A Diplomatic Breakfast

A/N: Hello again. Just wanted to take a moment to mention that today is the 8 month anniversary since I posted this story on Chyoa. Thanks again to all my readers that have encouraged me to keep writing. It has been fun.

Now, back to the plot!

About half an hour after Jon woke up in the morning back in Braavos, he had finally made himself presentable and was about to break his fast with some important figures regarding their negotiations and what they had discussed the day earlier.

As he waited alone in the elegant but private hall, the secret god sighed a bit, realizing he missed Sansa already. But he really needed to finish the final arrangements with the Iron Bank quickly so that he could return to the North, so he schooled his features and shrugged it off.

And on the other hand, there was the idea that Sansa suggested to him before they separated, based on some of the information Lord of the island of Harlaw had shared with them...

"Ah, you must be King Jon," Said a voice that snapped him out of his thoughts as the doors opened. "It is very good to finally meet you.

The monarch in question turned around and saw a middle-aged man he didn't recognize walking besides Tycho Nestoris, the two of them dressed finely weaved clothing of a similar style. The two of them moved to sit down on their chairs and gave him a polite nod.

"Pleased to meet you," Jon said with a nod of his own and waited for the man to introduce himself.

In the end, Tycho was the one that presented him to the King of the North and the Trident. "My colleague here is called Laro Etalas, your Grace, and he is one of the major spymasters of the Iron Bank of Braavos. We tend to consult with him and his vast network of information when working on projects sponsored by the Council of Secret Investments. As you can imagine, knowledge is power with things like this."

"Indeed," The secret god said in agreement.

Before they could go on, however, the doors opened once more and Jon raised an eyebrow before remembering that it made sense for Bellegere Otherys to also be invited, given recent events. She was wearing a black dress and gave him a polite smile before bowing her head slightly.

"Good to see you again, Bellegere," Jon said as he returned the nod. "I have been wanting to speak with you since I was informed that it appears you will be coming with us to Westeros."

"So it seems, yes," She said with a seemingly nervous tone. "I must admit I was surprised by those lines of the prophecy that seemed to apply to me, all things considered. And I am not entirely sure how good will I be as a diplomat but if there aren't any worse ways to tempt the hand of fate than by defying prophecies, so I suppose I will do my best."

"I appreciate that," Jon responded in a soothing tone, sincerity in his voice.

"To be fair," Tycho interjected, "The omens only specify that you will the first representative we will send to the new court you will be forming, your grace, not that you will be the first and the last. If you need some aid from us to get accustomed to your new role for a while, all you have to do is ask. And if you decide after some time of service that you would prefer to take a different path, we can always send another diplomat to officially relieve you of your duties on that front. In the meantime, all you have to do is observe and send reports back to Braavos concerning relevant news that are not considered royal secrets by King Jon. That way, you can keep us updated, and then we will be able to provide additional aid with a more informed opinion."

The famed Black Pearl of Braaavos took a moment to analyze his words before glancing at him. Seemingly finding nothing in his expression that made him disagree with the banker's statements, she nodded back to the keyholder.

'Thank you for the offer of assistance," She replied. "I am grateful for it."

Before they could continue, the doors opened once more and Jon smiled when he saw Arya walking in, although his smile tense on instinct when noticing she was escorted by her old Faceless Man of a mentor, wearing the same face he had used when he had tried to kill them not so long ago.

"How things can change with the wind," He thought to himself.

Arya, smiled back at him, although it had a bit of nervousness to its edges and he could imagine why, after their last conversation. Before he could come up with a subtle way to reassure her, however, her mentor approached him on the chair and closed his fist around his own chest.

"On behalf of the Order of the Faceless Men, I want to offer our most sincere apologies for the **** attempt on your life," He declared. "As you know, unfortunately, we misread the signs and visions that led us to come to that decision. But know that now we understand you are of vital importance in the conflict against those abominations that call themselves White Walkers. Also, please understand that aside from the original aid that we will provide you indirectly through our agreements with the Iron Bank, the elder members are still discussing another way to aid you in the future. Once we have come to a unanimous agreement, we will send word of our decision to your court in Westeros."

King Jon remained quiet for a long moment as he contemplated those words, his fingers interlocked. But then, he lifted his gaze to stare at the elite assassin in the eye.

"In that case, apology accepted," Jon said in his best diplomatic tone. "And I am pleased to hear you are also quite motivated in helping orchestrate the defeat of the Army of the Dead."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Arya chuckled lightly. "Believe me, he is. And that's quite the apology coming from him, trust me."

