Chapter 30 - Meeting the Priest
The next morning came quietly. No bells, no footsteps in the corridors, no sunlight through the narrow window. Only the faint sound of water moving somewhere deep in the House of Black and White. We rose one by one. Leaf was the first fully awake, then Val, then me. Viserys woke looking confused. Daenerys rubbed her eyes and blinked at the grey stone around her as if trying to remember where she was.
The robes were comfortable enough for sleeping, but none of us wanted to walk outside in them. The air in Braavos was hot and heavy, even inside the temple. After washing, we changed back into our original clothes. Our travel-worn shirts and cloaks were not fancy, but they felt like ours. Val and Leaf stood near the small bath chamber, drying their hair with quiet patience. Even the princess and her brother preferred the rough rags they had been wearing before. The robes of the priests were too solemn, too strange, and too warm for the weather outside. They kept only the inner garments for comfort and dressed again as best they could.
When we were ready, a soft knock sounded on the door.
A priest stood there, the same calm expression as all of them seemed to share. "You are called," he said simply. Nothing more. No explanation. No warning.
We followed him down a long corridor lit by small bowls of quiet flames. The walls were smooth and cold, and every sound we made seemed to echo twice. Viserys kept close to Daenerys. Val and Leaf walked behind me, their steps steady and alert.
The priest led us to a larger chamber, one I had not seen before. The door was already open. Inside stood a single man, the same priest who had greeted us last night near the pool. His robe hung straight, without a fold out of place. His hands were clasped behind his back, and he watched us with an unreadable calm.
As we entered, the priest was already waiting to welcome us.
We stepped inside, the door closing behind us without a sound.
"Welcome," he said softly.
The priest nodded. "There are matters we must discuss. Many matters."
"Good," I answered. "But first I want to talk about the Targaryen children. I want to know who gave the contract to save them. I don't know anyone who would spend their own coin on a prince and princess of a dethroned line. Who would pay for a fallen royal dynasty?"
When I said the dethroned prince and princess, I saw Viserys stiffen beside me. His jaw tightened, his body went rigid. The words struck him hard. But even he understood that inside this place, inside a temple of the Many-Faced God, reacting with anger would be foolish. So he said nothing. Not yet. And he seemed not to be as mad as he would later become.
The priest smiled faintly. "Yes, very few people would spend coins on such a matter. In truth, almost no one. A dethroned dynasty is not a promising investment or endeavour."
He tilted his head thoughtfully. "But what is more important than dynasty is the continuation of the living. You know this Traveller. We both know this."
His words hit me strangely, especially when he called me Traveller.
That word stirred something inside my memory. The only ones who had ever called me that before were the Greenseer and the Children of the Forest. They were tied to the old gods and now this priest stood before me, tied to the Many-Faced God.
It made me wonder that maybe he also knows something about me.
"So what does that mean?" I asked quietly. "Who ordered you to save them?"
The priest folded his hands. "No person gave the order. No lord. No merchant. No sellsword. Nobody paid us a single coin."
Viserys leaned forward eagerly.
The priest's voice did not rise, but the weight of his words filled the hall.
"It was commanded to us by the Many-Faced God. The Targaryens were to be saved. They must live."
"Saving these two or..." I repeated.
The priest smiled again, softer this time. He didn't say more. He didn't have to. We both understood the truth. The command was not truly for saving both. It was for one. The one who mattered more in the eyes of the god.
Viserys' face lit up with sudden hope. "So your god recognizes me as the rightful king? Does this mean you will help us? Will you help me return to the Iron Throne?"
He took a step forward, voice trembling with desperation.
"Will you help us reclaim what is ours?"
The priest listened to Viserys' hopeful question for a long moment. Then he answered with a calm, almost soft voice.
"No. We will not help you reclaim any throne. We were ordered to save lives, not to change the ruling lines."
Viserys froze as the priest continued, "But if you have a contract… if you have coin for a contract… then perhaps. We do not refuse coin. Everything has a price."
The light in Viserys' eyes dimmed. His excitement collapsed in on itself, leaving only disappointment. He did not even have a penny.
Still, even in that moment, he looked relieved. He took comfort in the fact that someone, no, a god had ordered these people to save him and his sister. It gave him a sense of importance and peace he had been chasing for years.
