Chapter 281: Denouncing the Greats (Part 2)
Over eighty percent of the Night's Watch at Castle Black had arrived upon hearing the news; the Great Hall grew increasingly crowded. Among the many soldiers he recognized or merely knew by sight, Egger spotted the Red Priestess Melisandre and the Queen's Men who followed her. Even Maester Aemon, aged to the point of being nearly unable to walk, tottered into the room supported by Sam.
Egger scanned the room, a faint, imperceptible smile touching the corners of his mouth.
(Good. The preamble was just a warm-up; the main act begins now.)
He wasn't planning to denounce Yohn Royce alone. This was a battle of burning bridges, leaving no room for retreat. The more witnesses to his performance, the better.
...
"In this cellar, we are electing the 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. That number is likely inflated, but let us disregard that for now and generally accept that the Watch has had several hundred commanders." Since this dialogue wasn't rehearsed and he was the only one who knew the script, no one was going to jump in to cooperate or act as a foil. Egger had to play both parts. "Among these hundreds of commanders—aside from the 'Night's King' who was eventually destroyed by the combined forces of the King in the North and the King-Beyond-the-Wall, or Runcel Hightower who tried to leave the Watch to his bastard son, or Rodrik Flint who wanted to be King of the Wildlings... aside from those who earned their place in the chronicles through dereliction of duty and ambition, how many names buried in the river of history were actually 'qualified'? Sam, could you answer that question?"
Sam hadn't expected to be called upon to speak. Fortunately, with Maester Aemon, Jon, and Egger all present, his confidence was bolstered despite his lingering fear of the two senior commanders. He considered the matter, caught Egger's drift, and replied cautiously, "If the standard is 'whether they fulfilled their duty to guard the Wall,' then given that the Wall has never fallen... I believe most of those commanders were qualified."
"I believe so as well. The word 'qualified' is far too cheap—so cheap that if someone described me that way, I would feel insulted. We are currently facing the Others and the unprecedented army of the dead they lead. Sam, please answer one more question: in the long history since the founding of the Night's Watch, how many times have they attacked?"
"Never. The only mention is the story of the 13th Lord Commander being seduced and corrupted by a woman suspected to be an Other, ruling the Nightfort as his own kingdom for thirteen years. He is the Night's King you mentioned. After he was defeated and killed, it was discovered he had made sacrifices to the Others... but these records come from unreliable documents. If you ask me, I'd prefer to believe conservatively that the Others have never truly launched a full-scale assault on the Wall since the founding of the Night's Watch."
Egger nodded to Sam and turned to face the entire brotherhood. "I wouldn't dare boast of Sam's fighting prowess or courage, but I trust his extensive reading and memory! Maester Aemon happens to be present as well. May I ask, my lord, do you have anything to add regarding the history of the Others attacking the Wall?"
The blind maester shook his head and answered tremulously, "Aside from the vague records of the 13th Lord Commander, upon which I can offer no opinion, I have nothing to add."
"The Night's Watch was born after the War for the Dawn. At that time, the Others had already been driven back to the Lands of Always Winter by the allied human forces led by Azor Ahai. The first Lord Commander was likely one of the heroes of that war, but unfortunately, he had not yet gained the status of a brother of the Watch when he fought them. The only subsequent record of the Others involves the corruption of the 13th Lord Commander. Thus, our conclusion is clear: in all of history, no Lord Commander has ever led the Night's Watch to repel a massive invasion by the Others!"
Cotter Pyke frowned in displeasure and asked gruffly, "Enough rambling. What exactly are you trying to say?"
"Not long ago, an army of the dead assaulted Castle Black. Countless wights, charred by oil and wildfire, still lie in the snow today; you can see them simply by climbing the Wall. This is a situation no previous Lord Commander has ever faced. What we need now is not a 'possibly qualified' commander, but a leader who has the will and the proven ability to turn the tide—a leader to guide the Night's Watch to victory in this struggle of Ice and Fire!"
...
