13 chapter 13
Winterfell is not a city, but a castle. Its purpose of existence is just like the Red Keep in King's Landing. It only provides residence and protection for the lords. It does not undertake miscellaneous city functions, and there is no such thing as "citizens". According to legend, it was built by Brandon the Builder with the help of giants. As a noble castle, Winterfell can be considered majestic, but compared with another building built by the same person, the Great Wall of Despair, it is insignificant in both aspects. Neither the size nor the majesty of the site are worth mentioning.
Not counting the surrounding villages and the winter towns temporarily abandoned in the summer, the area of Winterfell surrounded by high walls is less than a hundred acres, and a small half of it is a sacred forest. In addition to the attendants, subordinates, servants and their families who serve the Stark family, the residents who permanently live within the wall only have a standing army numbering in the hundreds, which is the largest standing army in the North except for the Night's Watch.
As a ranger who has stood guard on the Great Wall and killed White Walkers in the Haunted Forest, there are really not many things in this world that can scare Egg. When he first saw Winterfell, his inner thought was not shock or admiration, but a little surprised: the political center of the north, the home of many important figures in Ice and Fire, was actually so small. No wonder even waiting for a king can make you confused!
But then I thought about it, and I subconsciously compared what I saw with the Great Wall of Despair. I'm afraid there is no building that can be called "big" in the world.
It was getting late, and with his thoughts full of thoughts, Egger followed Benyan through the gate of Winterfell and entered it.
"Welcome home, Lord Benjen." The guard who has followed the Stark family for many years certainly knows his lord's brother. He diligently took the reins of the chief ranger's horse, "I will immediately ask someone to arrange your residence and bathing. "
No, where are my brothers?"
"My lord has just received the king, and is probably busy in the main castle now...I don't know." "
The king has arrived?" Benyan frowned, "Damn it, I obviously know It's been two days in advance... Fortunately, I didn't miss the dinner. Go ahead and do your business. I'll go see him myself."
"Yes, my lord."
Winterfell was crowded with people, and the originally spacious school grounds were full of people. It's horses, vehicles, boxes, and busy servants. Robert Baratheon's northern tour brought hundreds of escorts, and the queen and princess brought more luggage and belongings... A large number of people could not be accommodated in Winterfell, and some of them had to be diverted to outside the city. The solution can only be properly solved by going to the town. At the moment, the gate of the castle is very busy with people. Benyan and Egger shuttled through the high and low corridors of the castle in a familiar way, and soon arrived at the residence where the Stark family members lived. The main castle... After saying hello, he entered, and within a moment he found the Duke of Winterfell who was hiding in the study taking a break.
"Bunyan!" Eddard Stark was giving instructions to his servants about the hospitality arrangements. When he saw the unpretentious smile on his brother's face, he stood up, waved the servant away, walked towards his brother and gave the latter a big smile. Hug: "How is it? Life on the Great Wall... is still so difficult?"
"I'm used to it." Bunyan patted his brother's arm and let go of him: "But recently, there have been some situations north of the Great Wall. I think there are You need to inform the Warden of the North."
"Well, about the wildlings... I have heard about it from the letter. But you don't know how much effort I put into dealing with Robert today. He is as fat as a pig now. "The Duke of Winterfell complained to his brother with a wry smile. He has dark brown hair and a long face carved in the same mold as Benyan. Even if his expression is smiling, he has an aura of calmness and self-reliance. It can be regarded as Eger after traveling through time. The first guy who arrived was really a bit of a ruler: "How about we wait until today's welcome dinner is over before we talk about it?" "
No, right now. What I want to talk to you about right now is more than the welcome dinner, the king, and the queen. , everything else in the world is more important." Benjen Stark shook his head seriously, turned back and waved to Egger who was standing by the door: "This is my ranger, he will tell you what happened."
Seeing his younger brother's solemn expression, Ed also put away his smile and turned to look at Egg: "Hello...friend, what do you call me?"
This is the only time a soldier can be treated so politely by a noble who is a duke. It may have happened in the North. Egg knew that most of the friendliness of the other party was directed at the black clothes he wore: "You can call me Egg, sir. I am not from Westeros, and I don't have a surname in the usual sense of the people of the Seven Kingdoms."
"Not from Westeros?" This was also the first time Ed heard about the existence of foreign night watchmen. He looked at Edgar with curious eyes, and then looked at Bunyan with questioning eyes.
"Igor comes from an unheard of continent west of Westeros." Another Stark shrugged and introduced to him: "He encountered a White Walker while patrolling outside the wall with Waymar Royce. Flee back to the Great Wall and sound the alarm to us."
"White Walkers?"
...
Ed's face darkened, and he looked at Egger again with suspicion in his eyes.
He did not believe in the existence of White Walkers. In his opinion, the disappearance of Wayma Royce was most likely caused by a wildling ambush. As the most important vassal of his adoptive father and brother-in-law Jon Arryn, Yon Royce, the father of the missing person, visited Winterfell on the way to send his son north to join the Blackshirt Army. His actions and words all revealed that he hoped that he The Lord of the North could take care of his son... Although the disappearance of a Night's Watch ranger could not be blamed on himself, the Duke of Winterfell, it still caused Eddard a sense of discomfort. There is an illusion that "I can't explain it to the father of my child."
