Hardhome
POV of Domeric Bolton
"Mance will live," Domeric told Tormund, who had a slightly worried look on his face and the tent erupted with cheers.
Mance might have been a man of the Night's Watch once, but he was truly loved by the free folk now.
The cheers lasted for a while and once everybody had calmed down, he took a seat opposite Tormund with Karsi while Varko was standing behind him. Yes, he had been trying to get them together every chance he could get. After he sat down, Domeric asked the million-dollar question.
"What happened Tormund?"
The atmosphere became grim as soon as he asked the question, and he could see a hint of anger in Tormund's eyes.
"Weeper took the men you had told to fuck off and made a large band of his own," Tormund said with barely restrained anger in his voice. "I should have killed that fucker when I had the chance. Now he had fashioned himself the King Beyond the Wall though with how few people he had left after the battle, I doubt anyone else thinks of him as the same."
"We had some 10,000 people before Weeper attacked us." One of Tormund's sons said, "Now we barely have half of that."
"The main point is… Weeper might have lost as many as us in the battle… but he still has so much more." Tormund said. "He's stopping anyone else who wants to go to the South with you. I do not doubt that he has already made a few examples of anyone he found coming to Hardhome." Tormund shook his head sadly. "We'll not be able to bring any more people South from here."
Domeric thought about what Tormund had said and mulled the facts in his mind.
In the past few years, he had already brought about 40,000 free folk to his lands. Of the remaining free folk in the North, 20,000 were Thenns. People who were known for their cannibalistic tendencies. He didn't even want to touch them with a ten-foot pole let alone bring them to his lands.
This Weeper had about 10,000 people under him. There must be about 10,000 more whom he rejected and who are currently scattered throughout the True North and about 20,000 who did not accept Mance's offer.
Well… he could go to the 20,000 who are scattered in dozens of different tribes all over the North and see if they're worth saving. If they are, then he would have to kill this Weeper and defeat his men before he had any hope of bringing anyone to Hardhome.
But, did he really want to put so much effort into and risk his life for people who rejected Mance's offer in the first place?
There was a point in his life when he had a Savior Complex, but he had been cured of that long ago.
Now he was a more pragmatic man.
"This will be the last time then." He told Tormund with the seriousness that this news deserved.
"Prepare your people Tormund. I want them in the ships before nightfall." Domeric said and got up from his chair, turning to leave before he stopped and said. "And don't worry about Mance Rayder. I'm taking him with me to my lands personally. When you reach Dreadfort you'll be able to meet him once again."
With that, he left the tent with Varko walking behind him and Karsi talking with Tormund and his men and telling them about life in his lands as they had discussed beforehand.
He would take Mance with him to the Dreadfort while returning to his castle with a portkey. Although Mance received a blood transfusion, he still needed medical attention as soon as possible.
And Domeric also had to return to his lands as soon as possible. He couldn't waste his time on a ship journey. Even if that ship was his flagship, Titanic.
There were still a lot of things he had to do back in his lands. He could feel that he was nearing the end of his ritual research. He just needed to solve a few more problems before completing the new version of the physique-enchanting ritual of Valyria.
And it looks like the Lannisters were up to something. He didn't know what it was, but the number of spies sent by Lannisters to his land had increased in a suspicious way. They were up to something for sure and he didn't want to be too far from his land when information came out.
Tywin Lannister was a sly fox, and he didn't want to be stabbed by a thrust from his blind side.
And of course, there was a lot of paperwork waiting for him on his desk in his solar. He even thought of calling his aunt back to the castle. If he knew that he had to do so much paperwork, he would find another punishment-looking mission for his aunt.
Alas, he couldn't call her back till her 'punishment' was fulfilled. And he also needed her as Sansa's mentor in Regalis, his port town.
He officially named his port town recently. Till now he didn't bestow a name on his port town and people started calling it 'Bolton Port'. Really? Bolton Port? People in this world really lacked imagination.
He didn't want his port town's name or his future port city's name to be Bolton Port. So, he officially named it Regalis. He even had the port town put up signs with its new name.
He knew how sticky names were, so he had no intention of hesitating to do everything he could to get people to adopt the new name before they got used to the name that they had given it.
And even just doing that gave him more paperwork. He had to return to his castle as soon as possible and finish his paperwork before he decided to call his aunt back.
'Haah… Who would have guessed that being a lord would give him more paperwork than being a head auror?'
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.114: Conspiracy
Ch.115: Lannister Brothers