A/N: Not gonna lie, this was one of my very favorite chapters to write on a character interaction level. People who like Myrcella and Arya interactions and Tywin and Arya interactions will enjoy for sure. And for those who have been wanting more action, I can promise we're not that far away from another action set piece. This is a little more slow burn on the plot but I thank you for your patience. Enjoy!

Chapter 24: How to Bluff

"You want to take Myrcella with you to Highgarden?" Cersei asked. "Why?"

Tywin sighed. "Is there something wrong with Highgarden that I should know about?"

"No, there's nothing wrong with it," Cersei said. "It's just that you never take her anywhere."

"She's also never been shot at," Tywin said. "You're the one who expressed concern about her not coming out of her room. This will get her away from King's Landing for a bit. If there's anyone out there who means her harm, best to take her somewhere they don't expect. I already discussed it with her. She agreed it was a good idea and wanted to go, so long as she could bring her bodyguard."

"Right. The bodyguard." Cersei crossed her arms and Tywin sensed irritation in her.

"Do you also dislike the bodyguard now?" he asked. He really could not keep track of Cersei's changes in mood.

"No," Cersei said. "In fact, I like the girl. But Myrcella has become a bit too attached to her. Beth Rivers isn't meant to be her friend."

"I don't think anyone or anything can stop Myrcella from making friends, Cersei," Tywin said. "You're welcome to try."

Cersei exhaled, finally ceasing her pacing and sat in a chair. "No. It would never work. I just... worry about her being away from me."

"Do you think I'll let anything happen to her?" Tywin asked. "She'll be fine. Like I said, the Reach is probably safer than King's Landing at the moment."

She nodded, seeming to accept that explanation at last. He couldn't give her the truth. He wanted to take Arya with him and keep an eye on her. Catelyn Stark's investigation had shed some light on the subject, but the girl was still hiding something. She said, at least, that her captor was 'no longer a problem'. And that was the bit Tywin wasn't sure if he believed.

"What was Catelyn Stark doing here?" Cersei asked.

"We had a matter to discuss," Tywin said. "I told you, it was of no concern to you."

"I'm pretty sure our family business is of some concern to me," Cersei said.

"It wasn't business," Tywin said. "It was a separate matter."

Cersei gave him a look. "Do we... often speak with Starks about matters that aren't business? I don't remember you having Ned Stark over at the manor often."

"Is this one of your moods where you insist on irritating me on principal?" Tywin asked. "Because it's working."

"I thought I was asking good questions," Cersei retorted, standing to her feet. "But fine. Keep your secrets. I wouldn't want to be a problem."

That's a lie. You relish being a problem for me, Tywin thought as she left the room. He would have to tell her the truth, eventually. Cersei was no fool. She would suspect sooner or later.

But for now, that was a headache that he chose not to deal with.

"Highgarden?" Arya asked as she watched Myrcella hurry about the room, tossing clothes onto her bed. "Really."

"Yes, I hope you don't mind," Myrcella said. "I know it's a bit of a trip but... well I'll feel safer with you around. You'll get paid double for your trouble."

"The pay isn't the issue," Arya said. "I was just wondering why."

"Grandfather thought I would like to get away from King's Landing for a while," Myrcella said. "And... well, I think he's right. You saw how I was last night at dinner."

Yes, Arya had. She was tense all the way through and she kept flinching every time someone entered the door too suddenly. Arya sat at the table next to them, but Myrcella kept glancing at her for support and she always gave her a little nod. A promise that she was okay. That she was watching the door, and she was safe.

They had finished the night without incident, but it had been quite an effort for Myrcella.

"The Reach is beautiful this time of year. So many colors," Myrcella continued. "I should like to see them. And it's been a long time since I've seen Margaery Tyrell. Have you met her?" She shook her head. "No, of course you wouldn't. I'm sorry, Beth. Sometimes I forget you're not from my circle of friends."

"I'm not," Arya agreed, and it wasn't even a lie. Arya had never been in Myrcella's circle, though they went to the same school. "I haven't met Margaery Tyrell. I have seen her in papers and magazines before."

"Everyone has," Myrcella said. "An actress, a model, an heiress to the Tyrell company... she's a dream. It's kind of strange that she's marrying Renly Baratheon." She went over to her bed, folding the dresses. "Not that he isn't handsome. But they just seem a strange pair."

