Arya was bored out of her mind as the Septa drones on and on about proper behaviour of a lady. Frankly, it was grating on her nerves and she wondered how Sansa was still sporting an eager look while listening to this foolish drivel. According to the septa, all noble-born ladies must wear bright coloured skirts and nod to everything their husbands say. There is also the part where all these ladies have to be broodmares with no free thought passing through their heads. Looking at Sansa she could see that her elder sister would fit perfectly into this 'Lady' business seeing as Sansa is an airhead. It seems her sister and her friend Jeyne Poole have elected to be perfect little ladies that have no thought whatsoever for themselves. What she hated the most was that she had to learn from the stupid book of the Seven pointed Star. The septa seem to have forgotten that Arya didn't care one whit about her stupid seven gods. She followed the Old Gods like her father and brothers but still, she was forced to listen to the stupid stories of the septa on her mother's insistence. She didn't even want to think about all those horrid stitching lessons. She still had the broken skin of her hands to prove the futility of that venture as well as the crooked stitches she had managed to embroider into the cloth.

It has been a month since her brother Jon had left Winterfell for the Free City of Braavos and she was the most affected by his departure. Without Jon, all her martial lessons have come to an end. She had to practice what Jon had taught her till now with a wooden sword he had gifted her. True she had other brothers to play with but she was not as close to the others as she was with Jon. Perhaps it was because she and Jon were the only ones that that took after their father in appearance. The only fun she had right now was by teasing Bran who was the easy target for her pranks. Now that Jon was not here she couldn't properly prank Theon or Sansa.

"Arya!" the septa shouted making Arya jump in surprise in her seat

"Were you listening to anything that I have been saying Arya?" asked Septa Mordane who had her hands on her hips let out a huff of irritation

Arya just scowled at the Septa refusing to grace her with an answer.

"I was talking about the commandments of the Maiden, Arya. Can you explain what the first commandment was?" Delta Mordane questioned Arya and she was getting angrier with every passing minute

"I don't care two white about what your stupid gods commanded. They are not the gods I follow and never will be. I pray to the Old Gods of Forest and not to the gods of Andal invaders." Arya exploded in rage as she let out all the frustration that was building up in her since Jon left and she ran out of the room

"Arya, come back here this instant! Arya!" the septa shouted but Arys paid her no heed as she ran out of the room picking up speed. She ran through the hallways and finally skipped into the great hall where she collided headfirst into her father who was having a conversation with her brother Robb

"Arya? How many times have I told you to be mindful of your surroundings, hmm?" Eddard admonished his youngest daughter as he helped her up from the floor

"Are you running from another one of your lessons with the Septa?" Robb asked and she scowled at him for selling her out in front of her father

"Is this true?" Eddard asked with a frown

"She was talking about her stupid Seven. I don't follow the Seven and I don't want to learn about them. I would rather learn about the Old Gods. If Jon was here he would…" Arya trailed off and her eyes prickled with tears as she thought about the stories that he would tell her about the Wall, the Children of Forest, the Giants and even the brave tales of Queen Visenya who was her favourite

Eddard didn't know how to console his daughter so he settled for patting her shoulder and pulled her close to him. He knew that his daughter had taken the absence of Jon the hardest.

"I will have words with Septa Mordane. You won't be having any more lessons about the New Gods. You have too much of the North in you just like Jon -- and Robb." Eddard added quickly to include Robb into the group as he exchanged a silent look between his son who has taken it upon himself to learn more about the North by himself from the library.

"I am learning more about the old tales of the Winter kings that came before the Dragons sister. Perhaps you would like to join me in those studies. I am sure the campaign of Theon the Hungry Wolf would interest you." Robb suggested and an excited smile came over Arya's face as she eagerly nodded

Before Arya could go into all the things that she already knew from the stories passed on to her by Jon they were interrupted by Jory Cassel who was the captain of the household guards

"Lord Stark, there is a group of men being escorted by Manderly men. They say they are here on orders from Jon Snow." Jory reported making Arya happier. Perhaps Jon would be returning back home, she thought excitedly

"Bring them in Jory. Let's see what they have to say." said Eddard looking troubled by this turn of events and his grey eyes had a hint of worry in them

They didn't have to wait long and Arya saw a tall man wearing silk robes lead a group of men who were carrying a wooden trunk enter into the half of her home. There was some smallfolk within the hall and they were looking on curiously at the tall dark-skinned man who was clearly out of place in Winterfell. As the man came closer Arya could see that he was wearing woollen clothes inside the silk robes he had wrapped around himself.

