Chapter 76: Others

Officers of the Night's Watch like the Old Bear Mormont, Maester Aemon, and Lord Steward Bowen Marsh have taken the Night's Watch oath, vowing to take no wives and father no children; the Night's Watch and the Wall have become their home for life.

Some Night's Watch officers and veterans have spent decades in the bitter cold of the Wall, only to watch the Night's Watch decline day by day. The vast majority of new recruits are scum—convicts, poachers, thieves, and bandits—forced to don the black because of their crimes, while the number of decent men who voluntarily take the oath to become brothers of the Night's Watch dwindles daily.

Eddard's plan would undoubtedly boost the confidence of the Night's Watch officers. Lord Commander Mormont said, "Lord Eddard, Winterfell reopening Green Guard, Nightfort, and Westbridge, implementing a food storage plan, and building a fortress at Skull Bridge will undoubtedly help the Night's Watch better block the Wildlings from moving south. The Night's Watch is willing to cooperate with House Stark."

For the Night's Watch, those abandoned fortresses are useless; the Night's Watch has no spare troops to guard them, let alone the manpower or resources to rebuild them. Since Eddard wants to rebuild the fortresses to store food, and the Night's Watch can receive a share of that food, they are naturally happy to hand the fortresses over to Winterfell for use.

Lord Steward Bowen Marsh is a shrewd man. "Lord Eddard, if the Night's Watch hands the fortresses over to Winterfell for use, it would be even more perfect if you could provide some rent."

Eddard looked at Bowen Marsh and couldn't help but smile. "The Wall was built by the legendary figure of House Stark, Brandon the Builder. Back then, who knows how much House Stark spent on the Wall? Now that I want to use a few abandoned castles, you actually have the nerve to ask for rent?"

"Go to the Seven Kingdoms, go to the Free Cities, look anywhere you like, and see which noble or merchant would spend even a single copper coin on abandoned fortresses on the Wall? These are ruins, not ready-to-use fortresses. You want rent? Fine. You Night's Watchmen rebuild Green Guard, Nightfort, and Westbridge yourselves, and once the castles are repaired and usable, I can pay rent."

Lord Steward Bowen Marsh looked toward First Ranger Othell Yarwyck. Othell said helplessly, "The Night's Watch clearly has no funds and no manpower to rebuild the fortresses. However, if Winterfell is to use the Night's Watch's castles, they should still pay something."

"I promise to share food with you during the winter. Are these grains and seafood not worth anything?" Eddard pointed to Skagos on the map.

"I kindly sought to cooperate with you, but if you insist on rent, I will have to give up on cooperating with the Night's Watch. The Rockborn on Skagos have just submitted, and there is plenty of room in the high mountains to store food; I haven't even agreed to that yet."

The Old Bear hurriedly said with a fawning smile, "Lord Eddard, Skagos is surrounded by reefs, and the Rockborn have only just submitted; we cannot build cold storage there."

Lord Steward Bowen Marsh nodded. "I hear the Rockborn eat raw meat and blood and like to eat people; how can one cooperate with savages? Lord Eddard should still cooperate with us, the Night's Watch! The friendship between the Night's Watch and Winterfell has lasted for thousands of years; we are friends."

"Friends still ask me for rent?" Eddard thought with satisfaction.

The Old Bear looked at Bowen Marsh and Othell Yarwyck reproachfully. "You two actually had the nerve to ask Lord Eddard for rent; that is truly disgraceful!"

The Old Bear turned to Eddard. "Lord Eddard, Green Guard, Westbridge, and Nightfort can all be handed over to Winterfell for rebuilding and use, as long as Winterfell agrees to share food with us; no rent is needed."

Eddard grasped the Old Bear's hand. "I promise the Night's Watch that Winterfell will never let the Black Brothers go hungry at any time; we shall face the winter together."

Both sides finalized the winter storage cooperation plan, and the Night's Watch...

Eddard gestured, and the guard Dawson brought forward the Night's Watch deserter Steve and the female Wildling Osha. Eddard said, "On our way to Castle Black, we encountered several Night's Watch deserters with a female Wildling spearwife. We killed most of them and captured the deserter Steve and a female Wildling named Osha."

A Night's Watch deserter actually being captured alive by a Warden of the North made the Night's Watch officers lose face. The Old Bear recognized Steve at a glance.

"Steve, as a steward of the Night's Watch, why did you break your oath and flee?"

Lord Steward Bowen Marsh is responsible for managing the stewards of the Night's Watch, and Steve was his subordinate. Bowen Marsh frowned. "Steve, I sent you to the Haunted Forest to hunt two months ago, and you never returned. I thought you had been eaten by beasts. You actually became a deserter and brought shame upon us."

Steve's eyes were vacant. "I didn't desert. It was the Others, the Others were chasing me, I had no choice but to flee into a Wildling village... You don't understand... the dead with blue eyes..."

Castle Black Master-at-Arms Alliser Thorne said disdainfully, "This fool is picking the Others as an excuse? Are we living in an old woman's story?"

The Old Bear said angrily, "Breaking one's oath is a capital crime! Take him out and hang him!"

Steve was dragged out. Eddard said, "Steve is an Oathbreaker; I don't know if he really encountered the Others. I read in books that during the Long Night eight thousand years ago, snow covered the earth, and the Others and wights swept through kingdoms and villages. The Last Hero found the Children of the Forest, and with their help, the Night's Watch was founded, winning the Battle for the Dawn and saving all humanity."

Alliser Thorne seemed quite amused. "Lord Eddard, these are nothing but legends; they cannot be true. It's just like Brandon the Builder of the North, Garth Greenhand of the Reach, or the Winged Knight of the Vale—they belong to stories. Where in this world are there still such strange creatures as the Children of the Forest or the Others?"

Bowen Marsh shrugged. "Indeed, these stories are unlikely to be true."

First Ranger Benjen Stark said, "Many rangers feel as if something is watching them from the shadows when they patrol in the Haunted Forest. Rangers never joke about the Others."

Maester Aemon spoke. As soon as this highly respected Maester spoke, everyone in the hall immediately fell silent and listened intently.

"The Long Night was eight thousand years ago, though some books record it as six thousand. It is said that the people of that generation never saw the sun from birth to death; they were born in darkness and died in darkness, snow covered the ground, and darkness shrouded the world. Both 'Jade Sea Overview' and 'Wonders Made by Man' mention a darkness that lasted for many years. Legends from all over the world are consistent with the legends of Westeros; therefore, I believe the Long Night truly existed."

"I have served the Night's Watch at Castle Black since the accession of Aegon V. I have studied the reports of rangers throughout history and the records of the various castles. Some ranger reports mentioned the Children of the Forest, giants, and the Others, and I believe these reports are highly credible. The Others very likely existed in history."

(End of chapter)