The Mountain of Ice and Fire

The taciturn stableman in the stable pushed open the low wooden fence and walked straight to Arya, bowing his head: "My lord, please give me the reins." He stretched out his hand, and Arya saw a badly worn iron coin in his palm. The portrait on the coin was already blurred.

But even such an iron coin could circulate freely anywhere in Braavos. From the King to the lowest pawn, everyone in Braavos held this iron coin in awe.

Arya also had such an iron coin on her person.

The iron coin was a reminder to Arya not to forget her identity.

Arya jumped off her horse and handed the reins to the stableman. "Who is the target?" she asked hoarsely.

"This one doesn't understand what my lord is saying?" The stableman turned around woodenly, leading the horse into the stable. Arya watched him tie the reins to a wooden post and then fetch fodder to throw into the manger.

Arya walked to the fence of the stable and said to the warhorse as if talking to herself, "This one is my respected teacher. If this one has any orders, this girl will definitely complete them."

"Gregor Clegane," the stableman said faintly as he lowered his head to smooth out the fodder in the manger.

"...Gregor Clegane is the king I protect," Arya said slowly. "Change the name, any name."

"The girl is no longer a nobody." The stableman raised his head, facing Arya directly, his wooden gaze becoming sharp and clear.

"The girl is a nobody."

"The girl is Arya Stark, this one is the nobody. The girl has never forgotten where she came from, nor has she forgotten her name and identity. The girl is a favored disciple of the Many-Faced God, but the girl unhesitatingly desecrated the Many-Faced God."

"Is the Many-Faced God going to take back his skills from the girl?" Arya's hand inadvertently pressed on the hilt of her sword. It was the Valyrian steel narrowsword Needle, which was like adding wings to a tiger in Arya's hands. The sword was extremely sharp and unstoppable.

"This one is a mortal and cannot know the Many-Faced God's arrangements for the girl, but the girl must return to the House of Black and White. We are all children of the Many-Faced God. If we make mistakes, we must repent before the Many-Faced God."

"I can go back, but please withdraw the name Gregor Clegane."

"The name has been spoken, death descends! Is the girl planning to violate the oath she made before the Many-Faced God?"

"Gregor Clegane killed the Night King, he saved the lives of the entire continent. Every time the Many-Faced God takes a life, he will inevitably release another life to achieve balance. Then, Gregor Clegane took millions of lives from the Red God, he owes the Red God millions of life debts. If you kill him, who will repay the millions of lives owed to the Red God?"

The stableman's eyes became even more strangely bright: "All men must die, and the House of Black and White has already accepted the task."

"Change the name."

"The girl should know that the Red God never changes names."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes!"

"In the year 298 of Aegon's Conquest, the girl saved the lives of three people in a mountain village. At that time, the girl did not know that saving the lives of three people meant taking away three servants belonging to the Red God. Later, at Harrenhal, this one wanted me to say the names of the three people in order to return the three servants belonging to the Red God. The girl said three names, one of which was Jaqen H'ghar. But this one wanted the girl to change a name. From that day on, I knew that names can actually be changed. The Red God obviously acquiesced to this change, otherwise, this one would not be here today."

The stableman was visibly stunned, his back tensed like a bowstring, and the murderous aura flashed and disappeared. The brightness in his eyes dimmed: "The girl always has irrefutable sophistry. Okay, I admit you won. I can leave. But the House of Black and White will send more powerful people. The girl should understand the more serious consequences of this matter."

"The girl must change a name, there must be a way, right? Please teach me, my teacher."

The stableman's wooden expression returned to his face, and the reaction in his eyes became dull: "This one is a stableman, and has no way to teach the clever girl."

"Who gave the name Gregor Clegane?"

"Has the girl forgotten all the rules? How could you ask such a question."

"You gave me the name. I am a Faceless Man, I will carry out the orders of the House of Black and White."

"The girl is going to kill Gregor Clegane."

"The girl will complete the task, but the girl wants to change a name."

This sentence was like a loud slap in the face to the stableman. His face twisted almost imperceptibly, and then he lowered his head, concentrating on his work, ignoring the eloquent girl.