The hall remained silent, but the crowd was now several times larger than when Egger first arrived. Even the quietest whispers, when multiplied, coalesced into a low background hum. A few seconds after Egger stopped speaking, Cotter Pyke burst into laughter. "You think you are that leader who can 'guide the Watch to victory in this struggle of Ice and Fire'? That is the height of arrogance."
"A deserter, a thief, a lover of young boys, and a shameless rogue who ignores the rules of the Watch to meddle in the internal affairs of the Seven Kingdoms—you dare covet the position of Lord Commander?" Yohn Royce finally found his opening for an attack. "You may have some talent in logistics, but your character is so wretched that you are utterly unfit to lead a noble order such as the Night's Watch!"
"I was indeed forced to join the Night's Watch for theft, but the reason was not a heinous crime; I was shipwrecked on the shores of Westeros and could not speak the language. As for whether I am a deserter, Commander Mormont, Lord Benjen Stark, and the late Eddard Stark have already reached a verdict—it is not your place to question it. And as for disgusting rumors like 'loving young boys,' I don't know where you heard them. If you have evidence, produce it. If not, shut your mouth!" Facing these messy allegations, Egger simply denied them wholesale, leaving the audience to decide whom to believe. His goal was to maintain psychological dominance. "We are here to discuss who has the ability to lead the Watch through this crisis, yet Lord Royce resorts to personal attacks based on baseless shadows and nonsense. I'm beginning to suspect that it is not just your competence that is lacking, but your private virtue as well!"
Having blasted one, Egger ignored the former Lord of Runestone, who was still gasping for a retort, and immediately turned his sights on the others, giving his enemies no room to breathe. "Two months ago, I too had doubts about whether I was capable of leading the Night's Watch through this war. Therefore, I chose not to participate in the election, leaving the position to two commanders with more seniority and prestige. Unfortunately, after a period of waiting, I have come to realize that there is no one currently in the Night's Watch I can rely on—no one who possesses both sufficient seniority and superior ability. If I do not stand up, I will be forced to watch as men of mediocre talent lead the brothers of the Watch and the residents of the Gift toward certain failure and death!"
"Men of mediocre talent?" Othell Yarwyck, the First Steward who had been observing from the sidelines, could no longer sit still. "Is that how you evaluate excellent and experienced commanders like Ser Denys and Lord Cotter Pyke?"
Egger did not respond to Othell's questioning; he didn't even look at him. For the second time, he threw a question directly to Sam. "Allow me to ask: how many votes do Ser Denys Mallister and Lord Cotter Pyke currently control for their respective strongholds?"
No one was more attuned to these figures than Sam. He answered without hesitation, "Ser Denys Mallister can vote on behalf of the 236 men remaining at the Shadow Tower. The garrison at Eastwatch should be 205; twenty-some accompanied Lord Cotter Pyke to Castle Black, so the commander can still vote for the remaining 180 or so."
"If anyone disputes these figures, speak now." Egger scanned the crowd. "The Shadow Tower and Eastwatch each have over two hundred brothers; Castle Black has about five hundred; and a few dozen are scattered in the newly opened forts along the Wall commanding the mountain clans. These roughly one thousand brothers constitute the entire voting body of the Night's Watch. To become the next Lord Commander, one needs two-thirds of the votes. For the two commanders who can cast votes by proxy, this requirement is reduced to 'two-thirds minus the votes they already represent.'" Egger gave a mocking snort before continuing. "Even with the difficulty lowered so significantly, you two have spent dozens of days fighting without reaching a conclusion. You can neither defeat the other nor are you willing to concede and support the other. In the end, you had to resort to a third party to reach a compromise that isn't even a mutual recognition!"
"Because the election hasn't been decided in two months, you call the participants mediocre?" Othell snorted. "Why can't it be that the candidates are all so excellent that it's difficult to choose between them in a short time?"
"That is indeed a possibility!" Egger nodded. "I considered that, so I was careful to conduct an investigation into the achievements and merits of the two commanders during their tenures. Would everyone like to hear the results?"
Othell's brow furrowed. Egger's reaction was too swift and natural. It made his own rebuttal seem like he was merely acting as a setup man for Egger's speech. Had he walked right into a trap?
