As soon as they entered the temple the Waif was waiting for them, face impassive and unreadable.

"There is a meeting with the order, you have been summoned immediately." she turned and left, quiet as a shadow.

"A girl should train; a man will meet her later." she nodded and left with a brush of fingers against the palm of his hand.

He watched her retreating back, wanting so desperately to train with her but knowing that he was required to sit through the meeting. Reluctantly he followed his sister into the council chambers and found his place next to Arya's kindly man, he was the last to be seated and they began as soon as he was sat.

"We have had new information that needs to be discussed immediately, the War of the Five Kings is over and Westeros is on the brink of collapse." He paused, "Tywin Lannister is dead, his son Tyrion fled from the capital leaving Queen Cersei to rule in her youngest son's stead, this leaves the crown at a weakness. King Tommen won't come of age for another couple of years and Cersei is power hungry, without her father for guidance or brother to take control it's likely the kingdom will fall apart." the kindly man paused again allowing everyone else time to take the information in, "House Lannister has crushed house Stark, we have one daughter who is believed dead and the only remaining child known alive is to be married to the Bolton's. This leaves the North vulnerable."

"What about the brother?" Jaqen questioned, leaning forward to listen carefully when Arya's house was mentioned.

"Her brothers are dead, Robb Stark killed at the Red Wedding, and the two younger brothers killed by the Greyjoy's, yet our God hasn't revealed their faces to us so they may be alive somewhere but they are of no concern to us or the fate of Westeros, one a cripple the other as wild as the wolves of their banner."

"No, I meant the bastard, he's still a Stark by blood even if it's not his name."

"You forget brother, the Nights Watch renounce all names and titles. Jon Snow isn't a concern whilst on the wall, besides base born have no power to lead, he shouldn't interfere with our plans."

"But aren't you curious who the mother is, everyone knows how honourable Ned Stark was, she must have been someone very special for him to break his vows."

"We have the Stark girl here, we should ask her opinion." a voice spoke out.

"She doesn't know, I've asked before." Jaqen sighed leaning back in his chair, "I think this is something we should consider, I have a feeling about this."

"If you insist brother, we can send someone back to the Citadel to look into it."

"What do you mean back?" asked Jaqen.

"Maybe brother, if you paid more attention to the order instead of swooning over your apprentice you might have noticed that another brother had returned." the handsome man smirked raising his eyebrows expectantly.

Jaqen purposefully ignored the remark and hoped the rest of the order would to, he wasn't ready to face their questioning, "Does the House of Black and White have the power to control all of Westeros now?"

"Possibly the dragon egg we recently acquired, if hatched has the potential to destroy the wall, however we need the Mother of dragons, as we are still unable to hatch the egg ourselves." the Kindly man answered.

"Do you mean to say you want one of us to bargain with the Dragon Queen?" the Stern man asked.

"Yes." The Kindly man looked Jaqen straight in the eye, their gazes locked neither wanting to look away first. If he looked away his master would see weakness. But you are weak. It's the girl. Arya. Any other time you would jump at the opportunity to take a contract like this but now you're attached to the girl. You're sweet, innocent, lovely girl. He almost snorted at that. Arya wasn't sweet and most certainly not innocent, she was evil, a creature of darkness dressed in disguise as a little girl to lure men like him to their demise. Her disguise sure fooled him, taking his breath away every time he saw her but she could kill him in a heartbeat. A few years ago, he would have been able to say the same thing about himself but being around her made him soft. He could kill anyone, except her. The kindly man looked away returning to the conversation, "News has been spread that her dragons have grown since we last heard and that they are dangerous, uncontrollable, killing people, so they are now chained up and locked away somewhere beneath the city. Daenerys Targaryen may be difficult to bargain with, we need her on our side so we'll need someone with a skilled tongue and charm." there was a series of nods along the table "It needs to be soon, someone will leave the coming morning to find her, our plans are nearly complete, almost all the armies of Westeros are exhausted and depleted, only house Martell and Arryn have remained neutral in the war of the five kings but not for long, soon it will be time. Valar Morghulis."

"Valar Dohaeris." echoed around the room before people began to stand up to leave.

Jaqen pushed back his seat, looking forward to finding Arya and sparring with her but his movements were stopped by the Kindly man placing a hand on his arm to still his escape. He meant to speak with him in private. This can't be good. When the room was empty, the kindly man turned to Jaqen, his face stern and creased,

"Do I need to remind you that attachments and relationships are unacceptable here. Your brothers are beginning to notice, did you honestly think I wouldn't. You are one of the first, you've seen the fall of Valyria, you helped create the faceless men, you of all people should know our rules. You better sort yourself out, take the contract. It won't end well for you, one of you must die, for you aren't truly no one to love. Do I need to remind you that she's only an acolyte, she's disposable."

"A girl is special; a man has already said. The order need her."

"Only if we have the dragon, and it will be all for naught if you don't find the Dragon Queen."

"But those who dance with dragons run the risk of being burned."

Anger flared in his eyes but his voice remained steady and calm, "You will take this contract or I will send the girl away with your sister to train and you won't see her again anyway."

Jaqen decides he needs to distance himself from her for a while, it might dull his sating desire for her, and at least this way he'll be able to see her again. He hopes. The Targaryen's had madness in their blood it was said it was with a flip of a coin that determined it, but he knew that sanity was a thin line that could so easily be broken. She could easily enough have him ordered to be executed the moment he walked into her audience chamber let alone listen to what he has to say. He'd try and be as quick about this as possible, talk to the queen, hatch the egg, and return to Arya. Arya. What would happen to her? He'd have to find another master to finish her training. Guilt washes over him, he shouldn't leave Arya in the hands of another but then a wave of selfish jealously courses through him, he wants to keep her all to himself. She was his. No she's not, last night might not have meant anything to her, you started it. What about this morning? She was teasing you. She doesn't belong to you, but you belong to her, she stole your kindly man cleared his throat, Jaqen must have had a distant look in his eyes, but his thoughts must have been obvious,

"I will ensure the girl has adequate training from all the masters so her training will be exquisite and near complete for when you return. You will take the mission no arguing." Jaqen nodded in silence knowing there was no way of getting out of it, then went for the door so he could find Arya and pack. "Oh, I nearly forgot, you're not to see the girl before leaving. I don't want her to sway your decision or think she can join you, I'll tell her you said goodbye tomorrow morning."

Jaqen nodded again and quickly left. This will be hard, I'll have to find a way to speak to her before I go.