*

In the inn, Melisandre stared at the brazier, in which there was a blurred figure. Others could not see who it was, but Melisandre could see the face in the flames. The Mountain sat next to Melisandre, and on his table were vegetables, fruits, roasted meat, and freshly baked bread. The Mountain ate five times as much as an ordinary person in one meal.

"Your Majesty, look at these flames," Melisandre said softly.

The Mountain was always accompanied by two women, one was Arya Stark, and the other was Melisandre.

The Mountain grabbed a piece of bread with one hand and a piece of roasted meat with the other, his eyes looking at the brazier. In the brazier was a woman, and although the figure did not look clear, the Mountain could tell that it was Arya.

"Your Majesty, see what Arya is doing?" Melisandre gently reminded the Mountain.

The Mountain looked over, and Arya drew her narrowsword, stabbing at some nothingness in the light of the flames.

"What is she stabbing? Practicing swordsmanship?"

Melisandre was slightly surprised that the Mountain could see Arya's face and sword, but he could not see himself. The person Arya was stabbing was the Mountain himself. The Mountain made of flames was more blurred and harder to see, but the Mountain could see Arya, so why couldn't he see his own figure.

"There's a figure, Your Majesty," Melisandre said as she raised her hand, stopping the other guards from approaching.

All the soldiers were a certain distance away from the Mountain and Melisandre.

"A figure? I see it, it seems to be a very tall person, who is that?" The Mountain raised his wine glass and drank the wine in one gulp, as if he was thirsty and drinking water.

"Indeed a very tall person," Melisandre said softly. The Mountain could not see that it was himself, so should she tell the Mountain?

Arya was someone the Mountain deeply trusted, but the flames showed that Arya would use 'Needle,' which the Mountain gave her, to stab the Mountain in the chest.

Could something be wrong?

Or could it be that she had not seen the metaphor of the flames?

Melisandre was puzzled.

The Mountain was a godsend, so why couldn't he see himself in the flames?

Arya drew her sword against the Mountain, why was this happening?

Voices came from outside, and a soldier shouted Arya Stark's name. Melisandre gently brushed her hand over the brazier, and all the shadows in the flames disappeared, leaving only normal charcoal.

Arya would assassinate the Mountain at some point in the future, and this became a secret in Melisandre's heart.

Melisandre was convinced that the Mountain was Azor Ahai reborn, the bringer of light, and the bringer of light was the Red God's child. She had traveled twenty thousand miles from the Shadowlands of Asshai on the continent of Essos to the continent of Westeros, with one ultimate and only mission, which was to find Azor Ahai reborn and protect him, assist him in killing the Night King, and defeat the Cold God. After completing the only ultimate mission, the remaining thing for Melisandre to do was to protect the Mountain well. This was the Mountain's request to her in his capacity as the bringer of light before he killed the Night King. In order to complete the ultimate mission given by the Red God to defeat the Cold God, Melisandre agreed to stay and protect him after the end of the war with the Others.

When a greenseer became an enemy who wanted to kill the Mountain, Melisandre would watch her flames every time she went with the Mountain. Arya protected the Mountain with her sword, and Melisandre protected the Mountain with her flames.

Arya passed through rows of soldiers and came to the Mountain's table. She and Melisandre were close retainers who could sit with the Mountain to eat and drink. She was also the only bodyguard who could sit at the same table as the Mountain.

The Mountain treated Arya well in every way. In the royal palace, Arya was free to enter and exit any place and had the right to mobilize the royal guards and the city watch of King's Landing, if she deemed it necessary.

Ever since Arya appeared from the gate and walked towards here, Melisandre's eyes had not moved away from her face. She was staring at Arya as if Arya was not wearing clothes.

Arya sat down and took the bowls and chopsticks that had been prepared for her long ago - Arya was originally accustomed to using knives and forks, but the Mountain and the royal nobles, as well as the great nobles of the Crownlands, all considered it fashionable to be proficient in using chopsticks, so Arya, who still had the curiosity and novelty of a girl, quickly learned to use chopsticks. She found that the difficulty of using chopsticks was not as difficult as practicing water dancing.