"Lord Stark I extend you and your family warm greetings. My name is Devon Ormys, captain of a ship in service to House Manderly. I come bearing a message and gifts from your son Jon Snow." Devon bowed and nodded to his men and they opened the wooden trunk showing the contents of the trunk for all to see

Arya saw many smallfolk let out gasps of surprise. She became curious and moved closer to the trunk and saw that it was filled with gold coins and other small wooden boxes. She looked on curiously as Captain Devon fished out a rolled-up parchment from his sleeves and handed it over to her father. Her father began to read the contents of the parchment and she could see that his eyebrows climb to his hairline. Before her father could speak Captain Devon continued,

"Your son also instructed me to ensure the contents of this trunk be delivered to your authority despite your protests. He says that House Stark should not throw away resources for his sake when Winter could strike at any moment."

"But this is more than double the amount that I gave Jon and it was on the understanding that he deserved as he is my son. He didn't have to pay me back and that too in this amount!" Eddard complained and Arya looked on confused as Captain Devon wave hand almost dismissively

"Your son makes this much in one week my lord. To him, it is a trivial amount. I have to say in all my years I have never encountered anyone with a shrewder mind for trade than your son. Everything he touches turns to gold!" Captain Devon praised and began to explain some of her brother's exploits in Braavos

Arya kept only one year out to what the Captain was saying and most of those things she couldn't understand anyway. So she switched her attention to the wooden trunk and she picked up a small wooden box.

"What is this?" Arya asked interrupting Captain Devon from singing praises of her brother

"That my lady is a gift for you. I believe you might be Arya Stark. Your brother did say that you could be identified quickly as you are the most inquisitive of his siblings." Captain Devon smiled down at her and opened the box. She saw a stack of papers neatly folded up with along with a glinting emerald necklace that was shining like a bright star.

"This is for me?" Arya questioned the Captain uncertainly

"Oh, yes. Your brother told me to let you know that these are the translated scripts of some scrolls written in Old Tongue. He says that you will enjoy the stories in these scrolls." The good Captain smiled as he handed over the contents of the box to her which she gladly took with a muttered thanks

"Walk with me, Captain Devon. I would like to know more about how Jon is fairing in Braavos." Eddard led the captain away meanwhile Robb took the necklace from the box and put it over Arya's neck

"Now you look like a real lady." Robb teased her and she scowled at him making him laugh harder but she had her revenge by kicking him on his knees hard enough to make her brother yelp in pain

Jon sank into the plush chair and placed both of his legs over a table. He rarely has any free time now that he was invested in some businesses around the city. In the last month, he had concentrated on expanding his pool of clients that the Ormys family was not competing with. So far he had found three such clients and he was supplying them with all the emerald they need. So far his supply of emerald gems was holding steady and he wouldn't have to worry about any shortages. But lately, the demand for the specific emeralds that he delivers has gone up in Pentos and Tyrosh. The Red Temples in these regions have been buying up the emeralds that came from him. It was an interesting development and he was curious what use they found with the emeralds he sold.

Obviously, Jon understood that the gems most certainly have acquired some magical properties. After all, he found them with Lightbringer and the mythical blade was there in Winterfell for almost 8000 years. There is also the fact that the gems have remained intact despite the heat from the blade all these years which means they must have magical properties. Curious to know more about the gems Jon gifted one to Thoros and he was very much surprised by the results. It was well known that Thoros lit his sword on fire using wildfire before engaging in a battle especially in melee contests. This had led the man to constantly damage his sword beyond repair but now that he was in Braavos he couldn't access wildfire. But after Jon gifted the Red Priest with an emerald crystal from his stock Thoros has managed to lit his sword on fire again and this time without the aid of wildfire. Another strange thing was that the sword remained undamaged even after being set on fire. After studying the blade closely enough Jon realised that the steel has not undergone any change but rather the magical powers of Thoros was enhanced beyond even his own imagination. The same was true for Dacey and Jon himself as they both were able to warg with animals for an extended period of time without any repercussions.

