Wild Cards in Thought and Flesh

A/N: What's this? A new chapter so soon after the last one was published? Yes, it seems like that's what it is :D

Long story short, I will be quite busy for the next 2 days so I am was uncertain if I was going to be able to post a new one on Monday night. So, I am bringing the next chapter earlier. Hope you enjoy it!

"I have missed you so much, Jon!" Arya said with her eyes closed as she embraced him more tightly, pressing her chest against him.

Jon sighed and hugged her back, feeling so relieved at seeing her again and alive at that, after being concerned for her safety all day. But then, she pressed her bare pussy right into his crotch and his eyes widened when he couldn't stop his growing stiffness from poking at her center.

Arya froze at that moment and she opened her eyes, a look of dawning, dreadful realization on her face. Then she looked down at herself and yelped, the most high pitched noise he had ever heard from his no-nonsense sister. Jumping back, she covered her chest and lower lips with her arms and blushed the deepest shade of red he had ever seen on her.

"Look away!" His little sister screamed.

Jon did just that, more than a little amused despite himself that their awaited reunion was interrupted by...whatever this was. Arya went around the room, clearly trying to find her clothes and he heard some stirrings from the bed but it seemed the naked woman he had seen there had decided to take in the scene before talking. Eventually, Arya moved in front of him instead of asking him to turn around, her skin still flushed and her hair disheveled but otherwise dressed this time.

"Let's just forget that ever happened, please?" She pleaded.

Jon titled his head to better focus his eyes on her in the dim light of the room and slowly shook his head. "I...don't think I can, Arya. I need to know what exactly did I just walked into. Have you had to sell your body to be able to eat?"

"No, no, no!" His younger sister assured him. "I wasn't even planning for what ended up happened today. I just...well..." She cut off, unable to meet his eyes.

Before he could try to press her on again, he heard a pleasantly melodious but thickly accented voice call on him from behind in the common tongue. "I guess what she is trying to say is that she didn't plan to realize today that she was also very attracted to women."

Jon raised an eyebrow, already contemplating that possibility but deciding to turn around to face someone that might be willing to give him actual answers. The sight ended up making him swallow, however, for the woman before him was certainly gorgeous and unlike his sister, she had not decided to reach for her clothes.

And she actually smirked at him when her gaze moved from his face to his crotch. "My goodness Arya, you never told me that your brother was so handsome," She declared in a teasing tone.

"Bellegere!" Arya shouted in a scandalized tone.

"What?" She asked innocently, her left hand moving lower to caress her pussy lips slowly. "I am merely speaking the truth. And I am sure you must have noticed."

"Well, sure, but...he is my brother!" The Northern woman complained.

The famed courtesan shrugged. "You would be surprised at how many pairs of brothers and sisters secretly enter this establishment at different times so that they can fuck each other at some point, a handful of times with my help, even. Not really my place to judge, so I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to have some fun with him, especially if you let me watch."

Arya inhaled sharply at the blatant suggestion and Jon had to admit he couldn't stop a powerful mental image from going to his head. But then he shook his head, trying to push the unnecessary thoughts away.

"We are in a hurry," The young king proclaimed. "I arrived on my dragon but the city is on high alert now and..."

"Your WHAT?!" The two women asked at the same time.

Jon rubbed his forehead, deciding he was going to need to explain to them some things before they could leave.

"Better go with a quick version though," He thought to himself.

Iron Bank's Headquarters: Free City of Braavos

Tycho Nestoris, one of the most influential servants of the Iron Bank of Braavos, was concerned. He had just returned from his trip to Westeros 3 days earlier, which was considerably more profitable than it had any right to be, given that Stannis Baratheon ended up dying before he could take back his throne and start paying back the debt that was owed to the Iron Bank by the government of the Seven Kingdoms. At least the Night's Watch and the only known bastard of Lord Eddard Stark were good at business. Their collateral of century-spanning hardwoods and ivory from mammoth bones & tusks were worth their weight in gold on Braavos and well worth the loan delivered.

Given the circumstances, he had left the North honestly hoping that Jon Snow would succeed in his quest to retake Winterfell from House Bolton. He certainly seemed like someone they could establish a profitable partnership with, and he had an air of honor about him that was taken as excellent by his peers when it came to ease their minds that what was due to them would be eventually paid.

However, right now, he was less focused on his recent dealings and more worried about the safety of the city that birthed him, for he had also heard the mighty roars and confirmed the sighting of a dragon from the window of his office.

Still, he decided there might not be that much reason for panic. If it was Daenerys Targaryen, then Braavos would be safe from her most disruptive and violent activities since they are the only Free City that was founded on the basis of never allowing slavery to flourish within its borders. And he imagined she would be intelligent enough to come and seek an audience with the Iron Bank so that they can back her up in her quest to retake her father's throne.

In fact, they had already previously received a message that was sent a fortnight earlier on but by the so-called little birds of one of her inner circle, the former Spy Master of the Small Council of King's Landing: Varys, the eunuch Master of Whispers. He was reportedly asking for a loan to be turned into a fleet that could be quickly constructed in their fabled Arsenal and assured them that they would see a quick return in their investments after the Dragon Queen would retake her birthright.

His fellow servants ended up agreeing while he was away that it was in their best interest to start building up that fleet and then wait for his own arrival so that they could hear news about Stannis before deciding what to do. When he had informed them of his downfall, however, it was unanimously decided to back her up and they have already sent the first fleet of a dozen ships, that were finished in their Arsenal by then on their way to Meereen.

