Of Pacts and Prophecies

A/N: Well, I could be wrong but I pretty sure this is my longest chapter yet. So, I hope you have fun with it!

As always, read, enjoy, and review!

Sansa Stark followed Asher Forrester to the gate of Ironrath. Before they could go outside the walls, however, a raven-haired soldier arrived on horseback, with a younger man seating behind him. Once the scout saw him, he immediately bowed his head to Asher in respect.

"My Lord, I bring you the servant of the household of Castle Cerwyn with an important message for you," He declared.

Then he paused for a moment, his expression growing angered as they all heard the thud of more hooves approaching the entrance. "Along with some...unexpected baggage."

Sansa raised an eyebrow at that as another scout crossed the threshold, this time with a beautiful blonde woman that couldn't be more than a few years older than herself. She carried a finely weaved blue necklace and, despite the glares she was receiving from all around, she still kept her dignified poise.

Besides her, Asher Forrester inhaled sharply and the Lady of Winterfell in exile turned to look at him more carefully. His eyes seemed pleasantly surprised, but the rest of his face seemed worried.

"Gwyn," He said slowly. "I wish we were meeting under better circumstances."

The clearly highborn woman sighed deeply as she got off her horse. "Likewise, Asher. Can we talk? Please?"

"Of course," He said firmly.

Then he turned to look at his liege and took a deep breath. "My Lady, this is Gwyn Whitehill, the only daughter of the...deceased Lord Ludd Whitehill," He remarked, his tone awkward. "Gwyn, this is Lady Sansa of House Stark. She and her forces helped us break the Siege of Ironrath."

The eyes of the Lady of Winterfell in exile widen slightly at that revelation. Her gut reaction was one of distaste given that her family had backed the Boltons in their rebellion. And yet, there was something about the way the two of them had looked at each other that made Sansa realize these two had a deep history and it would be better if she heard all the facts before contemplating darker thoughts.

The surviving member of House Whitehill looked visibly uncomfortable at the mention of her name but Gwyn **** herself to look her in the eye. "I was not at the Red Wedding but my father was when he decided to join Roose Bolton in his betrayal to all the laws of gods and men. It may never be enough but, for whatever it may be worth, on behalf of what is left of House Whitehill, I am so sorry for the crimes my family committed against House Stark. I never wanted any of this or the war with House Forrester."

Sansa stared at her with an impassive expression but she didn't fail to notice that her magical necklace's temperature didn't heat up to alert her of a lie, which meant the woman was telling the truth and was sincere with her apology. In the end, she gave her a curt nod of acknowledgment.

"I appreciate that. Truly. May I ask what brings you to Ironrath, my Lady?"

"News," She replied with a heavy sigh. "And, hopefully, a better future."

Sansa tilted her head in consideration, then looked at Asher. "Maybe we should take this inside the Great Hall."

The Forrester man just nodded and instructing the servant of House Cerwyn to follow them, they headed towards the keep.

Jon Stark woke up from the enlightening slumber he was **** into. The first thing of note that he realized was that his surroundings didn't seem like a prison, which he supposed could be misleading but felt like a good sign.

"Good, you are finally awake," Said a familiar voice behind his back.

The young king rose from the bed and turned around. His eyes widened slightly. The man before him had shaved his beard since the last time they met but Jon still recognized him.

"Tycho Nestoris," Jon said slowly. "Hadn't seen you since I signed the contract with the Iron Bank that you drafted. Good to see you made it safely back to Braavos."

His lips curled upwards. "It was a calm enough journey. Although, I imagine it must have been far duller than yours."

Jon sighed, realizing he knew. "Yes, well, I suppose you are right. The Narrow sea looks quite impressive from dragon-back.

Then he tensed. "Wait, where is my dragon? And where is Arya? What have you done with my sister?" He demanded to know.

"Relax, my friend," The high ranking servant of the Iron Bank said with a placating gesture. "They are both alive and well."

"Where are they?" The secret god repeated.

"Your Ice Dragon is currently under heavy guard right in the partially destroyed forge where he dropped **** from the concentrated smoke of milk of the poppy," Tycho explained. "And I am afraid that we have had to maintain it continuously sedated in order to prevent it from razing that entire sector of the city in retaliation. After the Faceless Men decided not to kill you after all, we decided to bring you here, to the headquarters of the Iron Bank, so that we could persuade you to forgive the...misunderstanding that led to your **** attempt."

"I guess that will depend on how the rest of my day turns out," Jon said as he narrowed his eyes slightly. "What about Arya?"