Arya's chopsticks were as white as jade, and she used carefully polished ivory chopsticks. The middle section of her ivory chopsticks was inlaid with beautiful jade.

"Arya, have you encountered anything unusual?" Melisandre suddenly said without any reason.

Arya's hand holding the chopsticks did not stop at all, she did not look up, and ate her rice and vegetables on her own. Her pride was well-known, and all the soldiers had experienced it. As long as she was unhappy, she would be too lazy to respond to whoever spoke to her.

Arya finished a bowl of rice, and when she added a second bowl, she seemed to remember Melisandre's question just now: "No, Lady Melisandre. Red Smoke Beast understands human nature. When I passed by him just now, his red eyes only locked on me, but he did not launch an attack."

"I told him not to bother you. Red Smoke Beast is a magical creature, whose intelligence is no less than that of a dragon. He can understand what I mean. He is very angry, but I am his master." The Mountain's mouth was still stuffed with meat, but it did not affect his speech. This was also a unique skill.

"Arya, I can see that your expression is different, different from usual." Melisandre's two red pupils shone like rubies, she stared at Arya as if Arya was not wearing clothes.

"You're thinking too much, Lady Melisandre." Arya was still calm and composed, with a natural demeanor.

"Arya!" The Mountain put down his chopsticks with his right hand and a large piece of roasted meat bone with his left hand. "Lady Melisandre saw you in the flames just now."

"Hmm!" Arya raised her head, her eyes piercing Melisandre like sword blades. "Madam, what did you see in the flames?"

"You will assassinate someone at some point in the future."

"Who?" Arya's mind flashed through the faces of many people in the House of Black and White, they were companions who trained, studied, and grew up with her, and finally successfully completed the training together, as well as the monks who taught them various skills. Some monks taught them how to prepare medicine, some monks taught them various stealth techniques, some monks taught them how to change faces, some monks taught them swordsmanship... Among them, the person closest to Arya was Jaqen H'ghar, who gave her an iron coin and made her think of going to Braavos to learn from him. He no longer used this name and the face that matched this name. He called himself this one, a nobody.

Many faces flashed through Arya's mind, more than twenty, but there was no face of the Mountain that Melisandre saw in the flames.

Melisandre stared at Arya, slowly tilting her head, the sharpness in her eyes finally turning into gentle water waves. She and Arya also had a close relationship of half teacher and half friend. She taught Arya how to use the power in the Mountain's blood to cultivate a shadow guard who could suddenly appear in the most dangerous moments. Melisandre had originally seen Arya's glorious future in the flames before she taught her the mysteries of the shadow guard. All along, Arya had no possibility of assassinating the Mountain. Until before noon today, the flames had never had this kind of metaphor.

Melisandre smiled slightly: "Arya, the flames are not omnipotent, I can't see that face clearly in the flames."

"The face of the person I assassinated?"

"Yes!"

Arya was relieved. The faces of the Faceless Men were not unique in the first place, they had a thousand faces, and it was normal that their faces could not be seen clearly in the flames.

So, Arya continued to concentrate on dealing with the food on the table, while the Mountain had already eaten his fill, and put his hands in front of him, as if they were two huge fans. His palms opened, covering Arya's shoulder and part of her back.

Melisandre looked at the Mountain, and when their eyes met, the Mountain saw that Melisandre knew who Arya would assassinate in the future, but Melisandre did not say.

This was an interesting point.

When they arrived at the Mountains of the Moon, the Mountain would find a suitable time to ask Melisandre to tell the secret she saw in the flames.

*

An hour later, the team slowly walked out of the Crossroads Inn. The Mountain, Arya, and Melisandre walked in the front. Suddenly, the innkeeper's child chased after them from behind, and the soldiers teased and ridiculed the little boy. The little boy ran to the front of the team and said to Arya: "My lord, someone asked me to pass on a message to you, in the dark room, the glass candle has burned."