Chapter 198: They Need to Know
Beyond the Wall, True North
POV of Domeric Bolton
The journey back to Castle Black was slow and dreary. No one talked to each other for the first few days. Even the few that talked did it in whispers, as if the White Walkers were lurking around and would come for them if they spoke a little too loudly.
Jojen traveled in a sled pulled by wolves, and his sister Meera was almost always by his side. The boy was getting better every day.
Smalljon, whose sword hand they had to amputate because it stopped functioning at all, winced in pain now and then but remained silent.
He supposed that losing a sword hand would do that to anyone. It would also teach them to take his warnings seriously.
Robb and Jon stayed solemn-faced through the entire journey back to Castle Black. He did not doubt that the death of Benjen Stark and the presence of the White Walkers had turned their whole world upside down.
Using a legilimency probe, he learned that Jon was grieving for Benjen Stark because Benjen was the only other elder in the family, aside from his father, who showed him love and care.
Robb, on the other hand, was also grieving about his uncle, but he was mainly wondering if the North would even survive this upcoming Winter, and if both he and Varko couldn't defeat a single White Walker together, then what chance do they have?
He left them to their thoughts and focused on getting them back to the Wall safely.
Even though he looked into their superficial thoughts because he was worried about them, in the end, there was nothing he could do for them.
Thankfully, they didn't come across any other Wildling group on their way back.
One week before they reached the Wall, they came across a searching party made of a dozen Night's Watch brothers.
They informed him that the Lord Commander had sent out a dozen such search parties when they didn't return after four whole weeks.
Varko informed them of what happened. Blood drained from their faces when they heard about the return of the White Walkers and saw the Ice Sword and the Wight held in the cage.
Then the brothers silently joined them on their way back to Castle Black without any more words.
After one more week of sleepless nights thanks to the Wight screeching now and then, their group finally reached Castle Black.
...…
Castle Black, the Wall
POV of Lord Commander Jeor Mormont
Jeor Mormont let out a tired sigh and looked at the pile of unopened letters on his desk from the various lords in the North. He hadn't opened them because he already knew what was written in them.
It has been about three and a half months since Lord Bolton and their armies left the Wall. Two months after their armies returned to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, and from there, it took them 2 weeks to get to Castle black.
The armies that came back without their leaders still stayed with the Night's Watch and emptied their larders.
Well, at least Lady Barbrey Dustin had sent more food for the Watch along with the letter enquiring about her nephew.
He didn't know what he should write back to them then.
How was he supposed to tell them that Lord Bolton took his best men and went further into the Wildling territory to continue his mission when they themselves came back to the safety of the walls?
In the end, he wrote only what he knew. That Lord Bolton and the heirs had gone further into the Wildling territory, and they had not heard any more from them.
Lady Barbrey Dustin had not liked his response. Nor did he expect her to. But he had nothing else to give her except the cold, hard truth.
That Lord Bolton, his men, and all the others he took with him might be dead at the hands of the Wildlings by now.
He plopped down on his chair and wondered if Lord Bolton had decided to go all the way up to the Land of Always Winter to accomplish his goals.
He personally thought the idea was foolish, but Lord Bolton was young, and his string of victories in every field he stepped into only bolstered his recklessness.
He also wondered what he would do if Lord Bolton were right. If the White Walkers had truly returned.
He jerked as he heard a sudden knock on his door. The mere thought of White Walkers made him jittery.
What kind of man would abandon his safe home and go in search of them on a self-anointed mission?
Or was it the Old Gods who told Lord Bolton to do so?
He was not one of those who believed that Lord Bolton was chosen by the Old Gods. But after seeing the ease with which Lord Bolton's men pushed back the Wildlings on that mountain, and the small number of casualties they themselves took in that battle, he wasn't sure anymore.
Even if Lord Bolton was not chosen one of the Old Gods, he was still a prodigy the likes of which had never been seen before.
And a great battle commander on top of that. He hoped that Lord Bolton would return.
"Who is it?" he asked when he heard another knock on his door. "It's me, Lord Commander," his steward replied.
He got up from his chair, walked across the room, and opened the door.
"What is it?" he asked the boy.
"Lord Bolton and his men had been sighted, Lord Commander." The boy didn't have to say more, as the gates of the tunnel leading to the other side of the Wall opened, and Lord Bolton himself led his men out.
Three patrols of the Night's Watch he had sent out were also mixed in that group.
He noticed that his men looked haggard and tired. Even fearfully looking at the rectangular wooden cage, half covered with a hastily made leather cloth.
He moved his steward aside and went down to meet Lord Bolton.
"Lord Bolton." He greeted the man who had removed his helmet and was now watching him with his cold, pale eyes, which held none of the warmth they usually did. "What took you so…"
His words were cut off when one of the curious boys went near the wooden cage.
A deathly scream rattled the entire Castle Black before a hand with half of the flesh missing from it jetted out from within the wooden bars and reached for the boy, whose eyes widened in fright.
The boy fell on his butt, and the snowy ground underneath him became yellow every second as he pissed himself at whatever he saw inside the cage.
All the chattering in the castle stopped, and only the sound of the hooves of Lord Bolton's horse could be heard as he brought his horse up beside him and said.
"Call all the lords of the North to Castle Black. They need to know."
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.199: The Lords Begin to Arrive at the Wall
Ch.200: No Such Things as White Walkers