chapter 23
"It was originally a watchtower in Winterfell. I heard that it was struck by lightning and caught fire more than a hundred years ago, and was abandoned." His heart skipped a beat, and Egg quickly suppressed his emotions and answered truthfully. This kind of Winterfell He didn't dare to let himself make up things that could be answered by just asking anyone in the city. "I went in and looked at it. It was dirty and messy, and the stairs leading up can no longer be walked." "
Abandoning is right, Lin Dong. The city doesn't need a watchtower." Cersei followed the direction of her brother's gaze and glanced at the ruined tower, with a scornful arc on her lips: "Who would have the nerve to lead an army to attack and capture such a cold and gloomy castle? "
Don't say that. For some wolves, a golden den or a silver den is not as good as their own doghouse." James shrugged and laughed, "What's the point of that fortress?"
Egger could only pretend not to. After understanding the two men's ridicule of the Stark family, Jaime reluctantly introduced the capital to the Kingslayer. After hearing this, James nodded noncommittally and asked seemingly casually: "Brother Night's Watch, why are you here?" Training? The school grounds in Winterfell are not far away."
"I... like to be alone." This was because he thought he was in the way. Egg was secretly complaining, and quickly explained, "Too much noise will seriously affect my performance. ."
"So, I hope the savages you meet in the future are gentlemen and ladies who like quietness." The corners of James' mouth turned upward, obviously disapproving of Egger's words, "Good sister, can we go in and take a look?"
" Here?" The queen frowned and looked up at the dilapidated castle again.
***
what happened?
Could it be that even here, I can't stop the plot from happening?
Could these two audacious people dare to ignore their own existence and enter the first fortress?
Egg felt an invisible hand holding his throat, and his breathing became rapid: "Sir...it's dirty and messy up there. There's nothing except mice and spiders." "
I don't expect anything in there, I'm just curious. ..." James smiled confidently and turned to look at Cersei again, "Good sister, if you are not afraid of mice and spiders, how about we go up for an adventure. Maybe we can find Stark in the cracks in the corner or something. It's a treasure passed down from our family."
...
"How old are you for adventure?" She frowned, trying to cover up, "It's up to you, just be careful." "
This is called being young at heart. The mother of a country is frowning all day long. , everyone will age quickly, come on." James walked towards the first fortress and patted Egger on the shoulder before leaving, "Brother Night Watchman, you can train well here. Her Majesty the Queen and I will go in for a walk. , take a look, try not to disturb you."
What else could Ige say? James was not discussing with himself, he was just informing him. The Lannister siblings grew up together from the same mother and were known to have a close relationship. It was not the turn of him, the night watchman, to point fingers. And if they didn't know the plot clearly and just looked at the appearance of the two of them at this moment and the normal conversation before, who could guess what they would do after entering the first fortress?
He could only nod in agreement and stood there watching the two of them walk towards the castle and enter it.
***
what to do?
Egger was at a loss. He had not experienced this sense of insignificance and powerlessness of being ignored for a long time.
James had already asked him to "train well" here. It would be funny if he forced him to follow him under any pretext, and in the end, he would be thrown from the tower instead of Bran.
He was the one who wanted to rely on Tyrion to leave the Great Wall. He had offended the dwarf's two high-ranking brothers and sisters, and he didn't know how he would die in the future.
At this moment, countless thoughts ran through his mind, but he gave up one by one. After some thinking, he decided to do what the Kingslayer said - continue training here.
Not only to keep an eye on the wind, but also to keep an eye on any naughty kids that might appear.
It is naturally impossible to prevent the queen and a member of the Kingsguard from "visiting" the castle, but to prevent a child who is no more than ten years old from climbing the wall... Even if Eddard Stark and his wife knew about it, they could not punish themselves for this. Bar!
The plan was not completely ruined yet. Holding back his anger, Egger walked towards the target, took out the arrow that had been shot and put it into the quiver, and walked back to the original spot to continue practicing.
...
One arrow after another, Egg vented his anger on the target. Interestingly, in this case, his hit rate was much higher than usual, and more than half of the arrows shot were on the target. Inside the white cloth of the arrow target symbolizing vital points.
Unknowingly, a barrel of arrows was empty. Drawing a bow is a strenuous job, and Egg's arm was already sore. He shook his arm and walked to the chair, ready to pack up and sit down to read a book.
"You're so accurate." A childish voice came from above, scaring Iger so much that he almost jumped. He turned around to search and was surprised to find the person he was waiting for.
Bran Stark is the second son of the Duke of Winterfell. At a young age, he has red lips, white teeth, and a pink face. He has maroon hair and blue eyes like his mother. He has an outgoing personality and a cute face. He is the favorite young master of all the female residents of Winterfell.
At this moment, this boy who is loved by thousands of people is sitting on the wall of the old inner courtyard, swaying his legs and looking down at the night watchman: "I can't practice well. Even Arya can shoot more accurately than me.
" Damn kid, when did you sneak up to that place?
Egger has no enemies in this world, and White Walkers will not suddenly appear in Winterfell. When he was training in this courtyard, he only focused on the entrance, and was naturally unprepared for the top of his head. Under the cover of the wind sound caused by the air flowing between the towers of the house, he didn't notice when the boy arrived.
Egg's heart suddenly tightened, he opened his mouth, and suddenly realized that he had made a serious mistake.