"Your sister is currently undergoing an official ceremony in the House of Black and White in order to formally relieve her of her duties to the order of the Faceless Men," The banker revealed. "Technically, that requirement is not always needed with acolytes since they hadn't been fully initiated as a Faceless Man but, well, recent events made their appointed leader decide to follow protocol."

Jon interlocked his fingers as he stared at him, a slight frown on his face. "Very well then, I'll bite: why exactly did they change their minds?"

"You have Shallan Ravad, the current High Priestess of the Temple of the Moonsingers to thank for that," Tycho declared. "As for why, well, I believe it would be better for her to explain the full details when she returns. Suffice to say for now that she found common ground with the Faceless Men through a prophecy of her people that they helped deliver to Braavos in its written form centuries ago."

Jon rubbed his forehead as he sighed. "Yet another prophecy that involves me? This is starting to get old."

Tycho looked surprised at that response but ended up staring at him carefully instead of replying immediately. After a while, he motioned to an elegant but simplistically designed desk with two chairs.

"Why don't you sit down?" He requested. "We have much to discuss."

Sansa Stark followed the path lead by Asher Forrester and the scouts as they headed towards the Great Hall. Before they could reach the stairs that lead to the keep, however, Gwyn froze on her tracks, a startled look on her face. Sansa followed her gaze and realized what surprised her: the large white bear that was mere inches behind Josera Snow, Asher's younger half-brother.

Of course, the Whitehill woman didn't know the enormous predator was the warg's familiar so he wasn't actually in any danger. Still, she could understand her apprehension. Still, the redhead couldn't help but smile when she realized Lyanna Mormont had been having a friendly conversation with Josera again as he let her approach his bear, her face still so focused on the magnificent beast that she had barely noticed them.

"It seems the Lady of Bear Island is enjoying the opportunity of getting close and personal with the living embodiment of her House's sigil," Sansa thought in amusement as she petted Lady's head just beside her. "And I certainly understand the feeling."

Ahead of her, Asher turned to look at their...prisoner? Guest? Sansa wasn't entirely sure.

"Don't you worry, Gwyn," He said in a reassuring tone. "That's my brother's pet bear and believe me, I have seen for myself how well he keeps it under control."

The Lady of House Whitehill visibly relaxed at that comment somewhat but then her eyes widened when it sunk in what he had just said. "Wait, your brother?!"

"Ah, that's right, you hadn't met yet," Asher realized. "That's my younger brother Josera Snow. He and his twin sister Elsera, are the bastard children of my late father, Gregor. To be honest, I was more than a little shocked to learn of their existence but they convinced the Stark forces to come to our aid when we needed them most and I will always love them for that."

Josera smiled lightly at his sibling for that but didn't reply. Gwyn was silent for a long moment but then she shook her head as if to clear it and then nodded at the warg, and quite politely too, given that, technically, she outranked him on as far as social standings were.

"I know our families have a lot of bad blood between them, so I wouldn't be surprised if you consider me an enemy," She acknowledged. "All the same, it is good to meet you."

Sansa's interest kept peaking when it came to the highborn of Highpoint since her necklace detected yet again that she was not lying. It could have easily come across as fearful politeness but her sincerity was evident to the Lady of Winterfell in exile and she was getting increasingly curious as to how their day would end up developing.

Josera stared at Gwyn with calculating eyes, as if trying to decide what to make of her words. In the end, however, his expression softened slightly and he nodded back. "Good to meet you then. And who knows, maybe the worst of our families' rivalry is behind us now."

Sansa couldn't help but notice that Asher seemed more than a little relieved that the first meeting between his newfound sibling and the daughter of his late sworn enemy seemed to have gone well but then he schooled his features once more.

"We are going back to the Great Hall to discuss some important messages," He told Josera. "Would you and Lady Mormont like to join us inside?"

"Of course," He responded. "Just let me instruct my loyal bear to go hunt through our bond. I will be with you shortly."

Then he turned to look at the one that had been conversing with him and bowed with a smile. "My Lady."

Sansa raised an eyebrow when she saw the Ruler of Bear island grin for a brief moment as the huge familiar allowed the young man to place his hand on its head before they both closed their eyes. Then the redhead shrugged as the leader of House Mormont turned to join their group and kept walking.

Jon Stark made himself comfortable on the chair from across Tycho Nestoris, wondering what exactly did the businessman had to say to him. He didn't have to wait long.

"Since I am the only high ranking servant of the Iron Bank that has met you before and the situation is so delicate in more ways than one, I have been authorized by the Council of Secret Investments to come to terms with you," He began. "Moreover, I have been granted permission to reveal certain pieces of information known only to a select few. But before we start, I have an important question for you."

The secret god tilted his head as he stared at him with curiosity in his gaze. "I am listening."

