Chapter 275: Capital of the Gift
Aside from White Harbor, Robb and the hundred Winterfell guards he brought had never seen a busier place north of the Neck.
The wooden houses were occupied by employees of the Night's Watch Logistics Department. They bustled within their storefronts, greeting customers with an organized haste, selling only grain, fodder, clothing, and daily necessities. At least four fully armed guards stood at each doorway to maintain order. Since key resources were sold at official fixed prices with no room for negotiation, the transaction process was quiet and swift despite the heavy foot traffic: pay the money, verify identity, and receive the goods.
"To ensure safety, these storefronts do not store any stock overnight. All vital supplies are kept in warehouses behind the perimeter walls. Every morning, logistics employees haul them to the shops via carts before opening for business. Critical items like grain are strictly rationed; there is a purchase limit for each tribe based on their population. That is to say—tribes can choose to buy less to save money for other uses, but they can never buy even a fraction more," Egger explained. He had ordered the Gift troops he brought back to halt at their original assembly point for gradual dismissal, and now he led Robb's inspection party slowly along the final stretch of the Kingsroad leading into Queenscrown, narrating as they rode. "On this street, no one except Night's Watch soldiers and logistics employees is allowed to carry weapons. Quarreling, brawling, or any behavior that disrupts order is strictly forbidden. Violators face extremely severe punishment."
Robb nodded repeatedly, but Egger's final sentence piqued his interest. "How severe?"
"Punishments are divided into three levels based on the gravity of the offense: fines, flogging, and hanging. The Gift lacks sufficient law enforcement and judicial power, and we don't have the resources to build a comprehensive legal system yet. For now, we must use simple and blunt methods."
"Just those three?" Robb frowned, puzzled. "It is certainly simple and blunt, but isn't it perhaps..."
"I know what you worry about, but the situation in the Gift is different from the rest of the Seven Kingdoms. There are no rich men here. Money is grain, clothing, and tools—it is the resource everyone relies on for survival. No one dares to consider themselves wealthy—especially the newly arrived New Gift-folk. Naturally, there is no situation where someone pays a fine and continues to break the law with impunity," Egger countered quickly. "It should be added that fines are not just levied against the individual offender, but are calculated per head and applied to every member of their tribe. The core principle is this: even if the offender is executed or flogged for a severe crime, the collective fine is still enforced."
Robb was astonished. "The collective fine is enforced regardless? Meaning even if a man is hanged for his mistake, his entire tribe still cannot escape the punishment?"
"Precisely. It sounds unheard of and perhaps unreasonable, but then, no one has ever let a massive number of free folk south of the Wall before—extraordinary circumstances require extraordinary measures. In this way, we not only effectively utilize the Gift-dweller for self-governance but also diminish the internal 'clannish' mentality of the tribes, suppressing any plots that might jeopardize the safety of the Gift."
"In that case, wouldn't the larger tribes suffer the most?"
"We welcome any request from large tribes to voluntarily split their households," Egger shrugged. In truth, no tribe had made such a request yet, but if it ever happened, he would provide full cooperation and assistance.
"And if a large tribe openly shields its own and resists the Watch's enforcement?"
"Thanks to the 'self-sacrifice' of a tribe named Tull, the Night's Watch has already provided a bloody demonstration to show the Gift-dweller the consequences of such actions. I am doing everything in my power to feed these people and prevent them from being driven back to the far north to starve or sent across the Narrow Sea as slaves. I do not ask for gratitude; I only ask that they do not cause me trouble. If they cannot meet even this small request, then even a man of my good temperament... can become angry."
Unless one was a fool, the meaning behind Egger's words was clear. Robb had already heard rumors of what had transpired in the Gift, and this strict management and hardened stance satisfied him. Having asked out of curiosity, he did not press the matter further. As the column moved forward, his interest was soon caught by the stalls.