It's probably not a love match, Arya thought. With the upper crust, arranged marriages weren't entirely unheard of. Sometimes families arranged them as a boost to their business. But the Baratheons and Tyrells were major rivals, so it was strange.

"In any case, I'm looking forward to the wedding. Everyone who's anyone will be there. And just imagine the dresses." Myrcella laid a hand on Arya's arm. "You'll be there too since you're my guard. It will be exciting. Much better than the Charity Gala, I promise."

"Even if it wasn't, I would go," Arya said. "That's my job."

Myrcella sighed. "Beth, you ought to get more excited about things every once in a while. This is a big deal."

"I'm very excited," Arya said in a neutral tone. But when Myrcella gave her a look, she couldn't help but grin. "I just feel out of place there, miss. I'm sure it will be wonderful for you."

"Yes. It will be," she said, returning to packing her dresses, folding them carefully so as not to wrinkle the fabric. Arya noticed she was packing for more than a one-week trip. Sansa always over-packed too. "But I'll make sure it's wonderful for you as well."

Arya doubted her abilities, but she was happy to see Myrcella like this. Her shoulders were more relaxed and her face had more color. She still had a nervous energy about her, but this trip might give her a chance to relax again.

This put Arya more than a little on edge, because she knew Tywin would be watching her. It was possible that the lie she spun for her mother had made its way back to him. She didn't know for sure, but she would assume that it had and try to keep to her story. She knew it was a dangerous game, telling so many lies. But if she told enough, perhaps the confusing tangle of deception would keep him away from the truth.

Arya used to love trains as a child. More often than not, when they visited the North, they took a plane because a trip by train would take two full days. But on shorter trips, they took trains. Arya preferred to watch the world roll by her window than look down on it from above.

She was not the only member of the security team on this trip. There were four others, including Merryn Trant and Sandor Clegane. When Arya questioned why the head of security was called to go on this trip, he just shrugged.

"Precaution. The Brotherhood without Banners has been active lately. We want Mr. Lannister to have the best guard. He is a prime target."

Arya had heard of the Brotherhood. They were a gang of sorts, active in the Riverlands, but they didn't go after the poor. They were much keener on targeting the rich, and Lannisters the richest of them all.

For that reason, they ran regular patrols up and down the train, checking for anyone suspicious, and they always had at least one person posted outside the door of their private compartment, just to keep things secure. But it was in the middle of one of Arya's shifts that Myrcella poked her head out.

"Beth. Come inside. I need your help."

Arya turned to face her. "With what?"

"I'm bored. That's what," she said. "Come sit with me for a bit."

"I'm... not sure I would be doing my job if I did," Arya said slowly.

"Actually, you would," Myrcella said. "Your job is to protect us. You can do that even better inside the car."

Arya wasn't sure if the logic was sound. She glanced past Myrcella's shoulder to see Tywin watching them. He gave her a single nod of permission and she sighed, slipping into the car after Myrcella. "Fine."

Myrcella beamed, closing the door. It really was one of the more lavish private cars Arya had seen. The seats were plush and there was a private bar behind a sliding panel under the window. A tiny crystal chandelier hung above, rattling when the train rattled. Arya really didn't see a point to that. But then again, the Lannisters insisted on outclassing most people with elegance.

"It's nice, isn't it?" Myrcella asked, taking a seat. "Our family owns this train line. The Farmans operate it, but we own it. Is that right, grandfather?"

"Yes, that's correct," Tywin said without looking up from his paper. Arya didn't blame Myrcella for being bored. He did not seem entertaining at all.

"Anyway," Myrcella lowered a folding table from the wall so it sat in between them. "I brought some cards. Do you play?"

"Depends on the game," Arya said. In Braavos, many of the Faceless Men were fond of card games, especially the ones that involved trickery and lying. It was good practice. Sometimes they went out into Braavos and tested their skills to see how much they could snatch from local drunks at the taverns.

"Well, what is your favorite game to play?" Myrcella asked, setting the deck between them.

"I'm... not sure you'd like it," Arya said.

"Don't say that before I've tried," Myrcella leaned forward eagerly. "What is it?"

"Poker," Arya said. "It doesn't seem like your kind of game."

"I haven't played before. Mother says that's how the poor lose what little money they have," Myrcella said. "I'd like to try it though."

