Chapter 165: Wolf's Devouring Beyond the Wall

The Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, the Old Bear, First Steward Bowen Marsh, First Builder Othell Yarwyck, Maester Aemon, and other officers of the Night's Watch stood upon the Wall with Eddard.

On the wasteland north of Castle Black, the wildlings were packed as dense as a swarm.

Bowen Marsh, who was skilled at counting, took a tally: "Lord Eddard, the number of wildlings is estimated to exceed one hundred thousand."

The soldiers of the Night's Watch were all wrapped in cloaks, their faces obscured, standing imposingly upon the wall; everyone held bows and arrows, aimed at the wildlings below to prevent any accidents.

Most of the wildlings had never seen the Wall in their entire lives; they stared agape at the seven-hundred-foot-tall Wall.

An eagle flew overhead, and Eddard said, "At Eastwatch and Green Guard in the east, and the Nightfort, Shadow Tower, and Westbridge in the west, wildlings will also cross the Wall to head south."

The total number of migrating wildlings would exceed one hundred and twenty thousand; Eddard felt there was no need to tell the Night's Watch officers the exact figure.

Bowen Marsh appeared flustered: "Lord Eddard, the wildlings are enemies of the Seven Kingdoms. To let them cross the Wall just like this—should we not first petition King Robert Baratheon in King's Landing?"

Eddard was somewhat angry: "Send a raven to King's Landing? How many days would it take to go and return? For every extra day the wildlings stay, they consume a massive amount of food. Will you pay for that?"

Bowen Marsh forced a smile: "Lord Eddard, bringing the wildlings to the lands of Winterfell will consume even more food."

First Builder Othell Yarwyck said in a gruff voice: "Exactly. Wildlings should live Beyond the Wall. Bringing so many of them into the North—if they rebel, it will be a catastrophe for the Seven Kingdoms."

Eddard pointed out: "They have already submitted."

"Only temporarily," Bowen Marsh shrugged. "The bloodline of the wildlings dictates that they will still betray the Seven Kingdoms. Wildlings have always been a threat to the Wall!"

Eddard said coldly: "Did you not see the wight Wheat? The true enemies of the Wall are the Others and the wights."

Othell Yarwyck and Bowen Marsh exchanged a look, and Othell Yarwyck said: "Speaking of wights, among these wildlings, are there any who have been bitten or scratched by wights? I see many wounded among them. If they go to the North and turn into wights, that would be a disaster."

Ser Mallador Locke said: "For a race like the wildlings, turning into wights might not be a mercy; they know nothing but pillaging anyway. I only hope the wildlings do not implicate the Seven Kingdoms."

Maester Aemon said: "The wildlings are descendants of the First Men. Compared to the later Andals and Rhoynar, the First Men were the earlier masters of Westeros. The Seven Kingdoms should accept the wildlings. The wildlings are flesh and blood just like us; they are living lives. They may have customs different from ours, but we are all living people, and the Others are the threat to all humanity."

"My lords, Lord Eddard's migration of the wildlings to the North is an act of benevolence; the Night's Watch should not oppose it."

The Night's Watch and the wildlings shared a bone-deep hatred; after all, in the eight thousand years since the Others disappeared, both sides had slaughtered each other for millennia, and countless wildlings and Night's Watchmen had perished as a result. Some Night's Watchmen would rather let the wildlings turn into wights than see them pass through the Wall.

Eddard said coldly: "Regarding the issue of the wildlings, I will communicate directly with King Robert Baratheon in King's Landing and Hand of the King Jon Arryn. This topic ends here. We have already executed the King-Beyond-the-Wall Mance Rayder; the Night's Watch should be satisfied."

The executed Mance Rayder was, in reality, a wildling whose head had been smashed in by a warhammer. This "King-Beyond-the-Wall" had been dressed in the black of the Night's Watch, and after being beheaded, his rotted head was hung upon the gate of the tunnel at Castle Black.

The officers of the Night's Watch all recognized Mance, but no one came forward to distinguish the truth; no one dared to question it—why bother? Every officer of the Night's Watch had received barrels of vodka gifted by Eddard, and every brother of the Night's Watch had received a reward of copper coins, enough for the Night's Watch to go to the brothels in Mole's Town to dig for treasure and drink a little wine to improve their lives.

The brothers of the Night's Watch often joked with each other, claiming that their generation might be the best-fed Night's Watch in history. Eddard had reached a cooperation with the Night's Watch; the vegetables and fruits from the Stark Estate were supplied to the Night's Watch soldiers for free, and the Stark Fleet at Eastwatch and the fishing boats from Bear Island brought back large amounts of seafood every day. The tables of the Night's Watch were overflowing with lobster and salmon.