Peddlers shouted and customers yelled even louder; there was the sound of children's laughter and crying in the crowd. Pigs grunted, sheep bleated, and chickens and ducks created a cacophony of clucking and quacking. Music drifted through the voices, though it wasn't particularly beautiful. One could tell after a few notes that the sounds came from unorthodox instruments, and the players and singers were certainly no maestros.
Winterfell, as the seat of House Stark, was considered busy in the North, but compared to this place, it was as silent as a sept.
...
"Key resources are held by the Logistics Department, but we allow the Gift-folk to exchange other things among themselves—foraged or hunted goods, handicrafts, home-raised poultry, and the like. Of course, the newly arrived free folk have little to trade besides their labor. Most of those running the stalls are 'Original Gift-dweller'. In a sense, the locals."
Yam had executed everything Egger arranged perfectly, perhaps even better than imagined. What they saw wasn't a total facade created for the leader's inspection. The Logistics Department had simply increased the number of guards, slightly adjusted the prices of key resources for the day, controlled the identities of those allowed entry, and provided temporary free room and board... in order to gather a small portion of the free folk and clansmen who spoke the Common Tongue and were cooperative. They had deliberately crafted the image of a crowded, noisy, yet orderly "Capital of the Gift."
The sight of Queenscrown would define Robb Stark's first impression of the Gift Settlement Plan—and first impressions are always among the most important factors influencing a man's decisions.
Robb wasn't the only one interested in the stalls. While Egger was talking non-stop to the visiting leader about the town's general situation, Arya jumped off her mare and dashed excitedly toward a roadside stall.
Robb and the Winterfell guards immediately reined in their horses and dismounted to follow their young lady.
...
The person who killed Commander Mormont with a thrown stone might have been just one individual. He might have been a man who lost a loved one during the wight attack on the last group of free folk passing through the Wall and acted out of rage; he might not have even intended to kill the Old Bear. But hypotheses were meaningless; that two-pound stone had struck a vital spot and struck down a respectable and wise old noble.
This event had pushed the resentment held by the Watch, the Original Gift-folk, and the Northerners toward the New Gift-folk to a historic high, dealing a near-fatal blow to the settlement plan. Robb had jokingly asked Egger earlier if he should wear a helmet upon entering Queenscrown; now that Arya was running off on her own, he naturally grew tense.
(There are hardly any wildlings on this street; there isn't a safer place in the entire Gift than here.) Egger knew this well, but to maintain the act, he had to put on a show of concern for Arya's safety, dismounting to follow behind the headstrong little she-wolf.
Though a noble lady, Arya was no sheltered 'city girl'. She trotted past stalls selling chicken coops, gloves, and boots, chased a cat away, and was finally lured by a curious scent to a stall selling roasted game.
On a small stone stove, a dozen skewers were roasting a variety of small birds, rabbits, and even some unidentifiable rodents.
"What's this?" Arya reached out and grabbed a skewer.
"Quail." The stall owner was displeased by Arya's directness, but looking at the group of Winterfell men surrounding the girl like a moon amidst stars, he realized these were likely the people all the preparations in Queenscrown were meant for. "Maybe not, they're all small birds anyway... they taste much the same. Stuffed with onions. Three copper groats."
"You want money?" a Winterfell guard muttered. "Do you know who stands before you?"
The stall owner looked over the crowd; naturally, he recognized none of them, but he knew what to say: "Doesn't matter who—everyone pays."
"Who has money?" Robb shrugged. He hadn't traveled all this way to play the bully, and he certainly wouldn't let his sister eat for free. However, as the Duke of Winterfell, he didn't have the habit of carrying small change.
"I'll take care of it." Seeing the Winterfell men reaching into their pockets, Egger, as the host, stepped to the front and produced three copper coins.
Arya took a bite of the bird on the wooden stick, which was glistening with fat and smelling wonderful. She crunched the bones and swallowed. "I want another!"
Egger bought another as requested. With both hands occupied by snacks, the girl was about to leave satisfied when she suddenly turned around and realized she was the only one eating, which felt somewhat inappropriate.
