Looks at time... sure, why not. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

# 016 Hidden Beneath

One of the sacrifices I had to make as a Wizard was the lack of peaceful sleep that came with the blessed unconsciousness.

It was not that I could not sleep or I did not sleep... but after a point in training with magic, sleep did not allow me to lose consciousness.

I often sank into a Trance of Occlumency, slowly running through my memories and reinforcing my sense of self. The process allowed me to realize how much influence skinchange had on me... though the influence was limited to when I did it without a wand, the wand acted as a buffer to keep me from losing my mind.

Other times, I would fly around, using animals to keep an eye on the surroundings of where I was staying. So long as I kept most of myself in my body to anchor my soul, I could see through multiple pairs of eyes at once and it was not unlike looking at multiple computer screens in my old life. While effective in keeping guard, that meant I got less rest than I would normally.

The inability to sleep and dream also meant that I could not be surprised or snuck up. Even the Faceless Men, however invisible to my senses they were, could be seen by the owl that was always perched on the rafters at one corner, its night vision being beyond anything humans were capable of.

That also meant that I was perfectly aware when Belle woke up and started moving from her position as the little spoon, ending up between my legs. I felt her lips wrap around my cock and slowly work me to full hardness before trying her way down my shaft, a feat that took her a couple of tries the night before. Deciding to not disturb her efforts, I simply pretended to sleep.

A few minutes later, I was close enough to the edge that I physically started to stir. Pulling back my entire soul into my body from where I spread it out, I decided to finally 'wake up'. Sight from dozen of eyes faded as my own eyes opened, looking at the bulge formed by the sheets, moving up and down. Lowly lifting the covers, I made eye contact with Belle, giving her an amused smile.

"Good morning," I said, my hand resting on her cheeks, stroking her face and causing her to purr in response before going back to sucking my dick with gusto. While we had not gone the full way, she was now more comfortable with oral than when she first started, especially after some mental encouragement.

Lacing my fingers through Belle's hair, I started to slowly guide her motions, encouraging her to take all of my length in. While I did not have some monster-sized cock, the slight boost to my growth from souls I absorbed from Blood Candles had done wonders for my biology and I was left with what I would consider an average-sized cock for an adult. Granted, I was barely a teenager so, there was still room for improvement, even if I did not figure out a way to use magic to control its size.

Before long, I spilled in her mouth, as Belle swallowed around me, making sure to clean everything up before slowly rising and sprawling over me before I flipped us over, kissing my way down the valley of her breasts and beneath the covers to return the favor.

Belle spread her legs, allowing me access as I reached her core before stopping, getting a groan of disappointment in response. I went lower instead, restarting at her knees, kissing up to her thighs instead, a cheeky grin spreading on my face as I felt her fingers lace through my head, intent to pull me to the prize. Sucking at one of the spots between her thighs that made her moan my name the night before, I finally reached the prize, using two fingers to help bring her over the edge.

It took me some time to bring her to release with just my tongue but I enjoyed the act, feeling her squirm around me, her thighs wrapping around my head as Bell came with a scream.

That seemed to have alerted other people because a door was slammed open.

"Are you awake?" came the voice of Dany making me freeze. "What are you doing?"

"Adult stuff," I responded, pulling myself up from beneath the covers. A check showed that she barged in through the door between the two rooms... which was not locked, unlike the door we took the night before... a mistake on my part. While I did not have an issue with Dany barging in, more than the normal adult outrage mixed with embarrassment, the fact that I missed another entrance to the room I slept in was a mistake I could not make again.

Making myself to the side, to make sure I was not laying on Belle, I turned my head and faced my sister, giving him a glare mixed with amusement.

"Is it a game? Can I play?" asked my sister, making me groan as I buried my face into the pillow. This was going to be one long talk, won't it?

"I am sorry, your grace... I could not stop her," said Nessa, her face red as she tried her best to keep Dany from seeing that both Belle and I were naked. I noticed that she had been frozen in place when Dany decided to enter and now, she was trying to cover Dany's eyes with her skirts and trying to wrangle her back to their room.

I turned and looked at the third person by the door, Lanna did not seem all that influenced, standing next to Huan rubbing her eyes before turning and probably going back to bed. `Figures, given where she grew up.` I mentally reasoned before turning to the truly responsible party for this mess.

"You had... one job," I stated, glaring at the dog who whined and covered his face beneath his paws.

"Blaming the dog now... lover?" whispered Belle, draping her body onto my back. I could feel her nipples press against my back, tempting me with more debauchery.

"The mutt knows what he did... that is going to be a disaster of a talk," I grumbled, causing Belle to giggle. Reaching for my wand and flicking it. The door that was left open to shut and lock with a mutter of "Colloportus".

