The Mountain of Ice and Fire

‘In the pitch-black room, the glass candle is burning’—Arya didn't understand the metaphor in this sentence, nor did she understand its meaning. During her training in the House of Black and White, no one had ever mentioned glass candles or pitch-black rooms to her.

But she knew she had to figure out what the metaphor meant.

The fact that someone specifically had a child deliver this message meant that it must have an extremely profound meaning. Perhaps, this sentence was the method to 'change a name'.

"Little one, thank you, I received your message." Arya picked up her small, shriveled purse, shook it, and it jingled. She opened the mouth of the purse and took out a copper star. —Arya had no gold dragons or silver stags in her pocket. Being around the Mountain, Arya didn't spend any money at all. If she was shopping in King's Landing, she would just have the shopkeeper put the bill on His Majesty the King's account, and Littlefinger Petyr Baelish would dutifully pay it.

The Mountain's eyes swept over Podrick, Comm Warner, Landon Gall, and others, and they all unanimously took out gold dragons from their pockets. Landon Gall was the fastest, flicking a golden dragon accurately into the child's pocket with a flick of his finger.

The Mountain had only been on the Iron Throne for a short time, and Clegane currency was only popular in the Westerlands. In King's Landing, the great nobles and giant merchants had to first get gold dragons and exchange them for paper money of equal value at the Bank of Baelor before they could do business.

But in the Riverlands, most of the common people had not even heard of paper money. They were used to using gold dragons, silver stags, and copper stars.

The child reached into his pocket, looked at the gold dragon, his eyes filled with green light. His eyes darted around extremely quickly, his gaze flickering, flickering, flickering, and then he ran away as if flying. The generals laughed heartily.

The Mountain's right heel tapped slightly, and Red Smoke understood its master's intention, continuing forward, followed by the others, the royal banner fluttering in the wind.

The Mountain looked at Arya beside him: "In the pitch-black room, the glass candle is burning, Arya, what does this sentence mean?"

"I don't know," Arya said frankly. If she didn't know, then naturally the Mountain wouldn't know either. Since no one knew, then let's just treat it as an unsolvable oracle, or a wizard's secret language. Arya noticed the Mountain's gaze was probing, she knew the Mountain wanted to know who had given her this message, but Arya didn't want to tell the truth.

She decided not to let the Mountain know that the Faceless Men had arrived! She would face the Faceless Men's affairs herself. This was very dangerous, but Arya had no choice.

The Mountain had saved the Stark family and the lives of all the Northerners in the Battle of Winterfell, this was an enormous kindness, even if Arya was crushed to pieces, the Stark family would still owe the Mountain a debt of gratitude.

The Mountain's gaze shifted from Arya to Melisandre: "Madam, the glass candle is burning in the pitch-black room, what is this a metaphor for?"

Melisandre looked at the Mountain, her beautiful and enchanting eyes rippling with a captivating smile: "Your Majesty, you are a divine envoy, I think you should know what this sentence means, right?!"

Arya's heart stirred. Listening to Melisandre's meaning, the Mountain and she seemed to know what this sentence meant?!

The Mountain was a divine envoy, and Melisandre was a priestess of the Red God. If they both knew the meaning of this sentence, then the fact that someone told her this sentence had a special meaning. —Someone did it on purpose!

If anyone else from the House of Black and White had come, they wouldn't have left like this; only Jaqen H'ghar would have chosen to retreat because of Arya's sharp words. Retreat wasn't fear, nor was it weakness, but in the House of Black and White, someone had painstakingly raised Arya like a daughter, their relationship transcended the assassin's dogma and had human feelings. The gods had always seen someone's favoritism towards Arya. The gods chose to acquiesce.

If a Faceless Man's assassination was exposed and turned into an open killing, the Faceless Men had two choices: exterminate everyone who knew the inside story; or leave and have another Faceless Man continue the mission. Generally speaking, unless it was absolutely necessary, the Faceless Men would change to another person to take over, rather than exterminating everyone who knew the inside story. The Faceless Men were the top assassins, every person they killed was either exchanged for another life, or they signed a sacred employment agreement before the statue of the Many-Faced God.