"Well, first of all, when she woke up and was yet to be reassured that the Faceless Men no longer meant them any harm, your sister may have slipped up that your late half-brother had named you as his Stark heir to the kingship over the North and the Trident and that this development has since been recently revealed to the public," The banking official told him, as he stared at him with a meticulous gaze. "Was she telling the truth?"

Jon sighed for a moment but nodded firmly. "The Red Wedding occurred before that announcement could have been made public, and most of the witnesses to the writing of Robb's will ended up dying there but the signed copies were guarded by one of my father's oldest friends. Between that, managing to tame an Ice Dragon, and the desires of many of Lords from the Riverlands and the North to break free from the control of the Boltons and the Lannister-Frey forces respectively, I have gained the backing of many other Houses so, yes, they see me as their King now and my army has grown much since last we spoke," He confirmed. "I hadn't been able to arrange a proper coronation ceremony yet, however. My goals and my new duties have constantly required me to remain on the move."

"I see," Tycho said with a pondering tone.

His fingers pressed on the desk, tapping it lightly as he seemed to contemplate his response. In the end, he shrugged.

"Alright then, I won't presume to command a king such as yourself but I assure you that the Iron Bank would appreciate your discretion on the matters we are about to discuss today," He pointed out as he took a deep breath. "As you and many others have guessed over the years, it is true that the Faceless Men have a secret alliance of sorts with the Iron Bank of Braavos. These days, we do not require their services all that often since our reputation has grown legendary at this point but, historically, we have admittedly used their services to **** rulers or other individuals that owed a significant amount of money to the Iron Bank. Specifically, those that were in a position of power considerable enough to make the prospect of open-war against them in order to reclaim what is owed way too costly in lives and money on both sides to be practical."

Jon nodded slowly, not particularly surprised. As he said, it was a long-established rumor by this point and it made more sense than most. "I had thought of that possibility before. But why are you exactly are you admitting that to me?"

"So that you better understand the historical background behind the proposition the Iron Bank would like to make you," Nestoris replied. "You see, alliances go both ways. We get to use the all-but-guaranteed results of that order of assassins when the need arises and we also get a significant cut out of every one of their expensive contracts. In exchange, we have had to make some concessions to the Faceless Men. First and foremost is, of course, not to imprison them for their...religious activities," The banker explained with a somber note in his tone. "We also agreed to allow them to deal with members of their order that go rogue which means that, under the terms of our agreement, even if your sister had committed any acts that would be considered serious crimes anywhere in the known world, the second the Ceremony of Identity is over, your sister would have effectively received a full pardon under Braavosi law for all intents and purposes."

The young king was relieved to hear that but he didn't like getting the idea of his little sister committing heinous crimes on his head. "That is good to hear," He ended up saying as he gesture for him to go on.

"Now," The banker said after a moment of silence. "There are more agreements we have made with the order that are still in effect but right now, I am only going to talk about the two that are most relevant for our conversation and the first has to do with the visions the Faceless Men received from you in the surface of the Pools of Annihilation inside their temple."

Jon raised an eyebrow. "Yes, that Faceless Man that my sister referred to as Jaqen mentioned something about that. It seemed to have convinced him that I should be returned to the grave for the greater good."

"An unfortunate misunderstanding, I assure you," He apologized with a placating smile. "I am afraid that even the best of us can have trouble accurately interpreting visions of the future because they are not a precise art...usually, at any rate."

The secret god titled his head. "Usually?"

"Yes, well, there are exceptions to the rule, as in everything," He said vaguely. "Regardless, the important part is that the Many-Faced God does not send visions to directly guide the actions of the order anywhere near frequently. But on the rare occasions that does happen, the Iron Bank is required to back the religious efforts of the entire order and, if the visions gave them the idea that they must also protect a high priority target from **** instead of the other way around, then the Iron Bank has assured them that they will provide an enormous amount of money to this person of interest in order to facilitate their survival in more ways than one."

The King in the North and the Trident blinked as it started to dawn on him what he was trying to say. "Wait...you want to give me more money because the Faceless Men changed their minds and now want to protect me? And how did that even happen?"

"Yes, and yes," The Keyholder confirmed. "As for how did their lines of thought shifted in that direction, well, at first they thought, wrongly I'll admit, that your resurrection somehow heralded the return of the dangerous White Walkers of old and so they assumed you needed to be slain in order to deprive them of an invaluable asset. But now, thanks to Shallan Ravad compelling arguments, they have come to believe their god was, in fact, warning them that you will be needed to defeat these icy demons."