"I'm not sure how your mother would feel about me teaching you a poor person's game," Arya said.

"Well, she's not here," Myrcella said, straightening her back. "So I'm your employer and you have to listen to me."

Arya let out a breath, glancing over to Tywin for... something. Help perhaps? He was still looking at his paper but there was some amusement in his eye. "She's right. You have to listen to her."

Arya sighed. Wonderful. I'll just teach your granddaughter how to gamble then. She turned back to Myrcella. "Well, we don't have chips. Do you have a coin purse?"

"Yes." Myrcella said, quickly digging in her bag. As she did, Arya slid the cards from the box, folding them a bit to loosen them up. Then she began to shuffle.

The cards moved easily between her fingers. It had taken her awhile to get the hang of it in Braavos because her hands were so small. But enough practice and it became as easy as breathing. She had even picked up a few tricks which she ran through as Myrcella finally came up from her bag, clutching a coin purse in hand. Then she stopped to watch Arya's hands moving, mesmerized. "Wow... you're good."

"Just a few tricks," Arya said with a shrug. "Dump out the coins. Let's see what we have to work with."

They spent some time dividing up the coins by size and Arya split them evenly between them, explaining the values and how to bet. Then she went through the basic rules, playing a slow round to help Myrcella get the hang of it. She mixed up the values of the sets a couple of times at the beginning, but she picked the rules of betting up pretty quickly.

Soon, Myrcella was making bets with confidence. She had a string of good luck helping her along. Multiple pairs and even one flush. And Arya, who had always been more than a bit competitive, could not help but bite back.

The real draw of poker with the Faceless Men was the bluffing. They tested each other to see how much of a bluff they could get away with. In a group of more experienced trainees, Arya often tried and often failed. But with Myrcella... it was far too easy.

She had absolutely nothing. A king high and a string of other worthless cards. But she bet high. Myrcella, cautiously optimistic about her own hand after winning so many rounds already, called the bet. On the next round, Arya raised, throwing in almost all of her coins. Myrcella balked at the move, her gaze flashing from her own cards to Arya's neutral expression.

"All right, I fold," she said.

Arya smiled and let her cards fall. Myrcella's jaw dropped. "Wait, you had nothing? Nothing at all?" She looked up at her. "Isn't that cheating?"

"No. It's bluffing," Arya said. "It's part of the game. Sometimes you have bad luck and you need to stay in the running. So you bluff. You make them think you've got something you don't really have. You scare them into giving you what you want." She scooped her new coins over to her. "And now we're about even again."

"So this is a game where you're allowed to lie?" she asked.

"You're encouraged to lie," Arya said. "If you can get away with it. That's what a bluff is. You don't know that you'll get away with it, but you take a risk for the reward."

"All right," Myrcella shifted in her seat. "Teach me how to bluff then."

"Well, I can try," Arya said. "You keep your face neutral. But not blank. If you're blank, they can tell you're trying too hard. See?" She let out a breath and a neutral expression settled on her face. "And once you have the right expression, keep eye contact. Don't look away or they can see you hesitating. But you also want to blink like normal or, again, they can tell you're trying too hard. Make yourself believe that you have a good hand. A brilliant hand. If you believe it, they'll believe it too."

"Okay," Myrcella said. "Neutral face, eye contact, believe the lie." She looked Arya dead in the eye, wiping the smile from her face. "Like this?"

"Hmm." Arya tilted her head to the side. Myrcella with a neutral face almost looked unnatural. She was usually happy. "Maybe you should keep the smile. That's your neutral expression."

"All right," Myrcella said. "Deal me a bad hand and I'll try to bluff."

"Well, it won't work like that. If I know you have a bad hand, you can't bluff." Arya dealt her five cards. "How about this? Pick up your hand and tell me what cards you have. But I want you to lie on two of them."

Myrcella seemed keen to accept the challenge, and she picked up her cards, studying for a minute. Then she looked up at Arya. "An ace of spades, a nine of diamonds, a two of hearts, a king of diamonds and a three of clubs."

Arya smiled. "You don't have an ace of spades or a three of clubs."

"How did you guess that?" Myrcella asked.

"You glanced down for half a second when you lied. Indecision," Arya said. "Plus lying about the first and last card is common. Those are the ones that stick out the most."

"Well, it's hard to remember exactly what I have and keep eye contact," Myrcella said, letting the cards drop back into the pile.

