CAT OF THE CANALS

It was a mild winters day. The sky was a clear blue and the sun was shining. It was cold, but not too cold. Just right. Cat had been back with Brusco for 2 days selling mussels, clamps, oysters and cockles in the Rag Man's harbor. Before that she was apprenticing with Izembaro, a high ranking member of the powerful Iron Bank of Braavos.

He knew her as Jasmyn. Izembaro taught her the ways of doing business. He was still young. Tall but thin with long fingers olive skin and dark eyes. A thin face and a small mouth with thin lips. A skinny hawked nose and black, curly hair. He had a thin mustache and a long thin beard on his chin. She liked him. He always had a twinkle in his eyes and a little smile in the corners of his mouth. He was always willing to explain the things she didn't understand to her in detail. He never got impatient. And he always treated her to very tasty meals from foreign lands. Jasmyn wondered how much of that was him and how much was the House of Black and White.

She once asked the Kindly Man about it. He assured her that Izembaro was completely unaware of who she was and whom she served. As far as he was concerned she was the daughter of an impovered merchant from Gulltown. Who had been sponsored by an anonymous benefactor who had recently passed and left to her a small sum of money to learn the ways of trade at the Iron Bank.

That made her like Izembaro even more. Even though she didn't see as much of him as she would have liked. His position meant he was dealing with many wealthy clients all day long and sometimes he also traveled to meet them.

She had learned that the bank was not just a place were people brought their money to for save keepings. The bank invested the money they got in profitable ventures. Or lend it out to kings and merchants alike. At first she had frowned at that. What use was it lending out money? Izembaro had smiled at that and told her that the bank got interest on the loans. And a hefty interest at that. 15% was the standard. She had wondered what happened if the king simply decided he was not going to repay his loan. He was the king after all. Izembaro had smiled at that again, and told her that that would be a very dangerous mistake. Something a certain Westerosi queen was finding out. He didn't elaborate, but she understood his meaning. "I just hope Cersei lives through this." she thought grimly. "Cersei is mine to kill!"

That night she had asked the Kindly Man how this apprenticeship was going to help her in carrying out her duties as a servant of Him of Many Faces. The Kindly Man told her that although the Gift was a sacrament to The Many Faced God the Faceless Men still received payment from their clients. It wasn't always money, but it was most of the time. And so they needed the services of the Iron Bank. And it also helped them to get to their targets cause sometimes they needed to spend much coin to get close enough to give them the Gift. The Bank knew who they were dealing with, but all men must serve. And this was the service the Iron Bank provided. And she had to know how it all worked cause it wasn't uncommon for the servants of Him of Many Faces to travel as part of of the retinue of an employee of the Bank. Or to pose as a merchant. She understood.

Over the course of the next few weeks she worked at the bank going over the various accounts. She always have had a mind for sums and managing a household. This was not much different. She oftentimes had helped her Lady mother in the day to day running of Winterfell. Making lists of available supplies. Ordering new supplies. Making sure the suppliers were payed.

"No!" she thought. "That wasn't me. That was a girl named Arya whom I knew a thousand years ago. I am no one."

Izembaro was quit impressed with her skills. And so she did the books and kept the accounts of the House of Black and White. She had seen the astronomic amounts the Faceless Men received for their services. And at first she had been in awe. But after many weeks sitting from dawn till dusk in the offices of the bank it became a monotone routine. The office at the bank was always the same. Windowless. Marble walls. Myrish carpets on the floor. More marble underneath. Oaken desks and chairs. Candles on the walls and desks for light. Messengers delivering messages. And no one ever spoke more then they had to. Everyone was too busy checking accounts or signing new loans. The only break from this were the times when she was called to serve as an agent of Him of Many Faces. A total of 7 times so far.

Or for further training purposes. That and her wolf dreams.