While magical power was something that he holds some interest in but the real area that he was concentrating right now was in wealth and influence. In Braavos a person's status depends on the wealth one accumulates. If that person made the wealth by his own hand rather than by inheritance then all the better. While Jon's emerald trade made him recognizable in Braavos it was his newfound Coffee trade that raised his standing among the elites of Braavos. At first, the Coffee beans production was in a short amount owing to the fact that the city had only very few ripe fruits. However, with some careful prodding, Jon managed to find more Coffee trees in the Eastern mountains just as Malenno had informed him. The only problem was that the eastern mountains were dangerous with a lot of wild elephants. Sometimes a whole pack of them would take up home in the mountains and people were afraid to disturb them lest they swoop in into the city. Even still he managed to hire some men to pluck a modest amount of ripe fruits daily. The same people would watch over the freshly picked cherries and dry them to avoid spoiling. Then the coffee beans are separated and dried separately. Then they are stored in sisal bags waiting for further processing. In the end, the final product that was the Coffee powder was an expensive product because of the intensive labour costs but Jon made a killing out of it because the wealthy elite fell in love with the drink. Jon had thrown a small ball in his manor and he invited many of his acquaintances in the city. As the ball progressed smoothly he introduced both black coffee as well as milk coffee for refreshments. The very next day he started having customers who bought the coffee powder at heavy prices.

Since that day his business was expanding and he had to rapidly invest a whole lot of his funds to hire more people and expand the production capacity. The problem was that even if the Coffee trade was very profitable the availability of said Coffee fruit was going to decline by the end of next month. Fortunately, he has learned that Coffee trees were abundant in Braavosi Coastland which lies in the north-eastern parts of Essos. While theoretically Braavos lay claim to the area the problem was that the plains were formerly part of Andalos and they frequently suffered Dothraki attacks. Jon also recognized the value of the strategic position the Braavosi Coastline would provide for him in the future and with this in mind he concocted a plan. He approached several wealthy elites as well as the Iron Bank for a business venture in the Coastlands. His plan was to divide the entire area into large farmlands that harvest Coffee and thus starting exports as well. More exports mean more merchant ships and the Braavosi council was filled with members obsessed with naval expansion. While Jon realised that Braavosi armada was something that brought a great amount of pride the real reason for Braavosi naval expansion was something else. Jon didn't find that it was a coincidence that the Braavosi council members were owners of shipbuilding yards of Braavos. There are hundreds of such yards and more than half of them are owned by the council members and that also includes the Sealord. So it came as no surprise when Jon received an invitation for a ball in the Sealord's Palace. He had heard that the Sealord was a very intellectual man but all intellectual men have a weakness that Jon knew could be exploited. It was pride and ego, and Jon knew just how to use that to his advantage. This was going to be a major move from his part and he hoped that his ploy would work.

AN: Jon is making his first serious move and that just happens to be in Andalos. I am disappointed in skipping a one and a half month's worth of the plot but I thought some speeding along was needed seeing as I don't want to turn this story into a very detailed world-building project. Hope you guys aren't disappointed. Some of those details will be added along when Asher's and Dacey's PoV comes along.

Reviews

Zero9933: No harem. Sorry!

Rifful: His oath is carefully worded to intervene when House Stark is no longer Warden of the North. That happens pretty early in WoFK. Besides, why are you taking Jon's oath very seriously? He just gave an oath by word. That doesn't mean he is going to do exactly like that.

lalalamb: Speaking about Viserys and Daenerys will be spoiler area.

HabeFan: Multiple relations won't bring different families to the fold. That sort of behaviour is ripe for disaster.

DirtyCat: I thought I have used page breakers effectively in shifting PoVs. Have I missed somewhere?

ndjjdjsujsj: Oh I agree. I am feeling that as well. I will try my best friend.

ndjjdjsujsj: There was more than enough gems in the hot spring. Keep in mind that gems are only used in very small quantity for jewellery and they are very expensive even in the modern-day.