"How about this then," Arya said. "Tell me five things about yourself. Make three of them truths and two of them lies."

"Oh, I've played this game before," Myrcella said. "Usually it's two and one."

"I know. We'll make it more challenging for me," Arya said.

"All right." Myrcella placed her hands in her lap, thinking for a long while. "My favorite season is spring. My favorite color is blue. I don't know how to drive. I play the violin. And I hate asparagus."

Arya's mouth twitched. "Your favorite color isn't blue and you don't play the violin."

Myrcella slapped the flat of her hand on the table. "You got it, and you didn't even have to think about it. How?"

"I told you, I've had practice. And you haven't had much at all," Arya grinned. "Also... your entire room is pink Myrcella, and so is half of your wardrobe."

"Good point." Myrcella sighed. "I'll have to practice more later." She stood to her feet. "I'll be right back. I need to use the restroom."

"Do you need me to go with you?" Arya asked.

"No, no. I think I can manage this." Myrcella said. Arya could hear the nerves in her voice, but perhaps she was trying to force herself to go places without a bodyguard to build up the courage. "Wait here. I'll be back to play another round."

Arya nodded once, gathering up the cards and shuffling them back into their deck.

"She seems very fond of you," Tywin commented. The sound of his voice almost made her jump. For a while, she had forgotten he was there. She wondered if he had secretly been paying attention to them the entire time.

"She's fond of Beth," Arya said with a shrug. "Because Beth makes her feel safe. Getting shot at for the first time can shake a person up."

"That is true," Tywin said. "You, on the other hand, seemed relatively experienced with it..." He glanced up from the paper. "Given how unshaken you are."

Arya held his gaze, keeping her face impassive and her chin lifted. She knew he was trying to pry into her past again, and she had no interest in playing the lying game with him. "I've always been cool under pressure."

"Clearly," Tywin said. "So where did you learn to bluff? Not from your father."

"Maybe I learned from my mother," she said.

"Unlikely. Your mother isn't a very good liar either," Tywin said. "Honest people rarely are."

"Are you calling me dishonest?" Arya asked.

"You showed up at my manor in a disguise going by a fake name and you haven't stopped lying since," Tywin said. "So yes. I suppose I am calling you dishonest."

Arya looked away, returning to shuffling. "Have you played much poker, sir?"

"No," he said. "I know how, but I have little time for games."

"That's a shame. You seem like you'd be good at bluffing," she said. Because I can never tell what the hell you're thinking.

"That's because of my line of work," he said. "I'd say I have more experience with reading bluffs than making them."

"Why's that?" Arya asked.

"You don't need to bluff when you have a winning hand," he told her. "That's where a bluff fails. If your opponent has strong enough cards, they don't fold, and you lose everything. People have tried to bluff with me. Most have found it doesn't work. But they're not just betting spare change."

"No," Arya said. "They're betting their businesses and livelihoods."

"It's higher stakes," Tywin said, folding up his paper and setting it down across from him. "Tell me, did you ever intend to join your family's business?"

"Well, when I was seven, I think I wanted to be a CEO," she said. "Not that I knew what that meant. I just wanted to do what my father did. But then I found out that Robb was the one who would eventually follow father." She flipped a single card between her fingers before sliding it back into the middle of the deck. "Which is fine. I don't think I have a future in business."

I don't have a future as Arya Stark at all, she thought. Because if I find the answers I'm looking for and kill the one responsible... the deal will be complete. Even if I wanted to join. I couldn't.

But she didn't dare say any of that. She just kept playing with the cards, hoping that he would not ask questions that she could not answer.

At that moment, the door to the compartment slid open again, and Myrcella sat down across from her again. Arya held back a breath of relief.

"All right. I'm ready for another round," she said. "And this time, I'll call your bluff, Beth."

"You're welcome to try, miss," Arya said, dealing out cards between them again.

Ultimately, Myrcella wasn't all that good at identifying a bluff, except for once when she got lucky. It was easy enough for Arya to win, even though she had worse luck. But if Myrcella was a more experienced player, she would have easily taken all the coins for herself.

Because Tywin was right. It was better to have a winning hand than to bluff at all. Some people just didn't have a choice.

A/N: Gotta love a game of poker and some banter in between :) Hope you all enjoyed the chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Until next week, review, subscribe and I'll see you next time!