Although Velas didn't explicitly say it, Linde could feel that the more northern enemy he mentioned in his words referred to the Others.
Linde was certain that six months ago, Velas definitely didn't know about the Others' existence, but now he did, and was trying to continue his original plan to build a fortress at the Blackwater River, a strategic north-south choke point, to block the northern enemy. This was undoubtedly because he was frightened by the dangerous existence of the Others.
Thinking of this, Linde quickly had an idea, an idea that had worked very well when he used it on Varys before.
So, Linde quickly organized his thoughts and asked in a deep voice, "Is the more northern enemy you mentioned north of the Wall?"
Hearing Linde's words, Velas looked at him with shock, his eyes also filled with questions.
"You should know that when I went into the forest to hunt bears to avenge my father, I was seriously injured and on the verge of death, and then I saw some magical things," Linde said with a very serious expression. "At that time, I found myself flying into the air, and then I flew north, over the magnificent Wall, and saw the Eternal Winter Land, and the Savages living there. Then I continued to fly north, to a place where no one could be seen, and finally I saw..."
"Others, whose skin was as pale as the moon, and eyes like blue stars, cold as ice," Velas took over Linde's words, reciting a phrase almost every child knew by heart to describe the Others. It was a bedtime story every old grandmother would tell.
"It seems you really saw them too," Linde looked at Velas with a solemn expression and said, "Can you tell me exactly what happened?"
Perhaps the secret hidden in his heart really needed to be confided, and the surrounding environment was very suitable, and the listener was also very likely to be like himself. So Velas hesitated for a moment, and finally spoke about his experiences over the past six months.
In fact, ever since Linde left Highgarden more than half a year ago, Velas would often have dreams at night. In his dreams, he seemed to possess different animals, moving through the Highgarden castle.
Initially, he couldn't control these animals, but as the number of times he possessed animals increased, he gradually became able to control them to act according to his thoughts.
Through these methods, he overheard many secrets, such as learning about Sunspear's attitude towards the marriage alliance through the conversation between Prince Oberyn and Arianne, and also knowing that Dorne had never given up on retaliating against the Iron Throne and the Westerlands.
For example, his grandmother, the Thorn Queen Olenna Redwyne, was also well aware of Dorne's attitude, so she had been delaying all matters concerning the formal marriage alliance.
Secretly prying into various secrets brought him an unprecedented experience, making him unable to stop. Every day he looked forward to continuing this experience, until one time he possessed a cat and came to the Godswood of the castle.
That time, he was directly pulled out of the cat by some force, and then possessed three heart trees. Following that, he saw an astonishing scene: a giant who looked very much like Gals, the ancestor of House Tyrell, was fighting a huge raven with three blood-red eyes.
He didn't see the final outcome of the battle, because the aftermath of the giant and the raven's battle fell upon him, causing him to feel the pain of his body being torn apart, and then he woke up in pain.
After that, every day he would return to the Godswood as soon as he fell asleep, transforming back into a heart tree and watching the giant and the raven fight. Even when the extreme cold disaster that swept across the entire continent of Westeros descended upon Highgarden, it did not stop this battle.
So during this time, he was in extreme pain. He even developed a fear of sleeping. Fortunately, Arianne was by his side, otherwise he really didn't know how he would have endured this painful experience.
Fortunately, this painful experience lasted for about three months and ended before the extreme cold disaster disappeared.
Since then, he had not possessed small animals again, nor had he transformed into a heart tree.
Until recently, when he and Arianne were out on an outing, he suddenly saw a huge raven attack him. He fainted immediately, while Arianne didn't see the raven at all, only seeing him fall from his horse, his foot tangled in the stirrup, and being dragged by the horse for a long time.
During the time he was unconscious, he transformed into a Three-Eyed Raven and flew north. He flew past Tengshi Town and saw Linde training to ride the Wild Horse King with Nameria.
He flew past Harrenhal and saw the ghosts killed by dragonfire wailing in agony there.
He flew past the Neck and saw the remnants of the Green Prophet's sacrifice from back then.
He flew past Winterfell and saw a figure with countless faces gazing at a room in Winterfell, where a pregnant woman was weaving clothes for a child.