Once they accepted a mission, they would have a very clear target: a name. They would not act against anyone who was not that name.

Not indiscriminately killing any innocent person was one of the Faceless Men's creeds. The more skilled the assassin, the more they revered life. This was completely different from the realm of those gangsters who would stab people to death on the street at the slightest disagreement. The end of life, for the Faceless Men, was not dark pain, but the beginning of another path of serving the Red God.

This was 'All men must die, all men must serve'.

The task that someone received, of course, only had one name: Gregor Clegane. In the face of Arya, someone was unwilling to draw his sword, then he was left with only one path: retreat. The House of Black and White would naturally have another, more powerful Faceless Man to take over.

*

The Mountain's gaze returned from Melisandre's face. Any man who met Melisandre's gaze would be unable to resist indulging in flights of fancy. Melisandre's eyes were full of overflowing spring waves, bewitching like a demon. That exquisite ruby pendant, the heart-shaped rosy cheeks, the snow-white neck with dewdrops, and the milk-like white, mirror-smooth skin, every inch was very provocative. But the Mountain looked at Melisandre with no surprise, he knew that Melisandre's age was several times older than his grandmother.

Most of Melisandre's youth secret was in that huge red gemstone on her throat.

The sound of horses' hooves clattered, dense and crisp.

"Your Majesty, do you know what a burning glass candle is?" Arya asked politely in a very formal tone.

When Arya was casual and happy, she would directly call the Mountain 'Mountain', she would not call him 'Your Majesty'. The Mountain took a default attitude towards Arya's address. This was basically the same as the character of the late King Robert Baratheon. The late King Robert also liked Eddard Stark to call him by his name, and he didn't mind the common people calling him Robert on the street. In the palace, courtiers and generals would kneel on one knee to pay their respects to the king, but the Mountain and the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Ilyn Payne, were unwilling to kneel, they chose to stand and bow their heads, and Robert didn't mind, he defaulted to Ilyn Payne and the Mountain's 'transgression and disrespect'.

Robert was able to unite the Seven Kingdoms, and was able to have the fearless Barristan Selmy be his Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, and his character played a decisive role. Barristan had killed many of Robert's relatives and friends on the battlefield, and had killed Robert and Eddard's three best friends, but Robert still chose to pardon him after capturing Barristan, and finally made Barristan kneel and submit willingly.

Robert sat on the Iron Throne as a usurper, and finally made all the great nobles of the Royalist army who were loyal to the Targaryen family kneel and submit, and his tolerance and generosity played the most important role. In fact, the fearsome Mountain also had Robert's demeanor!

Regardless of whether it was in public or in private, Arya was happy to call the Mountain whatever she wanted, and the Mountain would accept it naturally and calmly, without any royal majesty or expressing the slightest dissatisfaction.

Arya addressed the Mountain as 'Your Majesty' in a very formal tone, she wanted to know what a burning glass candle was, she was very serious, which made the Mountain take another look at her.

*

"A glass candle is obsidian," the Mountain said as seriously as Arya. The Mountain knew that something was strange today, starting with the child who delivered the message, Arya had encountered some things, but she was unwilling or perhaps unable to say it in this kind of occasion.

"Obsidian?"

Melisandre said: "Obsidian is dragon glass that can kill White Walkers. There are many dragon glass deposits buried under Dragonstone. His Majesty sent professional Westerlands miners to Dragonstone to mine obsidian a year before the Battle of Winterfell, and then had Lord Gawen Westerling send the dragon glass to the Wall. Daggers, short knives, and arrows made of dragon glass are the nemesis of White Walkers. Dragon glass is the essence of earth fire, and it specifically restrains the icy bodies of White Walkers."

"Does dragon glass burn on its own?" Arya asked Melisandre.

"It does not!"

"Can dragon glass be made into candles?"

"Dragon glass can be made into short knives, daggers, and arrowheads, I think it can also be made into candles."

"Pitch-black room, burning candle, then what does this mean?" Arya was very glad that Melisandre and the Mountain actually knew the secret of the glass candle. It seemed that someone also knew the secret of the dragon glass candle, which might not be a secret to Arya.

