Chapter 19: A Visit from the Night's Watch
(POV Jeor Mormont)
"It is a very large settlement, I have never seen anything like it north of the wall."
Jeor Mormont looked at the wild village from his mount and said with some surprise in his voice.
"If that is what you say, Lord Mormont, what can we, who have only arrived at this place a few weeks ago, say? It is not like the legends we hear in the south, where the wildlings live in caves and eat the flesh of their brethren."
Jeor Mormont nodded to the knight. He was one of the new arrivals from King's Landing, Ser Jaremy Rykker, after Lord Tywin Lannister made them choose between the wall or having their heads on a pike, he and some knights like Ser Alliser Thorne, along with many other men decided to join the Night's Watch.
"Make no mistake Ser Jeremy, there are no other settlements of this size north of the wall."
Who spoke was Qhorin, leader of the Shadow Tower scouts. Who, despite his words, was also looking with slight disbelief at the settlement.
"Qhorin, we received word from Ser Denys Mallister about the wildlings they were trading with, but this doesn't look like just any wildling village. care to explain?"
Although Qhorin was the leader of the Shadow Tower scouts, Jeor Mormont was the first scout, and he was startled by this huge village which he did not know.
"I'm sorry Lord Mormont, a couple of years ago this place was nothing more than a few huts scattered around the clearing, I had no idea it had grown this big."
Qhorin immediately apologized with a hint of reluctance in his voice.
"Are you saying the wildlings built all this in a couple of years?"
Jeor Mormont shouted in response to Qhorin, his voice furious.
"Not only is it big, the walls are high, and the Milkwater River protects both north and west, the Haunted forest has been cut down so it would be hard to approach from the east, leaving only the south free, but they have also dug a huge ditch and to top it off they have palisades."
Jeor Mormont turned his head again to look at the young man who had just spoken, Benjen Stark, who had joined the Night's Watch as soon as his brother Eddard had returned to Winterfell.
"I'm afraid so, Lord Mormont, a year ago Ser Denys ordered me to conduct a patrol along the Milkwater River with four brothers. The leader of this settlement is the one who trades with us and is considered a friend of the guard, so we spent the night in the settlement, but I can assure you that the village was at least four times smaller and not as well protected."
Qhorin's voice sounded confident as he explained.
"Are you trying to say that we fed this whole tribe of savages, so close to the wall?"
Jeor Mormont asked the question completely perplexed, hardly believing that Denys Mallister could do something so stupid.
"I know Ser Denys has been earning a lot of gold and silver coin for this savage he trades with, and he has made huge contributions to Castle Black and Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, but it does not justify feeding this army of savages at our gates."
"Of course not, Lord, the food we have given from Shadow Tower is impossible for it to feed this many people, they must be getting it from elsewhere!"
Seeing how the scout leader of his castle was in trouble, Dalbridge, one of Shadow Tower's scouts, interrupted.
"That's right, I've taken care of many of those exchanges myself, unless these savages eat once every week, it's impossible to keep them all on that alone."
Qhorin after calming down and thinking about it, confirmed Dalbridge's words, it hadn't been them, at least, not entirely.
"Lord Mormont, if it is a problem, I can talk my brother Eddard into helping us. If he sends men to support the Night's Watch we can muster five hundred riders and sweep this place."
Jeor Mormont frowned and slowly denied.
"And nothing more than that I would like, Benjen, but this tribe has been trading with us for the last few years, and to make a surprise attack without justification would be most dishonorable."
"To hell with that Lord Mormont, they are savages, let's get it over with."
Jeor Mormont listened to one of his senior scouts, Gared, who was shivering from the cold on his horse as he was not wearing warm clothing.
"If we do that we would be less than the savages."
Qhorin responded to his words, as he knew Oswin well after so many dealings with him.
"Looks like you got attached to that savage, Qhorin, or do you have some wild bitches hiding out there?"
"Enough!"
Gared would not shut up, but Jeor Mormont intervened before the argument continued.
"Qhorin, do you truly know their leader?"
Qhorin nodded nonchalantly at Gared's provocation.
"Yes, Lord Mormont, Oswin has been a good friend to the guard, and has never broken the alliance between his tribe and Shadow Tower."
Jeor Mormont nodded heavily.