"Impressive," commented Belle, still attached to my back, as she tried to tempt me for more fun by kissing my neck.

"Not as impressive as healing a man, but making a soft breeze to slam a door has its uses," I countered, conveniently not mentioning the locking of the door.

Placing my wand on the table next to the bed, I froze. Doing a double take to see a familiar-looking iron coin right next to where I placed my wand. I released a puff of air in frustration, trying to not overreact.

My delusions of safety shattered, and my body trying to relax from the onset of a panic, I closed my eyes, centering myself with Occlumency.

As it turned out, I was overconfident... because I was sure the coin was not there the night before. The cold chill that ran through my spine made me swallow. Since the main door was locked from the inside, the Faceless Man who came to drop off the coin would have had to come through the door connected to the room my sister slept.

And all of that, without alerting me or the animals I had around to act as early warning. So much for being aware of my surroundings while sleeping it would seem.

I would need to have a chat with the Faceless Men about appropriate methods of communication it would seem... because the alternative was to panic... and I did not do panic.

Mood thoroughly ruined by the reminder of my mortality, I decided to get up.

After a long and awkward conversation about where babies came from with my sister, I took a deep breath, mentally patting myself on the back for being able to avoid the more questionable practices of my family.

"So, what were you doing with Belle?" asked Dany.

"Something adults do when they like each other a lot," I answered, "Mostly husbands and wives... but you do not need to be actually married for it. I can explain it when you are old enough for it to be relevant."

"So... will I get to do that when I grow up?" asked Dany making me uncomfortable.

"Only if you enjoy doing things like that... no one is going to force you or I will kill them." I declared with a serious tone, said death would be slow... and involve a lot of fire... I did not care about being compared to Aerys when it came to things like that. "And only once you are married!" I added.

"But you said you did not need to be married for it." countered Dany, using logic against her overprotective brother... as if it would work. Little Lady, I am a Wizard who breaks three laws of physics before breakfast, I laugh at the face of logic.

"Dany, dear sister, I am... a hypocritical big brother that can set things on fire with a look." I declared, glaring at her "If you did it with anyone without my permission, I would burn that man alive."

Dany gulped, nodding that she did indeed understand.

"Does that mean I can do that with you when I grow up?" she asked, using that unique ability to critically strike my heart. "Targaryens wed brother and sisters, Ser Willem said so."

I looked at my sister, and sighed, mentally noting that I should have a long talk with the knight in question. If anyone else said that I would choose a more violent punishment, but the old knight got some leeway.

In truth, I did not know what to do with Dany. Marrying her off was not an option, because she had the potential to be a dragon rider and maybe more. I could teach her magic once she was old enough, but releasing that knowledge to some other House was not an option. Selling her off to a Dothraki was not going to happen even if the world depended on it. The last thing the world needed was a Daenerys influenced by the Dothraki Culture and wanted to conquer the world... in that way laid disaster.

Then there was that little bit of doubt I had about myself. I had grown to care about the girl who became my little sister, who asked a thousand questions that made me stop and question the rules of the world. Had I been born in any other house, I would have no hesitation about marrying her but my mental frame had incest under `bad` and grooming under `worse`.

Incest, that I could work around. Magic seemed to indicate that biology was overruled by souls and I was proficient in magic to find ways around the negative effects of incest. I would need to study a few more generations of enhanced species beforehand but the theory was there.

The other issue, of how Dany should be raised was an entirely different mess. I could so easily make her grow up expecting to marry her older brother, something that the original Viserys seemed to have done to a degree. That... was not me though.

I did not know what the future would bring and I was not sure how the "dragon blood" would influence things between us, but I had to do my best to stay neutral and be Dany's older brother first. In the end, all I could do was make sure she grew up with all the knowledge she might need in the future and let her make her own decisions when she was old enough.

"Be glad she did not ask more about the family tree," I say to myself out loud once Dany decided that she understood everything.

I decided that I needed some way to clear my mind and I could not do it by meditating now. Deciding to head to the yard to pick up that offer from the Sealord about a chance to spar, I headed to hit something with a wooden stick that was not my wand.

Syrio was already in the yard, with a rapier in hand, facing Ser Richard. The two had developed an odd rivalry, trying to outdo one another with their chosen styles.

"So, now that you have your own ship," said Verago, putting on his own helmet against me. "You will need someone to teach you how to sail."

I looked at him un-amused... not at the fact that he was offering something that I would normally find acceptable, but because this was his way of coming on to me. Verago seemed to have come to the conclusion that just because I did not try to gut him with a sword over perceived insults, I was interested in him. I was pretty sure every servant was gossiping about me and Belle last night and half the Braavos would know about the next Black Pearl having the Sorcerer Prince wrapped around her finger.