Once upon a time, the Night's Watch had to count every drop of olive oil; now, the whales caught at sea and the whale oil extracted made the meals of the Night's Watch even more delicious. In the ice cellars, large quantities of grain and seafood meant the Night's Watch no longer had to worry about the problem of winter.

Some Night's Watch officers would whisper behind their backs, claiming that the Old Bear had sold the Night's Watch to House Stark, because the current Night's Watch was more like a vassal of Winterfell than an army of the Seven Kingdoms. However, every brother of the Night's Watch knew in his heart that it was Eddard who had vastly improved their lives, and only Winterfell and the North took the Night's Watch seriously.

Most importantly, Eddard promised that in the future, when the Night's Watchmen were old and frail and could no longer work, they could go to Winterfell to retire—a promise no noble of the Seven Kingdoms could offer. These Night's Watch officers would have to rely on Winterfell for their retirement in the future, so even if they knew Mance had not been executed, no one was foolish enough to expose it.

A giant eagle flew overhead, and the Night's Watch crossbowmen let out a cry of surprise. The giant eagle landed on the Wall, and the leader of the Giant Eagle Tribe, Michu, rode on its back. Eddard climbed onto the eagle's back.

Eddard rode the giant eagle, gliding down along the seven-hundred-foot-tall Wall, and stopped in mid-air. The wildlings below looked up at the Wolf King.

"Brothers and sisters of the Free Folk, today, the gates of the Wall are opened for you. Cross the Wall, and you and I are all people of the North under the watch of the Old Gods. Whether you are Rivermen, Snow-forest folk, the Seal Tribe, the Night Runners, Cave Dwellers, Thenns, the Goat Tribe, Hardfoot, or giants, from this day forward, we shall face the winter and the Others together!"

On the seven-hundred-foot-tall Wall, Eddard flew on the back of the giant eagle, and tens of thousands of wildlings beneath him shouted in unison.

"King-Beyond-the-Wall! King-Beyond-the-Wall!"

"Wolf King Eddard!"

"Long live Stark!"

At this moment, Eddard on the eagle's back looked down upon all living things, ruling the world. Was this how it felt to ride on the back of a dragon?

"Open the gates!"

In the tunnel, Jory Cassel and Fellan opened the gates. Three hundred wards of Winterfell entered the tunnel first; these were the descendants of the wildling tribal leaders. Their parents were famous leaders from Beyond the Wall, such as the King-Beyond-the-Wall, Alfyn Crowkiller, Harma Dogshead, Magnar Styr, the boar-man Borroq, Eagle King McCain, and Varamyr.

Mance's wife Dalla and the wildling Princess Val, although not hostages, also passed through the Wall first as hostages.

Following them, the wildlings of various tribes queued to enter. Osha and Helen led the Winterfell personal guard, driving wagons, responsible for confiscating valuable items and swords from the wildlings.

According to the orders Eddard gave to the wildling leaders, only the leaders and the wildling soldiers responsible for maintaining order could keep their weapons; all other wildlings had to surrender their weapons. In truth, most were wooden clubs, stone axes, horns, and the like; iron items were rare. But the wildlings were a fierce and combative group; letting them hold weapons would likely lead to brawls and fights.

Passing through the Wall to welcome a brand-new life in the North was not without a price.

The wildlings had no currency; trade among them was purely barter. However, some wildlings still had valuable items on them. As a condition for entering the North, the wildlings agreed to surrender their valuables to Eddard.

Silver-gilt cups, golden horn cups, amber ornaments, ivory-carved plates, pure gold necklaces, ivory combs, jade bracelets, gold-scaled soft armor, a rusted crown decorated with red agate, various animal furs, and a large number of ancient horns—among them, one was the exquisite horn Mance had dug up from a grave.

Because the number of wildlings was simply too large, the Night's Watch opened the tunnels at Oakenshield to the east of Castle Black and Queensgate to the west. The wildlings queued and filed in under the watchful eyes of the Northern cavalry and Night's Watch soldiers.

Oakenshield and Queensgate were still in a state of abandonment, but now the Gift south of the Wall had become the true land of the Starks, filled with estates everywhere. It was only a matter of time before Eddard reopened these castles and stationed troops there.

The wildlings who entered this side of the Wall would not stay at Castle Black, because Castle Black could not house so many wildlings at all. Haris Moran, the Deputy Captain of Winterfell, led a thousand cavalrymen to stand guard on both sides, escorting the wildlings south along the Kingsroad, heading straight for Queenscrown, and from there south toward the lands of Winterfell.

In addition, maintaining order were the Thenn Warriors clad in bronze scale armor. The discipline of the Thenns was the best among the wildling tribes, and they could well execute the tasks Eddard assigned to them.

Many wildlings were entering the Seven Kingdoms for the first time. They looked at the Stark estates on both sides of the Kingsroad; the towers and windmills all shocked these wildlings.