She was now able to create her own mummers disguises without help and was getting better and better at casting a glamor. That was something she liked. She still remembered how Jaqen's face had rippled and changed in front of her. And although hers was still far from perfect, so far she was only able to hold it for a few seconds before it collapsed again, she was getting closer. Much to the amazement of The Kindly Man who tutored her. He told her that he had never known anyone picking this up this fast. She had bugged him about it for weeks untill he finally gave in. And in her dreams she was the Night Wolf. Running ahead of her packmates in search of pray. Pray was hard to find these days. The snows fell often and heavy. But that didn't matter. In her dreams she felt safe among her pack. In her dreams the hollow feeling she had inside her when she was awake was gone. In her dreams she was not alone.

Everything was going right. Izembaro was impressed and seemed to genuinly like her. The Kindly Man was impressed. But she was not satisfied. Sitting in her office all day long made her feel cut off from the rest of the world.

She missed Brusco and his daughters. She missed the Rag Man's harbor. She missed the smell of fish and tar, the smell of the sea.

She missed the sight of ships returning or departing from or too far away destinations. She missed the whores at the Happy Port. She missed the tales the sailors told of the Free Cities. Oldtown. Duskendale. Kings Landing. Gulltown. The White Harbor.

And so one night she asked the Kindly Man if she could be Cat again. At least for a short while. He had looked at her with an amused smile. But agreed after a short while.

And so she had walked into Brusco´s house again 3 days ago. All it took was a short "Valar Morghulis." answered by an equally short "Valar Dorhaeris." and they put another plate on the table and continued their dinner as if she had never left. The next morning she was Cat again.

Cat relished the sights of the harbor while crying her wares. "Fresh mussels, cockels, clamps, oysters!"

It had been a good day for a fishmonger. She was nearly sold out and the day was only half through. She decided she could take a short break and enjoy the sights of the harbor. She pushed her cart through the crowd to the piers where the ships arrived and found a sheltered spot. She lit a small fire for heat and sat down to watch the ships docking. She liked to guess where they had been. The one that was currently arriving was fairly large. But not as large as a Swan ship from the Summer Isles.

It sails were a faded grey. "Probably Gulltown." she thought. "Maybe Kings Landing."

"It is Westerosi for sure." she thought. But the Redwyne street in the south was swarming with Iron Born pirates. So it was not very likely that this ship came from there. So somewhere more to the north. She decided to wait a little longer. She still had some oysters and clamps left she could sell to the crew. And then she could ask them where they hailed from and what news there was from Westeros. She waited until the ship was properly tied up and then slowly pushed her cart towards where the gangway was located. She could now make out the letters of the name on the side of the ship. They were as faded as it's sails. Blackbird. The crew lowered the gangway and started to disembark. She moved closer and could now make out the men coming to shore. Their clothing was as black as their mood apparently.

"Men of the Nightswatch. Maybe I can get some news about Jon out of them!" she thought excitedly. While she moved closer to start up a conversation she noticed that the black brothers looked weary. Underneath their black cloaks she noticed they were wearing mail and boild leather. One hand at their sword, standing in guard positions. As if they were expecting trouble. Their hard looks made other passerby's move around them in a large circle. Four now had left the ship taking up defensive positions. Two more were standing at the top of the gangway with spears in hand. Cat decided it might be better to not start up a conversation and moved back to her sheltered spot. She looked back to the ship and saw four more black brothers decending carrying a small litter, blinders closed. Another eight followed. Hands on their swords covered by their cloaks. She saw several men staying onboard to guard the ship. The four which had decended first now took point with the four carrying the litter in the middle, four more guarding the rear and two at each flank. Two more armed with spears came down and took up position at the foot of the gangway.

"What or who are they transporting that is so important that it requires sixteen armed guards?" she wondered. "And why are there so many Crows here in Braavos at the same time?"

Cat's curiosity was peaked.

She decided to follow them and find out. She made sure she had the purse with the silver from her sales that day and then covered the cart as best she could with some rags and moved it behind some crates. She would come back for it later. Once that was done she quikly set out to catch up with the small caravan.

It wasn't to hard. They moved slowy and cautiously. She had expected them to go to one of the harbor's inn's.