He flew past the Wall and saw the Night's Watch standing atop the hundreds-of-meters-high wall, gazing out at the Eternal Winter Land to the north.
He flew past the Eternal Winter Land, reaching the northernmost point that no living creature could reach, and saw an army made up of countless dead, as well as the Others who led this army of the dead.
At this moment, among the Others, a stunningly beautiful woman with the pale skin and blue eyes of an Other, but with a face like a normal human, held a spear condensed from ice in her hand and threw it at him.
The spear flew so fast that it was impossible to dodge. The Three-Eyed Raven he had transformed into was directly pierced through the abdomen, and then he woke up. The place where the ice spear had pierced him had an additional wound on his back, and that wound directly caused his current lower body paralysis, making him unable to walk.
Although the maesters of Highgarden all believed that the wound was sustained when he fell from his horse, and they simply hadn't noticed that the wound had worsened, ultimately leading to his paralysis, he knew very well that the wound on his back was caused by that female Other's ice spear.
And when he woke up, all the leaves on the three heart trees in the Godswood fell simultaneously. Therefore, there were also rumors in Highgarden that the three heart trees had protected him, allowing him to wake up.
He did not refute this rumor, and he also believed it to be true, because when he was pierced by the ice spear, he could see the blurry figure of Gals grabbing him and pulling him away from the north.
Therefore, after waking up, he would often come and stay by the three heart trees in the Godswood, because only there could he forget the sights he had seen in the Eternal Winter Land, and only there could his mind calm down.
Linde listened quietly to Velas's account, and he was also shocked. Although he had not yet found substantial evidence, he was almost certain that the cause of the extreme cold disaster that occurred not long ago was very likely due to the struggle between the Three-Eyed Raven and Gals over Velas.
The most powerful strength of the Others is not controlling wights, but the extreme cold weather that accompanies their appearance. This is not only the source of their power, but also the environment they rely on for survival. Therefore, in all ancient legends and stories, the arrival of the Others is always accompanied by extreme cold weather.
One of the Three-Eyed Raven's roles in the Eternal Winter Land is likely to prevent the extreme cold weather from moving south, because once the extreme cold weather covers the continent of Westeros, an environment suitable for the Others to survive will also form, and then the Others will inevitably move south with it.
The confrontation between the Three-Eyed Raven and Gals in The Reach must have affected his control over the climate of the Eternal Winter Land, ultimately leading to a three-month-long extreme cold disaster that directly swept across the entire continent of Westeros.
Fortunately, he later regained control of the extreme cold weather in the Eternal Winter Land, preventing things from getting out of control; otherwise, the Others' invasion that was supposed to happen more than ten years later might have occurred earlier.
However, Linde also thought that the Three-Eyed Raven should be a little injured at the moment, and in the next two years, before his injuries heal, there might still be the kind of extreme cold weather that occurred before. He needed to prepare more food and other supplies.
Additionally, after listening to Velas's account, Linde also had some doubts, because in his memory, the leader of the Others should be an Other named The Night King. He was the source of the Others, and after his death, all the Others also died. However, what Velas saw now was a female Other, and that female Other also had a normal human appearance, not a mummified one.
Although he had some doubts, Linde did not press further, but instead, according to his plan, said, "You have now seen the truth of this world, what do you plan to do?"
A hint of confusion appeared on Velas's face. He didn't answer Linde's question, but after a moment of silence, he said, "What about you? What do you plan to do?"
Linde calmly replied, "Train an army, raise my status, influence more lords and nobles, and at the same time continuously strengthen myself, accumulate enough power, and wait for the final moment to arrive."
"Aren't you afraid?" Velas looked at Linde and asked.
Linde smiled and said, "Why be afraid? The worst-case scenario is just death. It's not like I haven't died before."
Velas looked at Linde with a hint of reverence in his eyes, and his confused gaze gradually cleared. He nodded and said, "Indeed, at worst, it's just death. It's not like I haven't died before." As he spoke, he looked at Linde and said, "Lord Linde, I'm glad you came all this way."
Linde bowed slightly and said, "It is my honor to be able to help you."
Afterwards, the two discussed how to prevent the Others from the Eternal Winter Land from moving south to the greatest extent possible.