"No, I am glad you didn't forget your big brother, but I'm not hungry," Robb waved it off.
"If he won't eat, you eat, Master!"
This was a classic case of I treat, you pay. Egger was amused by Arya's shameless generosity and simply pulled out a silver coin, buying everything already roasted on the stall.
Half a minute later, Robb, Egger, Ser Rodrik, and even several guard captains were walking toward the gates of Queenscrown, each with a skewer in hand.
With one bite, the onion strips stuffed inside the small game emitted a crisp crunch, and the juices immediately flooded the mouth. Robb finished his snack in a few bites and wiped his mouth and hands with a cloth. "It's not as if we can't get these things in Winterfell. Roast chicken, duck, goose—if you tell the kitchen, what is it they don't have?"
"Those people only know lemon cakes, lemon cakes. I hate desserts the most."
Robb smiled helplessly. "The kitchen keeps making them because Sansa told them she likes them. You never say a word, so who knows what you like to eat?"
"In all fairness, snacks sometimes tastes better than poultry raised in pens."
"She's just a child; snacks always taste better than proper meals."
"I am not a child!"
Egger had been reporting the town's overview to the head of the North, but after this interruption by the expert distractor Arya, the topic had veered into strange territory. Truth be told, the roasted bird wasn't so delicious it required special description, but anyone who had traveled for a day would find anything tasty near dinner time. The men talked while leading their horses and munching on the roasted game, and soon reached the main gate of Queenscrown.
As the master of this place, Egger finally pulled the conversation back on track. "Queenscrown allows everyone living in the Gift to visit, but this gate allows only the Night's Watch, logistics employees, and guests to enter. By guests, I mean the invited leaders and entourages of the Mountain Clans or free folk tribes, and people from the Seven Kingdoms to the south."
"Those who come to buy grain and wait for work assignments..."
"They stay outside. The street we just passed through handles most of Queenscrown's external interactions. The tents beyond that street and the crude houses built upon the original village ruins are where the New Gift-dweller stay temporarily," Egger explained. "The walls of Queenscrown can accommodate a thousand people, but I do not dare let them in... the free folk have no siege skills. Protected by these walls, ten thousand rioters could do nothing to this town. But if trouble starts from within, a mere three to five hundred could lay this place to waste."
Robb was surprised by Egger's candor and turned his head. "Even you do not trust your New Gift-dweller, yet you have been trying to convince me and others to support your settlement plan?"
Robb was no sheltered prince raised in a palace without common sense. Constant optimism without admitting flaws would likely produce the opposite of the intended effect. Egger decided to mix some credible truth into his arrangements and deception. "Trust is not the key. In the coming winter, we need the strength of these living people; that is the key to my layout. Half the buildings in Queenscrown are used for storing resources. The remaining half, besides housing logistics and Night's Watch industry employees, has a surplus. In the future, these buildings will serve the function of education."
"Education?"
"When we let the free folk through the Wall, we stipulated that the family of every tribal leader give up a child as a hostage. my idea is that by controlling these children, we control the future of those tribes," Egger explained. "And by 'control,' I don't mean locking them in chains and cages. I mean having them learn our language and script, letting them eat, live, train, and grow up alongside the children of the Original Gift-dweller and the Mountain Clans. These hostages will become the bridge between us and the free folk—through assimilation, the New Gift-dweller will truly become part of the Gift."
One of Egger's personal guards announced their identity loudly, and the gates of Queenscrown slowly opened. Yam, the town master, hurried out to greet them as if he had only just learned of the Warden of the North's visit. Egger brought his speech to a close. "Disarmament and strict legal management are the 'hard' approach; assimilation through the power of time and habit is the 'soft' approach. Thinking about whether to 'trust' the New Gift-dweller is leaving the future of the Wall's defense to the whims and will of these savages. But subduing them through both soft and hard measures is to keep everything in our own hands... ensuring control through means is far more reliable than the ethereal concept of 'trust,' is it not?"
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