As far as I could tell, the entire setup was essentially a honeypot that tried to keep the Sealord on my good side. It also served to put people at ease, since a rogue sorcerer was more dangerous than one that was preoccupied with one of the cultural icons of their city. It also worked to advertise Belle's ability to charm someone... though I was not sure how much of those benefits the Sealord and the Black Pearl actually accounted for... or how many other benefits they got that I was missing.

From my end, the deal was... not as one-sided as I was expecting. Granted, I was more interested in the Sex Rituals from the Summer Isles that Belle promised to provide, but the fact that our relationship would work to prevent a mob carrying pitchforks to form in front of my door was not unappreciated.

I tilt my head to the side, just enough to avoid the stab that would hit my head. A slap of my wooden sword turns into a riposte as Verago steps away, wary, now that he can see in my eyes that I am focused on the fight, using it to keep a clear head.

While I have the ability to set things on fire or cut people down from a distance, over the few years I have come to enjoy the feeling of hitting things with a stick, the act satisfying some primal part of my brain, even if I was no match for a fully grown knight or an experienced Bravo.

That being said, Verago was not much of a threat. Sure, he was older than me and trained probably for a longer time, but at the moment, our physical capabilities were probably a match given how I had made sure to go through the self-enhancement ritual I had figured out.

The ritual I had was a simple one, based on Shadowbinding. It was not a strong buff, as it was spread out across my whole body but it just made me, slightly stronger and more durable as a result. A Blood Candle, a mix of blood, obsidian, and wax that held the soul of a vermin or a bird, burned in a circle that prevented someone from the outside influence on the inside. Adding a bit of salt water into the circle to `purify` the souls I bound to my flesh based on the books that I got from the Alchemist and here I was, about as strong as a sixteen-year-old. Given that I was thirteen, the physical boost was actually significant.

The only shortcoming of the ritual was the cost, and the fact that it lasted about twenty-four hours before my flesh broke down the enchantment. Unlike the Shadowbinding of the Alchemist that had left me the scar, the enchantment I placed did not contain enough malice to fight off my nature, so the soul simply got absorbed into my own.

While the buff to my physical stats did not last long, that did not make the Ritual useless. The soul-stuff that I had used instead got absorbed into my soul from the way I could feel magic get better over time. I was not certain if I was actually consuming the soul and adding it to my own, or using it as a layer across from my soul to protect it, but the result was that... I felt more than I was.

Trading blows, I made sure to draw out the fight as long as I could, my focus was on practicing and learning from a new opponent not winning, just as I mistimed the riposte and had my opponent's blade rest against my throat.

"Good one," I commented, clenching my fist. The fire in my left palm blinked out, the Firebolt that I had pulled from the dragonglass ring slowly spinning down, and the flame vanishing. While Dragonglass was not my wand, drawing fire from it was almost intuitive now, while giving it enough spin to pack a punch made for a simple yet effective spell I could do without needing a wand.

"You have not responded regarding my offer," said Verago, smiling at me.

I sighed, reminding myself why it was a bad idea to set the Sealord's nephew on fire. I was pretty sure both Belle and Verago were encouraged to seek something to bind me to Braavos. It was the smartest thing that I could see the Sealord doing, gaining more influence over a potential power in the future with minimal effort.

"I cannot say I have much experience with ships." I stated, trying my best to double-speak "Though I would say most men prefer horses."

"Ah, yes," said Verago, a smirk on his face, "I hear you have some experience with horses. Have you been on a ship before?" he added, wiggling his eyebrows.

"We took a ship to Braavos, though I was young then," I said, deciding to respond to the question that was on the surface. Anything else and the ones who overheard it may think that this entire thing was about something else and get curious, before adding on "If we are still talking about ships."

"And if we are not?" asked Verago giving me a knowing smirk.

"Here I thought we were talking about the fact that most men prefer a mare between their legs?" I said innocently. It was better to clarify even with analogies.

"Some people do not know what they prefer if they don't try." countered Verago, getting the message.

"Some people are hard to change," I countered, taking on my starting position "I appreciate your offer of friendship Verago, but I prefer horses."

"Then again, some mares are worth it," said Verago with an easy smile, his eyes focusing on something else behind me as his form relaxed.

I turned around and saw Belle walking next to her mother, both seemed... happy. She made eye contact with me and a smile formed on her face.

"Some are," I nodded, watching the mother-daughter pair walk through the exit.

"And if we were actually talking about ships?" asked Verago, seeing the way I was distracted and probably understanding that I was not interested.