"Right," Jon said slowly as he chewed on all of that. "Well, I can confirm to you that I have made it my mission to rally as much of Westeros as I can to repel the Army of the Dead ever since I saw them with my own eyes. But you hadn't seen any proof about their existence for yourself so, I must say I am a bit surprised that you can readily believe all of this. It's not exactly easy to swallow, after all."

Tycho shrugged. "I believe in serving the Iron Bank. And in appeasing the Faceless Men when necessary. So, even if you happen to be a fraud as far as this ancient enemy is concerned, I am not even remotely interested in telling the greatest order of assassins in the known world that we are not going to be honoring our end of the agreement."

"Fair enough," The secret god said in agreement. "Out of curiosity, when was the last time this happened?"

"About three hundred years ago, back when Aegon the Conqueror and his sister-wives were trying to conquer Dorne on dragon-back," The banker revealed. "They received a vision that led them to the conclusion that House Martell needed to survive and remain in power of their region in order for them to aid a certain cause an unspecified number of centuries later. So, they started backing the Dornish resistance movement from the shadows, both with hit-and-run tactics and through the financial aid the Iron Bank provided in secret to House Martell via constant deliveries of weapons and supplies at various points of their coastline under the veil of the night. One of their number even started training a new Dornish acolyte in the field so well that this young man became skilled enough to fire the scorpion bolt that killed the dragon Meraxes and its queen of a rider with one move," He added with a smirk of pride.

Jon's eyes widened considerably as he took that in. "That must have been quite the secret operation. Very impressive."

"Thank you," The high ranking official said. "Although, now that House Martell has seemingly gone extinct, I must assume that the purpose they were preserved for had already been fulfilled."

"Not necessarily," Jon said slowly, a little hesitant to reveal this information but after what he had just heard it seemed unlikely to be an issue. "Arianne Martell actually left Dorne shortly before the coup of the Sand Snakes on a special assignment from her father, the late Prince Doran. She has publicly revealed herself the last time I checked with my sources, however, so it's unclear as to where she is."

"Hmph," Tycho hummed. "Interesting. I was not aware of that."

Jon scratched his chin. "Most prophecies and visions usually come with signs and omens that can give people an idea of what to look for when the events are approaching, based on what I have heard. Did the Faceless Men's vision about the Martells had anything that implied when would such events take place?"

"Yes, actually," The servant responded. "Back then, the visions from the pools also came with a few guiding voices, although we have never been certain if they were the words of the Many-Faced God or echoes of the future. I can send you a longer transcript at some point if you are interested but I do remember one of the major lines as it left an impression on me."

He took a deep breath and opened his mouth. "When the nomadic river, the ageless star, the thieving sheep, and the lost princess cross paths with the secret god, the pacts will be made and before long, prosperity shall be released," The Keyholder recited.

"Huh," The young king said slowly, trying to keep his expression as neutral as he could while his mind went wild with possibilities.

"Secret god...could it be...?" Jon thought as he shook his head. "Just exactly how many prophecies from different cultures are going to include me on their omens?" He asked to no one in particular, feeling more than a little shocked.

"We are getting off-topic," He ended up saying. "You said you were saying that you were required to loan me more money?"

"Not quite," The banker replied. "Because it wouldn't actually be a loan. We would require you to make anyone outside your inner circle that asks to believe it was a loan but in reality, as per our iron-clad agreement with the Faceless Men, as the target of interest in their visions, you are not actually obligated to pay us back. At least not this particular amount. You are still our customer due to the loan we already gave you and that you would have to pay back eventually but the debt would be much lower than what we would actually be granting you," He explained.

"You don't say," The King of the North and the Trident said with quite a bit of surprise in his voice. "I have never heard of you offering money for free."

"Because it hasn't happened in centuries as I have just mentioned," Nestoris said with a resigned smile. "But while it will a high and unexpected act of charity, I for one have a feeling that it could also be the start of a very profitable business partnership."

"One can hope," Jon said in agreement. "So, how much money are we talking about?" He asked as he reached for his glass of water for the first time.

"Converted to Westerosi terms?" He asked with an amused expression. "Around 50 million golden dragons in all."

And just like that, the secret god spat out the water he was drinking in a very undignified way.

A/N: Well, that happened :D

As you can see, this chapter added a new character from the Game of Thrones Telltale game to the storyline on Ironrath that will advance some of the developments I have in mind for the Post-Bolton future. And across the Narrow Sea, Jon is getting access to valuable, not to mention classified, information from the most powerful and secretive financial institution in Planetos. To say nothing of the fleet-load of cash coming his way XD

At any rate, I hope you enjoyed it. I am curious to see what you thought of it, especially in regards to the prophetic line Nestoris recited. Until next time, everyone!