The wind howled and the great banners fluttered, while the skeletal accessories worn by the wildlings rattled in the breeze.
Rhaegar hovered above the motley army of wildlings, which perhaps contained the last of the giants, mammoths, and a vast number of skinchangers in the known world.
It was the roar and power of the primeval North. Once this wildling army fled, perhaps only the Others, wights, and the servants of Bloodraven would remain in the Land of Always Winter, leaving only the forces of the god of cold and the old gods.
The Free Folk had an army of over fifty thousand, yet Rhaegar had only himself and three dragons. Rhaegar was unafraid; his heroic spirit burned, undeterred even if facing thousands! Though the wildlings were numerous, they lacked organization and discipline.
Mance Rayder watched as the tall, handsome Dragonrider looked down upon them from above. The dragon's molten-gold eyes were filled with power, and its body radiated heat. The silver-haired prince riding the dragon was unrivaled in his splendor.
The silver dragon and red dragon on Rhaegar's black cloak seemed to be blazing, and the Dragonrider, astride his dragon, stood against the north wind and the cold.
"The horn of winter, it truly exists! To think the prince knows of it as well," Mance Rayder said, feeling a sense of surprise.
"Hand it over!" Rhaegar said.
Stories of the King-Beyond-the-Wall Joramun and the horn of winter had long circulated among the wildlings, claiming that blowing the horn would cause the Wall to fall. Mance Rayder had dug frantically at the Frostfangs and had indeed found one. Rhaegar did not mention that the one Mance Rayder obtained might be a fake.
"That won't do, Prince!" Mance Rayder gave a wry smile; he had no crown, no Valyrian steel sword, and was perhaps the most destitute king in the world. "This is not the time for bargaining. We have few cards to play, and many died to dig up this horn."
"Let us pass through the Wall, or we will blow the horn and the Wall will fall! If we pass through, the Wall can stand until the end of time," Mance Rayder said, gritting his teeth.
He was now desperate to lead his men behind the Wall. Moreover, behind the Wall were the dragon and the Dragonrider. The Others and wights were slaves to the god of cold, while the dragon was a creation of the god of fire. With the protection of the Dragonrider, their safety would be greatly enhanced.
"Have you seen that thing?" Rhaegar asked.
"Yes!" Mance Rayder nodded. "They seem to be lingering not far from us, and they are beyond human power to stop! They are not attacking us on purpose, but driving us southward!"
"You have no room for negotiation!" Rhaegar's tone was cold. Mance Rayder's horn of winter was a fake, but the horn should still possess traces of magic, and he still wanted to take a look at it.
"Little prince, you are now in the midst of our army. I advise you to accept the King-Beyond-the-Wall's proposal!" a tall, skeletal-looking wildling beside Mance Rayder said viciously.
"BOOM!" The silver dragon opened its ferocious jaws. Through the smoke, a tiny ball of gold and silver fire exploded on the ground, blooming into sparks that refused to extinguish, melting the ice and snow.
The insolent wildling turned pale with fright; had that fireball not been slightly off-target, he would have been burned to ashes by now. The sound of the flames exploding rang out, and the mammoths and the great white dogs of the North began to howl, even trying to break free from their restraints to flee.
"The Free Folk never kneel. I can forgive you the first time! The second time, you will only be burned to ash!" Rhaegar smiled.
"Everyone fears the Others, and we need the Wall too. There is no need for us to be at daggers drawn!" Mance Rayder said.
"King-Beyond-the-Wall, I will give you some time to consider!" Rhaegar steered his dragon and left the place once more, leaving behind a deathly pale Mance Rayder and the wildlings who looked at each other in dismay.
It was not just the King-Beyond-the-Wall who needed to smooth things over and reconcile the opinions of the many wildling tribes. Even Rhaegar, upon returning, needed to consult with House Stark and the Night's Watch; letting the wildlings enter was, after all, a major event. He could not make the decision unilaterally; this was a matter for the people of the North.
The silver dragon flapped its wings, and Rhaegar returned to the Wall. Everything happened very quickly. The people on the Wall were already aware of the news that the Others were about to invade.
"Lord Rickard, the wildlings want to pass through the Wall!" Rhaegar said bluntly. "They are not here to fight!"
"Is it because of the Others? But these wildlings are unruly and stubborn. If we let them in, it will be hard to say if we can drive them back out!" Rickard frowned, his old face growing even longer. He carried the ancestral sword Ice on his back. The Old Wolf had come alone and did not let the wild wolves follow. According to his family's tradition, the Old Wolf's grandfather had been killed by wildlings, and at that time, the Old Wolf's father was still in Winterfell; the heir and the lord could not charge into battle together—at least one had to be preserved.
"Prince, we understand everything you said! We swore an oath to protect the realm, but we did not swear to protect these wildlings, did we? Let them cower behind the Wall while we defend them?" a Brother in Black could not help but speak up.