As he sat there waiting in his office though, he was snapped out of his thoughts by the sudden entrance of the bank's guards. Tycho straightened and focused on them from his desk.

"Well then, what news from the city?" He asked with curiosity in his tone.

The leading guard took a deep breath and opened his mouth. "The dragon has fired a few...warning shots, I guess you could say but he hasn't actually killed anyone or damaged anything. After a few soldiers at the top of the Titan panicked and fired arrows and scorpion bolts at it, it flew out of range of even our best ballistae. However, it has remained flying atop the city, near the canal of Heroes."

"I see," Tycho Nestoris said as he interlocked his fingers. "Any word from Daenerys Targaryen or any of her representatives?"

The guard paused at that, clearly uncomfortable, which in turn made the representative of the Iron Bank stare. "Well?" He repeated.

"We...actually don't know if it's the Dragon Queen we are talking about here," The captain of the guard admitted. "That dragon is blue, unlike the ones we have heard she has. And more importantly...it's shooting ice out of its jaws, not fire."

The servant's eyes widened at that piece of information. "An Ice Dragon from the shivering sea? By all the gods, what is such a beast doing here?"

"We don't know," The guard replied, uneasy. "But according to a messenger that came as fast as he could from the Titan itself, the dragon clearly had a male rider astride it. As for what he wants, sir, you guess is as good as mine."

The keyholder did NOT like what he was hearing. It sounded like too much of a dangerous wild card. "Anything else?" He **** himself to ask.

"Yes," The captain said with a nod. "The Faceless men sent word. Apparently, there are many of them in the city right now and they will be spreading around sites of great importance around Braavos in case the dragon starts attacking. Some of them are on their way to the Iron Bank itself right now."

That bit of knowledge did reassure him. Their fearsome bank's reputation has long been linked with the Faceless men in more ways than one and for accurate reasons in some cases, even if representatives like him do not usually admit it. The protection of the second to none order of assassins would be worth much in the hours to come with such a mighty, living war machine this close to their roofs.

"Let them do as they wish when they come in," Tycho instructed. "Their aid will be invaluable if things get ugly with this dragon. Dismissed."

The captain of the guard nodded and headed outside. Then the keyholder went to the window and looked for the powerful creature, wondering what exactly will the day have in store for him.

After Jon was done explaining his summarized side of the story, Arya had a wide-eyed look on her face. Still, Jon told her to hold most of her questions for later, because they really needed to go before things escalated with his dragon outside. By that point, however, Bellegere had already dressed herself and informed them that she would lead them through a less frequently used exit of the Happy Port brothel that goes through an adjacent blacksmithing workshop so as to minimize their chances of being seen.

At first, Jon didn't really want to involve her but one look of sad pleading from Arya made him give in with a sigh.

"Lovers it is then," Jon thought to himself. "We really do have much to talk about later."

They carried the chest with the dragon egg since Arya would now have other means to get out of the city aside from a ship and climbed down the stairs through a different route than the frontal one. Before long, the Black Pearl opened a door and they entered the workshop.

It didn't take them long to frown. "Where is everyone?" Jon asked in suspicion.

Bellegere looked around, confusion on her face. "I don't know but the blast furnace is still producing a lot of fire so the blacksmiths were here not too long ago. Maybe they left in a hurry to see the dragon?"

"Or maybe, they were driven away by another omen of ****," Said a female voice from the opposite side of the room.

The three of them turned in unison and Jon spotted a young woman with a harsh look on her face and a knife in her right hand.

__

Arya glared at her immediately. "You!"

"Not me," She replied with a scowl. "No one. Something you never seemed to be able to get through that thick head of yours."

"Who is she, Arya?" Jon demanded to know.

"She is another acolyte from the House of Black and White," Arya replied, her expression tensing when she realized she had just made Bellegere gasp with that information. "She has had it out for me from the start."

"And with good reason, it seems," She asked as she got closer to a large sack beside her. "Did you really thought I wouldn't be watching you while the rest of the order deliberated on recent events? Did you really thought you could sabotage a contract that was offered in good faith by a supplicant to the Many-Faced God and just walk away without consequences?"

She pointed the knife at her and Jon urged his dragon through their bond to come close to their location at that moment, his own strong hand getting closer to Longclaw on his belt. "It took a while to find someone that could read and write in the common tongue so that I could translate the words of those mutes but eventually I found out that you sought to steal a dragon egg payment that was offered to the god of ****. You have betrayed our order and the only punishment for that is a gruesome ****."

"Do your worst," Arya challenged, her voice low and threatening as she gripped a knife of her own that she had told him she picked up from the temple before leaving days earlier.

The acolyte actually smirked at that, her expression fierce. "As you wish."

And with that, she opened the sack beside her and Jon inhaled sharply when he saw Needle, the sword he had given Arya as a gift all those years ago. Getting a terrible feeling immediately, he realized he wasn't going to be able to wait for his dragon to scare her off because when their enemy threw the pointy blade into the blast furnace to melt it, Arya was already in motion, a scream of rage on her lips.

A/N: Well, the Waif has entered the scene now, and boy, did she made Arya get PISSED.

Hope you like the chapter! And expecting to read your thoughts soon, if at all possible. Gotta add fuel to my creative fires while I am busy so that I can come back with a vengeance and all that.

Until next time.