowered my expectations. Then there
was the question if a captain would even accept a man suffering from
greyscale. A respectable captain would shun me and for good reason.
Which meant I couldn't tell him or else pay enough to make it worth his
while.
It had been pure chance that a stranger's coin came into my possession.
It was extremely unlikely that such an opportunity would come to me ever
again. If it were so easy to become rich, beggars would not exist. So
my next move would have to be strategic. My nobility served me well in
many areas, but not now.
In the corner of my eye I saw a strangely familiar girl. It might have
been that she was one of the few people walking by and so caught my
attention. She was unremarkable to the point she could blend in with any
crowd. Could she actually be following me? I pulled down my hood
further than before even though that might cause her to pay even more
attention to me.
A strange girl nearing maidenhood didn't concern me. I should be focused
on figuring out how to steal again instead of some stranger. Pick
pocketing was an option though if I was caught once, it could mean
people were more suspicious of me. Though my attire didn't say I was
anything but a commoner. Just like the strange girl that might be
following me.
She was now getting closer to me though it looked like a pure accident.
But what if it wasn't? What if she was following me for some nefarious
reason? Now that I turned to look at her, there was something
threatening in her footsteps. Something familiar. Something different.
Something dangerous.
Her eyes did not avoid mine and it felt like she could see to the
deepest parts of my soul. Parts that even I didn't know about. Parts
that would shock Daenerys to her core. My instincts were yelling at me
to run. They said that if I stayed still even a moment longer she would
kill me. They also told me the time to run had come and gone as soon as
she had looked at me.
When she was mere feet in front of me I realized why she was so familiar
to me. Her features were those of a Stark. My mind then raced to match
the face to when I would have seen or heard of her before my exile.
Arya. Arya Stark.
"Lady Stark." I said quietly with a slight bow of my head.
I couldn't tell if she was happy, angry, shocked, or felt any emotion at
our meeting. Whatever she had encountered in her travels had been
enough to change her. I had known many Starks in my time and none had a
lack of emotion like her.
"Jorah Mormont." Arya replied just as silently.
"I am happy to see you're alive." I said.
"I can't say the same about you."
"How did you recognize me?"
"Your belt."
There was a bear on my belt. She was very observant to pick out such a
detail in a crowd. Though I had been avoiding as many people as
possible. Not that the fact diminished her skill. It meant she had been
observing everyone in detail. I'm sure that a Stark or two had such
powers of observation, but it wasn't common.
"If I may ask, what is your business in Braavos?" I asked.
"I'm leaving." Arya replied curtly.
"I didn't mean to offend you."
She was silent and I didn't know if I had offended her or not. It could
be that she couldn't be bothered with answering. Or she was in the city
for a private reason. As her House had been gutted, it could be that she
had fled to Braavos purely for safety. That would mean the reason she
wasn't responding was due to the painful memories.
"Why are you alive?" Arya asked.
"I don't know." I replied.
I didn't know why but my life wasn't meant to last for much longer. Soon
my greyscale would progress to a point where I'd have to decide if
suicide or madness was a better fate. I couldn't imagine turning into an
unthinking monster ruled by an unshakable need for violence. I also
couldn't imagine ending my own life.
"Will you be returning to Winterfell?" I asked. "Winterfell needs a Stark."
"Why do you care?" Arya retorted.
"I may have shamed my House, but I will always be a Northerner at heart. I will always care about the fate of your House."
"I will return once I'm finished."
Finished with what? Why had her voice grown so cold? No, there was
something much more than coldness in her voice. There was strength and
resolve in her voice. Resolve that men much older than her had trouble
finding. There was little doubt in my mind that she could kill anyone
that angered her.
It was more than possible that she had been trained in the House of
Black and White. If she had then there was nothing that could stop her.
She didn't look like someone who was currently one of the feared
assassins which meant she'd impressed someone enough to go free.
"Finished with what?" I asked before I realized the words were out of my mouth.
"My list." Arya replied. "It's the only thing that has kept me alive."
"A kill list."
"I will kill everyone who has dared to harm my family. My father was
beheaded for a crime he didn't commit. Robb and my mother were murdered
at the Red Wedding. I'm going to King's Landing to kill Cersei."