Instead they walked towards an abandond warehouse not too far from were their ship was moored. No one had taken notice of her following. She was small enough to get lost in the crowd of sailors, whores, merchants and their retinue and still track them. She slipped inside the warehouse through a hole in the wall and quikly hid behind some empty barrels. "Silent as a shadow." she thought. She watched six black brothers entering, swords drawn, swarming out to secure the area. After a moment they called out to their comrades who then came in carrying the mysterious litter. Two of them stayed outside standing guard. The rest came in behind the litter sitting on the floor or on empty crates and started to visibly relax. The ones carrying the litter took it to one of the old offices some twenty meters away and put it down infront of where the door once had been. Two of them entered and after a few minutes she saw them starting a fire in the old fireplace using some of the wood that was lying around them. She craned her neck from her hiding place. But she was too far away to see clearly. She looked around for more cover closer to the office. There was non. But she did notice a window in the office with a view of the outside. Quikly and quitly she made her way back to her entry point and slipped out as unseen as she had entered. Carefully she made her way around the building. Lucky for her all of the black brothers where still inside. After several minutes she had reached the office window. "By now they will have unloaded the litter." she thought. Carefully she sat up and peaked through the glassless window. She could hear soft murmering inside but couldn't make out what was beeing said. A girls voice. She slowly stood up for a better look. She saw two black brothers at the doorframe with their backs turned towards her. The litter was standing inside the office with the blinders now open. She still couldn't see enough though and ducked back down moving towards her right. Once in position she stood back up and carefully peaked inside again. The Nightswatch men still faced away from her. But now she could see inside the litter. There was a woman inside with a scarf wrapped around her mouth, nose and hair leaving only her eyes free and a man wearing the black of the Nightswatch. The woman also had her back turned towards her and blocked the view of the mans face. She was talking to him, but he wasn't saying anything back to her. Just lying there barely moving.

Then suddenly the woman stood up and went to speak to one of the guards at the door. Now Cat could see the man's face...and her heart skipped a few beats. She ducked back down. Her breath stopped and a scream was caught in her throat. She had to bite her tongue to keep it there. She bit so hard she tasted blood.

The man in the litter looked terrible. Deathly pale and feverish. His features were gaunt, almost skeletal. But there was no doubt at all.

It was her brother.

Jon Snow.

After a moment which seemed to be an eternity she stood back up to sneak another peak. The woman was still outside the room. She could hear her arguing with the guards. But she ignored whatever it was they were arguing about. Her gaze was fixed on the litter and it's occupant. "Jon..." she thought. She looked at him lying there looking like a corps. She could feel tears filling up behind her eyes but she did not make a sound. He was so pale as if all the blood had been drained from him. He had lost a lot of weight. His hair was long and had an oily look to it. His beard was ungroomed. Both were still as dark as her own. His skin glimmered filthy, sweaty, feverish. And at first glance you could think he may have already died. But there was still breath in him. It came slow and shallow.

Suddenly the argument outside stopped and Cat ducked back down just in time as the woman returned. This time she was not alone. Cat heard a man's voice. She strained her hearing.

"...can't take him to a healer. If word would reach the wrong ears that we are here..." she heard the man. The woman replied "And if we don't get him to a healer he will die and all this will have been for naught."

The man did not reply immediatly as if he was thinking it over. Eventually he said "There is also the matter of coin. We haven't brought enough. We didn't have time to get more from Eastwatches coffers. Not that there was a lot in there to begin with. But we also have over a hundred men here. They need food too and..."

The woman interrupted him "Then sell the ship. Sell some swords and spears. They ought to be worth something. At least enough to buy some food and get a healer for Lord Snow. All you men made your choices when you sided with him against the Watch. You can't let him die now! Not after all that we have been through to get him away from there!" she pleaded tears clearly in her voice.

Cat listened breathlessly. "Sided against the Watch? What is going on?" she thought to herself. "Jon is the Lord Commander. Why would he..."

She heard the man inside let out a sigh. "Very well. I will order the captain to make an inventory of what we have on board and see how quikly we can sell it off."

Cat heard him turn away and listened to his footsteps while he was leaving.

She lingered for another moment while sneaking another look inside. The woman was bend over Jon again depping his forehead with a wet piece of cloth whispering to him. Cat couldn't hear what she was saying. She looked at her brother with a heavy heart. She wanted to run to him. Hold him. But she had seen the look on his men's faces. If she would just come in there they would most likely cut her down before she even got near him.