For now, Linde had no other solution. He could only suggest increasing the number of the Night's Watch on the Wall, and sending as many prisoners as possible, who were originally sentenced to death from various places, to the Wall to become Night's Watchmen.
Velas also felt this was a good method. He couldn't do other things now, but selecting prisoners to send to the Wall was something he could do.
During the conversation, Linde wisely did not inquire about Princess Arianne, because he could see that Velas was not very concerned about the marriage alliance with Princess Arianne at this time, and might even be indifferent to Princess Arianne herself. This was completely opposite to his behavior before he fell unconscious, suggesting that he must have discovered something during his unconsciousness that led to this change in attitude.
As for what it was, it wasn't difficult to judge. Romantic relationships between men and women are nothing more than those things. In Linde's memory, Princess Arianne's personality was extremely uninhibited, like most Dornish women. At first, Velas was attracted by Princess Arianne's fiery personality and developed affection for her, but he would eventually realize that a woman with such a personality could not become the Duchess of Highgarden, and he probably wouldn't accept his wife having many lovers.
Therefore, Linde seemed to have completely forgotten about the Dornish marriage alliance, and did not ask a single question about it from beginning to end.
After talking with Velas for a while, Linde got up to leave, but Velas called out to him and suddenly said, "Lord Linde, the reason I can see the truth of the world is because of my ancestor, Gals. What about you? Who enabled you to see the truth of the world?"
"Lord Velas, this answer has actually been made public, but no one has ever believed it," Linde replied with a smile.
After speaking, he walked out of the Godswood.
Velas's face first showed a confused expression, which was quickly replaced by sudden realization. Then he turned to see the seven-pointed star holy emblem at the top of the High Seat Church nearby, and naturally performed a Seven Gods holy ritual with a raised hand.
After understanding Velas's situation, Linde did not stay in Highgarden any longer. He went directly back to the Rose Bridge dock where his ship was moored and took a boat back to Tengshi Town overnight.
A few days later, when he returned to Tengshi Town, the appointment letter from Highgarden had already arrived two days earlier by raven. The content of the appointment letter was just as Velas had said: Commander of Bandit Suppression for the entire Reach, and the authority to recruit up to ten thousand soldiers. The only difference was the military expenses, which were no longer a portion, but half. This meant that as long as Linde's recruitment was within this ten thousand strong force, Highgarden would help Linde pay half of the military expenses.
Undoubtedly, this was definitely something Velas had secured for him, and what was truly most valuable was that as long as the title of Commander of Bandit Suppression for the entire Reach was not revoked, the promise of half the military expenses would remain valid forever.
Although it was not difficult for Linde to recruit ten thousand people now, and the gold dragons he had were enough to pay for the other half of the military expenses, he would definitely not be able to maintain such a large force for a long time. Only when Linde had his own territory and it developed to a certain extent could he consider maintaining a standing army of ten thousand.
Therefore, he only increased his total troop strength to two thousand and stopped recruiting. Moreover, among these two thousand, one thousand were infantry, as warhorses were simply too expensive. Not only were they expensive to buy, but maintaining them also required a lot of money.
After the appointment letter was issued, Linde led his cavalry to thoroughly clear out bandits, Savage Tribes, and mountain villages within Tengshi Town's jurisdiction. Since he had already confirmed with Velas that he would eventually receive a territory, there was no need to continue with the strategy of nurturing bandits for self-importance. He would resolve the troubles here as quickly as possible and focus all his energy on helping Nameria build Tengshi Town, construct the Blackwater River fortress, and train his troops.
Facing Linde's sudden attack, the Savage Tribes and mountain villages, whose situations had already been thoroughly scouted, were all taken down by Linde with little resistance. These people were all absorbed into Tengshi Town as commoners, then dispersed and mixed with refugees from other places, and were assigned to the vast, sparsely populated territory on the west bank of the Mander River, quickly filling the population gap in that empty area.
-------------------------
Thank you for following my story. If you want to read it first, please visit my Patreon — there are about 30-40 chapters waiting there. Your support really motivates me to continue to release more stories!
👉[patreon.com/TripleCrown07]