Trials and Tribulations of the Oathkeeper

Chapter 90: Sunset in the North, Surprise in Dorne

Arya still stood motionless; her brown eyes still wide before she backed away from him. "H-how did you do that?"

"A girl forgets a man's earlier words," he said quietly, revealing a shiny gold tooth. "It's no harder than taking a new name, if you know the way."

It didn't take long for Arya to understand what he was telling her. "You're... offering to train me?" she realized. "But I'm already a Water Dancer."

Jaqen chuckled. "To be a dancing master is a special thing, but to be a Faceless Man, that is something else entirely."

"A what?"

"The way it works, a girl goes to the Faceless Men and tells them who she wants killed, and we negotiate the price," he explained. "The more prominent the target, the more difficult they are to get to, the more dangerous for the assassin and the guild, the higher the price."

"You're... assassins? But assassins have no honor!"

Jaqen raised an eyebrow. "But a girl finds it honorable to employ the use of an assassin in the protection of a sister not once, not twice but three times when it suits her whims?" he countered, finding Arya's response hypocritical.

Arya bit her tongue. She bitterly lamented that Jaqen had a point in his statements; she did employ him to kill all three Kettleblack brothers back in King's Landing to protect her sister from Cersei Lannister's cruel, vicious machinations. She signed with resignation.

"A man can offer you this."

"You can teach me how to be a Faceless Man?"

"The girl has many names on her lips. Those who mean to inflict harm on the ones she cares about, the names of those she yearns to safeguard."

Robb, mother, Bran, Rickon, Jon, Sansa, Arya's tomboy face switched from fierce to softened. Sansa, Little Ned, Lyonel, Cassanna... While normally she would abundantly refuse outright, Arya thought of her niece and nephews; no matter how far away they were, she absolutely loved all three of them very much. "No one's ever safe for long," she spoke, "and with winter here, we'll need to look out for one another. You're sure you can teach me?"

Jaqen nodded. "A man has said. If you would learn, you must come with me."

"Where?"

"Far away, across the Narrow Sea to Braavos."

"But my family..."

"Will be none the wiser," he said, pressing a small coin into her palm. "Here."

Arya examined the strange form of currency. She hadn't seen anything like it before; it was square-shaped and made of iron, minted with the image of the Titan of Braavos on it. "What is it?"

"A coin of great value."

"What am I supposed to do with a coin?" she asked.

"Should you ever decide to take up on a man's offer, just present that coin to any man from Braavos and say these words to him—valar morghulis (all men must die)."

"Valar morghulis (all men must die)," Arya repeated. It wasn't hard. Her fingers closed tight over the coin. "When do you leave?"

"Now."

That wasn't enough time for Arya to pack some of her belongings, but she's managed with far less. Her thoughts once again turned to her family; as much as it pained her, Arya once again had to make one of the hardest decisions in her life. She looked up at Jaqen, another flame burning in her eyes.

"Valar morghulis (all men must die)," she said once more, but with more certainty.

Jaqen interpreted it as a 'yes'. "Valar dohaeris (all must serve)," he answered back. "If a girl is absolutely certain, she must leave with a man now. She must not have unnecessary baggage. A ship leaves from White Harbor to Braavos."