"I am sure I can set some time to learn how to run a ship," I stated, accepting the offer of friendship. I had no excuse to refuse and doing so would insult the Sealord. While they wanted me on their side, I too wanted them on my side as it was the most beneficial for me.

"What was that about?" asked Ser Richard, approaching me after the time in the courtyard and sparring, having overheard our conversation.

"Ducks and Goose" I responded with a smirk, wiping my face with the offered piece of cloth. "I prefer duck... he prefers goose."

"Goose?" asked Ser Richard confused at the analogy. It was a good analogy, pity I did not get a chance to watch the entire show with all its seasons in my old life.

"Heard of Joffrey Lonmouth?" I asked, getting a nod from the man before his eyes widened.

"I... see." slowly stated Ser Richard, nodding.

"How was your duel?" I asked, with a grin.

"It was a draw," preened Ser Richard.

"It is nice that you are improving... give another twenty or so wins and you will be even, Ser," I said with an amused smile, getting a glare from the knight in question. Syrio was just better but Ser Richard was learning more it would seem, having replaced his depression with more constructive hobbies... like trying to gut people.

Soon, we were back in the House with the Red Door, a quick wash to clean up and I was standing on top of the ladder, checking the Ward I had placed on the threshold.

The amulet was still there and the soul sustained a decent chunk of the influence the amulet held to keep the house unseen from the eyes. I could feel how the protections I placed had decayed as well, the overnight trip giving the ward time to stabilize into equilibrium between my intent and the nature of the woods without my presence here to influence anything.

I could not have the Ward, as calling it Protective Enchantment was a mouthful, physically keeping people out. Such a spell would require me to actively keep it up. Given that I had not even gotten the Shield Spell to stop solid projectiles or attacks, I had to figure out a way to keep people with ill intent from finding the house in the first place. Such a... mental spell required far less upkeep than a physical barrier.

I tapped the amulet and reached into the soul bound to the house.

The first part was linked to a bit of Greensight... a limited form I could use with my wand at least. I was bombarded by the memories of the `ward`, including a few attempts to physically spy on the house while we were away, all of which were diverted by subtle mental manipulation. The spies would get either an uneasy feeling or an inexplicable need to leave the place alone. One specific example implied that the man in question spied on another house instead of ours.

Having confirmation that the Ward I placed on the House was working, I started to reinforce it with something of my creation. "Repello Inimicum... " I started muttering, repeating the same incantation over and over again.

The incantation was not actually a Harry Potter Spell, though structurally, it worked because I understood the meaning behind the words. It was a combination of two different Protective Enchantments that I knew of, "Repello Muggletum" which repelled all non-magicals, and "Cave Inimicum" which created a barrier that shielded a place from being seen, heard, or smelled by the enemy.

Since I could not simply repel every non-magical who wanted to get to my place of residence, which included some of the residents as well, I had to come up with something new. The result was a compromise that I felt was optimal, using my rather limited knowledge of Latin to deduce that "Inimicum" meant enemy, I created a simple incantation for an Enemy Repelling Charm, with an incantation of "Repello Inimicum". I was not sure of the validity of such an approach but using Occlumency to isolate my own biased intent from the Ward allowed me to feel that the soul within the enchantment gained a 'purpose' to repel enemies of the owner. Since I specifically wanted them to not perceive or be able to find the house, that was what the enchantment wanted to do as well.

The only limitation to such a spell was that it was not stable and it decayed over time, so I needed to spend about ten minutes every day reinforcing it. The experiment I conducted by not reinforcing the protection for the time we were in the Sealord's palace showed that while the protection did not collapse, it did weaken without my presence, even without the once-a-day upkeep.

I noted down my observations and theories in my journal, not the Grimoire that kept all my lore and contextual knowledge about Magic, but one that was meant to be more for my experiments. I also made a note that the Blood Wards that Dumbledore had made for Harry may in fact be as finicky as it was mentioned in canon and the few weeks a year to keep them stable was some amazing achievement compared to what I could manage. It also gave credence to the "There must always be a Stark in Winterfell" rule that Starks took as gospel if it was linked to magical protections placed on Winterfell.

Once I was done repairing and restoring the wards in place, I went to find Wat the Eyes and Wat the Brains, as I had finally decided to call the two Men at Arms. They reported that no one had come while we were gone. That eliminated the possibility that the entire event from being some subtle attempt of Sealord to raid my house... not that he would succeed.

