Chapter 64: Guardian of the Peace?
The noisy chatter pulled Egger back to reality. He realized this was not the time for deep contemplation. After helping the Captain of the Guard stable the horses, he invited his two guests—one large and one small—into the unopened Night's Watch office to sit. Only then did he secretly resume his previous line of thought.
To protect his own financial scam, it seemed he was forced to strive to become a guardian of peace. The thought was almost comical. But Egger couldn't bring himself to laugh; this was a serious and troublesome matter. Preventing the War of the Five Kings... just thinking about it gave him a sense of déjà vu, similar to his failed attempt to stop Bran's fall. Was this war, too, something a certain god desired to incite?
Wait, thinking like that would lead nowhere. Forget those damn supernatural entities. Without a doubt, the most effective root and branch solution would be to eliminate Littlefinger and Varys—those two master conspirators—once and for all. Unfortunately, he couldn't do it. Turning to external help, Egger's mind quickly went to Jaqen H'ghar, but the mere mention of that man gave him a headache.
The scab from the wound where Melisandre had bled him a few days ago hadn't even fallen off yet. He had remembered the existence of such a Faceless Man that very night. His delay in recruiting him wasn't due to forgetfulness, but rather because he truly couldn't think of a good way to approach him.
Jaqen came from Braavos, and the uniqueness of Braavos lay in more than just the Iron Bank. This city across the Narrow Sea was a place significantly ahead of its time: a multi-ethnic immigrant city-state, a land of freedom built by slaves where slavery was permanently abolished, a bustling maritime port with developed trade, a loose and free pluralistic religious culture, the Iron Bank with its unfathomable financial and political power, the elite assassin organization known as the Faceless Men with their fierce reputation for contracts that must be fulfilled, and the Sealord—the official ruler chosen from the citizenry by the Braavosi elite through a mysterious and baffling process... The history of this city-state included several large-scale foreign wars, and they had never known defeat. Even Pentos—an older Free City that appeared far more powerful on paper when the conflict began—had been soundly beaten into submission by this upstart and forced to publicly abolish slavery.
To always be victorious, especially when the opponents were no soft persimmons, was no accident. Winning wars of that magnitude required an incredibly high level of coordination, mobilization, and integration of internal resources, organization, and armed forces. The internal organizations of Braavos, such as the Sealord, the Iron Bank, and the House of Black and White, were by no means unrelated, independent entities. The high-level leadership behind them certainly had mutual aid agreements or even strategic cooperation in private; it was entirely possible they were the exact same group of people.
Egger even dared to speculate that the House of Black and White played the role of an agency responsible for training spies and assassins for Braavos—tasked with gathering intelligence and eliminating key hostile figures who threatened Braavosi interests!
In short, the House of Black and White was a core organization of Braavos, situated within the ruling class. And Jaqen, as a high-ranking Faceless Man assassin with the authority to take apprentices—a master spy from across the Narrow Sea—what right or ability did Egger have to subdue this man and make him kill for him?
How did a terrifying fellow with an organization to serve, a faith to be loyal to, vast experience, and countless kills under his belt end up in the Black Cells of King's Landing? Was his hitching a ride with Yoren to the Wall a coincidence or a deliberate choice? Had he come to Westeros to kill someone specific, or did he have some other mission?
...
Knowing nothing, how could he go and negotiate with such a person? This high-ranking Faceless Man was currently in the dark cells and had already expressed his willingness to join the Night's Watch to Yoren. Egger had considered manufacturing an accident and then pretending to rescue him to earn a favor, but after thinking it over, it was simply impossible without trusted subordinates or reliable accomplices.
Since the path of using violence to break the deadlock was unfeasible, he could only think of ways to suppress the chaos and help Eddard win the game in King's Landing—or at least avoid a crushing defeat.
Go head-to-head with Littlefinger? Egger didn't think his level of political maneuvering was that high, not to mention there was a Eunuch who, while having different goals from the former, was currently an ally of convenience in stirring the pot. In a situation where the proficiency in intrigue and the ability to acquire intelligence were so extremely unbalanced, his advantage of knowing the plot counted for almost nothing. With two high-level players intent on causing trouble, a novice like himself—trying to manage Night's Watch Bonds while also trying to stabilize the situation—would likely only make more mistakes the busier he got, potentially exposing himself and being swatted like a fly.
Moreover, what he knew was only the plot from before the changes.
The failure to stop Bran's fall left Egger with lingering fears. He truly didn't want to jump into the fray and directly interfere with the plot. How did he finally manage to extricate himself from that mess at Winterfell in one go?
[Secretly tip off the Starks.]
His past success suddenly gave Egger inspiration. Just as one didn't necessarily have to deal with the assassin personally to clear their name in the Bran assassination attempt, helping Ned didn't require him to play against Littlefinger on the board. As the actual ruler of the North, Eddard had his own power and thinking capacity. As long as Egger could drive a wedge between Ned and Littlefinger and prevent Ned from being led by the nose, that would be enough!
...
"Egger, my Lady is speaking to you."
A male voice suddenly interrupted Egger's thoughts. He looked up to find a tender little face right in front of him.
"Ah, my apologies. I was thinking about recruitment. What are your instructions, Lady Arya?"
"Are you the Egger Jon talked about?" Arya pouted, repeating what she had just said: "The Night's Watch ranger who killed a White Walker?"
"I am."
Egger glanced at Jory, the Captain of the Guard, whose face was written with disbelief. He admitted somewhat helplessly to himself that the feeling of being guilty while telling the truth was truly strange.
"Are White Walkers very powerful?"
"Very. Gared and I were two against one, and we nearly got double killed."
"But you killed it in the end. Your swordsmanship must be incredible!" The girl's eyes lit up. "Come here, I have something to tell you."
"Don't you follow!" the girl shouted at her father's guard. She then dragged a bewildered Egger into the inner "Chief Logistics Officer's Office," shut the door, and said mysteriously: "Can you teach me how to use a sword?"
"Huh?" Egger was a bit surprised. Calculating the time, shouldn't Ned have already hired a fencing master for her by this stage? Someone from Braavos, Sy... Syrio something? "Why don't you ask your father to hire a teacher for you?"
"How could he possibly agree? Are you stupid! I'm a girl!"
This was a bit strange. What plot change had caused what was supposed to happen not to happen? Egger understood that this was most likely his own doing. The characteristic of the Butterfly Effect is that a small perturbation in initial conditions can lead to a long-term, massive chain reaction: perhaps his tip-off framing Joffrey had changed Ned's thinking, or maybe Arya had hidden her Needle so well her father never saw it... The specific reason was irrelevant. Right now, he was busy as a ghost; how could he have time to deal with this Stark girl?
"I'm very busy, my apologies, My Lady." I'm busy saving your father, Egger thought. Outwardly, he shook his head politely: "Go find your father's guards."
"My father just did you a huge favor, and you won't even agree to this small thing!"
Your father helped me, not you, Egger smiled bitterly. Arya was undoubtedly an important character. If there were nothing else going on, building a good relationship with her could be added to his list of side moves... but she would likely only be useful to him after completing her Faceless Man training. At this stage, the girl was of no use to him.
Evaluating others based on utility was undoubtedly cynical, but Egger was currently in the thick of it and truly couldn't afford to be romantic. He shook his head firmly, and as he began to formulate words of refusal under Arya's threatening glare, he suddenly had a different idea.
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