After this, the priest gestured toward the doors. "Prince. Princess. Step outside. I would speak with the others alone."
Viserys went out quickly. His mood was not right for any further thinking. Daenerys, however, hesitated. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked back at us. Questions and suspicion sat openly on her face. Only after a moment did she follow her brother out of the chamber.
Once the door closed, the priest turned to me. His expression shifted to be more serious, but also curious.
"The Many-Faced One has been expecting you, Traveler."
Val and Leaf stiffened beside me.
"So you know it all?"
The priest nodded, confirming what we all felt. "Yes, but we know only a little. Only what our god has told us. What he knows is known only to him."
I gave a small nod.
The priest then shifted his attention to Val. "It seems you have successfully made several arrangements in these past months since your arrival."
His words told me something important, that he even knew when I had come to this world.
I answered simply, "Yes. The Freefolks' tribes are now moving south of the Wall."
The priest considered this for a moment. "To the Gift, I presume."
I appreciated his deduction. "You are an interesting person, Priest."
He smiled more humanely, maybe because of my compliment.
"I only guessed from the nature and habits of Freefolks, Northern lords wariness and availability of land. The only place where free folk could live without immediate war south of the Walkl. The Gift is empty, full of land and woods. "
He turned to Leaf, and said it in a serious somber way. "The Temple of Many-Faced God welcomes you, the Children of the forest and the priests of the God of life."
His words made all three of us pause.
Leaf blinked with surprise. She did not think anybody could see through her magic. Her magic was not an illusion or deception. It transformed and changed her body completely. Still, he saw through it.
"Thank you," she said slowly. "But… what God of life do you speak of?"
The priest offered a calm smile. "Do not worry. We serve the same god."
Val stepped forward at that. "No. You serve the God of Many Faces, the God of Death. She serves the old gods. They are the children of the forest after all."
The priest smiled widely and spread his hands. "And who is older than Death? Many say there is only one god, and that is Death. Because only Death is inevitable. Predestined."
Then he looked at Leaf. "And you know well that death and life are two sides of the same whole. One cannot exist without the other. They are not enemies. They complete the circle."
Leaf went quiet. Even with her thousands of years of life, she had not set foot in this temple, nor learned this connection. But the priest's explanation fit with something she knew.
The priest noticed her understanding. "You have seen the gate of this temple was carved from both weirwood and ebony. Weirwood for life. Ebony for death. Together they form the full circle."
We all nodded slowly.
I asked, "Then why call it the God of Many Faces? And why call them children of the forest?"
The priest smiled at the question. "Because death has no single form. No single face. It can appear in any shape, at any time. So it is the God of Many Faces. As for the children of the forest… they are the children of the God of life. They worship life, nature and the growing things. And all creatures begin as children be it humans, animals, everything."
He paused. "That is why they are called children of the forest. And why we call ourselves believers of the God of Many Faces."
Some of the fear and mystery of this temple lifted at his words. A place whispered about across the world now felt clearer and more logical. Not safe, but understandable.
That made me frown. "But the White Walkers. Do they not serve the God of Death? Raising the dead seems like the domain of the God of Death."
The priest's expression turned somber. "Yes. Raising the dead is death's domain. But the one you speak of is an abomination. A mistake. Born from the children's desperation and uncontrolled magic."
Leaf lowered her head. "Yes. I know. But we did not want him to be that. We only wanted to stop men from slaughtering us."
The priest nodded. "Have you ever wondered why those who served life created something with more power than themselves? Something that raises the dead?"
Leaf hesitated. "Because… the God of life and death is the same? What we made touched on the domain of death?"
"Exactly," the priest said. "He gained a sliver of that power. Tiny, barely measurable, but enough to create the abomination he became."
Leaf looked guilty, but the priest spoke gently. "Do not blame yourself. It was not you. Things happen because they must happen. Destiny and Fate has its hand in all things."
I exhaled. "Then there must be a God of fate as well."
The priest's smile widened. "Call them what you wish. God of life, God of death, God of destiny, God of light. Many names. One truth. What matters is not the names and Gods, but what the living do with the time they have, and how they shape the world."
The chamber fell quiet, filled only with the whispers of unseen faces in the stone walls.
End of Chapter 30 - Meeting the Priest