AN: I'm not sure if this seems like it is going slowly but bear with me. I'm leading up to something :-)

My theory on the use of the different faces is something of my own invention based on the bit in the chapter in DwD from Melisandre's POV of the toll it took to keep up the charade with Mance and Rattleshirt in the books. In this fic I'm assuming it is harder for Arya, especially if she doesn't fully focus on it

Chapter 3

Arya was torn between now wanting to avoid Aegon and needing to watch for threats. She didn't know whether to be annoyed or relieved when he requested for her to attend his room almost every second night after dinner. The other serving girls were gossiping about her, she knew. When she was questioned she told them the truth.

"We play cyvasse".

"Is that what they're calling it these days?" the cook japed.

Arya ignored them. She had more important things to worry about. She had tried to act as if she hadn't fled Aegon's solar and he had moved on and returned to good humoured japing with her. He seemed to enjoy arguing with her. It was good thing too because she needed to focus on something other than trying to explain her behaviour to him. Her replacement had arrived.

Arya managed to pick him out. Connington was suspicious too she knew but he hadn't seen the true danger. Arya "accidentally" spilled Aegon's wine more than once. Thankfully he didn't drink often. It earned her the wrath of the steward but luckily Duck had formed a soft spot for her and Aegon interceded. The steward's wrath was preferable to Aegon drinking the poisoned wine.

She began to haunt Aegon's chambers late at night night too. Even though she kept to the shadows and stood still as a statue he almost caught her more than once when he woke but she knew that if she could gain access then the faceless man could too. It ended when she managed to confront the man in a shadowed alcove. The confrontation left her with a nasty cut on her arm but she had the best of it. The other man was dead but not before she found out why Aegon was a target.

There was a furore in the morning when the body was discovered. Arya had treated her wound the best she could but now knew she needed to take further action. She donned a different face, one she had used previously to serve and made sure she attended Connington. She handed him his wine. He tried to dismiss her but she didn't leave. She was met with a withering look. She quickly put on a Braavosi accent.

"I know you have greyscale my Lord"

Connington paled and she quickly interjected. "I don't care. I'm not going to tell anybody. That is not why I'm here".

"Why are you here" he asked abruptly.

Arya looked at him boldly. "To warn you. People want Aegon dead. The body found this morning was a faceless man".

Connington leapt to his feet. "You" he spat.

Arya was indignant. "Me? I have protected him".

"Why?"

She sighed. "You are a smart man. It is for the same reason you want him on the throne. He would be a good king". Connington looked like he was deciding whether to draw his sword or yell for aid. Arya fingered the dirk hidden in her hated serving dress.

"Who sent them?" he asked. "It must be the Lannisters".

"Servants of the House of Black and White do not get told why but the man last night knew things" she admitted. "It was not the Lannisters. It was somebody who wants Daenerys on the throne".

Connington frowned. "Aegon isn't a threat to that. They would marry-"

Arya interjected. "It is believed she will not have him. There is talk of a prophecy"

Connington stared at her for a long time. "I cannot let you go".

Arya grinned wolfishly. "Try and stop me".

Connington made his move but Arya was too quick. She heard him sounding the alarm behind her but by that point she had shed the garb she was wearing and changed her face. This was not the day she would get caught.

She kept her distance and focused on minding her duties for the next couple of days. There was talk of the men marching for battle so Aegon was closeted in plenty of war councils. When he wasn't surrounded by the lords, he was arguing with Connington. The next time she saw him he looked tired. He looked up and smiled when she brought in the jug of water he had requested.

"My favourite serving girl"

Arya stopped still and tried to figure out what he meant by it. He shook his head. "Don't get prickly. I'm too tired to argue. I've had enough arguing already today".

"I heard" she blurted without thinking.

Aegon smiled again, a sad smile this time. "He doesn't understand. I need to do this".

Arya hesitated a moment then sat. She recalled something she had heard her father say. "A man who leads has to set the example. He cannot expect his men to do something he is not willing to do himself". Something about it was familiar and she realised Aegon had said something similar the night he last returned from battle.

Aegon sighed. "Exactly". He reached out and set up the pieces on the cyvasse board. It was beginning to become a routine. "You still haven't beaten me yet".

"Perhaps I'm following Duck's lead. It might bruise your Grace's ego too much to lose to a girl".

Aegon laughed. Arya decided she would really try this time. She hadn't been playing to win before, just using the game for other purposes. They were well into it when she realised she was chewing her lip as she tried to think. Years of punishing herself for it caused her to smack herself out of habit. Aegon looked astonished.

"What was that about?"

Arya tried to think then opted for an explanation close to the truth. "I'm trying to break a habit". She was stunned when Aegon reached out and ran a finger along her cheek.

"You've left a mark on that pretty face"

The face she wore was now too close to her own for her to jape back. The glamour had slipped a little further. Aegon had noticed but didn't seem to realise the significance of it. The others she dealt with on a daily basis didn't seem to notice or care. The years of teasing came back to her... Arya horseface. "I know I'm not pretty" she snapped. "My sister is pretty".

Aegon pulled his hand back and looked confused. "Your sister?" he said questioningly.

Arya knew she had said too much. She leapt to her feet and fled, feeling tears sting her eyes. She blinked them away. He shouldn't tease me... She heard him calling after her to come back but she ignored him. She ran and climbed under her furs in her sleeping quarters she shared with the other girls hoping nobody would look for her.

Please let me have my wolf dreams tonight she thought as she finally began to drift off to sleep.