The kindly man went about his duties in the House of Black and White diligently, he prayed to the Many-Faced God as was required, preparing the faces of those dead to be worn by no one as they delivered the gift.
The kindly man eventually noticed two men in the house that had just entered, one was familiar, his red and white hair gave "Jaqen" away but who was this new young boy?
"Jaqen" quickly informed him of the new recruit but gave no other details.
"Well, hello there" the kindly man said to the new recruit, "Come, new recruit, let's talk" he guided the boy to his quarters "So, where are you from?" asked the kindly man, keeping his eyes focused on the recruit's facial movements.
"The North" he replied simply
"Not a lie"
"Far away from home are we?, well tell me the full tale" cajoled the kindly man
"I was a bastard born to a daughter of a miller" the recruit said
"half-lie, he is a bastard, but not of a miller's daughter"
And then the kindly man cracked his whip, striking the recruit's arm, the recruit recoiled in pain, shock writ large on his face
"You lie, worse, you lie poorly" said the kindly man
"I am a bastard" continued the recruit slowly
"Truth, but he eschews from telling the full truth, Clever"
"I left for Braavos because I felt there was no place where I belonged"
"Lie, what organisations are there in the North? Of course, the Night's Watch!"
And so, the kindly man struck him again, this time on the left and tittered
"Have you not learned?, you still lie poorly" said a smiling kindly man
"I left for Braavos because I was ordered to, I found work as a sellsword" said the recruit
"Truth"
"A sellsword, what was your most memorable kill?" asked the kindly man
"I killed an Ironborn by slitting his throat" answered the recruit
"He is getting better, but the faraway look in his eyes gives him away"
The whip cracked again
"Who is your father?" asked the kindly man
And the game continued.
Jon Snow was sore and bruised, he had played a game of faces, the old man had said, it wasn't a game, it was fucking torture, not that anyone gave two shits here. He had to clean the floors as punishment for lying, nay, as punishment for being caught out as a liar
His face knew too much, showed too much and Jon knew it.
There was a well in the middle of the temple or the House of Black and White, as they called it.
Jon saw a young man, maybe a few years older than he approach the well, and as Jon had finished cleaning the floor, he approached the man warily
"Who're you?" the young man asked Jon in Braavosi
"No one, are you here to drink?" Jon replied, his Braavosi thickly accented with Northern undertones
"Yes, I was a poor fishmonger once, working with my friend Brusco, Brusco and I flourished for a while, before we had an argument and we each split off to start separate businesses, Brusco did modestly well, but I started off very well, then I took out loans from disreputable moneylenders to expand and couldn't pay it back, they came for my daughters after that, took and used them like toys, my wife too, they tied me up and forced me to watch, 13 men, each left a sliver stag behind afterwards.
He held up a pouch of 13 sliver stags, "I know your services are expensive but this is all I have" he said, placing the pouch in Jon's hand
Jon felt pity, this man had suffered so much, he was broken beyond fixing, the only thing he had was death now
"My name is Sozar, I will die now" he said
"Valar morghulis" said Jon
And so Jon made him drink and watched him die.
The kindly man watched from the shadows satisfied, "he has potential" thought the kindly man
The kindly man would send the boy to Brusco in the future
With Daenerys
"Why aren't you telling me where Jon went?" asked an agitated Daenerys
"Jon is still in Braavos, dear Dany" said Syrio, trying to placate her
"Where?" asked Daenerys forcefully
"He is on a job" said Syrio
"Without you? That's unusual" countered Dany
Syrio cursed himself, why did Daenerys have to be like this?
Daenerys, on the other hand, was still reeling from Viserys' death at the hands of Oberyn, Oberyn had told her everything before dropping her off at Syrio's house, she felt conflicted, she was free for all she knew, but she felt constraints on her, years of abuse had made her easy to mislead and malleable.
Syrio was going to fix that. "Jon will return soon" he told Daenerys calmly
Two weeks later
Jon
"Who are you?" asked the kindly man
"No one" responded Jon
And the whip cracked, every day, this was the ritualistic process by which they began the day, Jon understood why they were doing this, it was to shed his identity and make him one, but he had always been Jon and he struggled to let go.
He'd been told every day, to find out three new things about Braavos and he had now found work selling clams and cockleshells with Brusco, who turned out to be a nice enough person, the kindly man had asked for Jon to create a new identity for himself and so he became Robar, a orphan from King's Landing was what he claimed to be and he had became accustomed to the routine now.
Today, he had discovered that there were new slave sellers in the Drowned Town, Razdak, the leader's name was, he was collaborating with Cadherin, the moneylender who'd given money to Sozar and Cadherin was helping transport the slaves, the youngest ones, to the Wise Masters of Yunkai.
He remembered the last words of Sozar
So he followed Cadherin for three days, tailing him, waiting for him to trip up, he often visited the Inn of the Green Eel and loved to whore and drink Arbor Gold, which he often kept in a small flask.
Finally, Jon had an opening, his tutelage under the kindly man had taught him many poisons, the Tears of Lys, widow's blood, sweetsleep, manticore venom and he had some widow's blood on him right now, so he approached Cadherin's hip flask of Arbor Gold, while he was off taking a piss and slipped some in.
Widow's blood shut down the victim's bladder and bowels, eventually the victim would be killed by their own poisons, it was a slow, painful death
Exactly what Cadherin deserved.
As he made his way back to the House of Black and White, he thought over his actions and possible punishment.
He was greeted by an acolyte before he made his way inside and he was visited by the kindly man
"What have you learnt?" he asked a hard edge to his voice
He repeated everything about Razdak and Cadherin and about how they were selling slaves to the Wise Masters before the kindly man raised his hand and looked at him
"Who poisoned Cadherin?" he asked
"Jon Snow the bastard" Jon replied
"Who are you?" he continued
"No one" said Jon
"You lie" said the kindly man, before giving him some milk to drink
"You lie still, you cannot be no one because you see you are Jon Snow, you see your face, and to us, faces are as good as poison" the kindly man said
Jon felt a terror grip his heart, a cold chill that made his blood run cold, the kindly man, where was he? He could see only black, only darkness!
"My sight! It is gone! My eyes, THEY CAN'T SEE!" Jon screamed
Jon Snow wasn't just a bastard anymore, he was a blind bastard
