As for the Iron Islands, there's no news yet.
Rumor has it that the Three Sea Monsters received a secret mission from Prince Linde and cannot support us for now," Maester Aemon quickly relayed what he knew.
Although he was a centenarian, his mind remained clear.
"I have already written to Summerhall.
Prince Linde should be able to find a solution."
"Let's hope so!" Jeor Mormont muttered, sighing.
Although they were discussing matters of the Wall, his heart was focused on the current predicament of his niece, Daisy.
He hoped Daisy would safely get through this war.
Just then, there was the sound of hurried footsteps outside the door, followed by a knock.
Then, Benjen Stark, covered in snow, rushed in, eagerly saying, "I saw large numbers of wights near Frostfang.
The Beyond the Wall Wildlings have united under the call of Mance Rayder, the King Beyond the Wall, forming an allied army.
The main camps of the allied army are on the south bank of River Deer and at Hardhome, and they should reach White Tree Village by tomorrow at the latest."
"What?!" Jeor Mormont's face changed drastically, and he angrily said, "Were your Rangers on patrol blind before?
They couldn't see so many people gathering?
Now they've already formed an allied army, and they're only discovered when they're this close to the Wall?!"
"It's not the Rangers' fault," Benjen Stark said in a deep voice, "Mance Rayder is very cunning; he deliberately used small groups to attract our attention.
All our men were focused on the wildlings trying to cross the Wall, and we had no extra hands to patrol further north, so we didn't detect the movements of other Savage Tribes.
This time, if I hadn't happened to receive a mission from Lord Lynd to help him verify whether there were wight hordes appearing at Frostfang, I might not have discovered the movements of these Savage Tribes either."
He paused, then continued, "I think the situation further north might have been earlier.
The Others and wights have become very active, frequently appearing on the fringes of the Eternal Winter Land, and even wight hordes have moved south to Frostfang.
These Savage Tribes were very likely driven here by the wight hordes, forced to unite, so it's highly probable that they will attack the Wall before the Others fully move south, hoping to cross the Wall to escape disaster."
"How many people do they have, approximately?" the Old Bear asked in a deep voice.
"At least a hundred thousand," Benjen said.
"A hundred thousand?" The Old Bear paused, somewhat incredulous.
Benjen said gravely, "A hundred thousand is just the minimum figure; the actual number will only be more, not less."
The Old Bear's face darkened, and he asked Maester Aemon, "What should we do? Should we notify Summerhall?"
"No, not yet!" Maester Aemon shook his head and said, "Let's try to solve it ourselves first.
If we truly can't, then we'll ask Summerhall for help.
Before that, Commander, you should convene the Commanders of each castle and formulate a complete defense plan, to avoid fighting individually and having the enemy find the weak points of the castles."
"Right, right! We should convene the Commanders." Jeor Mormont nodded repeatedly, turned and sat at his desk, quickly writing out summons, stamping them with the Commander's seal, and sending them not by raven, but by Ranger.
After issuing the directives, the Old Bear then remembered a very important matter.
He took a communiqué from King's Landing out of a drawer and handed it to Benjen, who was drying his clothes by the fire, saying, "Take a look!
Lord Eddard has met with trouble in King's Landing."
Benjen paused upon hearing this, and a bad feeling immediately arose in his heart, because in his memory, both his father and elder brother seemed to have met with trouble after going south to King's Landing.
He quickly took the communiqué and read it carefully.
After finishing, his face instantly turned incredibly pale.
He had not expected such major events to have occurred while he was merely out on a mission.
King Robert had died, his elder brother had been arrested on charges of treason and usurpation, his sister-in-law had captured the heir to the Lord of Casterly Rock, Warden of the West Lord Tywin was attacking Riverlands, and The Reach and Stormlands had united to resist the Iron Throne.
All of this made Benjen feel as if he hadn't been away for a few months, but rather for several years.
Amidst his shock, Benjen also said without hesitation, "My brother loved King Robert as if he were his own brother; he would absolutely never do something like usurpation."
"The contents of the communiqué are true; Prince Linde has already confirmed this.
Lord Eddard did indeed amend King Robert's will, changing the heir from Prince Joffrey to Lord Stannis," Maester Aemon shattered Benjen's illusion, saying.
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right nobut who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/TripleCrown
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"