Three ships left the harbor two days later—the Sovereign, the Black Hand, and the smaller stonekin vessel. Thomas stayed home to keep watch over the city. Brienne took the twins to Winterfell with Beth. During the previous meeting, Beth had stood and offered two old ledgers that belonged to her father. Her father had worked for the Iron Bank. He died under suspicious circumstances, and a fire had burned his carriage to ash. The books had been hidden in the family home, and Beth found them when her mother passed away. She kept them as keepsakes, but now they seemed relevant. Ming and Tse pored over the books and found many inconsistencies. Clearly, the Iron Bank was keeping two sets of books.
Coming down the coast while somewhat out at sea, one of the sail crew on the Black Hand called out wreckage. Sure enough, there was a part of a wrecked ship floating. They cast hooks and pulled it into the side of the ship. One of the Amanian crewmen shouted that it was the royal family ship. They searched but found no bodies or anyone alive. One of the men said it looked like a Kraken had gotten the ship. They did, however, find 7 chests of treasure aboard the wreck. They pulled them onboard the Black Hand. They sank the wreckage before it could cause any trouble for other ships.
The rest of the trip to King's Landing was uneventful. Arya went hard on training, as she was out of practice from carrying and caring for children. Ten days later, they pulled into the docks at King's Landing. Tyrion Lannister met them at the wharf. He greeted Arya, saying, "I am to go with you to the bank. I have some experience with those louts, and making them squirm will be a great pleasure for me. They may kill us all, you know?" He half laughed after the last part. As Dirk went by him, he said, "By equal measure we may kill all of them too." Tyrion really laughed then, saying, "Oh, I knew this was going to be a fun trip. I will wait onboard."
Bran greeted them all and bade them to sit. His new Minister of Coin produced a chest containing 5 million gold coins, each worth a platinum bar. Wicket stood and said, "My mother has an uncanny knack of knowing who is lying when they are speaking. She will go with you." "That will be quite helpful, where we are going," Arya said. Bran said, "I am sending 50 crack troops with you to guard this treasure and to help defend you all. You must know this is going to be quite a delicate operation, and may go sideways on you quickly. While I am not interested in making an enemy of the biggest bank around, the fact that they may already be an enemy is not lost on me. Three ships of the line will follow you there, as well. Please try to come back alive, and with this treasure, if things go badly."
Ming and Tse were in close consultation with several high-ranking officials who knew the bank well. They were brought up to speed on the bank's misdeeds and normal practices. They also let those officials peruse the ledgers Beth had. A former high-ranking sea lord member also joined them to deal with the sea lords if needed.
As their team was now formed, they said their goodbyes and departed. The trip up the Narrow Sea went without incident. All the ships passed through the titan, all the way to the Purple Harbor. Their sea lord adjunct intervened with the sea lord troops, telling them that the Iron Throne was paying a bill. Two burly guards carried a large chest, and the away team marched beside them on the way to the Iron Bank.
Immediately, two faceless men attacked Arya on sight. They were cut down ruthlessly by the away team. Several others seemed to be following their approach to the bank. A few vanished from view, probably alerting the main building that she was here. As they got near the bank's doors, a group of 18 faceless men attacked. As they did, 20 sandkin assassins materialized behind them, cutting them down to a man. The assassins faded from view, and the group entered the bank. Once inside, having stated their business, the team was ushered into the office of Noho Dimittis. He greeted them casually and asked their business with the bank. Arya kicked over the open chest, spilling gold, platinum, and jewels onto the floor. "We're here to solve several issues," she said. "One of them being the bank's involvement with the Zon invasion force." Noho Dimittis looked shocked, sputtering, "There is no involvement!" Wicket's mother was in her head, "He isn't lying there."
"Then why is a Zonian captive communicating with one of you board members?" Arya countered. The man looked confused and unhappy. "I'm sorry, but you will have to return at a later date to discuss this issue with the board," the man went into corporate speak. "He's lying, really lying," the mother transmitted. Arya leaped to the man's side and snatched him by the collar. "You are lying," she said. Tyrion jumped up, saying, "The board is in a meeting right now, aren't they?" Arya stuck her dagger to the man's throat, "You're going to take us there now, aren't you?"