With a last sad look she turned away and carefully made her way back to where she had left her cart.

Her head spinning, her heart racing in her chest and tears flowing down her cheeks freely now she ran back to her cart. Jon was here! In Braavos. And he was dying. He had sided against the Watch. What did that mean?

Did he abandon his post on the Wall? Did he commit some kind of treason? She shook it off. Whatever the reason was it didn't matter she decided. Her brother was here. And he needed her help. That was all she needed to know. Everthing else did not matter.

She reached her cart. She looked to the west. The sun was setting. She knew the merchants were getting ready to pack up their things and the shopkeepers were about to close their shops. No way that the captain of the Blackbird would be able to sell anything today to get the money they needed to get Jon a healer. And tomorrow it could be to late. She took her cart back to Brusco's as fast as her feet could carry her.

When she finally reached his house she hastily stowed the cart and went inside and put the purse with her earnings infront of him on the table, ignoring him and his children who shot her startled glances. She went to the room she shared with his daughters and got her belongings and went for the door.

Brusco looked like he was going to ask her a question but she only gave him a look that convinced him otherwise. She headed back out. The sun had fully set by now.

Cat shouldered her backpack and started heading towards the Purple Harbor.

When she arrived she immediatly started moving towards one of the houses located on the road towards the Sealords palace. She only stopped once in an alley adjacent to the house. She pulled her mummers kit from her backpack and put on a hasty mask. She checked her face in a mirror. She had put on some poxmarks, false teeth and a dirty blonde whig. If someone who knew her was to look closely...

Normally creating a new face took hours but there was no time to waste. This would have to do.

Last she put on her acolyte robes and pulled the hood over her head. Now dressed like this she headed towards the door. She pulled a cord and heard a bell ring inside. After a moment she heard movement and a young man with reddish hair opened.

He looked at her wide eyed. Cat recognized the robes of a serving man.

"Get your master. Fast!" she said in a tone that brokered no argument. The servant turned around and ran back inside. She heard a ruffle coming from inside and after a few moments another man appeared. He was elderly with no hair left on his head. His robes were made of light blue silk over a slim frame, soft slippers on his feet.

"Valar Morghulis." she said before he could say anything. She quikly reached into her purse and handed him one of the iron coins of her order. He took it and looked at it almost fearfully before handing it back to her.

"Are you the healer Osric?" she continued.

"I am him..." he replied and then quikly added "Valar Dorhaeris."

"Get your litter ready. Get your instruments, bandages and ointments and come with me." she instructed him. Osric bowed and started shouting orders to his redhaired servant who was still lingering in the dark hallway.

After a short while they where sitting in the litter carried by two servants. Cat had learned the name of the redhaired servant before they departed. And she had learned the names of the servants who carried the litter. When she had been Salty, crossing the Narrow Sea from the Saltpans in Westeros to Braavos, the crew of the ship "Titans Daughter" had all told her their names but never asked hers. She thought that strange at the time. But now she knew. She was no one. She had no name. And the Faceless Men never killed a person that they knew. So the servants where eager for her to learn theirs and repeat them back to them just like the crew of the "Titans Daughter" had been. They would be safe. From her anyway.

"No one has no brother." she thought to herself. "But Arya Stark does. And she would want me to do this."

She directed the litter back towards the Rag Man's Harbor and the warehouse.

Before getting out she gave Osric further instructions and then vanished into the night while the litter continued towards the warehouse. Out of sight Cat quikly took off her robe and stuffed it back into her backpack. Then, silent as a shadow, she stalked her way towards the office window where she had been listening earlier. She looked around her to check for guards. There weren't any. As expected the arrival of Osrics litter had distracted the guards enough drawing them to the main entrance allowing her to approach her previous listening post unseen. She peaked a look inside and saw the litter with the blinds closed inside. There where candles on the walls in holders and on the floor in the corner of the room.

She could hear loud voices inside. The black brothers demanded to know who Osric was.

"Please My Lords..." she heard him say in the common tongue. "I am a healer. I was instructed to come here to tend to a patient."