Her former mentor frowned. "A girl remains disrespectful."

His sister just shrugged at that but said nothing, so he went to take his seat after a moment, with Arya following his motion. And once they were all seated, as if on cue, servants started entering the hall with plates and drinks in their hands. Jon's stomach growled a bit at the smell of meat pies and of deliciously buttered bread.

It seems his last night with Sansa had worked up an appetite in him...

"Shallan Ravad was originally going to come but a member of her congregation was badly injured in a boating accident and she decided to stay behind and use her magical talents to accelerate his natural healing," Tycho explained. "As a result, she offers her apologies for not being able to be here but she would like to have a brief word with you before you head back to the North on your Ice Dragon, if possible."

"I understand then," The King of the North and the Trident replied.

"In that case," Tycho said as he raised a glass of water. "Let's have toast. To profitable partnerships and new friends."

"Cheers," Everyone echoed as their raised their respective glasses.

A few minutes later, they had placated much of their respective hunger with the food they had been served and that was when they started discussing business. Much of it had to do with catching up some of their number on his discussion Tycho and mentioning some of their plans for the future.

In particular, Arya seemed pleased with her brother's plan to conquer the Iron Island to secure their borders from the raiders after Euron's **** attempts, if her fierce smirk was any indication. The Faceless Man, who had told Jon that he could refer to him as Jaqen, took that moment to let him know they could compose a letter confirming that the new King of the Iron Islands had sought out their services to **** him, signed with the rarely used seal of their order, along with the more commonly used seal of the Iron Bank. Tycho echoed that sentiment since it would make it a lot easier to prove the attempted regicide to Jon's bannermen in order to justify his cause.

The secret god took all of that in stride, nodding in agreement here and there but before long, he decided to see if he could fish for information that could help him implement the idea that Sansa suggested for him in time. And so, he turned to the spymaster.

"Since we are on the topic, I am curious, do you have any idea from your information network of the whereabouts of Yara Greyjoy, the daughter of the late King Balon?" He asked. "Last I heard, they had fled the Iron Islands with some of their best warships and will probably be seeking ways to take the crown she sought from her kinslayer of an uncle."

Laro Etalas tilted his head in the young king's direction. "As a matter of fact, yes. One of my spies reported seeing Yara Greyjoy and her brother Theon in a brothel in Volantis, a few weeks ago. Based on what they were discussing, it seemed they were heading with their fleet to Meereen to try to make a deal with the Dragon Queen, Daenerys Targaryen. I would imagine part of that would involve using some of their ships to transport part of her increasingly large army and supplies for her invasion of the Seven Kingdoms."

Jon frowned. The more he heard about Daenerys Targaryen and her forces, the more he realized she could become a major problem to deal with if he wasn't careful, especially given that she had three dragons of her own. If she became deadset on taking all of the Seven Kingdoms, including his own domains that could easily escalate the situation into open hostilities. And for the time being, he had enough enemies to deal with as it was.

It was with that in mind that he decided to ask his next question. "Do you think they have already arrived at Meereen?"

"Unlikely," The spymaster replied slowly. The wind is not that great along that region this time of the year and it has only been a few weeks, after all. They would have probably passed the entrance of the Slaver's bay by now, however."

The secret god scratched his chin, thinking. He already had a way out of his next few sentences in case their eventual reply was a negative but he still took a moment to ponder if he actually wanted to go through with it.

Then he remembered Sansa's face when she made the request of him along with her persuasive arguments. And he sighed.

"I don't suppose there are any Weirwood trees in any apothecaries, menageries, or private collections over here in Braavos, are there?"

Tycho raised an eyebrow, probably remembering the tales about his powers that he had disguised with that cover story. But it was actually Arya that replied. "Well, I hadn't seen any living tree but half of the door from the House of Black and White is actually made of Weirwood. Why do you ask?"

Jon took a deep breath and stood up. "Because I am not ready to deal with Daenery Targaryen's forces while I am still dealing with several major enemies back in Westeros," He declared. "So, I would prefer to deprive her of extra ships and of seasoned sailors while I have the chance."

"Sounds reasonable," Bellegere commented in a hesitating tone. "But how are you going to do that?"

"By making a few more deals," The new king claimed, before turning to Nestoris. "You want a demonstration of power to let you know your bank made the right choice in backing me? Then please follow me. It's time I show you one of my most useful magical abilities. And besides, it's about time Theon Greyjoy and I have a talk."

A/N: Well, that happened XD. More meetings and reunions abound in the next chapter. Hope you like it when the time comes. Until then, feel free to leave your thoughts on this one and see you later.