"Please wait, if I'm not mistaken, you are one of the three rangers that Waymar Royce brought out of the wall. If the White Walkers killed your commander, why did they let you and the other one go?" Come back?" Ed's attitude quickly changed and became aggressive: "According to the rules and regulations of the Night Watch, how should deserters be dealt with?" "
It's not that the White Walkers let us back, but that we escaped after going through all kinds of hardships. "Iger tried his best to ignore the frightening questioning light in the eyes of the Northern Guardian, knowing that a slight show of cowardice at this moment may have bad consequences. "In addition, when approaching the Great Wall, another ranger and I cooperated with each other and killed a The chasing White Walker."
"Where is the body?"
"The body of the White Walker evaporated after death, leaving no remains." Egg explained, understanding that this seemed like a quibble, so he quickly added without waiting for the other party to answer: "But I have other evidence."
"Oh?" The supreme lord of the North glanced at his brother, breathed out through his nostrils with a subtle force, turned around and walked to the table where he handled government affairs, and sat in the chair on the other side. Next: "Take it out and show it to me."
...
Bunyan stood aside and stopped talking, while Egg quickly picked up his bag and placed it on the chair opposite Eddard Stark as if he had already rehearsed it, and began his performance.
He brought all the broken swords and obsidian daggers to Winterfell. Three of the broken swords were packed in three strong stab-proof leather pouches. Egger took them out one by one, put them on the table and put them together one by one... Weimar Royce's sword was too broken. It took Egger a while to put it together. Although the master of Winterfell frowned, he remained patient. He waited for him to finish everything before asking: "Three broken swords and a black dagger. What do they mean?"
"The three broken swords come from three players who have fought head-on with the White Walkers." Cavalry. Among them, Weimar Royce fought bravely to death; Gary was seriously injured and is still slowly recovering in Castle Black. I am the only one who is still alive and kicking by luck." Egger spoke smoothly and spoke volumes as he introduced the first lord of the north. He picked up the evidence on the table and said, "And this little black thing is the obsidian dagger that finally killed the White Walkers." "
So, all three people who fought against the White Walkers had their swords broken?" Ed cupped his fists and propped his chin up. He knew his brother, and Benyan was not someone to fool easily. If the Night Watchman in front of him was just a simple deserter, he would never bring him to him, so he decided to listen to what he had to say. Explanation: "But how do I know that these swords were not broken by you?"
"Please take a look at the fractures of these swords." Iger used his finger to observe Duke Stark: "Can you find out, these three swords are broken?" Is the damage to the sword different from normal?"
"I have never seen a sword broken into pieces like this. How did you do it?" It took Ed Stark a while to discover the problem. He had experienced it all In battle, I have certainly seen many broken swords, but I have never seen a weapon break into pieces. Confused, he picked up a small piece of the Weimar Broken Sword from the table, held it in his hand for a moment, and knocked it, and finally confirmed that it was real steel.
"Cracked by freezing." Egg spit out a word that attracted attention: "More specifically, I think it was the ice magic present in the weapons of the White Walkers that caused the steel swords to shatter. The weapons they used looked like ice condensation. Yes, but the standard steel swords of the Night's Watch are all broken in a single blow."
Then, Egger perfected the rhetoric he had used when facing Commander Mormont and Maester Aemon before and repeated it. This time, with enough rest and good food and drink, he had regained his strength and energy. Whether it was the ease of understanding of the narrative content, or the moderation and persuasiveness of the speed and tone of his speech, it was far superior to the previous time.
After explaining the reason for the fragmentation of the steel sword, he briefly modified the process of escaping from the White Walkers and counterattacking the pursuers by chance and informed the other party. Eddard Stark listened patiently throughout the whole process. It was not until the Night Watchman finished all his prepared speeches that he put down the hand supporting his chin and looked thoughtfully at his brothers standing aside.
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Benyan Stark looked at Eddard and understood that his brother still didn't believe in the existence of the White Walkers. He was helpless about this. After all, he only judged what Edgar said was true based on speculation. He could not unconscionably say that he had witnessed it. What you see.
"The Shadow Tower has also submitted reports of suspected White Walkers. Rangers from Castle Black and Eastwatch have claimed to have discovered a large number of wildlings migrating en masse. Many villages have been emptied out, and it looks like they are hiding from something... "The chief ranger made a last-ditch effort: "A series of signs show that the Great Wall defenders are facing unprecedented challenges, and what the Night Watch Legion looks like now, you know well even if I don't tell you, we need help now."
"I will inform the following, and you can go to the prison to select people later..."
"What the Night's Watch needs now are supplies and troops, not a few scum or recruits!" Bunyan interrupted his brother bluntly, "Let a man Piling up criminals with only basic training to defend the Seven Kingdoms? They can barely support themselves, let alone the current critical situation. I brought people here specially this time, not just to do the same thing as Wandering Crow!" The room was quiet.
After calming down, Duke Ed, sat quietly, playing with the obsidian dagger handed over by Egg, while lowering his head and thinking.