Eddard rode the giant eagle and landed on the ground. The giant Mag the Mighty, Wun Wun, and the giantess Xixi came to bid Eddard a temporary farewell.

Because the giants spoke the Old Tongue, the translation was handled by a wildling named Leather, a lean, middle-aged man.

Leather said: "Lord Eddard, the giants cannot squeeze through the tunnel, and the mammoths cannot pass either. The giants will take the mammoths to Eastwatch and take a boat from there to cross Seal Bay."

Eddard asked: "How many giants and mammoths are there in total?"

"Over six hundred, and the mammoths are about the same number. Two hundred giants have already arrived at Eastwatch."

Also heading to Eastwatch to take a boat were Samantha, whose terrorbird was about the same height as a mammoth, and the Raptor Tribe, which had over three hundred terrorbirds that needed to cross the sea to the south. Varamyr Sixskins and the leader of the Great Bear Tribe, Byers, also had to go to Eastwatch to take a boat, because their bears were all over four meters tall.

Mance, dressed in black and covering his face with a cloak, approached: "Lord Eddard, the number of wildlings is truly too large. If things go smoothly, it will still take several days. I will go to the Haunted Forest for another round; perhaps I can persuade those wandering in the Haunted Forest to come to this side of the Wall."

After Mance left, the leader of the Rockborn at Driftwood Hall, Billy, and the leader of the Rockborn at King's Hall, Rayson, walked over.

Billy said: "Lord Eddard, the wildlings have knelt, and the war is over. We should also return to Skagos."

Eddard said: "You have performed great meritorious service for Winterfell; you must return to Winterfell with me to receive your rewards."

The Rockborn warriors had contributed much in the battles in the Haunted Forest and Hardhome areas, serving as the main force of the Eastern Army.

Rayson smiled: "Lord Eddard, Skagos is not very peaceful. The Rock King has captured Abyss Keep and killed his nephew Donald and his entire family. We should return sooner."

Eddard said: "The Rock King captured Abyss Keep, but it was retaken by the Rockborn tribes loyal to Winterfell in less than a day. Now, I have already arranged for Kane to be the Acting Castellan of Abyss Keep. The Rock King likely won't live long. He originally hoped to collude with the wildlings Beyond the Wall to continue making waves on Skagos. Now that the wildlings have surrendered, what hope can the Rock King possibly have left?"

Nowadays, to retake Abyss Keep, the Rock King slaughtered the family of Donald, the Lord of Deepdown appointed by Eddard. Donald's line was extinguished, and the remaining Crowl, aside from the Rock King's sons, are only the traitors of the main family who followed him. Enraged, Eddard simply stripped the Crowl clan of their fiefs and castle.

Abyss Keep became a castle of House Stark, and Eddard intended to appoint either Bran or Rickon as the Lord of Deepdown.

Eddard not only had to reward the Rockborn, the mountain clans, House Umber, and House Karstark; he had to reward all those families who followed Eddard north and sent troops to suppress the Wildlings.

It had been less than a year since the Rock King's rebellion last year, and years of continuous warfare would drag down the North's production and farming. Eddard did not summon his vassals for this expedition Beyond the Wall, yet House Umber, the mountain clans, House Karstark, and the Rockborn took the initiative to send troops to follow him and performed meritorious service in the war; they were models for the vassals and must be rewarded.

Eddard told Billy, the Lord of Driftwood Hall, and Rayson, the Lord of King's Hall, "It is still summer now, but winter will eventually descend. The Rockborn have performed glorious military service in the war Beyond the Wall. Winter Town at Winterfell welcomes the Rockborn to settle in Winter Town."

Billy Stern revealed a relieved smile, "No wonder everyone in the North loves the Starks. Lord Eddard is truly too generous to us Rockborn."

Resson Magnar said: "Our Skagos is mountainous, and there is too little arable land. Every winter, with the ice and snow, the Rockborn cannot get enough to eat. In ancient times, tragedies of cannibalism often occurred. To tell the truth, such situations still exist now. Since House Stark welcomes the Rockborn to go to Winterfell, we Rockborn will have no more worries."

Eddard said: "Rockborn Warrior are physically strong and skilled in mountain warfare. I intend to establish a Rockborn Legion to garrison Winterfell. Whenever there is a war, they will follow the Direwolf to battle."

Resson and Billy both let out hearty laughs. Billy said: "That would be great. Our Rockborn Legion will surely be the elite of the North."

The geographical location of Skagos is extremely important. It is the largest island in the North, yet it has very little arable land. Eddard would do his best to absorb the population of Skagos and relocate them to Winterfell. He would pick out the Rockborn warriors from within to form the Rockborn Legion. In this way, he would solve the problem of the Skagos Rockborn not having enough to eat in winter, increase the population and military strength of Winterfell, and also strengthen Winterfell's connection to the Skagos Rockborn, allowing Winterfell to firmly control Skagos and the Rockborn.

