Bolton Lands – Hospital
POV of Domeric Bolton
"I will never do such a thing," Mance told Domeric seriously.
"Oh, I know that. I know that you did not become a king for any ambition of attacking the Walls for glory so that you could be immortalized in the annals of history. Though I'm sure that such thoughts did cross your mind every now and then." He said. "But the fact remains that despite your own wishes, you're a symbol to the free folk. A beacon that allows them to hold onto their identity as someone who belongs to the true North."
"So what? Are you going to kill me now?" Mance Rayder asked with a smile. And he was surprised to find that it was a genuine one.
The man in front of him probably considered the purpose of his life complete. So, he did not fear death.
He smiled back at him. "No. Why would I ever do such a thing? I cherish people with talent Mance. And you're one of the most talented people I've ever seen. No. I want you to pledge your loyalty to me like your people did. I want you to work for me."
"Free folk have a hard time bending their knees," Mance said with a chuckle.
"Yet, your people did it. Because I offered them a better life than what they had in the True North. I offered them my protection. I offered them a better life for their children. And they bend their knees. You have a wife of your own. One day you'll have children of your own. And my land is an excellent place to raise children. Or so I've heard."
"It's definitely warmer than the True North," Mance said with a smile, and he smiled back. A moment of silence passed between them before Mance spoke. "If… I bend my knee to you, then what task do you have in mind for me."
He smiled at Mance's question.
"From what I know, before you came, the free folk were divided into hundreds of tribes scattered all over the North. The cave dwellers, the hornfoots, the ice river clans, the night runners, the men of the frozen shore, and many more. Hell, I'm sure that if you had found the Giants before me then you would have convinced them to follow you as well."
They both chuckled at that particular memory all those years ago.
"Yeah. I remember that. Me, Tormund, and a few others walked all the way up to the giants to ask them to join our cause." Mance said and continued.
"I still remember how… afraid I was, that one of the giants could just pick me up and break me in two like a toy. But I also knew that with giants in my band, I'd have an easier time convincing the others. So, we walked all the way to the giants. And the first thing I saw when we arrived… was you standing on top of the Leader of the Giants with the other giants bowing to you in submission."
Mance said with a faraway look as he gazed outside the window, remembering the memory from all those years ago.
"You were just a boy then," Mance said with a smile. "Hell, look at you, you are still a boy now. But when I looked at you that day and when I look at you now, I can't help but think that… I would not mind-bending my knee to someone like him."
Mance got down from the bed with some effort even as Domeric tried to put the man back in the bed. Then with the help of the bed, the man knelt in front of him.
"I, Mance Rayder, swear my allegiance to you, Lord Domeric Bolton, from now till the end of my days."
"And I, Lord Bolton, swear that you'll always have a place in my heart." He said, feeling a little embarrassed at not knowing what he was supposed to say when someone gave him their allegiance like this. Oh well… It'll have to do.
Mance Rayder got up from his kneeling position, having a little difficulty for only having one leg so he helped the man and sat him down on the bed.
"You still haven't told me what I'm supposed to do." Mance pointed out.
"If you can go to unknown places and convince people who would rather kill you to follow you, then I think you can do just about anything else." He said. "You'll be my ambassador, Mance. You'll go to other places when I'm unavailable and be my voice. Of course, you'll need to learn some things before I send you out, but I think you'll do just fine regardless."
"Hah! That's what my wife said." Mance Rayder said and burst out in laughter while he rolled his eyes at the man.
"Oh! I almost forgot." He said and took out a bionic magical leg from his bottomless pouch and gave it to Mance.
"It's not a real leg and you won't get a feeling from it." He told the man. "But in the absence of your real leg, I think this one should do just fine."
With that, he's found himself another capable subordinate. If possible, he would regrow Mance's missing leg, but he didn't have this kind of ability at the moment. So Mance had to manage with a magical prosthetic leg for now.
But he didn't mind regrowing Mance's leg in the future if he had the ability to do so. But this was something to think about in the future.
Now that he had done his work here, he could return to his pending work. He wanted to do some experiments about the Valyria ritual before the end of the day. The adjustments were almost finished, and when he had finished them, he would start experimenting on living beings.
After telling Mance to rest and get well, he left the hospital with Varko and Raksa.
After traveling for a while, he told Varko and Raksa to go on without him, and with a thug and twist he disappeared.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.120: Tyrion on His Way
Ch.121: Dwarf but Smart