Chapter 118

"How are you doing Mance?" he asked as he looked at the man sitting on the bed and looking at his own missing right leg.

Mance looked up at him and smiled a toothy smile.

"For someone who lost his right leg and almost died a week ago? I'd say I'm doing pretty darn well." Mance said with a toothy smile. "What with this place anyway. The white walls and the clean room. I've been to Winterfell once before. And I know that the Castle was not half as clean as this place."

"It's a place called hospital." He replied.

Mance looked confused at that "Hosti… what? I've never heard of that term before."

"It' a new term. Created by yours truly." He said with a smile "In essence. It is a building that has a few maesters and Midwives in it. Except that the only thing that they do in here is heal people."

"A building to heal people. Huh! Even the commonfolk?"

"Especially the commonfolk." He nodded "Anyone who comes here pays 10 copper stars for a meeting with the Healer. The healer then finds what affliction the man, woman or child has and then prescribes the right medicine for it which they buy from the nearby shop."

"And made this all on your own?" Mance asked, looking impressed.

"Yes." He replied "But I'm not here to talk about my accomplishments. I'm here so that we could talk about you."

"Me… What's there to talk about crippled old me?" Mance asked toothily but a simple legilimency probe told him that Mance was being cautious now.

His face became serious "Crippled or not. You were once the King beyond the wall. Before the Weeper took that title at least. But you were the leader of the Free folk for a decent amount of time. And the people followed you then…"

"Out of necessity." Mance interrupted him "I told them that if we don't move South then we'll all die come Winter. The Free folk didn't follow me because they liked my beard. No. They followed me out of necessity. Because they knew what is coming."

His lips thinned at that "I know. But the fact remains that you were their King once upon a time. And titles such a these hold weight."

"You're afraid of me." Mance said in realization.

"No Mance. I'm not afraid of you but what you represent." He said.

"And what do I represent?" Mance asked.

He pulled a chair, put it near the bed and sat down on it "I've worked long and hard for the past few years to make my lands as prosperous as they are." He said in a somber tone while looking outside the window "You and I both know that I took a risk when I brought the Free Folk to my lands. Till now I've kept the various tribes apart and given them their own livelihoods to live a better life than the that was granted to them North of the Wall. But the fact remains that despite all that I've done, in their hearts they still consider themselves Free Folk. And should the relationship between them and the people of the North deteriorate, then they can rally behind the King who once united them before."