All the important magical things, I kept in my workshop, which was locked from the inside. There was also the fact that the door to my workshop was rigged... without magic. Since the door was locked from the inside, anyone who wanted to get in would have to break through the door, which in turn would break the vials of magical acid I placed in between the two slabs of wood that made up the reinforced door, along with the small vials of... weaker... not-Wildfire that took out the resin from the mix, making it effectively a less powerful, Magically Reinforced Black Powder.

The combination of acid and fire was not nice on the environment, releasing a gas that ate away at anything organic. The small-scale tests I conducted left a patch of barren land in the woods near the ranch... close to other patches of land where my other experiments left their marks.

"Do you have any plans today, your grace?" asked Ser Willem, once we were done with dinner.

"I wish to pray in the Isle of Gods, Ser," I declared. Given what I got up to in the morning, I heard Ser Willem snort. Granted, it was not to actually pray but to get over the meeting at the House of Black and White and ask around a few questions I had regarding the ritual I wanted to perform with Belle... specifically regarding the virginity of the people and how it had any effect, beneficial or otherwise.

Virgin Sacrifice was something known to Red Priests, they preached it often enough that I could learn their general attitude. Given that they preferred to burn said virgins alive... their approach was, less than what I wanted. There still remained a possibility that some of the other religions had more information or even baseless ideas on the value of it, but even broken clocks showed the correct time twice a day.

The door to the House of Black and White opened with a mental command of "Valar Morgulis", once again showing that speaking out an incantation was not necessary as most believed, though it required sufficient control over your mind and soul that most would not achieve it without training.

"A wizard has come," said the Kindly Man, using what I had recently learned to be the Lorathi way of speaking in the third person... as a way to reject individualism or some other philosophy that I did not really bother learning more. Calling me a wizard was a bit of a stretch for them, but I did feel some pride at that, even if he may have meant it to be derogatory.

Also, I was annoyed at the fact that he saw right through the black hair dye I used to get here without being noted. It was mostly to counter the Septons and draw their ire, but a disguise was a disguise.

"A letter would do the same trick," I stated, annoyed at the way the invitation was delivered. I followed the Kindly Man

"Then how will a boy learn?" asked the Kindly Man, a stupid smirk on his face. He sounded far more amused than he had a right to be. "A boy knows why he has come?"

"I am assuming it has something to do with me saving the Sealord's life?" I suggested, knowing that they would not tell me the real reason and let me draw my conclusions. It was an effort to manipulate the conversation and I was taking mental notes that I would jot down in the notebook I had titled, `How to speak like a Cryptic Wizard`.

"A boy... is not wrong," said the Faceless Men, his pause implying that there was something I was missing. "Sealord was not meant to die in the first place," he said, making my mind stop for a second. I clamped down on Occlumency and forced my own body to stay relaxed to show no sign of panic. I was also immediately aware of my own hand that was casually resting on the wand at my belt.

I did not need a second look to know that the Assassin before me was hiding a knife under the sleeves of his robe, ready to throw it.

"But a boy owes the Many-Faced-God a name still." said the Kindly Man, holding an amused smile. I slowly released my breath, giving the man a glare, which did not match the sheepish grin on the man's face.

"How come?" I asked, not sure of the way they reasoned about it.

"Yna the Whore came to us a few days past," explained the Priest of Death. "Told us of a nephew to Sealord of Braavos that was a dead man walking."

"Verago did not seem to be rotting from what I could tell this morning," I quipped.

"No, the nephew however would have died, either to the strike of a Wizard or the knife of a catspaw." explained the Kindly Man. "A man knows not how fate changed, but a boy owes Many-Faced God a name."

I think I got the gist from the rest. Had I not interfered, Verago would have taken the hit aimed at the Sealord, which made sense in a way. It also explained that the hit on the Sealord was not a result of the butterflies I set off.

"So, I get to name anyone?" I asked, not sure.

"A life of equal value and risk," stated the Faceless Man "A nephew of a ruler for another, or niece of one if that is your wish, that is as much as you can ask for."

"So, no asking for Tywin or Robert?" I countered, getting a negative response. "We will see... I will have to think about it."

Who was the niece or nephew of a lord that I seriously wanted to get rid of?

Jon Snow was the first name to come to mind given he was my nephew according to a lot of theories, but I had no solid reason to name him, even if Fate did not change enough for Dany to not get murdered by that idiot. I needed that honorable pawn to keep things from collapsing against White Walkers, someone who would jump at the deadly threat while I watched and cheered on since I had no wish to face an eight-millennia-old lich with time to hone his skills with Magic, at least not without something to nuke him with.

There were many Lannister cousins but all of them were equally worthless in the long run. Shireen was probably not even born yet and even if she did, I was not going to kill an innocent child, like Tywin. Anyone of equal value or less limited me to Lorch and Mountain, but I wanted to personally carve them up for causing me to have more than a few nightmares... even though I could control my nightmares in theory.