He occupied the training ground at the only entrance to the godswood from the old inner courtyard, so he took it for granted that as long as he blocked this place, Bran would have to pass by him whether he wanted to climb the remaining tower or the first fort. . At that time, I can think of ways to prevent him from meeting the Lannister siblings... Whether it is using the strength of adults to stop him, or talking to him loudly to remind the men and women in the tower, everything is under control.
But he missed one thing. Winterfell, with its long history, is like a giant stone tree that keeps growing. Grandpa plants a tree, father adds a tower, son builds a wall, and grandson adds a small building. The building... After dozens of generations of Stark transformations, it has long "grown" with twisted branches and tangled roots. The densely packed buildings, courtyards and corridors make it look like a vast maze of gray stone. For a child who loves to climb, this is simply the best activity venue. All roofs and walls connected to each other are playgrounds for little rock climbers - if necessary, you can do it without touching the ground. Bran climbed up the wall from somewhere else, not from the broken tower through the old inner courtyard!
A strong sense of foreboding swept through his body. Egg widened his eyes and tried to keep his tone calm: "Oh... when you grow older and your arms are stronger, you will naturally be able to shoot accurately, but you are doing it on top What?"
"Have fun, I haven't climbed the wall for a long time. I will go to King's Landing with my father tomorrow. Maybe I won't come back for a few years... This may be the last time I climb the wall."
Egg looked up at the boy, I visually checked the height of the wall and it was over three meters - I couldn't catch this kid even if I jumped up, so I had to use persuasion.
"It's too dangerous up there. Come down first and I can teach you archery." "
No, I'll have plenty of time to learn when I get to King's Landing...I heard from others that the targets on the archery range in King's Landing are more than ten times the size of Winterfell. !" Bran shook his legs happily, "With such a big archery target, no matter how you shoot, you won't miss the target!"
"Nonsense, what kind of sharpshooter can be trained with such a big archery target!" Egg swallowed and found out again He asked for an even more surprising detail, "Why are you barefoot?"
"It's easy to climb the wall with bare feet, and you won't be heard when you walk on the roof of the guard room without shoes." The boy said with a cheerful expression. With a smart and proud expression on my face, I pulled up my legs and stood up holding on to the top of the wall. I swung my arms from side to side to keep my balance, scaring the night watchman on the ground so much that he wanted to reach out for him. Then I started walking along the top of the wall towards the guard room, " I'm going to feed the crows on the top of the ruined tower, you go ahead."
Feed your sister's crows! Egg was so angry that he immediately ignored the difference in status. He chased the boy along the wall and continued to persuade: "Boy, come down quickly! It's so dangerous up there. If you don't take your life seriously, your parents will be very angry if they find out." You know!"
"I've never fallen off." Bran continued walking along the wall without looking back. "Besides, my father also allowed me to climb the wall. The scenery from high up is so beautiful that you will never be able to climb it. I don't know. Robb will become the master of Winterfell in the future, but I am the only one who has seen the rolling hills and ravines outside Winterfell, as well as all the rooftops within the city walls!" "
Risk your life to see the scenery. What's there to be proud of!"
"Tch, you're so boring in black. I can't explain it to you. Let's go."
The boy snorted, ignored Egger's call, and walked straight to the guard room along the top of the wall. Someone watched. This seemed to make him even more excited, and he even used to trot in the last short section.
Egger was worried, threw away his bow and arrow and walked out of the passage, walked around to the guard room and continued to stare at him.
Two well-armed guards just walked out of the guard room door. Egg rushed forward as if grasping a life-saving straw: "Where is your young master on the roof? Don't you care!" "
What?" The two guards were stunned. Looking towards the roof, I saw my second son running towards the fort with bare feet.
...
"Hey, leave him alone." Guard A shook his head.
"We originally received private orders from Mrs. Stark. When we saw Mr. Bran climbing the wall, we tried to drive him down." Guard B sighed, "Unexpectedly, the more we yelled and chased him, the faster he ran. It was almost impossible for him to run away." We treat him like a big kid playing cat and mouse with him."
"Let's just play, but he always wins." Guard A shrugged, "On the contrary, we watched with fear below. This happened several times, and later Qiao Li He told us to leave him alone, which is probably what the Duke meant." "
So, brothers of the Night's Watch, the Great Wall is so hard, so if you come to Winterfell once in a while, just enjoy it and don't worry about our young master."
Two The guard walked away with a smile, leaving only Egg, who was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, to stay where he was. He watched helplessly as the naughty kid on the roof ran briskly across the ridge and climbed up to the fortress next to the ruined tower. It was quickly blocked by the building of the guard room.
The night watchman stood there for a moment, gritted his teeth, stamped his feet, and walked towards the passage back to the old inner courtyard. The plan is progressing in a mess so far, but as long as they can find a way to give a timely reminder to the brother and sister who entered the ruined tower for "exploration", everything will turn around.
...
What Egger didn't know was that when he said goodbye to the two guards of Winterfell and returned to the castle, preparing to prevent Bran from falling in other ways, outside the Great Wall in the north, thousands of miles away, In a deep cave under the root system of a huge weirwood tree, a suspicious "Huh" came out from the mouth of someone who was not a human being.
An ordinary night watchman repeatedly appeared in positions that could thwart his plans at just the right time, as if he had a clear goal to oppose himself, and he finally became curious.