The Mountain's voice sounded. The time-traveling Mountain knew about the dragon glass candle. Although he was not a divine envoy, he knew the superficial secrets about the dragon glass candle. This superficiality was a remarkable magic for people who didn't understand the glass candle at all.

"Arya, in the Citadel of Oldtown, there are rumors of three glass candles as sharp as knives. All apprentices who enter the Citadel to study must be in a pitch-black room with an equally pitch-black glass candle before they are formally promoted from apprentice to assistant acolyte."

Oldtown? Citadel? Assistant? Black room and black candle?

"Your Majesty, why does the Citadel have such a rule?" Arya had more respect for the Mountain. Her words and deeds rarely returned to the demeanor of a well-behaved lady.

"Oh… this question…" The Mountain's superficiality began to show, "…I heard that the archmaesters of the Citadel put apprentices in pitch-black rooms as a promotion exam… a compulsory question… it seems to require three days and three nights… there are rumors that if an apprentice has some kind of talent, they can make the black glass candle burn…"

"…Oh…" Arya certainly didn't understand why, "If it doesn't burn, the apprentice can't become an acolyte assistant?"

"Not really. As long as you stay in the room for the prescribed time, you pass the exam. For hundreds of years, no apprentice has been able to make the glass candle burn on its own. Many apprentices can't restrain their curiosity in the pitch-black room and will reach out to touch the glass candle placed on the table, because it's pitch-black and they don't know that the glass candle is extremely sharp, as a result, without exception, the apprentices' hands will be cut by the sharp edge of the glass candle, and some people will be seriously injured. As long as he can't hold on until the opening time, as long as he makes a cry for help in advance, he must leave the Citadel."

"Eliminated?"

"Yes, eliminated. Even the qualification to be an apprentice is lost."

Arya turned to look at Melisandre: "Madam, is the secret of the glass candle that His Majesty said like this?"

"For the Citadel, yes."

"Why would the Citadel do this? What is the secret of that glass candle? How can it ignite on its own?"

"Maybe it has something to do with dragons," Melisandre said.

"Dragon glass? Dragon?"

"Dragon glass is the essence of earth fire, and the dragon's dragon fire is also the essence of flame."

Arya seemed to vaguely feel something: "When dragons reappear in the sky, magic is also revived synchronously, is the self-ignition of the dragon glass candle like the revival of magic?"

"Arya, if you want to understand this question, maybe you have to go to the Citadel," Melisandre stared at Arya meaningfully.

Arya's heart stirred!

She asked someone to change a name, and someone told her this sentence, what does this have to do with her request to change a name?

To change a name, of course, you have to find the person who proposed the name; back then, Jaqen H'ghar wanted Arya to change a name, Arya finally changed her name, and Jaqen H'ghar was spared from suicide. It was also from that time that Jaqen H'ghar took a fancy to Arya, thinking that she had the potential to become a Faceless Man, so Jaqen H'ghar gave Arya an iron coin. Arya proposed to change a name, someone should have reminded her to find the client, but someone didn't, he asked a child to tell Arya such a strange sentence.

What hidden secrets are there in the burning dragon glass candle that Arya needs to unlock?

Or, is this someone's way to get Arya to leave the Mountain?

Arya quickly made a decision, her tone of voice also changed, and she no longer solemnly called the Mountain 'Your Majesty': "Mountain, after the wedding in the Westerlands, can you take me to the Citadel with a dragon?"

"As you wish, Miss Stark," the Mountain smiled. He naturally saw that Arya had made a very important decision, this decision made Arya feel relieved, so she changed from the solemn title of 'Your Majesty' to the relaxed and unrestrained 'Mountain'.

"Arya, after attending the wedding in the Westerlands, your one-month time limit to protect His Majesty the King will have long expired," Melisandre said teasingly.

"I know when to leave our King, Madam Melisandre," Arya said faintly.

"Oh!" Melisandre smiled slightly, charming and alluring, with a hidden meaning in her words, "Arya, the long night is dark and full of dangers, and the burning glass candle is not so easy to get!"