Baratheons were similarly out, mostly because I wanted them to fight each other as I laughed at their internal conflict. Whoever remained, I could easily handle with a proper army.

Jon Arryn could do it but he was too high profile and he was a stabilizing influence on Robert, convincing him to not send Assassins after me.

Baelish was an option, I supposed. Beggaring the realm to the scale he did would fall under High Treason not to mention all the money he embezzled but his actions would benefit me and I could make up the money in some way or form with a bit of modern economics, knowledge of capitalism and the absolute power of a future Sorcerer-King... or whatever I decided to name myself.

In the end, the only actual valid option for a target was Young Griff. He was a nephew to a lord... me or Varys according to which set of beliefs you held onto. His presence was a threat to my own life even if he was not exposed to be some Blackfyre Pretender, but his existence had its uses as I could track down the sword Blackfyre by tracking him down when the time came... in theory at least. I also wanted to make sure, my curiosity overrode my need to rid of a threat that was not actively trying to kill me. I had a few ideas about how to prove that Young Griff was who he would claim to be but that was... not ready yet.

Even Euron, I wanted him to recover the Dragonbinder and the Valyrian Steel Armor so I can take it from him, not wanting to risk visiting Valyria, however curious I was about the place.

In the end, any name I wanted to give, either needed to live for now or ones I could handle myself when the time was right, and people like Illyrio and Young Griff, while a present threat, were better kept alive as they were not aware I was onto them and I could use that to draw them into a trap, gaining more than their deaths than corpses.

This was troublesome... I could not find someone I wanted dead enough to send a Faceless Men. Had I not interfered, Verago would have died to the catspaw, so I was allowed to name someone... catspaw... could I?

"And if I had no names to name, would I be able to request the retrieval of an item?" I asked, an idea forming in my mind. I was not stupid enough to ask for the dragon eggs... that, I was sure, was not something that would fly well with the Faceless Men.

A life for a life, the rules of magic went... but that was just Equivalent Exchange in practice, nothing more. My actions in response to a catspaw granting me a catspaw of a different sort, the poetry was one I appreciated.

"It may be arranged within reason," said the Kindly Man, with a nod "Though a service of some form would also need to be requested from a wizard."

I nodded "I need a man to retrieve a specific knife," I said, mostly because I was sure where the knife was within reason but not where the sword Blackfyre was precisely, even if I had some suspicions.

"And where can a man find this specific knife?" asked the Faceless Men, curious.

"In a chest," I responded cheekily, getting a glare from the assassin "in King's Landing, inside the Red Keep among a chest of knives that belong to one Robert Baratheon."

The Catspaw Dagger was the easiest Valyrian Steel weapon I could track. The instigator of the entire book series, as the knife that was meant to kill Bran, I was pretty sure I knew where it was, and retrieving it would be as challenging as sneaking into a castle to kill a lord's nephew... in my opinion at least.

Truth is, I have been trying to figure out how to use divination to track down Valyrian Steel on my own since the first time I looked at the fires and saw a bird shit on my had... and then have a bird shit on my head a few hours later. That being said, something in the metal seemed to be blocking my attempts and I had an idea as to why. That meant I needed a sample to study the metal more closely to work around the effect and Catspaw was low profile enough that I could have someone steal it for me.

If I could figure out how to use divination to find Valyrian Steel, I would have some decent bargaining chips to use with nobility as well as arm the best fighters for the next winter against the undead.

"Any features of worth note for the dagger a man is seeking?" asked

I gave the man a description of what I recalled to be the Catspaw dagger from the show. "It may not look like that but I am certain it has a dragon bone hilt and some obsidian attached to it, I don't remember it well, but I am sure it is a family heirloom," I said with a smile, not even lying. The dagger belonged to Robert, who was technically my cousin or something... so, it belonged to my family... I mean no one got along with all their family, right?

"The dagger shall be retrieved, though a man will owe the Many-Faced God a name." said the Faceless Men, agreeing to retrieve it for me in exchange for another job... which I was not enthused about. A part of me wanted to test my current state against another Magic Practitioner in another duel, to show that I had gained more but the blood-lust gave way to cold reason and I reconsidered, given the potential of death or worse.

"That is not the only reason the Servant of the Many Face God has requested a man's presence," said the Kindly Man "The House of Black and White has a request for a service."

"Valar Dohaeris," I responded "What type of service, not a name I am assuming?"

"Follow," simply stated the priest, making me follow him through the maze-like passages to a bare room apart from what was at the center.