"Who gave you these instruction?" "We have not send for a healer."

"I...I can't say..." she heard Osric say in a small voice. She imagined the black brothers pointing their swords at him. "We do not speak of them in Braavos."

"I am only here to provide a service." "I...I was told to tend to a Jon Snow."

A new voice deeper and louder then the previous one cut in "Who told you his name?"

Something in the litter stirred. Cat could see the woman she saw earlier opening the blinds. And she could see Jon. His eyes where open. He was awake! That must be a good sign she thought with relief. The woman whispered to him and he nodded. The woman got up and headed outside. Cat looked at Jon. His eyes where burning with fever. He looked so frail and weak. Nothing like the young man who had called her "Little sister" and mushed up her hair. Who had gifted her with Needle and gave her her first sword lesson. "Stick them with the pointy end." Tears started to fill her eyes again and her heart was breaking. She had to stop herself to stay put. She desperatly wanted to run to him. But that was not an option. The woman returned with Osric and two black brothers behind her. One small with large ears and the other tall with a lot of muscles.

Osric looked scared with sweat on his forehead. And then Jon spoke with a very weak voice. "Who are you? Why have you come here?"

The words where almost a whisper.

"My name is Osric My Lord. I was instructed to come here, that you were in need of my services as a healer."

"Who send you here?" "I can't say My Lord. We do not speak of them in Braavos." "How do I know then that you are who you say you are?" Jon continued in a thin voice.

Osric looked like he was going to cry. "Remember, damn you!" Cat thought anxiously.

As if he had heard her thoughts Osrics face cleared up. "I was told to give you some words to proof my good intentions!"

"Let's have them then." Jon rasped before breaking into a coughing fit. Once the cough had stopped he looked up to Osric again.

"Stick them with the pointy end."

Jon froze. His men exchanged confused looks. The woman also looked confused.

"Who...how..." Jon started, starting to rise before breaking into another cough. Once that had passed he looked back up at Osric. And after a moment of contemplation he said "Healer. Do your duty."

Osric smiled and started to examine Jon.

By the time Osric and his litter left the moon was standing high in the cloudless sky. Cat had left her post earlier and was waiting for them dressed in her robe again a good distance from the warehouse.

The servants saw her and stopped. Osric opened the blinders and climbed outside.

"How did it go?" Cat asked. To which Osric replied "I believe I got there just in time. He was stabbed. Twice in the back and once in the belly."

Cat felt a coldness creeping up her spine.

"The wounds had festered and caused a fever. If I had gotten there any later I doubt he would have survived more then another day or so. I cleaned the wounds and salved them to help fight the infection. Now he is in the hands of the Gods."

Cat shook her head.

"You will return here on the morrows eve. And the eve after that until he is no longer in any danger." Cat told him sharply. Osric swallowed and nodded "Valar Dohaeris".

"I thank you for your service Osric." Cat said and turned around heading back to Brusco's.

Over the next few days she frequented the area where the warehouse was located as Cat on a daily basis. Every evening she met with Osric as no one so he could tell her how Jon was doing. The fact that Osric seemingly had shown up out of nowhere had the black brothers spooked. They had increased patrols of the area around the warehouse. Cat counted at least ten men outside at all times. Two at the main entrance and the rest making rounds around the building. And there were probably more inside. Which made it pretty much impossible for her to go back herself. And a couple of times they had followed Osric back to his house. Trying to find out who had send him since he refused to tell Jon. She always saw them. So she started waiting for Osric inside his house instead of meeting him on his way back home. His servants let her in without any questions notifying their master on his return. The first two days Jon tryed to pry from him who had send him. But Osric never told him. And eventually he seemed to accept he was not going to get anything out of him. He told her that Jon's condition was improving. Slowly. He now slept a lot and his fever had gone down. But it had not broken entirely yet. She also asked about the woman with the scarf. Osric however couldn't tell her anything about her that she didn't already knew. She never showed her face. Never spoke when he was around. But she was always near Jon. Cat wondered who she might be. Women were a rare thing at the Wall. Even rarer travelling with a host of black brothers. Was she the reason Jon was hurt? "If she is," Cat thought "I will pray for her!"