Despite realizing something was wrong, the First Steward held his ground. "The two commanders have been diligent in their duties. The defenses of their respective forts have never faltered under their command."
Egger smiled wordlessly and shook his head with feigned contempt. Noting that most of the Night's Watch at Castle Black was now present, he knew the timing was right. "True, during their tenure, wildlings never managed to cross the Wall through their sectors to harass the Gift or the North. But beyond that? For decades, the two forts have not become any stronger, the number of subjects around them has not increased, and their lives have not improved. The soldiers at the Shadow Tower are still only concerned with the Gorge and the Bridge of Skulls, and Eastwatch has not added a single ship in a hundred years. Your actions are nothing more than 'sweeping the snow from your own doorstep.' You have been diligent, yes. But unfortunately, the results of your diligence are not a single bit more brilliant than any other 'qualified' fort commander in the past thousand years!"
"Forgive my bluntness." He narrowed his eyes, his sharp gaze boring into the two commanders he had just denounced. While it didn't drive them back, it was enough for the onlookers to feel the heightening tension. "You are simply relying on the massive Wall built by Brandon the Builder and a large group of subordinates who follow orders. In your respective stations, you have been waiting to die while smugly believing you are the most senior and capable elders of the Night's Watch. You thought the next commandership was yours by right!"
...
Ser Denys remained expressionless, but Cotter Pyke surged out of his seat, his breathing heavy like a bull's. His hands moved toward the weapon at his waist until two of his subordinates reached out to hold him back.
"In times of peace, you are qualified commanders." Egger noted where Jaime Lannister and his Westermen were standing, ensuring he had a path of retreat if things turned violent. Feeling somewhat reassured, he finished his summary of the criticism without a trace of fear on his face. "But in this once-in-a-millennium moment of crisis, by my values and standards... I'm sorry, I'm not targeting any one of you specifically, but the two fort commanders present—" He forced himself to swallow the words are both garbage "—are simply men of mediocre talent."
Even the quiet murmurs vanished completely; the cellar was dead silent.
Due to the unique nature and structure of the Night's Watch, the commander of each fort possessed great autonomy. Friction between them was never a rarity, but it was usually limited to private cursing or quiet sabotage. To denounce one's peers as utterly worthless to their faces, in front of nearly half the brothers of the Night's Watch... no one had ever seen or even heard of such a thing.
Egger's sudden pivot to the two commanders left Yohn Royce, who had been clashing with him moments before, unsure of whether he should even continue the argument; he felt his momentum stall. The two veterans, who had collectively commanded forts for half a century, had been thinking of ways to support Royce moments ago, only to suddenly become the targets of attack themselves. In their shock, they couldn't organize even a shred of a counter-response.
Suffering this sudden bombardment without any psychological preparation, everyone in the conservative camp fell into a brief state of confusion and trance. In this solemn atmosphere, Egger easily took complete control of the floor. "I have never considered myself an incredibly powerful person. But by my own efforts, I built the Night's Watch Logistics Department from nothing. I caused the number of personnel in the Watch to rise for the first time in history. I ensured the treatment the brothers receive is actually worthy of the 'Shields of the Realm.' I even restored the warning and defense system of the entire Wall. These are my achievements since becoming Chief Logistics Officer."
Of course, this wasn't Egger's merit alone. The trust, decisiveness, wisdom, and vision shown by the Old Bear, Jeor Mormont, throughout the process were no less significant than his own. Shifting all blame to the deceased commander who gave the orders when in trouble—using the dead as a shield—while claiming all credit for himself as the proposer... honestly, the tactic was quite shameless. But for the sake of the big picture, he had to do it.
"This may indeed sound like arrogant boasting. But unfortunately, I—Egger West—have done more for the Night's Watch and brought more change to the Wall in these two years than both of these commanders have in their entire lives combined. After careful investigation and thought, I have concluded that I am the most suitable leader for the Night's Watch right now. I said before that I would not participate in the election, but for the sake of the garrison and the future of all humanity, I have decided to break my word." He looked toward the blind maester. "Maester Aemon, if you please, arrange to add my name to the list of candidates. Brothers, if you do not wish to taste despair and death, give your precious vote to me!"
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