"You will please many people when you do."
"I don't care. I just want her dead."
She shouldn't have to carry the burden of revenge. She should be safe in
Winterfell and content to let others deal with these problems. Though
it impressed me greatly that this young woman had decided to take on a
task men much older than her would avoid. She had traveled to Essos in
secret and trained as a Faceless Man all in the name of avenging her
family.
"I arrived after the Red Wedding." Arya said and her facade crumbled for
a moment. "I'm going to kill the Freys first. Then I'll make my way to
King's Landing."
The Freys had been poor hosts. You didn't kill guests without facing
consequences. The vengeance of House Stark would come in such an
innocent form. With her abilities Arya wouldn't even have to reveal
herself unless she wanted to.
"Am I part of your list, Arya?" I asked.
I wasn't afraid if I was. The chances that there was a cure to greyscale
was small. The Stark could grant me a quicker death than I otherwise
would have. Hopefully Daenerys wouldn't see this as me giving up the
fight. I also hoped that she wouldn't blame herself for my demise and
suffer endless nights thinking about what she should have done.
"You should be." Arya replied. "My father and brother were supposed to
execute you for selling people into slavery. Instead of facing justice,
you ran into exile. You don't deserve to breathe. They died and yet
you're alive?"
"I won't be alive much longer." I said and rolled up my sleeve just
enough to reveal my greyscale. "I was transporting Tyrion Lannister to
Queen Daenerys Targaryen when a Stone Man touched me. My Queen has
ordered me to find a cure so that I may return to her side."
The young woman stepped back and there was a hint of pity in her eyes.
No matter what life had made her, she was still human. There was a heart
that felt empathy for reasons that couldn't be explained.
"How long do you have?" Arya asked.
"I don't know." I replied and pulled my sleeve back down. "All I know is
that my time is limited and I don't have enough to pay for a ship to
Westeros. If you kill me now it will be a mercy as there is no cure that
I know of."
"Then why try to find one?"
"My queen commanded me."
Arya's hand went over the hilt of her sword and I accepted my fate.
Whether my fate was to meet the end of her blade or to be saved by her.
There were some destines a man couldn't avoid.
"I can't kill a man that's already destined to die." Arya said and handed me some coin. "This will pay for a ship to Westeros."
"Thank you, Lady Stark." I replied with a bow.
"I'm not doing this to help you. Killing you now means you don't suffer.
Letting you live with the hope of a cure is better than killing you."
"And if I do find a cure?"
"I'll let you live. The Many-Faced God will have shown he didn't want you to die today."
I wanted to wish her well in her quest to kill both the Freys and Cersei
Lannister. But I couldn't think of the right words to use to express my
sentiments. Any words or phrases sounded insincere to my mind. Besides,
even if I could figure out what to say she might not believe me. She
had only decided not to kill me because I had greyscale, not because she
cared for me.
"Until we meet again, Lady Stark." I finally managed to say.
Arya said nothing and walked away from me. Though there was a brief
moment when she turned to look at me. I gave a brief nod and then made
my way to a ship. It took me over an hour to find a ship whose captain
would even talk to me. After making sure of how much money I now
carried, I offered him coin just to talk to me.
"I'm leaving in half an hour, I don't have time to take more passengers." The man said as he took my coin.
"I won't cause trouble." I replied and gave him more coin.
"You don't look like you'll be much trouble. Where are you headed?"
"To Oldtown."
"You're in luck, I'm headed that way."
A few minutes later and we had agreed on the price for my passage. If I
had shown him how much I had, I wouldn't have any coin left. His greed
was to be expected as I was inconveniencing him. The money might have
encouraged him to head towards Oldtown as he had been extremely jovial
about going there.
I went onto the ship and stood on the deck as it left port. It was an
extremely weird feeling to be headed back to Westeros. I had arrived in
Essos while fleeing exile. Now I was leaving Braavos to fulfill my
promise to Daenerys.
Would my father be proud of me now? Or would he think that I deserved a
traitor's death? Would he think that Arya had made a wise choice?
I took a deep breath as the city of Braavos faded into the distance.
Whatever he would have thought, I would go forward and be a worthy king.
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