"A boy knows a man?" asked the Kindly Man, standing next to what looked to be an altar and an operation theater combined. The face was peeled off the corpse in question, and he was naked. That would have made identification a bit of a problem but the strategically placed holes, between his ribs, his eye socket, and his neck were hard to miss. I was pretty sure it was the same guy who shanked the Sealord only for Syrio to... go to town on him, as the saying goes.

"What do you lot want with the man who tried to kill the Sealord?" I asked, uncertain

"What the House of Black and White is concerned with is not a concern for a boy. Does a boy know of our... practice of wearing faces?"

"Not enough... though I know that the skin allows you to place a glamour of sorts and you can draw out memories of the faces to better blend in," I admitted, getting no emotional reaction from the man in question apart from a nod.

"A man becomes no one, so they can become someone," whispered the Kindly Man, barely audible enough for me to hear, "If a man cannot become truly no one, the memories begin to... leak through like cheese clothes, changing a man."

`So, like Occlumency then... only the opposite` I mentally compared. Their whole becoming no-one concept was a bit suspicious from the beginning, based on my knowledge at least.

Arya had failed at every moment to lose her own identity and she kept advancing despite her failure to become No-one. It suggested that the entire concept of becoming No-one was meant to train the user to become resilient to the influence of foreign memories and souls... which was the exact opposite of what I did, even if the purpose was not dissimilar to what I had been doing to keep the influence of my familiars from my self.

My meditations were meant to 'restore' my mind to be in line with my brain, to remove the influence of being an animal after the fact. While I leveraged my flesh to keep my identity, the Faceless Men seemed to have developed a method to keep their identity despite the flesh they wore.

It would seem I needed to figure out a way to compartmentalize my memories instead, the new insight proving to be useful for that purpose. I needed a better way, one that would allow me to keep the memories from spending time as `not-me` out of the boxes that were `me`... something I was sure I needed to do consistently to not end up brain-dead like how Bran the Broken was portrayed.

The version of `Occlumency` the Faceless Men used also explained how he was blank to my mental senses, how I could not feel anything from his mind. I was sure there was something the Faceless Men did to themselves by using Weirwood and Nightwood but combined with an active effort, I could not feel them at all.

"What has that got anything to do with me?" I asked instead unsure what the request was. I was best served not to let them know that I caught onto their trick.

"Some memories, we cannot draw out from a face, and we cannot go any deeper... for the dead are sacred," stated the Faceless Man. "A man is asking if you have the skill to do so."

"So, you want me to interrogate a dead man?" I asked, not sure if that was allowed "I thought Necromancy was not allowed in your book."

"A wizard is not allowed to keep the dead in their own body, but a wizard is a Servant of the Many-Faced-God, he will need to figure out how to do so without breaking the rules," explained the Kindly Man, making me grimace at the challenge.

"In their own body, you say?" I say out loud, suggesting that it could be some other soul. I was also happy that I now understood the rules that I could not break without pissing off the Faceless Men.

"I am going to need the skull... rest is of no use to me," I said, recalling a talk with Yna about some witches keeping skulls around and talking to them. I also knew that she could use the blood of the living to see the future, so maybe she could use the blood of the dead to see the past. "What am I looking for?"

"A man must find the reason for a servant to try to kill the Sealord," declared the Kindly Man, walking to the side of the altar. I expected the Kindly Man to nod and send me on my way with a promise of delivery. What I got was him grabbing a cleaver and removing the head in question with a single strike.

Granted, they routinely removed the faces off of the corpses but for a Cult dedicated to worshiping Death, they were rather disrespectful of the dead. I suppose there was some leeway with the would-be murderer, as his head would be removed according to most laws in this world.

I tapped the presented head with my wand with a mutter of "Scurgify", drawing out flames to clean the skull off and burn out all the remaining flesh and sinew, not willing to touch the week-old decaying corpse for fear of decease or worse.

The spell was one of the more common ones I used to create the potion base, burning the bloodless corpse of the sacrifice over the cauldron. That being said, leaving out the bones was not something I often chose to do.

It was also a show of power, a subtle threat that I could rend their flesh off their bone and turn their House of Black and White into cinder if I so chose, or if they chose to attack me, to counter the subtle threat they made by leaving that coin on my bedside. The use of the incantation was not strictly necessary but I chose to do so anyways to muddy the waters a bit, not willing to reveal that bit of trump card.

The Kindly Man did not react to my use of magic, his smile making me more uneasy as if he did not care. I was pretty sure it was Occlumency in action, as I could not tell if it may be because he already knew I could do that.

In the end, I was left with a clean white skull in my satchel, wrapped in cloth, as I took a deep breath of fresh air, the white and black doors of the temple closing behind me.