"Well, Gared and Benjen will return to Shadow Tower to inform Ser Denys Mallister of this wildling settlement. Inform Lord Commander Qorgyle immediately and send scouts back here. If they do not hear from us in two days, inform Lord Eddard Stark as well to raise an army and attack the settlement."
Benjen and Gared nodded ready to leave.
"Qhorin, how can we get in touch, I want to go in and see where they get their food from, we also need to ask if they have seen the wildlings we have been chasing from the Haunted forest for days."
"They must have noticed us by now, so..."
"!!!!"
They all heard a horn sound from the wild settlement and looked at Qhorin.
"They're giving us the invitation."
Then they watched as the gates of the settlement opened, and several savages walked out a few yards, standing by as they watched them.
"Well, come on, and keep alert, at the first sign of hostility turn around and ride at full speed to Shadow Tower."
"Rest assured Lord Mormont, if they managed to build this place and trade with us, they won't be stupid enough to attack a scouting party."
Spoke Stonesnake, another veteran Shadow Tower scout.
"We shall see about that."
Jeor Mormont replied and led his horse toward the wildlings still waiting outside the walls.
It was not long before they arrived, and Joar Mormont saw four wildlings, in leather armor and shields, behind a boy who appeared to be about eight years old.
"Hello gentlemen, welcome to the Black Axe Tribe."
They all saw the boy, who besides having a grim appearance, almost like a cursed spirit from ancient tales, spoke to them perfectly in the common tongue.
"Qhorin."
Jeor Mormont spoke toward the leader of the Shadow Tower scouts, and he stepped forward.
"Blake? You've grown a lot, boy, where's your father?"
Blake recognized Qhorin as he had visited them some time ago, and replied.
"My father is now on a journey to Thenn to trade goods for furs, you know, it's what Lord Denys always asks. But he has instructed me to treat with courtesy and give shelter should members of the Night's Watch visit us."
Jeor Mormont heard the strange boy's words and asked a question.
"Boy, we've come in pursuit of some savages who ambushed some of our Castle Black scouts in the Haunted forest. haven't you passed this way?"
Blake didn't flinch at his question and continued speaking with the same fluidity and tone of voice, like a breeze.
"We have seen some members of the Free folk come out of the Haunted Forest and ask for shelter in our tribe, unfortunately, we are at capacity, as you can see, and I had no choice but to refuse to accept them, we saw them cross the Milkwater river and continue to the Frostfangs."
Jeor Mormont tried to scrutinize the boy's face for lies, but he could see nothing, the boy's expression was as cold as the ice on the great wall and had not changed at any time since they began to speak.
"We have followed their tracks for days, and almost caught up with them, the tracks are still too fresh for them to have been able to cross the river out of our sight."
Jeor Mormont pressed on.
"They seemed very hurried when they arrived here as if they were running away from something, seeing you gentlemen, I can understand why they were in such a hurry. Besides, it's normal for the tracks to stay fresh, summer is coming."
"It's spring, not summer, boy."
Corrected Ser Jaremy Rykker to Blake's words with an almost dismissive tone. Jeor thought he should remind him later not to speak so rudely to the wildlings, they were a proud people and could do something crazy if treated disrespectfully, he even saw the wildlings behind the boy tense slightly just at what he said.
"That could be south, gentlemen, here in the north there are only two seasons, winter and summer, and sometimes it gets so cold that summer passes us by without us even noticing."
They all heard Blake's words and had the same thoughts, that boy doesn't talk like a boy, he doesn't act like a boy and in general, he doesn't look like a boy.
"Alright Blake, can we spend the night at the tribe? The first of the wall scouts, Lord Jeor Mormont, is very curious how your tribe has grown so much in such a short time."
Qhorin preferred to quickly turn the page on the fugitive savages and asked the real question of why they were there. Although those savages had killed three of his brothers, they were nothing important compared to this settlement.
"Of course, gentlemen, you will be provided with food and shelter to spend the night in, we have been friends with the night's watch for years, and have received much help from Ser Denys at Shadow Tower."
They all then watched as the wildlings moved aside leaving the way clear for them, and Blake took the lead to guide them.
Jeor Mormont hesitated to follow, he did not like the appearance of the strange boy, it gave him a sinister hunch, like a monster hiding in the skin of a child. But he could not delay his decision and spurred his horse to enter the settlement, giving a silent prayer to the old gods for protection.
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