After Eddard pacified Beyond the Wall, Beyond the Wall became a part of the North. The Haunted Forest, the Frostfangs, and all the way to the Land of Always Winter were all Stark territory. Most Wildlings chose to surrender and followed Eddard south to the North, but in the vast lands Beyond the Wall, many Wildlings still wandered between the valleys and primeval forests.

The Stark Fleet at Eastwatch and the Night's Watch would prevent adventurers, smugglers, and slave traders from going Beyond the Wall to steal wealth. In the future, Eddard hoped that Skagos could also become a shield for Beyond the Wall. This island guards Seal Bay, and it is very difficult for ships from the south to bypass Skagos.

Eddard arrived at the top of the Wall by taking the Night's Watch's rope cage. Eddard found Domeric; the Raven in the cage was making a racket. The Heir of Dreadfort had always been responsible for managing the ravens.

"Domeric, write a letter immediately to King Robert Baratheon in King's Landing and to the Hand of the King, Jon Arryn. Tell them that the Northern Army has crushed the Wildlings who invaded the Seven Kingdoms, and more than one hundred thousand Wildlings have been relocated to the territory of Winterfell to become subjects of the Seven Kingdoms."

"Tell King's Landing that Winterfell has annexed the lands Beyond the Wall. From now on, the lands Beyond the Wall belong to a part of the North. The territory of the North stretches from the Neck in the south to the Land of Always Winter Beyond the Wall in the north, extending all the way to the end of the far north world."

Domeric nodded, immediately picked up a Cat's Paw, and began to write the letter with cinnabar ink.

Robb, who was to the side, walked over, "Father, we have not stationed troops Beyond the Wall; it shouldn't count as a true annexation, right?"

Eddard said: "The Starks are temporarily not stationing troops Beyond the Wall now, but that may not be the case in the future. Most of the Wildlings have followed us south. The lands Beyond the Wall will become a sweet pastry in the eyes of the southern nobles in the future. Don't look at this as a land of bitter cold; humans are greedy for land."

"Wasteland has no one to plow it; once plowed, people fight over it. We conquered the Wildlings; if we don't immediately announce that the lands Beyond the Wall belong to the North, once the news reaches King's Landing and the south, southern lords will immediately send so-called pioneer Knight to Beyond the Wall to enclose land and declare it their territory."

"The Church will certainly send Septa and sisters, under the guise of spreading the faith of the Seven, to build manors Beyond the Wall and seize the land the Starks conquered; Ironborn Pirates will see Beyond the Wall as a good safe haven and a lawless land; slave traders will see Beyond the Wall as a good place to hunt for slaves..."

"So we must hold onto the fruits of our victory. Beyond the Wall belongs to the North, belongs to the Starks, and belongs to Winterfell."

Robb said excitedly: "Father, we won a great victory and captured so many Wildling prisoners. The commoners and nobles south of the Neck will all think that the Starks are heroes who saved the Seven Kingdoms, right?"

Eddard smiled and shook his head, "Robb, if you think that, you are too naive. Jealousy is human nature. The North was already the largest territory among the Seven Kingdoms, accounting for forty percent of the Seven Kingdoms' area. Now, the area of the North has more than doubled; the nobles of the South will be jealous."

"If it were just jealousy, that would be fine. Some southern nobles might feel that the Direwolf is becoming increasingly powerful, and they will begin to worry whether they will become the Direwolf's next prey. Thus, evil will arise from their cowardice, and they will begin to use all kinds of schemes and tricks, attempting to weaken the North and bring down the Starks."

"Robb, you will succeed me in the future to manage Winterfell and the entire North. You must learn to fathom the human heart; only then can you survive in a world full of lies and deception."

Eddard stood at the peak of the Wall, looking out at the Haunted Forest, the Frostfangs, and the Land of Always Winter. These were all Stark lands now.

Countless Wildlings were queuing to pass through the tunnels of Queensgate, Castle Black, and Oakenshield to enter the North. The Wildling procession stretched for dozens of miles. North of the Wall, everywhere was filled with Wildlings covering the mountains and plains, queuing and waiting to enter the North.

South of the Wall, the Wildling procession was marching toward Queenscrown in the south, and from there, they would head to the territory of Winterfell.

Eddard destroyed the enemy in one battle, expanded the territory, and relocated over one hundred thousand Wildlings internally. The population of Winterfell skyrocketed, and its might shook the Seven Kingdoms.

This battle was worth it.

Thanks to "Nonsense Talk" for the monthly ticket, thank you for the support!

(End of this chapter)