A part of me wanted to ask them if they knew about sex magic, but they did not seem to be the type to mix the wonders of procreation with the way they worshiped death.

Ser Richard was standing there, unwilling to enter the House of Black and White after his last visit. His clothing looked casual from the outside, though hidden beneath the layers he wore mail as per my command.

"Sept next... I can use a bit of praying?" asked Ser Richard, as I gave him a nod. Though he was not religious like some other knights, Ser Richard still occasionally got the need to pray, giving me time to subtly interrogate the Septons about a particular concept I recalled.

You see, most wedding ceremonies of the Seven ended along the lines of "And now you are one soul." For a normal person, it was romantic... or religious droll. It depended on the person you asked.

For a person who regularly played around with souls, merging two souls into a single one... sounded like some sort of a ritual of some sort, even if the Seven were against Magic on the outside.

Looking old enough to be his squire, Ser Richard mentioned something along the lines of catching me with a whore and wanting the Septon to explain the virtues of chastity and all that droll. While I glared at the knight, his lie was still technically correct, even if Belle was not a whore yet.

So, I listened on and on about the 'virtues' of purity, the need for abstinence, and all that shit. The Septon I chose to ask those questions, I knew from experience talking with before, to be more... susceptible to mental persuasion and he was of the decent kind who believed what he said... unlike a few of the Septons who paid lip service for the benefits they got.

I reached out to the Sept, trying to once again feel the gods. If they were there, they hid well and all I could feel was a subtle pressure of some sort. It was... familiar to the protections I had recently crafted, though I was pretty sure I could just now detect it because I knew what I was looking for.

Having real-world experience creating and studying wards for a week gave me the skills needed to feel the protections around the Sept. It also made me once again question the presence of gods.

The feeling I got was, less refined than the protective enchantments I had created, though they were all... not anchored but, focused on the Seven-Pointed-Star that made the largest icon at the altar. I was unsure if it was the Seven themselves who empowered it, or a side effect of the few of the clergy with more magical capacity accidentally empowering the protection without realizing it.

Whatever the wards were meant to do, the protection did not prevent me from using Legilimency on the Septons, or the compulsions to incentivize them to help me more than they would. I knew that my acts were not outright harmful to the Septons, so it may have been a different story if I were chosen to make it so that a few of the Septons got the sudden urge to run under a moving carriage neck first. I was not willing to test my theory and none of the Septons screamed 'pedophile' for me to justify such an act of vigilantism and test the limits of what Seven could do.

Leaving the Sept-Beyond-The-Sea with my coin purse lighter and a book called "Caution for Little Girls", an awfully redacted version compared to some of the saucier ones I could find, which were... essentially porn. What... I got bored easily and needed something to read and playing around with magic all the time became less novel after a while... you cannot judge me.

I found the irony of a book meant to promote chastity to me as I researched ways to use Sex Magic too amusing that I paid double for the book, with the explicit purpose of gifting the book to Belle for a laugh. Maybe she would be open to trying some of the things in the book... not the one I got from the Sept, but the one that had more detail. I could bet the ship I just got that Bellonara had at least one copy with some fun stuff.

AN: Wizerys making bold statements only to be proven false.

Dany will become an Apprentice, which also means, she is going to end up in the harem, though Wizerys is still trying his best to not be a creep about it and wait until she is older and let her decide. Granted, Dany is a Targaryen and magic is an aphrodisiac to Targs. Since Wizerys is essentially magic on legs, he is really trying his best to not think about it.

More information about Enchanting, this time with Warding. Wiz is also collecting information he did not have before and all of the pieces will fit together so be patient.

I really enjoy writing about the Faceless Men... especially because they scare the shit off Wizerys and are now just trolling him. I recently learned that Jaqen spoke like the way he spoke because he was Lorathi, not because he was from Braavosi. That being said, I like the aspect of the Faceless Men not directly lying and using the method to confuse and work around stating truths, so of course they all talk like that.

The Catspaw Dagger, is the one from the shows, but Wizerys does not know that, because I started this SI before HotD actually showed it... but we all know the one of the first things Wiz would do when he got the dagger will be to shove it into fire.

Also, Caution for Young Girls is the type of fiction that would be great in QQ, given that MC, and I quote, "finds herself as handmaid to a queen, the paramour of a young knight, a camp follower in the Disputed Lands, a serving wench in Myr, a mummer in Tyrosh, the "plaything" of a corsair queen in the Basilisk Isles, a slave in Volantis, the handmaid of a Qartheen warlock, the mistress of a pleasure house in Lys and ultimately a septa in the Starry Sept of Oldtown". And also, some people add more spicy things to the book as they copy it down... because of course they are.