"That's right!" "Indeed!" many Brothers in Black chimed in. There were rational Brothers in Black, but they were too few. The main issue was that there were only a little over a thousand men left in the Night's Watch. This handful of men would vanish in the wildling army and were completely insufficient; how could they invite wolves into the house? The wildlings were famous for raiding and violence and were mortal enemies of the Night's Watch.
Inviting the wildlings to pass through was an explosive decision; such a choice required immense difficulty and courage, as it reversed the code of conduct of the Night's Watch! Later, Lord Commander Jon would be assassinated for this, but the situation for the Night's Watch at the time was dire. The North was in chaos, the pro-Night's Watch House Stark had fallen, and those in power in the South were the Lannisters, who opposed House Stark. Even if the Night's Watch supported the cause of the wildlings and Stannis, they could easily face total defeat. In such a situation, letting the wildlings in would sooner or later lead to a bloody battle.
"This is a matter of great importance and truly requires careful consideration! Send a raven to Castle Black and have the Lord Commander come to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea as well!" Rhaegar ordered. He had a better idea in mind: decentralized management. He prepared to have the Night's Watch reside north of the Wall, and at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, they could use the black high walls to build a temporary fortress outside the Wall. If the Others truly attacked, it could be called a second line of defense! The wildlings would hold the line first, and if they really couldn't hold it, they would be let through. In short, he was the one to make the final decision, but he also had to respect the wishes of the Lord Commander and the lords of the North! The wildlings were waiting quietly below Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, while on the ramparts, a fateful conversation had begun.
"The wildlings have always come sneaking in the past. While these wildlings are caught off guard, and since we have a Dragonrider and a dragon, why not make a swift charge! Then distribute the remaining able-bodied wildlings among our various lords to bolster our manpower. Let the old, weak, sick, and young fend for themselves," the Lord of Last Hearth, Jon Umber, said. The wildlings often raided them, and House Umber had no affection for them at all.
"But if we charge like that, it will be nothing but slaughter. Isn't that a waste of manpower?" a high-ranking member of the Night's Watch said. He looked at Rhaegar and felt that the Prince had not made up his mind to kill. "Currently, the Night's Watch is indeed struggling to hold on. We only have over a thousand men, which isn't enough to fill the entire line of defense of the Wall! If the Others truly invade, it will be a disaster!"
"Incorporating these people is not impossible, but we must maintain dominance!"
"With so many people, where do we settle them once they arrive? Besides the Wall, do we just throw them into the Gift?"
"There are too many of them—over fifty thousand now. If another group comes later, that will be over a hundred thousand wildlings. How can we withstand that! The Night's Watch might as well change its name to the Free Folk!" the Lord Commander said.
Rhaegar listened to the discussion. In general, it was divided into three factions. Those like Last Hearth, who had suffered greatly from the wildlings, along with some high-ranking Night's Watch members, were the annihilation faction—just kill them all. There was also a welcoming faction, but their influence was small; manpower was indeed scarce, and leaving such a force outside would only aid the Others. Most belonged to the hesitant faction, because the wildlings were indeed a large pool of human resources, but they feared that once they entered, they would be unmanageable and instead cause disturbances at the Wall. In short, it was a chaotic shouting match, with the unique loud voices of the Northerners.
"Quiet, my lords! I suggest that Lord Rickard and Prince Rhaegar speak!" the old maester said tremblingly, and everyone fell silent. By convention, the Night's Watch stayed outside the politics of the Seven Kingdoms, but it was impossible for the Night's Watch to survive without the support of the lords of the Seven Kingdoms. Among those present, who had more authority to speak than these two?
"If we are talking about hating the wildlings, I am certainly the first to admit it; I would love to kill them all and wipe them out completely. Because my grandfather, William Stark, died during a raid by the Red Beard. But if the Others come south now, they will bring the Long Night! My lords, can our petty grievances with the wildlings compare to the Long Night? This is the true winter! However, there are simply too many wildlings. I suggest that even if we let the wildlings in to help guard the Wall, we need to control the numbers!" Rickard said. Rhaegar was taken aback; if the Old Wolf was also reasonable, then things would be much easier to handle!
"Lord Rickard is right! When I traveled Beyond the Wall, I saw ice that would not melt, and an ancient cold that even made the dragon feel afraid. This is a critical moment for the survival of humanity!" Rhaegar echoed the Old Wolf's opinion.
But when Rhaegar said this, many people began to flush red. With two such important figures speaking, did this really mean they were going to let the wildlings into the Wall?
"I suggest not letting the wildlings into the Wall just yet. The entrance to the Wall is too small; with so many wildlings entering, it would take a month or two!" Rhaegar said. If the gate of the Wall could even be called a gate, it was too small. Now, with so many wildlings coming in, time was too tight. It would be better to build a city on the spot. Between the Wall and the Haunted Forest, Rhaegar would use black stone to build a defensive system once more. The black wall contained magic, and even if it couldn't compare to the Wall, it could temporarily restrict the magic of the god of cold from entering.
The silver dragon banner fluttered above the ramparts, and the wildlings watched the dragon flying in the sky, waiting for good news!
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